Listening Station: The Gold Sounds Of “Golden Afrique”
The German-produced Golden Afrique series may be pricey–each two-disc import set will set you back around $40 or so–but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better introduction to African pop from the ’50s to the ’80s. Each installment covers a different region (West Africa, the Congo, Zimbabwe, etc), and you can dive into a single disc (or track) for weeks on end. Three songs are below, from volumes 1 and 2; we haven’t picked up the just-released volume 3 yet, but that’s what Other Music trade-in credit is for:
Bembeya Jazz National – Tentemba [MP3, link expired] (Guinea)
Franco & O.K. Jazz – Tcha Tcha Tcha De Mi Amor [MP3, link expired] (Congo)
Docteur Nico & Orchestre African Fiesta – Exhibition Dechaud [MP3, link expired] (Congo)
Network Records [Official Site]
