The First Case of the African Underground

I set out today to revisit one of my favorite themes on the show:  my "desert passage" cases, where I get to share some of the deep sounds from Mali and surrounding West African countries. Sometimes I mix in other deep sounds from West Africa, including mbalax from Senegal and the unique sounds of Ethiopian soul.

But a funny thing happened on the way to making this mix:  I realized that I had an awful lot of material to share from underserved African music scenes, so much so that I felt I was making a mix of underground sounds. So here it is, my first case of the African Underground.

As I have said several times over the past few months, 2016 has been a standout year for African compilations and reissues. Today I am sharing material from recent releases covering underserved scenes including Togo, Sudan, Southeastern Nigeria, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso. I'm also mixing in a few choice cuts from my own collection of Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

The music today is in that "desert passage" mood... lots of folklore, lots of deep psychedelic tracks. Since this is an underground mix, you can also expect to hear plenty of tracks with dodgy original recordings and pressings... my apologies in advance for some of the rough sound quality you will hear today. I've done the best I can to smooth the sound settings into the mix.