“Everyone’s favourite Sudanese collective from London is back with another full album!”

“Contains the monster club hit Mashena!”

It’s been 5 years since the critically acclaimed debut album from the Scorpios was released on Afro7 records. Since that time the band has stayed busy actively playing around central Europe and in clubs around England.

In 2018 the band released the hit single Mashena earning them massive recognition with DJ’s around the globe, and gaining heavy radio play.

Scorpios aren’t just an instrumental band, one of the key elements in the group’s sound is the mesmerizing voice of Regia Ishag and the groups male voicing by Mohammed and Babo Osmand and Khamal Gourmborr.

LET’S GO was recorded at Abbey Road studios back in 2018, and the album also has two live recordings. Another new key member is Japanese keyboard legend Izumi Kobayashi joining the band pushing their signature sound even further, colouring tones fusing elements of traditional Sudanese music with dub and funk creating that unique groove that makes the Scorpios so great!

BUY THIS LP over at our brother store JAZZAGGRESSION Records, use this link. (preorder, ships by the end of February

LINK TO SONG SNIPPETS from Scorpios Let’s Go LP

Happy new years, we’re back and it’s 2022, we promise to update the front page a little more often with new posts of vintage songs from the East African diaspora. Sportsman – a Cigarette brand from BAT (British American Tobacco company) which has been in the market for over 85 years and is sold in various Eastern Africa markets including Kenya, Uganda, and Somalia. So jack up a pack of Sportsman in the true sportsman fashion and you should be ready for any sports, and if lucky you can win a business worth 1000k Kenya shilling! This and many other singles are on this months monthly auctions at eBay, check ’em out here.

A) SPORTSMAN ‘Sung in Swahili’ B) SPORTSMAN ‘Sung in English’

Side 1 a) GONDA: A bewitching dance for young adults. Girls don ostrich-feather Head-plumes and enticing skirts. Others wall as drums pound out rhythms in dramatic bursts of energetic ferocity. b) LUMBOMBOMBO: The ‘Lumbombombo’ is a very rare one-stringed violin. In this song the singer praises his skills as a player in an almost-forgotten-melody. c) MUCHECHEMEKO: Calabashes, flutes, tins, rattles and drums combine to create an erotic atmosphere on the shores of the Indian Ocean. d) SPIRIT DANCE: In the middle of the night, a witch doctor encourages a patient to shake to the medicine of the drum. Hysteria follows.
Side 2 a) KAYAMBA: The most famous of all Giriama dances, featuring the weird, wonderful ‘Bungo’ horn.b) MWANZELE: The strange, eerie sounds, often used at funerals, created by metallic percussion.c) EARLY HOURS SPIRIT DANCE: The spirit of the drums gather momentum, hotter and hotter, as the night becomes day. d) KAYAMBA FANTASTIQUE: A larger horn bellows forth in brilliant improvisation. e) GIRIAMA FINALE: A sensational beat erupts with bursts of the ‘Bungo’ horn, then dies away into the wilderness.

Press to hear SIDE A of the single
Press to hear SIDE B of the single

Side One 1. KILUME DANCE, of the fun-loving Akamba people, is sedately energetic and traditionally restricted to elders-of both sexes-of this large Kenya ethnic group. 2. TYPICAL OF BORDER DISTRICTS of Uganda and the eastern Congo is this enchanting beat, played by two leisurely drummers as evening falls. 3. SPIRIT-EXORCISM, a rhythm of Kenya’s Teita people, in a rare, secret ceremony called “upepo” 4. GAY GIRIAMA, of the Kenya coastland, play their drums under the palms when the hot African sun makes work a burden.
Side Two UGANDA DRUMS, in a banana grove outside Kampala, capital city of one of Africa’s most beautiful countries. 2. CHUKA DRUMMERS, from Embu District, Kenya, perform precise and measured dance movements, carrying their tall drums between their legs. 3. ABOARD A DHOW, sailors celebrate a home-coming with happy rhythms. 4. KAMBA DRUMMER-some of Africa’s most accomplished-are urged on by dance leaders eager to call villagers into the moonlight.

Press to hear SIDE A of the single
Press to hear SIDE B of the single

Side one 1. AKAMBA, of south-eastern Kenya, sing the “ng’eta” and stomp out the strond rhythm of a traditional dance. 2. ABALUYIA GROUP, with Africa’s one-stringed fiddle, and a song hummed by a contented villager at nightfall. 3. FROM THE KIKUYU PEOPLE, a song in praise of their leaders is sung by a gaily-attired group of women, in typical style after harvesting. 4. CONCH-SHELL HORN, played in this strange style, can be heard at the Kenya coast as ferry-boats are hauled across the wide creeks. Side Two 1. LUO TROUBADOUR, representative of Kenya’s second larges ethnic group, sings to his “nyatiti” harp accompaniement. 2. MASAI YOUTHS, as they tend thei cattle, extemporize with warrior dreams and ancient battles. 3. KURIA ELDER; with his single-stringed instrument, tells the district new as he strolls along a northern Tanzania country road. 4. TIRIKI MUSICIANS, from western Kenya, sing wryly of their cattle and provide an interesting example of sophisticated African rhythm.
Press to hear SIDE A of the single
Press to hear SIDE B of the single

Side one 1. LIONS: Lionshave just brought down a wildebeest and are roaring triumphantly over the kill. As they begin to tear their victim to pieces, they snarl and growl at each other. 2. ZEBRAS: Zebras have got the wind of a lion, and their excited barks can be heard from near and far. 3. WILD DOGS: African wild dogs hunt in packs. When at play or fighting among themselves they utter chitting and twittering sounds. 4. LEOPARD AND BABOONS: The harsh, sawing call of a leopard is answered by a male baboon’s bark of alarm. The spotted cat snarls, and the whole troop of baboons jabbers with excitement.
Side two 1. ELEPHANTS: Human scent has alarmed a herd of elephant. The animals are screaming, trumpeting and grumbling. 2. TREE HYRAXES AND COLOBUS MONKEYS: From the treetops of the forest come the eerie calls of the tree hyraxes and the throaty, throbbing chorus of the colobus monkeys. 3. RHINOS: In dense bush country we come across two mating rhinos and hear their gentle squels and harsh snarls. 4. HYENAS: A lion has made a kill and hyenas bgin to circle around him. We hear their howls as well as the uncanny laughter to which they give vent in high exciement. 5. HIPPOS: Hippos blowing and snorting as they float practically submerged in the water.

Press to hear SIDE A of the single
Press to hear SIDE B of the single