I popped in to our local second hand record shop for the first time in a while on Monday and discovered to my great delight that they had got hold a small job lot of African CDs since I was last there.
With great restraint I bought only three. Two of them are by artists who have featured here previously, Algerian desert rockers Imarhan and the Zambian who conquered Zimbabwe, Robson Banda. Mr Banda appeared very recently in the final post of the African Odyssey.
I know I am going to enjoy both those albums and there is a fair chance they will feature here in due course. But the one I was most excited to listen to was a 1997 compilation from the Central African Republic that goes by the self-explanatory name of "Centrafrica Compil'".
I could really have done with this album way back in July 2023 when the Odyssey visited CAR. One of the acts we featured then also appears on the CD (Formidable Musiki - in the first of the videos) but the other 12 artists on the album are new names to me.
There is plenty of sparkling soukous guitar work on display of the sort you will associate with their southern neighbours in DRC, with Zokela possibly being the pick of the bunch. To that I have added something mildly funky courtesy of Centro Mix.
The videos feature other acts that appear on the compilation, including a welcome return for the Formidables.
"Ignition" - Zokela
"Sanza Nostalgie" - Centro Mix
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