back in print by popular demand, strut bring back the debut compilation by sofrito aka djs hugo mendez and frankie francis
- limited reissue of debut sofrito compilation lp from 2011
- mighty shadow ‘dat soca boat’ subsequently used on malibu tv ad in 2012
- includes exclusive edits of tracks by victor uwaifo and safohene djeni
- cover and package artwork by lewis heriz
for fans of:
fela kuti, orlando julius, quantic, mighty sparrow, lord kitchener, nyboma, franco, nemours jean-baptiste, analog africa, soundway, fania records, invisible city, gilles peterson

deep, storming salegy sounds from madagascar. salegy is the electrified updating of the traditional antsa style from the north-west of the island — 6/8 rhythms, layered with percussion and call-and-response vocals — and the vetson’ androy group one of its most popular proponents. from 1978, mavandeza has the heady urgency of killer fela — with two women singers out front, psychedelic organ and prowling-lion bass. the flip is from a decade later, by malagasy superstar eusebe jaojaby — rough and tough dancefloor worries, with a mazy string-line, mash-it-down percussion and lilting flute. another sizzler from sofrito.

originally released in france in the early 80s, the highest bidder has long been a dancefloor classic, combining snappy boogie bass and a stepping groove with gordon’s soulful vocals. sofrito and gordon henderson are proud to see these tracks legitimately once more, cut nice and loud on a 45 for optimal club play.

a fresh installment in the sofrito super singles series: a limited 3 track ep of raw percussion sounds from the alma negra crew, at the crossroads between organic percussion and electronics, and inspired by the carnival celebrations on the cape verdean island of santiago.

the founder member of afro-disco legends m bamina wickedly go-betweening congolese roots and swinging techno: three boom shots of raw, virtuosic percussion, threaded with complex drum-machine programming and sparse synths.

sofrito returns with more heat for your tropical discotheque, this time dipping into the mysterious sounds of nigerian acid boogie!

esnard boisdur is one of the great voices of gwo ka – the folkloric rhythm of guadeloupe. frankie francis & simbad flip his 1991 track *soufwans* (sufferance) into a groove that combines hypnotic percussion and mournful vocals with detroit-inspired synths and a deep deep bassline. trust us this one is a monster on the dancefloor!

hypnotic carnival rhythms, diy electro and vital compas experiments from haiti.

musical collisions in the atlantic! sofrito kicks off the new island series with a a celebration of the vital dancefloor sounds of cape verde - a mixture of local funana rhythms, batuque percussion and psychedelic disco synths. originally released in the early 80s, dionisio maios anthemic corpim sabe is stretched into a 12 inch mix by the alma negra collective - bringing the thumping bassline to the fore and tweaking the piano-led groove into a slice of cosmic island perfection. on the flip the dynamic hide & smile duo splice an early track from trailblazing group bulimundo into a percussive workout - a sure fire winner that bridges the gap between traditional styles and the sounds of kuduro and coupe decal�e. os kings complete the ep with an ode to struggling youth, anchored by sweet guitars and a slick bassline

disco mali! sofrito present a unique slice of afro-disco from the celebrated griot, niama makalou, recorded in the late 70s.
descended from a family of griots (traditional malian praise singers), niama makalou moved to france in the mid 70s where she cut this, her one and only vinyl release. at the time paris (like much the rest of the world) was swept up in disco fever, so along with a group of malian musicians the date was set to cut a piece of disco, griot style. the resulting mixture of off kilter hand claps, raw string arrangements, balafon flourishes and bambara vocals combine with a heavy disco groove to produce a one-off piece of cross-cultural dancefloor mayhem.
on the flip daphni (aka caribou) crafts an extended version that distills it into a stripped down and dubbed out groove.

next up in the sofrito super singles series is the highlife underground ep – celebrating the bassline heavy sound of 80s highlife.
on the a-side we have teamed up with new london producer drumtalk for a remix of ghanas mpese mpese band. initially released in 1986 the original track was an extended medley – the remix balances the swing of the original with heavy bass and chopped chords, bringing the track up to date while respecting the vibe of the original – an intense example of futuristic highlife that bridges the gap between hackney and accra.
the flip sees the sofrito crew present a killer groove courtesy of the canadoes dance band, originally released on the rogers all stars label in 1982. a minor key intro drops into bouncing drums, handclaps and a bubbling bassline that build and build into a deep and unrelenting groove…

following the recent release of sofritos acclaimed debut compilation, >sofrito: tropical discotheque<, sofrito djs hugo mendez and frankie francis unleash an accompanying 12 inch single to the album on march 15th featuring one of the key tracks from the compilation and an exclusive new sofrito edit on the flip.
comes with code for free digital download of this release.

more heavy tropical dancefloor sounds from sofrito!
two raw slabs of afro rhythms re-edited by frankie francis (sofrito) and simbad (raw fusion/brownswood). the second in the sofrito super singles series uncovers sounds from benin city in western nigeria.

synthed out disco meets fela in a steel pan dancefloor riot

ltd repress .. now a firm favourite in many a dj’s record bag, nigerian disco-boogie king steve monite’s hit “only you” (featured on soundway’s recent “doing it in lagos” compilation), is given a rework by sofrito s own frankie francis. on the b-side, nick the record teams up with idjut boys’ dan tyler to take on “hafi deo” - a beautiful taste of breezy tropical congolese pop from tabu ley rochereau.

the whole truth is back after a small hiatus with a new collaboration with eric boss of myron & e fame. last seen together on party down, whose boogie stylings garnered support from the likes of dam funk, this time eric takes the pitch-perfect 80s funk and gives his producer a theme tune, a calling card. this one is a real underground funk gem. eric has been making waves on the boogie scene for sometime with his pendletons releases. previous whole truth releases have had radio play from the likes of monki(bbc radio 1) and nemone (6 music). and this time, not only does the artwork come from lewis heriz (sofrito) he also plays a mean guitar.

a new label from hugo mendez, co-founder of sofrito! a series dedicated to cross-cultural experimentation, kicking off with this exhilarating dive into the african underground of 1980s paris: a four-track ep from congolese singer albert siassia, backed by a group of young french dreads, rechristened tokobina lets dance, in lingala for the occasion. a mixture of post-punk, rumba, afro-disco and reggae, in two dancefloor sureshots reviving their sole 12 inch from back in the day, plus previously unreleased fire from the same session.

a stalwart of the uk underground & dance music scene, simbad’s music and dj skills have brought him to perform and record on all of the continents over the last decade. as a very sought after producer that still collaborates with the likes of fred p, deetron, roots manuva, lulu james, dayme arocena, mala (dmz), gilles peterson (six albums produced for gilles legendary brownswood label) to name a few, he’s been also remixing for countless other artists worldwide and has a vast array of releases on various imprints like apron, hyperdub, sofrito, bbe etc. “reconnect” remained a dubplate amongst a handful broken beat dj’s for years until simbad decided to release it on swedish brandy productions, a label that has been fairly constant in putting out timeless underground dance music since nearly two decades. remixes by the mighty boddhi sattva and concept e25 included.

making a debut appearance on our own invisible ep 6 compilation last year we re very happy to at last feature a full 4-track ep from the mysterious immaculate rivombo. again the music is filled with that signature sound of live african percussion and 303s but this time with additional thumb pianos, hypnotic vocals and spacey synth lines. purporting to be from burundi (for all we know this could be the product of an elaborate ruse emanating from berlin tbh) the enigmatic producer (he? she? they?) has once again excelled and produced an ep that manages somehow to sound uplifting and spiritual at the same time as it is deep, dark and dubby. whatever, the music s great and that s what matters. definitely one to watch out for. another great ep from invisible inc. trippy, far out sounds. my pick is b1.killer party tool!! (thomas von party / multi culti) this is so good!! (auntie flo / highlife / huntleys & palmers / sofrito / mule musiq) really, really like this (jd twitch / optimo) bomb! b2 (jose manuel / music for dreams / kinfolk / eskimo)

what happens when a house-music icon takes a small, talented bunch of musicians and mixes it with a savory blend of jazz, funk, dance, and soul music? you get a hearty serving of e.o.l. soulfrito, who make their single debut with upright love on vega records. e.o.l. soulfrito, led by musical director and conductor louie vega, is the condensed version of vega’s elements of life live-band project, which over its tenure has released three albums, won a grammy award in 2006 for best remixed recording, non-classical (curtis mayfield, superfly (louie vega eol mix), and performed for a globally-televised audience during the 2007 superbowl pre-game show. e.o.l. soulfrito’s name is a play on the popular latin-caribbean seasoning sofrito, which serves as a nod to vega’s own puerto rican heritage. earlier this year, the band played their first show at gramps in wynwood, miami during miami music week. upright love embodies the organic energy of e.o.l. soulfrito’s live performances. with a runtime of more than ten and a half minutes, it’s a steady groover that slowly blossoms into a blissful symphony of sprightly chords, jazzy bass, crisp percussion, pattering tambourine courtesy of kat ayala, and cindy mizelle’s vocal ad-lib serenades. easygoing yet refined, the single plays out like a summer afternoon jam session between vega and his friends: axel tosca on fender rhodes & synth upright bass, josh milan on synth jazz guitar & synth percussion. start swaying those hips and let the rhythm carry you into the sunset. i wanted to create a more condensed band, since the elements of life band has ten members, it’s always been a little difficult to do smaller venues. i also wanted to create music inspired by groups and artists like war, cymande, johnny hammond, and herbie hancock’s headhunters, but with the vega e.o.l. twist and style. i then created e.o.l. soulfrito with my studio musicians and rhythm section of elements of life and nuyorican soul. i want to take this band and perform in festivals and venues like the blue note, jazz café, ronnie scots, and bb kings. e.o.l. soulfrito will bring you future grooves with a tinge of the musical landscape from our rich past, and yes, there will be experimentation get ready for it.

it’s safe to say this release marks heist’s most international endeavor so far: next up we’ve got alma negra, 4 guys with roots in portugal, cabo verde, italy and spain, hailing from switzerland. they’re putting out an african influenced ep with german detroit afficionado soulphiction involved for a remix. afro lovers will probably know alma negra because of their great work on highlife, sofrito or basic fingers and we’ve been in touch with them for a long time to make this release happen. their 3 originals are a great showcase of their skills, blending traditional african music with contemporary house and techno.

alma negra is a swizz collective that consists of four musically driven friends, the figuiera brothers dersu & diego who s roots are established firmly in their cape verdian heritage, dario with his half and half portuguese/italian mix and finally mario with spanish roots. they are all passionate diggers who love playing music from all over the world, something that s evident in their productions as well. encompassing jazz, african and latin sounds to soul, funk, disco, house and even techno. as far as inspiration goes they mention donald byrd ,fela kuti and theo parrish. their creative output has let them to release on such fine labels as sofrito, highlife and most recently basic fingers. fans of alma negra include gilles peterson, ben ufo, axel boman, dam swindle, africaine 808 and tim sweeney. digger s workout part 2 continues where part 1 left us, proving once again alma negra are on a roll. included is a killer remix from osunlade and his yoruba soul mix of safari is deepness on a new level.

alma negra is a swiss collective that consists of four musically driven friends, the figuiera brothers dersu & diego whose roots are established firmly in their cape verdian heritage, dario with his half and half portuguese/italian mix and finally mario with spanish roots. they are all passionate diggers who love playing music from all over the world, something thats evident in their productions as well. encompassing jazz, african and latin sounds to soul, funk, disco, house and even techno. as far as inspiration goes they mention donald byrd, fela kuti and theo parrish. their creative output has let them to release on such fine labels as sofrito, highlife and most recently basic fingers. fans of alma negra include: gilles peterson, ben ufo, axel boman, dam swindle, africaine 808 and tim sweeney. now they are back with digger’s workout, a fresh and exciting instalment in the basic fingers catalogue - divided into three parts with remixes from esa & santuri, osunlade aka yoruba soul and rainer trueby & corrado bucci present truccy. diggers workouts, part 3 is the final release in the series and continues where the first two volumes left us but thats not all, included is also a remix by the hot duo rainer trueby & corrado bucci present truccy. another essential release in the basic fingers catalogue.

alma negra is a swiss collective that consists of four musically driven friends, the figuiera brothers dersu & diego whose roots are established firmly in their cape verdian heritage, dario with his half and half portuguese/italian mix and finally mario with spanish roots. they are all passionate diggers who love playing music from all over the world, something that s evident in their productions as well. encompassing jazz, african and latin sounds to soul, funk, disco, house and even techno. as far as inspiration goes they mention donald byrd, fela kuti and theo parrish. their creative output has led them to release on such fine labels as sofrito, highlife and most recently basic fingers. fans of alma negra includes gilles peterson, ben ufo, axel boman, dam swindle, africaine 808 and tim sweeney. now they are back with digger s workout, a fresh and exciting instalment in the basic fingers catalogue - divided into three seperate 12 s with remixes from esa & santuri, osunlade aka yoruba soul, rainer trueby & corrado bucci present truccy. digger s workouts, part 1 contains three original cuts and one remix from esa & santuri with spectacular basswork worthy of funkadelic. if you re looking for rattling percussions, irresistible basslines, melodic synths and vocal chants that interweave and do a delicious dance with each other - look no further. this first part of the series is a sure-fire way to send anyone into a near shamanic state. .

alma negra is not only a mountain in the cordillera de la ramada range of the andes mountains, it is also a collective who are based in basel, switzerland. the collective is made up of miajica, dario rohrbach & dersu figueria. they are passionate diggers who loves playing music from all over the world & had their debut last year on the infamous sofrito label with heavy edits from the islands of cabo verde. this release on basic fingers is unique in every way, the keyword of this ep is rhythm. the trio has created something truly imaginative, captivating, and capable of tingling every muscle in your body. three wonderfully inventive & accessible tracks & another basic fingers sureshot.

extremely limited run of don pascals cali experiment ep, only 300 to be pressed! each 12inch will include a download code. as a salsa lover and aficionado, don pascal wants his new material to fill the space between house & broken beat rhythms and salsa music, with a focus on bringing authentic salsa piano to the forefront, it was quantic who hooked him up with some of the musicians to fulfil his ideas, resulting in these two new tracks, tributo and tumbao. this release is sure to be popular with fans of quantic, the souljazz orchestra, buena vista social club and sofrito.

inspired by the musical lineage of london, chicago, new york and detroit, elements of house music, techno music, bass culture and the rhythms of west africa are all to be found here. distinctive in its raw immediacy, drumtalks music belongs in the same dark corners of the dancefloor as daphni, midland and eliphino. his productions and remixes for more music, sofrito, soundway, huntleys & palmers and now getme! have been making an impact far and wide, getting attention of djs such as james holden, jackmaster, gilles peterson and skream. forthcoming single snb /super vega has received radio play on rinse fm, radio 1 and radio 6.

compiled by hugo mendez, co-founder of the excellent sofrito label and sound system, haiti direct features classic material from the early days of groups such as tabou combo and les freres déjean as well as rarities from lesser known groups - bringing together the sound of compas with latin workouts, psychedelic experiments and the cuban influenced twoubadou singers that continued to be a key part of the fabric of haitian musical life. featuring in-depth liner notes and interviews with some of the musicians and producers that shaped the sound, haiti direct is the first widely available compilation to celebrate the unique and innovative sounds of haiti in the 60s and 70s.

first up is tabou for the people by sofrito specials featuring l barrabas which twitch edited for his dj sets a couple of years back. the lovely people at sofrito kindly gave permission for it to be included on this release. its a relentlessly driving slab of 4/4 afro funk with horn explosions. next up is the 10th and final track in twitchs cumbia series. the first 8 were released on japans lets get lost label and the missing number 9 is being saved for a future release. colombias cumbia was born out of african influences. this track is based around a sample from colombian cumbia legend andres landero and is an attempt to fuse traditional cumbia sounds with up to date production styles. the end result is a slow motion hypnotic cumbia retaining the haunting melancholia inherent in the original sample. leading the aa side, twitch passed a wild highlife song by ghanas atakoru manu to glasgows super talented auntie flo (whose highly recommended future rhythm machine album recently saw a release) to play around with. auntie flo cut it up and added additional drums and bass to come up with this euphoric modern highlife groover

the guynamukat limited edition afro disco boogie edit series goes from strength to strength with volume 4 just in time for the summer festivals and sunshine filled outdoor dance jams ... all these four tracks are peak time players with guynamukat crew diggin deep to unearth lesser known soon to be dance floor classics.
dj support from: greg wilson, al kent, sofrito crew, ltj experience, sadar bahar, nick the record, mr scruff, kay suzuki, pat les stache, nicholas, eddie c, faze action, azztronik, kyoto jazz massive ...

excellent deep house, made for the summer, very brazil / jazzy styled