Mogadisco : Dancing Mogadishu - Somalia 1972-1991

"Imagine Somalia without suicide bombers and the murderous, al-Qaeda-linked militants of al-Shabaab. Picture instead Mogadishu as a party city in all its pre-war vitality, replete with luxury hotels, pavement cafés, dance-till-dawn discos and a vibrant music scene populated by bands thrillingly fusing local rhythms with Western funk and R&B. The dozen tracks here, unearthed by Analog Africa's Samy Ben Redjeb in the dusty archives of Radio Mogadishu, which have somehow survived in the murderous chaos, were the soundtrack to that golden era. Some of the acts will be familiar, particularly the Dur-Dur Band, whose 1980s funk fusion has already been the subject of two Analog Africa albums, and have reformed in exile in London with a refreshed line-up ... However, new to most will be the Éthiopiques-goes-reggae sound of Omar Shooli, the deep funk of Mukhtar Ramadan Idii's 'Check Up Your Head' (which borrows the rhythm of Jean Knight's 1971 US soul hit 'Mr Big Stuff ') and the wailing voice of Fadumo Qassim backed by the swirling, Ethiojazz of the Waaberi Band".

"Off-kilter dancefloor action from Radio Mogadishu's dusty archive. A great find ... Mogadishu was not immune to disco fever. The 1970s residents of Somalia's otherwise tense, politically turbulent capital made their allegiance known via towering afros, bicycle-chafing flares and imparctical platform shoes. The loval musicians who reflected this welcome explosion (...) made luxury hotel (...) their stamping grounds, mixing up well-worn covers of James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye with the incoming sounds of Bob Marley, Fela Kuti, Michael Jackson and a smattering of expectant originals. Much of "Mogadisco..." is lifted from those performances, rescued by Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb during a month-long sift through over 20,000 crackly radio station reel-to-reels and discarded recordings ... Finding joy in the midst of turmoil, the strangely beautiful bounty of "Mogadisco..." reveals more telling detail with each listen".