Cameroon music reviews

It is a fantastic piece from a master poet of international status. Not just the good lyrics but the words. The album is more moving if understand the language.

I first heard this entire album while standing at a listening station in a record store. I couldn't stop listening to it. Ms. Nyolo's voice is light and mesmerizing, and her songs held me from beginning to end. The first cut, "Tribu", begins with her deft vocals in her native tongue of Eton (Cameroon) over the whoosh of ocean waves. It is delightful. Ms. Nyolo wrote all the songs, which range from the celebration of the birth of a friend's child (Shana), to tributes to prodigal sons (Ndongo) to observations on love and womanhood. The rhythmic tunes are powered by handclaps and guitar riffs that flow like water. The songs are foreign and exotic, yet soothing and familiar. I LOVE this CD.

This will please everyone you know. All you need now is a few shots of tequila, a good costume, a few strands of(barter)beads and your ready to go.

This is one of my favourites in the Putumayo catalogue. Every song here is guaranteed to lift your spirits. Songs from Brazil, New Orleans, Columbia, Cuba/Cameroon, Venezuela, Haiti, Barbados and Trinidad are represented here. The wonderful 20 page booklet comes with detailed info on the artists and songs, as well as an essay on the history of "Carnival". This is a wonderful mix of uptempo music such as Rhythm and Blues, Salsa, Samba, Reggae, and many other kinds of music which blends to create the perfect Mardi Gras/Carnival feel. I can't recommend this highly enough...it's a must-have.

Putumayo does it again! Just slip this cd into the player and the party gets turned up a couple of notches. I HIGHLY recommend it!!

I expected more african vocals in it.. thats the main reason i brought the cd, i recently became a fan of that kind of music.. it had like 3 songs on there that i liked, besides that this album is garbage

Harsh words but I suppose I expected the music to be stronger than it was....

I am a HUGE fan of Hans Zimmer so this review may be slightly skewered but I feel this is a wonderful edition to my collection. Strange as this sounds, Mr. Zimmer and war go together like butter and toast, so picking this soundtrack up was a no-brainer.
I would have to say that his work on Tears of the Sun does not dig very deep into the well. These tracks could very easily be confused for missing tracks from The Lion King but given how that wonderful score was never released in its entirety, it is still a wonderful listening experience. As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
The music is very reminiscent of his work on Black Hawk Down and Gladiator. If you enjoyed both of those scores, I would definately recommend this one as well. It is a very good CD and worth my hard-earned money. I hope you agree...

I'm not in the habit of writing these things...however I am so enthralled by this music I felt I had to share my thoughts. The CD is a good introduction to the immense variety of music coming out of Africa. My favorites are Ndima Npapedza (#1) by Oliver Mtukudzi and Wassiye (#7) by Habib Koite'. The music is fun and yet has depth to it. I listen to it and while I'm tapping my toes, my soul is singing right along. I recommend this one highly.

"Africa" was one of the first world music CD's I bought - I was involved in a show which included African and African-influenced music and I wanted to do some first hand audio research. This CD is just amazing! One of the things which immediately struck me was the beautiful and distinctive guitar work on many of the tracks, particularly those by Oliver Mtukudzi, Habib Koite, and Les 4 Etoiles. Other noteworthy instrumental work includes the B-3 organ intro on the Soul Brothers' "Thandaza", and the accordion featured in Sam Mangwana's "Ya Mbemba". There are also soul-stirring vocals featuring gorgeous harmonies (like Oom's "Anoma") and alternating call-and-response type melodies, and best of all, a wide variety of really cool grooves - each track has its own unique flavor. My favorites are Johnny Clegg and Juluka's "Love Is Just A Dream", Samba Ngo's "Sa Ntima" and Ricardo Lemvo's "Manuela", but really, there isn't one track here I don't love - five years after buying this CD it's still one of my favorites! I have since gone on to buy more CD's by several of the artists featured here, as well as by other African artists. I've also bought many of Putumayo's other compilations, which all serve as great introductions to a variety of artists as well as to many types of world music. By all means I recommend buying "Africa" - you won't regret it, but I warn you, you won't stop here :)

I have a bar & grill in Bogota Colombia and I play this and other Putumayo CDs to provide an interesting atmosphere. #8 is my favorite, it makes you move and groove. Customers constantly ask about these CDs.

I was a little disappointed that the version of Soul Makossa on this CD is not the original from the early 70's. It's not just remastered or remixed, it's totally re-recorded - more polish, less groove. And because of the vague liner notes, I'm not sure where this version even came from. What redeems this disc is that it's a great listen overall. Lots of funky beats and layered rythms backing a mean reed blowin' by Manu! Texturally, some of it reminds me of Remain in Light era Talking Heads. It's just ashame that the funkier original version of Soul Makossa wasn't included.

Only Manu can make a beat that pound's your soul with that thumpin' sound of the drummer and the conga's mixed with just the right amount of deep haunting & seductive vocals that hit your ear like the BIG Bang Theory. It is explosive and mixes just the right amount of funk to keep your toes tappin. His beats are so infectious, that several rap artist's whom I will not name, still continue's to sample many of DiBango's beats, knowing that today's young generation beleive that it's a new sound. We who are the true collectors know that is not true. Manu churned out many hits during his time and once you've had the chance to really listen to his music...you will be pleasantly surprised at just how many of his songs have been incorporated into today's hip-hop. Thank you Manu for your precious gift of song. Long live Soul MaKossa!!

I happened to hear "Soul Makossa" one day on the Spinner Plus Internet radio station and was intrigued by this funky African music which sounded to me a bit like Fela Kuti. So figured I would try this Manu Dibango dude out. Boy was I glad that I did. Great Stuff!

This music should cure the worst case of the sweatshop blues. It's hard to sit still listening to this "Afro-Soul-Jazz" music. The sound quality is excellent.

The following four tracks more than justify the purchase of this CD.

(1) Soul Makossa has a timeless polished funky beat with backup singers (French) and a power saxophone rifting in an out. This has got to be one of the top ten Funky recordings of all time.

(2) Sun Explosion has quicker funky bass beat like a disco song on amphetamines that can quickly put you into a trance.

(3) Adele Dance has more of Industrial style sound sort of like Manu Dibango Meets Kraftwerk. This combination works real well and doesn't sound dated at all because the Afro-Funk Saxophones and rhythms hold everything together (Oolalala!).

(4) Electric Africa returns to more of the Soul Mokassa style of pure Afro-Funk beat with a more restrained power saxophone with Herbie Hancock on piano no less (Wow!).

On the down side, I wish there would have been more information on which albums these cuts came from and the dates these recordings were made.

Having been introduced to the Lafayette Afro Rock Band through the Africanfunk compilation by Russ Dewsbury on Harmless I (wrongly) assumed that the tracks there and elsewhere on compilations like Racubah etc were their best. This CD carries full information and music and as such demonstrates that Strut are delivering top value. The music: funky afro soul jazz dance

The Lafayette Afro Rock Band were actually from the U.S., but were a Paris based group - - and to this day (except for DJs who find this stuff the ultimate groove juice) are virtually unknown back at home despite their ultra heavy levels of Funkativity. The formula:'70s dance music with a funk, afro, latin disco mix. An evil mix of Osibisa vs. Mandrill (if that means anything to you!) - - They changed their name to ICE in 1976 and recorded alteast one ULTRA heavy JAZZ FUNK album for Prestige as I recall - - its highly collectible... my copy went missing and I want it bad.
Meanwhile while ICE (at the time of this writing) is still MIA from the reissues bin, its great to see Lafayette Afro Rock, which has always been hard to find is back in reissue. If you dig tripped out funk with lot's of percussion, including the funky Hammond screamin' "jungle music" you'd hear in those Euro-porn films back in the '70s, you definitely won't regret this purchase ! ! !

This is one of my favourite band from the 70's, which was able to combine afro rhythms with funk and soul in a very effective way. This compilation is a very good starting point for anyone interested in rare grooves. Here's what the Strut label says:

"Darkest Light is the first ever retrospective of one of the '70s most influential bands. Recorded in Paris and New York under the production guidance of Pierre Jaubert ("Berjot"), the Lafayettes were a jazz-based super session group that created a heavy, dense, no compromise ghetto funk that has since been sampled by everyone from Public Enemy to Wreckz 'N' Effect. This album brings together the essential tracks from their two studio albums as well as a selection of tracks as their earlier incarnation, Ice, and is the first official collection of their work ever in the UK."

Since there is no tracklist on the Amazon page, you can find it below:

Voodounon
Conga
Hihache
Malik
Ozan Koukle
Nicky
Soul Makossa
Darkest Light
Scorpion Flower
Red Matchbox
Racubah
The Gap (instrumental)
Dr. Beezar "Soul Frankenstein"
Baba Hya bonus break

This is a great buy. Go get it!

SALLY, TU fais un point d'honneur en sortant ce nouvel album. Je le trouve superbe, je n'ai pas encore deguste toute la galette musicale mais deja, je suis impressionne...Du courage et vivement que chacun ecoute l'album et donne son avis...A tous les melomanes, ZAIOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNEEEEE. hehehehhehe

Even if you are new to African music you will like this. Sally Nyolo's latest album, like her previous ones, features upbeat and accessible songs, some in French, some in Wolof, but all great to listen and dance to.

Not quite as good as his first cd...but still worth getting...my favorite songs are: Tracks 4,5,6,9...Henri has got one of best voices and his sounds dig deep in the heart.

I was able to see him in concert in Oakland. Henri is fantastic plus his music will definitely capture you. This is a must by CD.

The first Cd from Henri Dikongue.It still holds
a special place in the heart of most Cameroonians
since it came out and changed the way music.The focus
was turned to Henri. This is a nice buy for any lover of
pure African music, don't go pass this. You will never regret it.

A best-of collection, covering Cameroonian novelist and musical innovator Francis Bebey's musical career from 1963 to 1994. There's a lot of variety, a lot of beauty, and only a couple of tracks are of dubious calibre. Another goodie from the Original Music label.