Name: Mogadisco - Dancing Mogadishu (Somalia 1972 - 1991)
Brand: Various

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

AACD089

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Comes with a full colour 40 page booklet containing 50 pictures.

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2019-12-13

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Proper

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

4260126061347

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Total Cap

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

AALP089

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Black

Download code: Yes

Housed in Gatefold Sleeve with a full colour 16 pages booklet containing 50 pictures

04260126061354

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2 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

Various

Genre GB

African

Label GB

Analog Africa

Analog Africa is a renowned music label that specializes in releasing rare and obscure African music from the 1970s and 1980s. With their series, Analog Africa (2), they have curated an impressive collection of vibrant and soulful sounds that showcase the rich musical heritage of the continent.

Since its inception, Analog Africa has been dedicated to unearthing hidden gems and forgotten masterpieces from across Africa. Their meticulous research and passion for preserving these cultural treasures have earned them a reputation as one of the leading authorities in African music.

With each release in their Analog Africa (2) series, this label takes listeners on a captivating journey through time and space, introducing them to incredible artists and genres that have largely been overlooked by mainstream audiences. From Afrobeat to Highlife, Soukous to Juju, Analog Africa presents a diverse range of musical styles that are sure to captivate any music lover's ears.

Back In Stock

After being blown away by a few tunes - probably just as you will be after listening to this - Samy Ben Redjeb travelled to the infamous capital city of Somalia in November of 2016, making Analog Africa the first music label to set foot in Mogadishu. On his arrival in Somalia Samy began rifling through piles of cassettes and listening to reel-to-reel tapes in the dusty archives of Radio Mogadishu, looking for music that ‘swam against the current’. The stars were aligned: an uncovered and unmarked pile of discarded recordings was discovered in a cluttered corner of the building. Colonel Abshir - the senior employee and protector of Radio Mogadishu’s archives - clarified that the pile consisted mostly of music nobody had manage to identify, or music he described as being ‘mainly instrumental and strange music’. At the words ‘strange music’ Samy was hooked, the return flight to Tunisia was cancelled. The pile turned out to be a cornucopia of different sounds: radio jingles, background music and interludes for radio programmes, television shows and theatre plays. There were also a good number of disco tunes, some had been stripped of their lyrics, the interesting parts had been recorded multiple times then cut, taped together and spliced into a long groovy instrumental loop. Like everywhere in Africa during the 1970s, both men and women sported huge afros, bell-bottom trousers and platform shoes. James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and The Temptations’ funk were the talk of the town. In 1977, Iftin Band were invited to perform at the Festac festival in Lagos where they represented Somalia at the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture.

Not only did they come back with an award but they also returned with Afrobeat. While Fela Kuti’s Shakara had taken over the continent and was spreading like wildfire throughout Latin America, it was the track Lady that would become the hit in Mogadishu. Mogadisco was not Analog Africa’s easiest project. Tracking down the musicians - often in exile in the diaspora - to interview them and gather anecdotes of golden-era Mogadishu has been an undertaking that took three years. Tales of Dur-Dur Band’s kidnapping, movie soundtracks recorded in the basements of hotels, musicians getting electrocuted on stage, others jumping from one band to another under dramatic circumstances, and soul singers competing against each other, are all stories included in the massive booklet that accompanies the compilation - adorned with no less than 50 pictures from the ‘70s and ‘80s. As Colonel Abshir Hashi Ali, chief don at the Radio Mogadishu archive - someone who once wrestled a bomber wielding an unpinned hand-grenade to the floor - put it: ‘I have dedicated my life to this place. I’m doing this so it can get to the next generation; so that the culture, the heritage and the songs of Somalia don’t disappear.’

Mogadisco - Dancing Mogadishu (Somalia 1972 - 1991)

Music GB

Discover Mogadisco - Dancing Mogadishu (Somalia 1972 - 1991) by Various. Brand new release on Analog Africa. Vinyl and CD formats available. A mindblowing mixture of Somali Funk, instrumental masterpieces, and previously unreleased reggae tunes.