Tadele Roba & Birhanu Tezera [Lafonten] - full cassette [1998] [ethiopia]

Tadele Roba & Birhanu Tezera ( Lafonten ) - Full Cassette Songs

Dub Colossus - A town called Addis [2006] [ethiopia]

   R   E   U   P   L   O   A   D   

       This project brings together an extraordinary but little known African musical heritage, a labour of love recording in a makeshift studio in down-town Addis Ababa and then a journey back to Real World to capture for the first time ever in the UK some of Ethiopia's finest performers.

       This project is the vision of Dub Colossus - Dubulah - aka Nick Page. Composer, guitarist, bass player and programmer Nick started his music career with Michael Riley (Steel Pulse) and in 1990 formed Transglobal Underground with Tim and Hammi, produced-wrote-played six albums before leaving in 1997 to form Temple of Sound with Neil Sparkes.

       Ethiopian music is the hidden gem of Africa. At the end of the Sixties and the early Seventies, Ethiopia was in the dying years of the imperial decline of Haile Selassie and the early years of a brutally repressive junta led by Mengistu. Within the confines of this stifling and constrictive environment there flowered some astonishing music. At times showing Fela Kuti's influences, in the big band sax flavour and other times a different take on regional music, this is a music that is accessible to all and has been championed by the likes of Robert Plant, Brian Eno and Elvis Costello. The style of contemporary Ethiopia music captured by Dub Colossus ranges from dreamy blues, hypnotic grooves, jazz piano and driving funk brass.

       "A Town Called Addis" was inspired by meeting , writing and working with singers and musicians in Addis Ababa in August 2006, and is a collaboration between Dub Colossus (Nick Page) and these amazing musicians covering Azmari and traditional styles as well as the popular singing styles of the 60s and 70s. It seeks to combine the golden years of ethiopique beats (popular again thanks to the release of the critically acclaimed 'Ethiopique' compliation ) and ethiojazz with the dub reggae styles of early 70s reggae groups like the Abyssinians, Mighty Diamonds and so on. along with a hint of Sun Ra..." (Dub Colossus/aka Nick Page)

       The first sessions took place in a breeze block hut under corrugated iron roof bombarded by the sounds of the rainy season high up on the mountain plateau where Addis is built. "...the sound of children playing, dogs barking and women washing all permeate the sessions and help the flavour of the record, albeit as ambient smoke.....Although a howling cat chasing a rat under the roof destroyed one vocal take completely...!"

       We brought these unique urban field recordings home to Real World to complete the picture. In March 2008 we invited a group of outstanding performers from Addis to travel to the UK. Some of these artists are unknown talents who have never traveled outside of their country before now, while others such as singer Sintayehu 'Mimi' Zenebe (Addis Ababa night club owner and know as the Ethiopian Edith Piaf ) and master saxophonist Feleke Hailu (a classical composer, lecturer and head of music at the Yared Music School and part of a dynastic tradition that stretches back far beyond the classic hits his father arranged for Mahmoud Ahmad in the late 1960s) have a huge reputation. They are joined by Teremag Weretow who, with his plaintive voice, playing his messenqo ( one-string fiddle) is a youthful carrier of an ancient tradition; extraordinary pianist Samuel Yirga is an exciting new discovery - a young prodigy of classical and Ethiojazz and finally the glamourous star Tsedenia Gebremarkos, winner of a Kora award as the best female singer in East Africa in 2004,

       From the most primitive recording context to one of the best in the world, this project is an audio journey - and discovery of one of the most alluring, funky and seductive genres of African music.

01. Dub Colossus - Azmari Dub (5:05)

02. Dub Colossus - Entoto Dub (5:55)

03. Dub Colossus - Tazeb Kush (5:52)

04. Dub Colossus - Shegye Shegitu (Blue Nile Mix) (3:54)

05. Dub Colossus - Shegye Shegitu (One Drop mix) (4:49)

06. Dub Colossus - Yeka Sub City Rockers (5:04)

07. Dub Colossus - Shem City Steppers (5:28)

08. Dub Colossus - Tizita Dub (7:38)

09. Dub Colossus - Black Rose (4:06)

10. Dub Colossus - Neh Yelginete (5:40)

11. Dub Colossus - Ophir Dub (4:40)

12. Dub Colossus - Sima Edy (4:40)

13. Dub Colossus - Mercato Music (5:47)

14. Dub Colossus - Ambassel (4:40)

15. Dub Colossus - Ambassel In Box (5:47)

Tadesse Alemu - Mishamisho [2001] [ethiopia]

       Tadesse Alemu was an Ethiopian singer from Wollega who sang traditional Ethiopian songs, sometimes Christian-based, in an upbeat pop-music style with the modern-day electronic instrumentation that is characteristic of today’s Ethiopian popular music. 

         Active since 1997, nothing was known about his origins. However, an interview with Alemu’s wife on Voice of Ethiopia radio during fall 2007 confirmed that he had become sick and died that July in Addis Ababa of a short disease, which resulted from an infection that was caused by a stabbing wound from several years previously that had not healed properly, just before he was set to leave the country on a concert tour.

Tadesse Alemu - Mishamisho

Tadesse Alemu - 01 - Sherbela (9:04)
Tadesse Alemu - 02 - Mishamisho (6:08)
Tadesse Alemu - 03 - Gojea Melegnaw (7:12)
Tadesse Alemu - 04 - Ye-Ethiopia Lijoch (7:26)
Tadesse Alemu - 05 - Minjar, Mignar (6:15)
Tadesse Alemu - 06 - Guragea (5:23)
Tadesse Alemu - 07 - Merea (5:20)
Tadesse Alemu - 08 - Selamlegki (6:38)
Tadesse Alemu - 09 - Oromigna (6:10)
Tadesse Alemu - 10 - Guajla [bonus track] (5:07)
Tadesse Alemu - 11 - Track 11 [bonus track] (5:20)




Vocal – Tadesse Alemu 

Keyboards – Mitiku Tefera

Kirar – Mesele Asmamaw

Masinko – Dejene Manchilot

Backing Vocals – Aschalew Ayele, Elasbeth Meshesla, Sileshi Tsegaye, Teshome Mekonen, Tilahun Auimut, Wase Dires, Yodit Zeleka

Martha Ketsela - Welo Mejen [2007] [ethiopia]

         She is a painter, a poet, a "flower designer," and, for a stake in life, a dutiful mother. But, in the main, Martha Ketsela is one of the very few female Ethiopian artists struggling for a breakthrough in her expertise in the United States. And, with all due respect to possible future commentaries by critics (we expect that to come in the future), she appears to have surfaced as an artist that even more makes her one of the very few to make things of their craft happen.

Martha Ketsela - Welo Mejen

        According to art watchers, in her current works Martha brings a refinement of what once was a roughly hewn skill. She now combines a schooling that blends an Ethiopian upbringing whose influence she highlights in her discourse as well as her art and a western libertarian mark that possibly might have resulted from her further training as an artist (and, of course, living) first in Germany and later in the United States. 

     Martha nevertheless says she remains first and foremost an Ethiopian. If we are to judge her by the works she presented at the WorldSpace lobby in Washington DC. some of Martha's paintings indeed subscribe to an Ethiopian spirit. Though very much gripped by what she has lived through since 1979 when she left Ethiopia, principally western landscape and western ideas and thoughts; she occasionally managed to probe into her Ethiopian beginnings. Some of her recent paintings such as "Music" and a few more manifest a mix of Ethiopian calligraphy (not new to Ethiopian artists in the Diaspora) and western tendency for abstraction.

Martha Ketsela - 01 - Tezeta (6:04)

Martha Ketsela - 02 - Hagere (4:57)

Martha Ketsela - 03 - Welo Mejen (6:18)

Martha Ketsela - 04 - Fegegta (6:00)

Martha Ketsela - 05 - Fekere (5:44)

Martha Ketsela - 06 - Musica (5:13)

Martha Ketsela - 07 - Geze (4:36)

Martha Ketsela - 08 - Zemeta (5:22)

Martha Ketsela - 09 - Audamet (4:38)

Martha Ketsela - 10 - Gebre (4:35)

Martha Ketsela - 11 - Egesegesalhu (4:42)

v.a. - [2013] - The rough guide to the music of Ethiopia [cd 2] - Introducing Invisible System [ethiopia]

[cd 2] - Introducing Invisible System

         Invisible System actually has two new records out this year, although both of them incorporate already-released material. The group's music is featured on a digital-only album issued by World Music as part of the compilation entitled The Rough Guide to Ethiopian Music. This disc features earlier material; this enables Dan Harper to welcome new listeners to his canny mix of dark dub, metal, Ethiopian pop, and techno stylings.

          Traditional-sounding songs, such as "Hode Baba (I'm Worried He's Moving)", rock along nicely, balancing jangling guitars with a rocksteady groove and lamenting vocals. On later tracks, like "Skunk Funk" - taken from their 2011 album, Street Clan, my favorite record of last year - Harper swirls things up a bit with psychedelic wah-wah work, lovely drifty melodies, and a spooky vocal performance from Tewabe Tadesse. This is also a great way to experience tracks from The Cauldron EP, including the disorienting dub spectacular "Azmari Fuze", with vocals from wonderful singer/clubowner Mimi Zenebe.

Invisible System - Gondar Sub

         

01.Invisible System - Closer To The Edge (3:36)
02.Invisible System - Gondar Sub (4:04)
03.Invisible System - Tizita (4:04)
04.Invisible System - Dark entries (6:12)
05.Invisible System - Skunk funk (4:33)
06.Invisible System - Azmari fuse (6:41)
07.Invisible System - Maljam kehnoelish (If this is what you want) (4:05)
08.Invisible System - Oumabetty (3:15)
09.Invisible System - Hode baba (I'm worried he's moving) (5:58)
10.Invisible System - Mama yey (5:56)
11.Invisible System - Fiten azorkugn (I turned my face away) (5:49)



   reviews   

The Introducing series has brought some fabulous artists to wider attention. Its latest is a digital- only release of producer and musician Dan Harper's Invisible System. He's a former aid worker who settled in Ethiopia, built a studio and invited some of the country's finest musicians to step inside. He then returned with the tapes to the UK and introduced them to an eclectic range of British musicians.

Introducing comprises four new songs alongside seven from 2009's Punt (nominated for a 2010 Songlines Award), last year's Street Clan, and recent The Cauldron. The line-up includes Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed (whose vocal on the blues 'If This Is What You Want' is glorious), pianist Samuel Yirga and Justin Adams, as well as Dub Colossus vocalists Tsedenia Gebre Markos, Mimi Zenebe and Desta Firka. Two fast, tight new songs, 'Closer to the Edge' and 'Gondar Sub', start it off, while Tizita's powerful vocal is set to a shady, shimmering semi-electronic backdrop, and the new 'Dark Entries' mixes Ethiopian fiddle with a lean chiming guitar. 'Azmari Fuse' sets what sounds like a field recording under a canopy of layered voices, reverb and Ethiopian fiddle. Fusion can be a messy business, but by assiduously mining several deep veins, this is a well-cut gem, bringing flavours of reggae, trip-hop, dub, post-punk and psychedelia to a strong and pungent Éthiopiques core.

Tim Cumming

A note of caution: despite the title, this is not the first offering from this adventurous fusion project, and you could have heard many of the songs before. Introducing… draws from Invisible System's two previous albums, Punt and Street Clan, as well as The Cauldron EP, and adds some good extra material.

Currently a download-only affair, Introducing… will be released on CD in September, as a "bonus" album with the new Rough Guide to Ethiopia. But it's well worth checking out now if you've not heard Invisible System before.

A boldly unusual project, the man behind it all is Dan Harper. A former aid worker in Ethiopia, Harper built his own studio and persuaded several of the country's best musicians to record with him. Back in England, he asked a wide selection of British musicians to contribute, with Harper on guitar, bass, percussion and programming.

Results, for the most part, are impressive, with the African recordings matched against settings that range from dub reggae to trip hop and psychedelic rock.

Though there were sections on the Street Clan album where the Ethiopians were almost lost in the exuberant musical blitz, Harper manages to avoid such problems here: the backing is assured and at times even restrained, though still highly original.

The Ethiopian musicians include the great Mahmoud Ahmed (whose compelling voice can be heard on Maljam Kehnoelish), along with pianist Samuel Yirga and singers Tsedenia Gebre Markos and Mimi Zenebe of Dub Colossus. The British players include Justin Adamsand Ed Wynne.

Introducing… presents considerable variety, with songs like Oumabetty dominated by powerful Ethiopian female vocals, set against a rumbling bassline, while on Skunk Funk the vocals are set against a slinky groove. Gondar Sub finds African singing dissected by slashing, reggae-influenced guitar lines, and there's more reggae on the upbeat Mama Yey, which includes Jamaican-style toasting.

The closer, Fiten Azorkugn, sounds more mainstream and contemporary, though it's dressed up with throbbing bass and percussion. All told, this is impressively original stuff.

Robin Denselow 2012-07-27

It makes perfect sense that World Music Network would put out a second edition of The Rough Guide to the Music of Ethiopia. The first, in 2004, was a near-perfect sampler comprised of classic tracks from the Ethiopiques collections. Volume 2 goes further, showcasing not only Golden Age performers like Mahmoud Ahmed and Orchestra Ethiopia but also several fusions of those old time sounds with other genres, ideas and players from outside Ethiopia. Thus we are treated to sax great Getatchew Mekuria jamming through a new version of that great standard "Musicawi Silt" accompanied by Dutch band The Ex, the funk/hip hop leanings of Bole 2 Harlem, Krar Collective's tart mix of ancient lyre riffs and modern attitude, Tirudel Zenbe's interpretation of traditional rhythms for contemporary dance floors, solo piano brilliance from Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou (who got her start way back in the 1940s) and much more, including a hot bonus disc by Anglo-Ethiopian outfit Invisible System, who mix familiar Ethiopian modes with techno, dub and all manner of sonic experimentation. Wild, wonderful and very highly recommended.

World Music Central Review

The latest of the label's unlabeled updates/Second Editions/Volume 2s of national overviews they did well by the first time (catalogue number: 1286CD) favors 21st-century material whether it's quinquagenarian Dutch punks inviting a septuagenarian saxophonist up from Addis or Tirudel Zenebe's abrasive Ethiopian disco. On some of the 13 tracks, the beats and tonalities first documented by the completist overkill of Buda Musique's Selassie-era Éthiopiques collections are infused with a funkier feel, but the old-school stuff also sounds pretty fresh-my favorite is a contemplative workout on a buzzing lyre called the begena by Zerfu Demissie, one of many artists here better served as a taste on a sampler than an album-length meal. Which in turn is provided by Anglo-Ethiopian Invisible System's bonus disc, a best-of that often surpasses their track on the overview. Start with "Gondar Sub," or "Dark Entries."

Robert Christgau USA

Which roughly translates as "With Invisible System, which like Dub Colossus dub reggae in its 'package' but has a broader spectrum of styles handling, including post-punk and even techno, finally we get another side of Ethiopian music presented."

Dutch review of the Rough Guide

People really began discovering vintage Ethiopian music with the superb Ethiopiques series, which showed just how varied and soulful the scene was in Ethiopia during the 1970s. It's arguable that it's just as vibrant these days, as this excellent compilation shows. There are some international collaborations from Dub Colossus and Invisible System (who are given an entire bonus album with this disc and are well worth hearing, managing to be sonically adventurous, incorporating many elements, including dub, into their sound, without losing the essential Ethio-centric core of the music), but the focus is on the homegrown. There's still soul, from Mahmoud Ahmed, then the strangeness of Krar Collective, who've been garnering widespread praise, and it's easy to understand why. Jazz has long been part of the spectrum and the glorious Samuel Yirga offers plenty here. The overall variety of the disc makes it a joy, an excellent snapshot of a country's music, and an indispensable primer. Add in cult favorites the Ex on one cut and you have a real winner.

Chris Nickson www.allmusic.com / itunes

       

Melkamu Tebeje - Alguaguam [ethiopia]

Melkamu Tebeje - Lebe Berha New

Melkamu Tebeje are one of Ethiopia’s history-making singers who have been able to contribute, in his own unique ways, to the Ethiopian cultural and artistic renaissance.

He was born in Sidamo region in Ethiopia in 1946. Melkamu has written and produced over 200 songs over the course of 30 years. He is famous for a song called "Awassa, Langano" 

01 - Melkamu Tebeje - Are mela metu (3:20)

02 - Melkamu Tebeje - Anchi temari (3:10)

03 - Melkamu Tebeje - Alguaguam (4:23)

04 - Melkamu Tebeje - Cheb cheb (5:59)

05 - Melkamu Tebeje - Kertual menadede (3:49)

06 - Melkamu Tebeje - Dehna hugni (7:20)

07 - Melkamu Tebeje - Lebe bereha new (3:36)

08 - Melkamu Tebeje - Sentun asalefen (4:03)

09 - Melkamu Tebeje - Wa sew mehon (4:07)

10 - Melkamu Tebeje - Wub ethiopiawit (2:52)

11 - Melkamu Tebeje - Yeleben adarash (3:43)

12 - Melkamu Tebeje - Tabot yemesel (7:41)

Marshet Damtew - Ante Yene [ethiopia]

01 - Marshet Damtew - Ethiopia (5:29)

02 - Marshet Damtew - Ante Yene (7:14)

03 - Marshet Damtew - Ketesmaman (5:03)

04 - Marshet Damtew - Yeafaru Wotat (5:11)

05 - Marshet Damtew - Astawusegn (4:33)

06 - Marshet Damtew - Demo (5:01)

07 - Marshet Damtew - Fikir Neh (5:10)

08 - Marshet Damtew - Meli (5:45)

08 - Marshet Damtew - Bigebah (5:30)

09 - Marshet Damtew - Enes Ferahu (5:14)

10 - Marshet Damtew - Gud Alfera Bileh (4:54)

11 - Marshet Damtew - Ante Yene (Studio Mix) (5:32)

Genet Masresha - Lib Wulek [ethiopia]

Genet Masresha - Ambassel

Genet Masresha - Lib Wulek (5:59)

Genet Masresha - Gojam (6:17)

Genet Masresha - Awdamet (4:54)

Genet Masresha - Dera (6:04)

Genet Masresha - Wollo (4:52)

Genet Masresha - Gonder (5:09)

Genet Masresha - Minjar (5:42)

Genet Masresha - Ande Bellen (4:34)

Genet Masresha - Gudseragn (4:26)

Genet Masresha - Wushet (5:01)

Genet Masresha - Alem (4:24)

Genet Masresha - Anbassel (6:10)

Muluken Melesse - The Great Unknown Muluken Melesse [ethiopia]

   R   E   U   P   L   O   A   D   

       Muluken Melesse was born in 1954 in northern Ethiopia's province of Gojjam. After wandering extensively with his uncle, at the age of six they settled in Addis Ababa. The phenomenally precocious Muluken Melesse was just 12 when he began his singing career in 1966 at the Patric Lumuba night club. Like many vocalists of the period, he started off with the different police bands, and went on to sing with the first non-institutional groups of those founded by nightclub owners (Blue Nile Band, Zula Band, Venus Band, Equators Band...)

       Hedech Alu was the first song he recorded on vinyl at the beginning of 1972.

       In a very short period of time his popularity soared sky-high. Backed by the Dahlak, Roha (as Ibex), and Ethio-Stars bands, Muluken has recorded from 1972 till 1976 a series of successful casettes and records and in 1976 what was to be his last hit, Ney Ney Wodaje.

      Muluken abandoned his career during the 80's to devote himself and his voice to the Pentacostal church and continued singing gospels occasionally. The magic was gone. Wishful thinking among his fans regularly gives rise to rumors of a comeback, but none has materialized ...

    When Muluken Melesse came to the scene, he brought the Balager Sound, the "Ethiopian Roots Music" of the rural villages in Ethiopia to cosmopolitan Addis Ababa , reversing the trend of simply aping the West.

   Muluken captured that essence and the entire feel of the "Real Ethiopia". In Ethiopia's poetic tradition there are the sam-ennawarq (wax and gold) verses , songs that are apparently about love, but subliminally they level serious criticism at the rulers and political or social conditions.

Sam-ennawarq is open to so much interpretation that listeners enjoy arguing all day for their exact meaning.

An example from Muluken's lyrics:

   Tenesh Kelbe Lay   

Please, leave my heart alone. 

Why don't you leave my heart alone? 

I want to be free like other human beings. 

Something which I don't understand. 

What did I see that stung me so?

I have seen beyond beauties, 

but I have been stung still by your love. 

Your love disarms me. 

Everything looks so nice on her.

Her beauty is misleading. 

I love the way you dance seksta,

shaking your lovely neck and shoulders. 

Saddle my horse, 

so that I can ride to her 

and drink deep of the feast of her love.

01. Muluken Mellesse - Tenesh Kelibe Laye (4:24)
02. Muluken Mellesse - Ere Indet Nesh Gedawo (4:12)
03. Muluken Mellesse - Embwa Belew (3:55)
04. Muluken Mellesse - Wetete Mare (3:32)
05. Muluken Mellesse - Yeminjar Shega (2:31)
06. Muluken Mellesse - Hedech Alu (5:13)
08. Muluken Mellesse - Gelayewa Neyney (8:21)
09. Muluken Mellesse - Meche Amakerechign (4:34)
10. Muluken Mellesse - Djemeregne (7:29)

Damtew Ayele - Gojam Azene [2004] [ethiopia]

Damtew Ayele - Gojam Azene

01 - Damtew Ayele - Merea (6:14)
02 - Damtew Ayele - Yewolo Lij (6:52)
03 - Damtew Ayele - Yenema (6:24)
04 - Damtew Ayele - Wolelaye (5:12)
05 - Damtew Ayele - Menjar (6:36)
06 - Damtew Ayele - Gojam Azene (6:56)
07 - Damtew Ayele - Arebereb (4:53)
08 - Damtew Ayele - Awdamet (4:50)
09 - Damtew Ayele - Amora Hognalehu (5:51)
10 - Damtew Ayele - Temesgen Elalehu (5:28)

Taem - [2011] - Ethiopian Instrumental Music No 1 [ethiopia]

01 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Eyuat Setnafikegn (እዩአት ስትናፍቀኝ) (6:21)
02 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Ayen Yetefeterew (አይን የተፈጠረው) (4:40)
03 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Tenayewa (ጤናዬዋ) (7:34)
04 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Ambasel (አምባሰል) (4:49)
05 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Yigermal (ይገርማል) (3:42)
06 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Sekota (ሰቆጣ) (5:25)
07 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Begel Enena Anchi (በግል እኔና አንቺ) (4:16)
08 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Guragigna (ጉራግኛ) (3:44)
09 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Tegrigna (ትግርኛ) (4:41)
10 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Oromigna (ኦሮምኛ) (5:02)
11 - Ethiopian Instrumental Music - Eyoha Abebaye (እዮሃ አበባዬ) (4:21)

Mulatu Astatke - [2002] - Echos of Ethiopia [ethiopia]

Mesele Asmamaw (Ethiopian Traditional Instrumental Music)

Creative music with Ethiopian roots 

composed and arranged by Mulatu Astatke

1 Embilta
2 Begena
3 Tigre
4 Wollo
5 Gondar
6 Gojam
7 Minjar
8 Harari
9 Afar

10 Somali

11 Harar

12 Orowo

13 Sidama

14 Wolaita

15 Derashe

16 Gurage

17 Assosa

18 Gambella