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Flash Atkins has pulled together a crack team of musicians for ‘Sanza Mibale Ya Bo Pemi’ on Paper Recordings. It is a tribute to the golden age of afro disco, when the sounds of 70s New York found their way to the continent and fused with local musical styles and rhythms.
Felix Ngindu sings in his native Lingala language from DRC over a locked bass, congas, keys, percussion, rhythm guitar and a brass section from Haggis Horn’s Atholl Ransome and Malcolm Strachan. Funk, disco, soul and jazz all blend for a peak time jam. The ‘Flash Dub’ strips things back to the rhythm section for some heads down, dubby action and a tracky take that still packs a dance floor punch. The incomparable Bosq steps up for remix duties and knocks it out the park. Layered drums and percussion give things a more Latin swing before the beats break, piano enters the fray and it’s a tropical funk party starter all the way. The dub does the beat thing, rocking a hard groove for the dancers. Hands in the air? F**ck yeah!
Spacemen 3 were ‘my’ band at Sheffield Polytechnic, particularly their album Playing With Fire. Its mix of druggy, downtempo and drone tracks still sound great but Revolution is the banger. It’s almost like a heavy techno track; its drives a groove, has a melodic bassline and a drop after which all hell breaks loose. I believe Erol Alkan plays it now and again. I have had many a happy night throwing myself around mosh pits with a bottle of poppers shoved up my nose to this.
I was a dyed -in-the-wool indie kid in the late 80s having gone through psychobilly and goth. I’d never really heard deep black music until this was played at an afterparty party and it opened a whole new world of musical exploration. It’s incredible from start to finish. The first chord change doesn’t come in until around the 9 minute mark, then it just builds and builds into a psychedelic soul track. I’m a huge fan of Isaac Hayes, his catalogue is incredible and he was hugely influential as a producer at Stax. I saw him play live at The Big Chill not long before he died and tt was a long way from his glory days, but I was thrilled.
When I was about 20, I went on a day out on a barge with my sister and her friends who were a few years older and we all did acid. I was coming back afterwards in a car with a good sound system and this came on, absolutely blowing my mind. I’d never heard anything like it. I spent about three months looking for it in Manchester and it set me on the dance music path. It was way ahead of its time and if it was released today, would still sound amazing. It pointed the way for The Orb and a whole plethora of genres.
The ultimate acid house track that still rocks any dancefloor. It sounded like it was from outer space with the sparse drums, vocal snippets, acid and klonk producing some kind of alchemy. I’d always loved Kraftwerk but this nailed down machine soul for me, magnified through the bliss of ecstacy.
This came in the heyday of US garage with every Strictly Rhythm release a must have and the sound was going large in the UK at clubs like the Ministry of Sound and Hard Times. George Morel released a series of dubs and tracks that were always brilliant but this was the one. I must have played it in every set for about ten years and it never fails to go off. I’m a sucker for a 5th lead / bass which I’m sure comes from Let’s Groove and the drums have the meanest swing that I’ve spent a lifetime trying to re-create.
Paper Recordings have had a special connection with Norway since we put out the first record by Those Norwegians in 1997. It’s always been a big draw as a place to play and visit. We made the film Northern Disco Lights – The Rise and Rise of Norwegian Dance Music which has only strengthened the bond and I’ve a lot of good friends over there now. At least one or two of them come through my hometown of Hebden Bridge every year. Inspector Norse sums up the scene up perfectly; a wonky banger with its tongue placed firmly in its cheek.
As the curtains shut and my coffin slides away, this is the song that is going to be played. The most joyous, uplifting, life-affirming disco track of all time. I’m listening to it as I’m writing and all the hairs have gone up on the back of my neck. There’s something about the chord progression that does it for me as two other tracks that are basically versions, Mari – Free (Ray Mang’s Extended Version) and Thandi Zulu & The Young Five – Love Games are perennial favourites.
I can’t remember when he first came on my radar, probably the Master At Work’s remake of Expensive Shit, which I absolutely hammered. He blended West African music with American funk and jazz to create afrobeat alongside his drummer and musical director Tony Allen, my musical hero. Not only did they invent a musical genre, but Fela’s life was unbelievable; declaring his own independent Kalakuta republic within Lagos, having thirty wives and an ongoing battle with the military junta who fatally threw his Mum out of a window. No musician ever walked the walk with so much conviction. This could have been nearly any track from Fela’s back catalogue and he set me on path of African musical discovery.
A great example of some of the new electronic music coming out of Africa that I’m really excited about that, taking the last 30 years of Western dance music and running with it. I’ve got a band BOM Nation and we’re doing our own version. We’ve started playing live and it’s been going off, so watch this space!
An absolute banger and probably my biggest track of the past couple of years. It’s a good example of where my sets are now; lots of live stuff going on, global influences and something that can fit any occasion. That increasingly live feel is where I want to take more of my production, and I put it in the same category as my latest release Sanza Mibale Ya Bo Pemi.
Huge thanks to Flash Atkins for joining me and taking us deep into the music that shaped his journey. His new release Sanza Mibale Ya Bo Pemi is out now on Paper Recordings, complete with a heavy dub mix and tropical remixes from Bosq that are guaranteed to light up any dancefloor. Do yourself a favor: stream it, grab a copy, and feel that Afro disco energy for yourself.
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DJ | MUSIC CURATOR & SELECTOR | PODCAST MAKER | BLOGGER Professional online interpreneur. Coffee practitioner. Electronic music culture maven. Total music guru. Infuriatingly humble problem solver. Food & sports fanatic.
Dirty Disco 613 delivers another carefully curated two-hour journey through the worlds of deep house, soulful house, underground grooves, and disco reworks. Hosted by Kono Vidovic and recorded for Deep […]
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