Kyerematen(g) Stars

After these classics now something a bit more modern: The Kyeremateng Stars, also sometimes spelled 'Kyerematen'. A definite favourite, but quite unknown. It seems to be a kind of Gospel-Highlife, looking at some of the covers and song titles (and in the second track you even get a sermon like interlude by Kyeremateng Atwede himself). Anyway, I like them mostly for their uptempo songs, their plaintive voices and the playful organ.
Judge for yourself, ignore the terrible cover (In African music there seems to be an inverse relationship between the quality of the music and the cover..)

Kyeremateng Stars - Ketewa Biasa Nsua
Kyeremateng Stars - Obi Reba A Mane Me

Decca West-Africa classics

Well, it's been some time now, i've been a bit lazy. But thats all gone change now, i'll try to get at least one message / track a week done. And i have collected some real gems lately, so that should not be a problem.
First another African Brothers track, this time belonging to the lp you see in my previous post.
African Brothers - Ade Aye Me


And now something else: One of the other great icons of Ghanaian highlife: E.T. Mensah and his Tempos

A fine highlife about the great rivers of Africa.
E.T Mensah - congo






Here is another example from the famous Decca West-Africa series:

Builders Brigade Band - apolonia






Last but not least, a band I never heard of before:

The Republicans - ahoofe bra

Nana Ampadu's African Brothers International Band

What is it all about?
Well, i would like to share my enthusiasm about the Highlife music with you. I know there must be some people out there that understand what i'm talking about. Highlife is the a type of African popular music, mostly from Ghana and Nigeria. It often has a melancholic, bit bluesy feeling that i really like. Big names in this genre are E.T Mensah, The African Brothers, Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, just to name some of my favourites. (for more background, just check Wikipedia) Although highlife has been very popular in Ghana and in Nigeria, in the eighties it lost lots of ground to other musical forms, and in my opinion it has never been the same since. There are still some bands active, but for most Africans this is just nostalgic music from the past. Consequently it is not commercially interesting to re-release this music on cd, so hard to find scratchy records is all we are left with. I've been collecting for some years now and i'm sure i have some interesting tunes in store for you. Be back soon!



This is a track from the 'Tribute to DK Nyarko' album of the African Brothers. DK Nyarko was a pivotal figure in the Ghanaian highlife scene.
boomp3.com