A collection of super rare and highly danceable masterpieces recorded between 1969 -1981 by four legendary composers from Benin:ANTOINE DOUGBÉ
EL REGO et Ses Commandos
HONORÉ AVOLONTO
GNONNAS PEDRO & His Dadjes Band
each one of them with their own distinctive sound. This compilation comes with a 40 page full colour booklet with ultra rare pictures and biographies. Fasten your seat belt and enjoy the mind-blowing sound of Benin. (more details in the days to come)
ALL TRACKS OFFICIALLY LICENSED

1. Dadje Von O Von Non - Gnonnas Pedro & His Dadjes Band LISTEN HERE
2. Feeling You Got - El Rego et Ses Commandos LISTEN HERE
3. Honton Soukpo Gnon - Antoine Dougbé LISTEN HERE
4. E Nan Mian Nuku - El Rego et Ses Commandos LISTEN HERE
5. Tin Lin Non - Honoré Avolonto & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo LISTEN HERE
6. Okpo Videa Bassouo - Gnonnas Pedro et Ses Panchos LISTEN HERE
7. Ya Mi Ton Gbo - Antoine Dougbe & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo LISTEN HERE
8. Nou Akuenon Hwlin Me Sin Koussio - Antoine Dougbé LISTEN HERE
9. Djobime - El Rego et Ses Commandos LISTEN HERE
10. Na Mi Do Gbé Hué Nu - Honoré Avolonto LISTEN HERE
11. Vimado Wingnan - El Rego et Ses Commandos LISTEN HERE
12. Dou Dagbé Wé - Honoré Avolonto & Black Santiago LISTEN HERE
13. Kovito Gbe De Towe - Antoine Dougbé LISTEN HERE
14. La Musica en Verité - Gnonnas Pedro & His Dadjes Band LISTEN HERE
56 comments:
My mind blew up when I saw the new post. Very venerable operation you've got going on! The booklets really make these cds necessary to own in physical form. Interesting & good brain food.
cheers,
James Bamberger
www.simmer_down.podomatic.com
Looks like a good one.
Do you plan to eventually make these releases available on Rhapsody?
wow, Samy!
Any news on the vinyl for Voudoun Effect?
Keep the spear burning
Que du bon une fois encore !! Merci Samy !
ooooooooooooooooo! fantastic ... can't wait!!
been playin' the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band in my car so many times! ... although gotta admit i've not gotten 'round to buying the Vodoun Effect yet .. think i can blame that on spending too much money on random afro vinyl!
peace ;)
...any chance you could throw up a link to me in your wonderful linklist?? ;)
afroslabs.blogspot.com
Every release on this wonderful label has completely blown my mind.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for unearthing these musical marvels and helping to give the artists the recognition they most rightfully deserve. I'd buy every release twice just for that alone!*
Please please please don't stop!!!
* = err, I did
Yesssss! Thank you so much Sami. Sounds absolutely fantastic ONCE AGAIN. Inspirational :)
Thank you guys, I really appreciate the comments you are making. I am about to finish the liner notes and the whole project will be ready to go to print in about two weeks. The promo copies are ready, so if you know of any SERIOUS journalist who would like to write a review, please do let me know.
Is there any way to buy these locally in Frankfurt?
Pro-Vinyl will stock it ;)
hey samy
a friend of mine is a reviewer for mondomix, a free fanzine dedicated to links between musique du monde and now sounds
and florent mazzoleni which i gave you the adress is still a reviewer for a lot of musical papers here
I love the new project...thank you for all that !! I would be very glad to get a promotionnal copy!!!
Afro regards
Babaliah
Wow! I'm looking forward to hear this one! And my wife from Benin, who is crazy about the late Gnonnas Pedro...
This sounds totally great! Can't wait! Eternally greatful for your persistent excavating, an awe inspiring enterprise indeed. Thank you Samy!
Have to second Matt's inquiry about the Vodoun Effect vinyl. Any news?
Keep on!
no way are we giving up on you Samy :)
keep up the good work
The Vinyl of "Vodoun Effect" should have been released 6 weeks ago already but we´ve had few setbacks unfortunatly. The first test pressing we´ve received was very poor so we´ve asked for another test. I was told the test pressing had exactly the same sound as the master (??) and if I wanted a new test pressing I would have to pay for the whole process again, anyway after 10 days of arguments and others I've decided to cut the vinyl with another company here in Frankfurt. We've received the 2nd test pressing which sounded great but this time they had missed the beginning of the first track on side D, so this has been rectified. Also we have printed posters for you guys which will be included in the gatefold. Now the pressing plant is asking for more or less 20 cents per poster just to fold them. So we've asked them to return them and we´ll fold them ourselves.....so those are the headaches of small labels like ours. Again apology for the delay....and do not give up on us !!!
I'm a massive fan of your compilations - African Scream Contest is constantly on in my house. Thank you.
Hi Samy, this poster idea is a very good one ! Can't wait to have this LP at home. Many thanks ;)
The music you have been unearthing from Benin has been truly amazing. 35 years or more on, none of it sounds dated at all. Many thanks.
The artwork looks awesome!
Can't wait for this one!
At last samy i have a weekend at home to check your blog.Thanks so much for the great few days in Frankfurt,big shouts to mulatu when you speak.
As you knowi think this is a killer compilation ,it was going round in my head all the way home,you know i love these tunes ,its definatly on par with Africa scream if not better,catch you in london ,dont forget a promo for my radio show!!keep on keeping on Keith@Boiling Point
thanks for answer samy!!!
and for the poster thing...
je lance moi aussi bienôt un petit label et je vois que c'est que le début des galères
je comprends aussi pourquoi tu maîtrises aussi bien les trois langues que moi je connais un peu, mais en plus tu taquines peut être en arabe en tout cas merci beaucoup pour tout ce gros son que tu nous rend accessible j'espère travailler avec toi un jour, sur une prod ou sur une soirée
Afro regards
Baba
Samy that is a great collection you have there. This is damn good music. I landed here from benn loxo and am glad I did. I've gathered that you're a fan of the afro-latin fusion...have you explored afro-portuguese music? What do you think of it? Check out some of the tunes at lusotunes.blogspot.com, they might be of your fancy.
How damned exciting! I assume that release date of may 15th isn't a UK one? Hopefully it is otherwise I'm gonna have a hard time waiting for it!
What's happening about the second volume of Orchestre Poly-Rhytmo as well?
All the best
Hi Sam. The compilation is going to be released on May 29th europe wide except for the UK which is going to be June 15th due to the soundway release. It looks like our distributer prefered to have two weeks between our two releases. Soundway´s compilation Panama2 is going to be released on June 1st and it is, how could it be any different, excellent.
Thanks for the info. I work in a record shop in Brighton in the uk and it happens we got promos of your release and the new soundway one today. I've got yours on right now! sounds great so far. Can't wait to get the real thing with booklet and all. We have sold around 50 African Scream Contest and 20 or so Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo comps on cd and I'm gonna do my best to make sure we (at the very least) replicate that with this new one. Analog Africa and Soundway are responsible for my bank balance getting a battering on old nigerian & ghanaian vinyl - but my life is richer for it!
All the best
Those are some hot tracks! Is the May 15th date the release date for the US?
hey what's your email? want to add your myspace page.
Hi,
I tried to send you an email through your blog here @ analogafrica@yahoo.com and it didnt go through.
I was just wondering what was happening with the vodoun effect vinyl, and where I could buy it. I've been waiting for it since last year, and now I just saw it popped up on ebay for about $50, and it's already gone. Insane if you ask me.
Please let me know where I could buy this record and all your future releases (because I know I'll love em). If you could email me, it's torq@online.no, it would be fantastic!
Thanks.
I started to look for this group thanks to you blog. It is really good! Thank you so much.
for people wondering about the vodoun effect vinyl, they've just got dispatched in my local cinyl store la st week, so go check yours ;)
no poster inside though !
Gooooooosh !!!
Just got the Orchestre Poly Rythmo Vol.1 on LP today.. I was absolutely dessasperated to find a copy.
Does anyone know where i can grab a Vinyl copy of this "Legends of Benin" compilation by any chance?
Im based in London town.
BRILLIANT JOB !
---
hit me at info@rootsteady.com
Many thanks
Xavier
I can't wait to get my hands on this - never knew how cool Benin is until today :)
Salutations!
Just found Vodoun Effect on vinyl while yammering to folks at Soundscapes here in Toronto... nobody has written a review of Legends of Benin yet here & so I am putting one together now... a promo copy would be grand if possible, but can gladly work with the site's snippets.. Seriously good work. Seriously.
Hello,
Just a quick word to let you know that you are featured in our blogroll
http://www.radiovideotrad.com/blogroll/
Please check our site. If you like our work, do link back to us.
If you feel like contributing, let us know.
A lot of thanks
The Radio.Video.Trad Team
PS : you can also check our other website http://www.radiovideojazz.com/
Very good Legends of Benin! Bought it this afternoon. From track one to the last it's highly infectious..
Do you know what the score is with the vinyl issue?
The cd is going well here in Brighton.
Cheers
Hi,
This vinyl is also delayed?
Any news on when we can see it in the shops? I'm so lucking forward to getting this, and I have a no CD policy :)
I'm the music director at KUOI 89.3 FM, which is a free-form college radio station out of Moscow, Idaho.
We would love a promotional copy of the Legends of Benin to play at our station.
Let me know if there is a promotions person that I should contact instead.
Hope to hear back from you soon.
Our address is:
KUOI FM 89.3
Student Union Bldg., 3rd Floor
Campus Box 444272
Moscow ID 83844
Thanks
--
Tom Joyce
Music Director
208.885.6433 * tjoyce@kuoi.org
KUOI-FM 89.3 Moscow, Idaho
The best compilation you ever built ... From italy we are your fans!
I host a show for WOMR in Provincetown, MA called Global Soul. Would love to get a digital promo to play and share with other DJ's at the station. If you use a specific site for digital promotion service, please let me know.
Thanks for the great music,
Brenda Walker
Hi,
I'm really excited about this label, having grown up in Africa. Where are these albums available for purchase?
Many thanks
Ole
Hit NYC as badly as any other spot in the world (from what I can read on these feedbacks),
just saw at Other Music (great and influential record store in NYC) that you're among the top sales of the summer with Legends of Benin.
yovo! yovo!
thanks a lot for this compilation, de nombreux souvenirs de Porto Novo a Cotonou me reviennent.
Good luck with those sharks (@ printing & pressing plants...) ;-)
Gaspard,
PS:
take a look at our myspace while the website is building:
www.myspace.com/spirituallifemusic
So when is "Legends of Benin" comp coming out on vinyl eventually? I'm waiting and waiting with hundreds of others :))) Anyway, I wrote a review of "The Vodoun Effect" vinyl
release and it on my blog - http://african-vinyls.blogspot.com/
Sorry for my bad english, I'm french...
Just to say that this album is a true and wonderful discovery to me. Usually I'm much more a "rock boy" than a salsa/funk one but since I received it, I can't stop playing it again and again. And especialy Gnonnas Pédro who is a mind blowing.
Are you planning to do a Gnonnas Pédro compilation record?
Thanks again for this record. And by the way the booklet is great.
Hervé
Salut Hervé, merci pour le commentaire, tres cool!!
Voila un bon bout de temps que je pense a faire une compilation de Gnonnas Pedro, depuis 2003 plus precisement - mais avec les meilleurs titres sur "Legends of Benin" ceci pourait devenir difficile....je te tiens au courant via le blog. A bientot!!
Samy
And by the way the Vinyl is out since few days!! More to come
DOPE music! Please keep up the good sounds, im spreading the word about the music and the art, i picked up the cd at Rasputins, nice artwork..
-Rob
Got the vinyl the other day (finally!) & it is a thing of beauty - as always!
Thanks once again.
Bonjour Samy, tes compilations sont toujours un vrai régal surtout lorsque je les écoutent sur ma platine vinyl. Je suis un collectionneur avec mon frère et ont as une émission tout les mercredisde 19h à 21h sur www.radiomillepattes.com tu es le bienvenue si tu passe sur Paris @+ Stef
I love this release. I bought it in Austin a couple months ago. Played it at a party at my house last weekend. People could help but dance. Great music.
Did the LP not include the booklet? :( Or did it get taken from the lp.
how can I download a copy of the legends of benin booklet? I got the music download via amazon but no booklet!
buckwiet
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