West African Beat: Rare 7s and EPs from Benin and Niger (Vinyl)

For the last few years Acid Jazz has been the proud custodian of the Albarika Store legacy.

Hailing from the small but culturally-significant state of Benin, the label was operational from the late-‘60s until the early ‘80s, & was home to some of the finest, deepest, rawest West African cuts ever. A font of local and regional music, the beating heart of the Albarika sound was the mighty T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, who in various guises released dozens of recordings for the label, under the leadership of Mêlomé Clément.

The intoxicating originality of their sound stems from their combination of folkloric and sacred rhythms of the region, with the modernist sound of soukous, afrobeat, soul and funk. Recorded at EMI Studios in Lagos, these recordings have a unique high fidelity and have been a target for grail-hunting record collectors for decades.

For this incredible collection, Dean Rudland & David Hill compile the Poly-Rythmo 45 releases; 7” single & EP sides lost to the seeds of time. Until now.