The Message (Limited Dance Edition Nr. 9)
by Gyedu-Blay Ambolley
Tim Mee
Tim Mee
An exciting, hypnotic and classy mix of William Onyeabor and Fela Kuti. Keyboards drive side A but the terrific ‘Simigwa Soca’ the brings in side B reveals the drums and highlife horns taking over to accompany this man’s amazing baritone vocals. Funky Ghana!
Favorite track: Simigwa Soca.
klastep
klastep
Thank God for this cool Good-Mood-Funk! And what a voice,especially on "Simigwa Soca".
Favorite track: Simigwa Soca.
6FTSTIX
Vik Srinivasan
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
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Full Digital Discography
Get all 53 Analog Africa releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Ecuatoriana - El Universo Paralelo de Polibio Mayorga 1969-1981 (Analog Africa No.37), The Good Samaritans (Limited Dance Edition No. 20), Sonido Verde de Moyobamba (Limited Dance Edition Nr. 17), Perú Selvático - Sonic Expedition into the Peruvian Amazon 1972-1986 (Analog Africa No.36), Ernesto Djédjé - Roi Du Ziglibithy (Limited Dance Edition Nr. 15), The Movers Vol.1 - 1970-1976 (Analog Africa Nr. 35), Orchestre Massako (Limited Dance Edition Nr. 14), Saturno 2000 - La Rebajada de Los Sonideros 1962-1983 (Analog Africa Nr. 34), and 45 more.
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Limited Edition LP 180g LP - Comes with a Silk-Screen printed cover and colored vinyl
Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumStrictly Limited to 2000 Copies
Includes unlimited streaming of The Message (Limited Dance Edition Nr. 9) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Sold Out
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1. |
The Message
07:47
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2. |
Akoko Ba
05:10
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3. |
Simigwa Soca
03:43
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4. |
Burkina Faso
03:49
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about
Prepare yourself for new directions in Afro-funk. During the 1980s, ghanaian bandleader Gyedu-Blay Ambolley began to experiment with electronic instruments, and the result was a potent cocktail of highlife, funk, exploratory synths and righteous vocals, the sound of a restless genius intent on pushing the traditional sounds of highlife into a brave new future. On July 20 Analog Africa will release a 12” containing four of Ambolley’s hardest-driving excursions to the outer limits of eighties funk.
By the end of the 1970s, Ambolley was already a legendary figure on the ghanaian music scene. A drummer, turned guitarist, turned bassist, turned lead vocalist, he rose to prominence during the late 1960s, serving with countryman Ebo Taylor in the Stargazers and the Uhuru Dance Band before launching his own career with ‘Simigwa-do’, the 1972 hit that propelled him to West African stardom. As a founding member of the Apagya Show Band and the Complex Soundz, he stretched the boundaries of highlife with electric instruments, funky rhythms and socially charged lyrics in Fante and English.
If he had retired in 1978, Ambolley’s place in the history of ghanaian music would have been secure. Instead, he dissolved the Complex Soundz and embraced the synthesizer. With a new band, Zantoda Mak III, he recorded ‘The Message’, a seven minute funk workout built on a highlife foundation, and decorated with shimmering synths. Recorded in 1980, the song became a hit that would change the direction of Ambolley’s music: over the next decade, electronic instruments played a much larger role in his sonic experiments.
‘The Message’ receives a long overdue re-release on this 12" along with three other peaks from Ambolley’s eighties output. The futuristic funk of ‘Akoko Ba’ strips down the rhythm, raises the intensity of the vocals, and adds a dose of serpentine saxophone. On the B-side, ‘Simigwa Soca’ sets classic highlife horns against an unshakable bass groove, while the incredible ‘Burkina Faso’ is Ghana’s great lost electro-funk gem, a sleek construction of robotic bass, call-and-response vocals, and fat stabs of slippery synth.
Difficult, if not impossible to find for decades, Analog Africa is proud to make Gyedu-Blay Ambolley’s extraordinary eighties recordings available to a wider audience.
By the end of the 1970s, Ambolley was already a legendary figure on the ghanaian music scene. A drummer, turned guitarist, turned bassist, turned lead vocalist, he rose to prominence during the late 1960s, serving with countryman Ebo Taylor in the Stargazers and the Uhuru Dance Band before launching his own career with ‘Simigwa-do’, the 1972 hit that propelled him to West African stardom. As a founding member of the Apagya Show Band and the Complex Soundz, he stretched the boundaries of highlife with electric instruments, funky rhythms and socially charged lyrics in Fante and English.
If he had retired in 1978, Ambolley’s place in the history of ghanaian music would have been secure. Instead, he dissolved the Complex Soundz and embraced the synthesizer. With a new band, Zantoda Mak III, he recorded ‘The Message’, a seven minute funk workout built on a highlife foundation, and decorated with shimmering synths. Recorded in 1980, the song became a hit that would change the direction of Ambolley’s music: over the next decade, electronic instruments played a much larger role in his sonic experiments.
‘The Message’ receives a long overdue re-release on this 12" along with three other peaks from Ambolley’s eighties output. The futuristic funk of ‘Akoko Ba’ strips down the rhythm, raises the intensity of the vocals, and adds a dose of serpentine saxophone. On the B-side, ‘Simigwa Soca’ sets classic highlife horns against an unshakable bass groove, while the incredible ‘Burkina Faso’ is Ghana’s great lost electro-funk gem, a sleek construction of robotic bass, call-and-response vocals, and fat stabs of slippery synth.
Difficult, if not impossible to find for decades, Analog Africa is proud to make Gyedu-Blay Ambolley’s extraordinary eighties recordings available to a wider audience.
credits
released July 27, 2018
All tracks composed by Gyedu-Blay Ambolley
Analog Africa Limited Dance Edition No.09
Graphic Design: Kathrin Remest
Executive Producer : Samy Ben Redjeb for Analog Africa
Cat. number : Analog Africa AADE09
All tracks composed by Gyedu-Blay Ambolley
Analog Africa Limited Dance Edition No.09
Graphic Design: Kathrin Remest
Executive Producer : Samy Ben Redjeb for Analog Africa
Cat. number : Analog Africa AADE09
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