Scream Contest- loud 'n' raw African West Coast music

Continuing in the great series that brought us the Green Arrows, Analog Africa now brings us African Scream Contest
subtitled "Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds from Benin & Togo 70s."

Along with the exciting, lively music (a relative of Afrobeat), there are several other extraordinary things about this magical collection. For one thing, the music of Benin isn't very well documented so this CD along with the extensive liner notes is a treasure trove and a musicologist's dream. Also in the notes, you'll hear hear about the insane, dedicated lengths that compiler/producer Samy Ben Redjeb went to including several trips from Germany to Africa to bring back thousands of records, included some he found while scorpions crawled over him. Because of his efforts, maybe this will enlighten Western ears the way that the Ethiopiques series did for another African country (Redjeb certainly has enough material for dozens of volumes). You also hear of how a company called Satel made the whole musical scene in the country thrive thanks to its pressing plant and recording studio.

Hear sound samples at the Analog Africa website.