Radio LBB: Roots Vol. 30

Now into its sixth year and the 30th edition. Adelphoi Music's Jonathan Watts returns for Roots Volume 30. For the uninitiated, the Roots playlist showcases an eclectic range of music from across the globe of, unfamiliar, forgotten, or recently discovered, to the most upfront sounds of now, all with the common theme of being rooted in Africa.

Some of the highlights this time round include:

Lil Yachty - drive ME crazy! 

Opening things with something fresh, this track comes from Lil Yachty’s album, Let’s Start Here, released earlier this year by Motown Records and Quality Control Music. The link up with Motown feels apt, with this track particularly collapsing decades of soulful music into a gorgeous homage to the long history of R&B. Opening with a low-slung boogie or modern soul groove, the lush strings and smooth tone of guest vocalist Diane Gordon, reflects late 80s / early 90s songstresses like Sade, while Yachty’s verses in the second half of the track slow things right down to a contemporary lo-fi hip hop sound.

Kiki Gyan - Disco Train

Ghanaian-born multi-instrumentalist, Kiki Gyan, was considered in 1975 to be one of the world’s greatest keyboard players. His once unfathomably rare records got a new life in recent times thanks to the tireless reissuing efforts of Soundway Records, who collected the best of Gyan’s works in their 2012 compilation ‘24 Hours in a Disco’, as well as DJs like Hunee, who gave another track, Disco Dancer, a spin in his influential 2015 Boiler Room at Dekmantel. Disco Train is a standout though, a mid-tempo disco beat drives the movement while Gyan\s airy vocals and languid horns lend a dreamlike and gorgeous atmosphere to the track.

Tunde Mabadu - Amupara Ko Ma Dara

Another stunning bit of Nigerian disco/boogie here. Tunde Mabadu released two albums in 1978 and 1980. Amupara Ko Ma Dara comes from the latter, Viva Disco, originally released on the legendary Afrodisia label, which put out seminal works by Fela Kuti & Africa 70, Manu Dibango, and Ginger Johnson. It’s a raucous, uptempo track, driven along by a heavy backbeat, swinging open hi-hats, and funky guitar and bass riffs, while a cacophony of horns and backing vocals lend a wild, party energy that can ignite the right dancefloor.

Krystal & Magic Touch - False Alarm

Not to be confused with the important female dancehall deejay, Krystal, the artist appearing on this obscure soul 7” doesn’t appear to have recorded anything else. Though the same can’t be said for its producers, Lennie LaCour, who established the seminal label and house band, Magic Touch, and the singer Al Vance. It’s an emotional, downtempo number, the backbeat slugging along, while the soaring strings and male-female  vocal duets soar from a whisper to a scream, dripping with tension as they crescendo, but always dropping back to a languid groove.

Def Jef - On The Real Tip

This golden era hip hop cut from 1988, when sample culture was still a brave new frontier, borrows heavily from some iconic recordings from disco, boogie, and soul, including Cheryll Lynn’s ‘Got To Be Real’, Gaz’s ‘Sing Sing’, and James Brown's ‘Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved’, along with hip hop cuts from T La Rock and Jazzy Jay, and Run-DMC. Low-slung and groovy, with the b-boy delivery of hip hop’s early days, full of swagger, bravado, and bragging lyrical content, backed up by an incredible flow and lyrical prowess. In Def Jef’s own words, ‘a lyrical miracle’.

Erkin Koray - Öksürük

Erkin Koray is possibly the biggest name in Anatolian rock music, with a stunningly cerebral psychedelic take on the genre that fuses its big rhythm sections, fuzzy guitar solos, and high-energy riffs with some of the instrumentation, scales and ornamentation from the folk music of his native Turkey. Öksürük is a low-slung freakout track, its downbeat rhythm section grounded and chugging, while the fuzzy Hendrix-esque lead guitar soars in a wild solo that lasts nearly the duration of the whole track.

These are just some of the highlights in what I hope is an enjoyable musical journey that spans across continents, generations and genres…

A huge thanks go out to labels such as Now Again, Light In The Attic, Numero Uno and Luv N’ Haight, Analog Africa, Music From Memory, Africa Seven, Far Out Recordings, Strut, Mr Bongo and Soundway, who continue to unearth some of the most unique and amazing music that may have otherwise never seen the light of day.