Friday 28 January 2011

Congo Sevens Number 1 - Various Artists



A joyful noise from '70s Zaire!
If you've never heard the lightning guitars and heavenly harmonies of Congolese rumba and soukous, then this compilation of fuzzy sounds from old singles might open your ears to some of the most exhilirating sounds ever produced by humans; if you're already a fan of the music, then you're going to want to hear these rare tracks.



Tracklist:

01 Alimatou - Franco & L'Orchestre TPOK Jazz
02 Made - Orchestre Bella Bella
03 Houleux - Houleux - Orchestre Bella Bella
04 Dialogue - Tabu Ley & Orchestre Afrisa L'International
05 Mafuku Na Libenga - Tabu Ley & Orchestre Afrisa L'International
06 Biby Ya Shaba - Orchestre Lengo Lengo Topoke
07 Bana Baya Ya Bakwanea - Orchestre Tino Mambo
08 Badyano - Orchestre Tino Mambo

Get it HERE.

I had a number of requests for scans of the covers and labels of these records, so anyone who's interested in such things can find a zip file full of pictures over HERE.

17 comments:

reservatory said...

This looks very cool indeed. Including tracks by Tino Baroza, if I'm not mistaken! THANKS!

zim said...

thanks for these - they look very appetizing - do you have any info on the individual singles - especially the tino mambo and lengo lengo topoke tracks?

Cody B said...

Brilliant! Thank you. I've looked in before and love the blog.

øשlqæda said...

dope!

Mr Tear said...

Howdy folks, glad that people seem to be appreciating these songs.

Zim, I don't know what kind of info you require. All of the singles are on the Afican label apart from the Tino Mambo record which is on Flambeau Records and was a subsiduary of the African label. I think they're all from the late sixties to mid seventies, but could be wildly wrong. I know the Franco track is from 1975. The song was split over two sides but I spliced it together to make the complete track. Same with the Orchestre Lengo Lengo Topoke song. There is nothing about Lengo Lengo or Orchestre Tino Mambo in Gary STewart's book, Rumba on the River, and neither of those records came in a sleeve.

If you like I can scan the covers and labels if this would be a help to you.

Cody B, glad you're enjoying the blog and the music, hope you keep coming back for more.

Mr Tear said...

And thanks Reservatory & Owlman. I think you're probably right about Tino Mambo being the work of Tino Baroza, its got that beautiful guitar playing and sounds older than the other tracks.

zim said...

thanks for the follow-up - I was looking for label and release number mainly I guess. I think the tino baroza is probably quite a bit earlier than the other singles on there (it seems a grouping of rock-a-mambo, led by tino baroza), But I would definitely love a scan of the covers/labels

Anyway, thanks again for these, definitely looking forward to vol.2

oh, and very nice work on the cover

Mr Tear said...

Thanks Zim, I wondered whether anyone would notice the cover!
I will try to scan the covers and labels over the next day or two and will post a link to a zip here in the comments so keep you're eyes peeled. I also have to re-record the Stukas Boys lp I posted some time ago as the link is now broken. You might like to check that one out too if you don't already have it.

LeFranck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post - great soulful music. Cheers, JohnH

LPR said...

Haven't been around here far too long it seems. This is beautiful stuff, many thanks!

P.S.: my blog had to move, it's now:
http://guitarandthewindagain.blogspot.com/
Just in case you wanna correct the entry in your bloglist...;-)

Mr Tear said...

Red Pig - consider it done, your new blog is now linked.

I'll try to get around to scanning the covers & labels tonight.

Mr Tear said...

Right. All you patient folks who asked for scans of the covers and labels for these records can find a zip file full of scans over here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?lznfl1szkzsu4vf

Hope they's useful!
X

Kurt said...

Thanks for this. Nice job.

zim said...

thanks for the label scans - the tino mambo one is interesting . . .looks like it was a reissue form the kenyan matata label, but the fact that they were issuing it in the first place is a little odd, given that it's earlier congolese material.

legrandmaitre said...

Some wicked tracks on this! Many thanks!

legrandmaitre said...

Some wicked tracks on this! Many thanks!