Babatunde Olatunji - Drums Of Passion

Despite never playing or having drums I always had a passion for them. I will always enjoy a good drumming session and this album is exactly that plus Africa because Africa is great (when it comes to music not nutrition).

Babatunde Olatunji was a drummer from Nigeria, a country most known (musically) for Fela Kuti and afrobeat. This record was released back in 1959 so afrobeat and funk in general for that matter was not really around that time but you can hear a lot of drumming here that will occur in later music. As I have said before this album is all about drumming but there are chants here as well to complement the sounds. Some tracks feature other native instruments but overall focus is always on drumming and the beat. There's a plethora of moods here from sad songs to flirting dances and so on. You heard this music before elsewhere but you don't realize it until you hear it again here.

Overall a very fun and interesting album.

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Mandingo - The Primeval Rhythm Of Life

I don't have a lot of information about this but I'll share what I know. This was a band that was formed in the 70s that released a couple of albums in that period. It was an offshoot project by some guy called Geoff Love.

The album itself is a wild mixture of African percussion, jazz and primarily funk. Of all things this reminds me the most of some kind of soundtrack. The soundtrack of a movie from the 70s that's about exploration and brutal murder of white people in the jungles, usual shlock things and so on. But yeah, I can't really give out much explanation here. I can say that the music is all instrumental and far more complex than your usual funk stuff. Drums are also excellent in their sound and rhythm providing for some really great moments.

Get this if you like the sound of many drums.

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芸能山城組 (Geinoh Yamashirogumi) - Akira OST

芸能山城組 or Geinoh Yamashirogumi is a Japanese musical collective founded on January 19, 1974 by Shoji Yamashiro, consisting of hundreds of people from all walks of life: journalists, doctors, engineers, students, businessmen, etc. The array of talents and ideas available brings a peerless degree of creativity to their work, which is known for skillful fusion of traditional music with high technology. Their early albums were marked by a distinct world influence, with works such as Chi No Hibiki (Echoes of the Earth Sing East Europe) displaying Bulgarian and other eastern European singing styles and Africa Genjoh (The African Vision Singing) featuring African styalised chanting. Osore-zan - Dou No Kenbai, furhermore, offered a more psychedelic flavor with Krautrock influences and the introduction of guitar work.

Their work for Akira soundtrack is simply amazing. From the very beginning of the soundtrack starts this tribal like music that perfectly fits in the futuristic concrete jungle of Neo Tokyo. The tribal music is dominant but there is also an large array of other music from ambient to authentic Japanese traditional music. One of my favorite soundtracks.

Tracklist:

01. Kaneda (3:10)
02. Battle Against Clown (3:36)
03. Winds Over Neo-Tokyo (2:48)
04. Tetsuo (10:18)
05. Doll's Polyphony (2:55)
06. Shohmyoh (10:11)
07. Mutation (4:49)
08. Exodus From The Underground Fortress (3:18)
09. Illusion (13:56)
10. Requiem (14:26)

Download.