World Music
The selection of ~40 tracks includes, as usual, a "best of" compilation featuring the finest tunes we've encountered in January, concluding the playlist with elements that shape our musical preferences.
Future Pasts is the debut album from Konkolo Orchestra, the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Alexis Malefakis - steeped in the rich traditions of jazzy afrobeat and highlife,and paying homage to legends like Fela Kuti, Tony Allen, and Ebo Taylor.
Composed by Paolo Russi, one-half of the brilliant minds behind the Flankup Recordings label, and Marco Lanfranchi (aka Indy), this album is a captivating exploration of Arabic-influenced disco, Afro-house, and Balearic rhythms.
Ghanaian highlife musician Rex Omar has recently released a self-titled album on Soundway Records. With a career spanning 30 years, Omar has become a prominent figure in the Ghana music scene, pushing boundaries and experimenting with new sounds.
Serendipia builds upon the foundations of Beltran's previous works, and takes us on a mesmerizing sonic adventure. The title itself hints at the joy of delightful surprises, and this album delivers just that.
Barcelona's renowned record label, Canela En Surco, proudly unveils the mesmerizing collaborative debut album from Pedro Ricardo & Damián Botigué. Un Nuevo Amanecer, translated to ‘A New Dawn’, is a magnum opus that has been crafted over four years.
60 for the soul. May went by supersonic in the waves of the usual eclectic features we made over this month.
"Mar De Fora” takes us into a candombe and bossa nova jam with spacey features. The sixth track of "Un Nuevo Amanecer" is a delight to our soul, featuring Félix Rossy on trumpet and Luís Táñez on cajón and guitar.
The Motherland EP, released last friday by Heist Recordings, is a captivating EP and a tribute to the infectious rhythms and grooves that the immense African continent has to offer.
March is typically a month, in which, an overwhelming amount of great music is released. As the great work of independent artists and labels further spans worldwide, it is truly remarkable the amount of original, creative and groovy inputs we are constantly receiving at o sótão.
We're hyped to present our latest playlist of 50 tracks. This compilation showcases our favorite jams from February, and it's one of the most diverse ones yet. We've got classic house music, broken beat, ambient, neo-soul, and mind-blowing contemporary beats that defy convention.
Tunico's debut album blends Brazilian roots rhythms with global jazz, creating a groovy and mystical sound. Featuring musicians from Rio, it's a modern classic that captivates listeners.
Pedro Ricardo presents a magnificent piece that we sense as timeless. Curated by Soundway Records, Soprem Bons Ventos is a 9-track journey that encompasses nostalgia, love, longing, and togetherness, tenderly intertwined throughout with vibrant percussion, whispers of vocals, soaring keys, and delicate guitars.
70 tracks for the soul. November went by supersonic in the waves of the usual eclectic features we made over this month. Contemporary jazz from some of today’s greats, exciting new hip hop records, electronic bangers for the winter and, through the whole selection, true-to-the-soul creations.
The Mindelo Experiment fuses typical Cape Verdian textures with London’s broken beat percussion patterns and details. Following up on his previous ‘experiments’, Pascal’s new album features an A-Side of original recordings backed with a B-Side of incredible remixes by some of our ‘heroes’.
DjeuhDjoah & Lieutenant Nicholson present a new funky trip through afro influenced electronic soul textures. 2+ is composed by 15 tracks of eclectic, soft, deep and funk, where electronic grooves are hand in hand with soul music, afro beat and bossa nova.
Soundway Records has been reminding and introducing us to historic works from artists like Steve Monite, Kiki Gyan and many more. Dropping tomorrow, Charles Amoah’s Sweet Vibration is another Ghanaian legendary work from one of the most well-known disco and burger highlife artists of his time.
Although we were out for most of August, this month was rich in new releases from some of the most exciting artists in the independent music realm. There are infinite layers of music always to be discovered. The deeper we dig the less we actually know.
We’ve been writing for a while about musicians like K15, Jitwam, Henry Wu or Felipe Gordon. Their new projects represent new approaches to their, already, immense talent and vision. But, as always, we are about new stuff. All in an eclectic 35-track selection.
Sol Set present an album that arrives just in time for all those escapades in the sand, the long meanders in the deep blue, the hangs with friends and strangers alike.
Two years after their first recorded output, the Full Moon EP, Dele Sosimi and Medlar return with the State Of Play EP, a heavy hitting four tracker that features special guests like Tamar Osborn of Collocutor fame, and South African rising star Zito Mowa.
Transmitting centuries old stories and traditions, Haruna Kuyateh is accomplishing his mission and this EP is a special mark that expresses his talent to new audiences. Composed of the original song and the instrumental version, Kora Foo is an unconventional record that conveys sound textures that are unique.
An eclectic playlist of 67 tracks summarizes all those inputs coming from all over the world. Different paces, moods and rhythms. Plenty of jazz and hip hop, plenty of dancefloor bangers and deep melodies. This is the best we've heard and talked about in June 2022.
Nyamekye Juction’s Dasein challenges lazy stereotypes of modern ‘African’ music as being synonymous with Afrobeats alone, including a mixture of synths and samplers with enchanting vocals and traditional West African percussion instruments.
Sergio Sayeg (aka Sessa) follows the mesmerizing 2019 debut Grandeza with his sophomore project entitled Estrela Acesa that dropped last friday via Mexican Summer. His new record gazes up to the heavens and ponders love both sensuous and spiritual, in the throes of its resultant hangover.
Exploring UK grooves and an array of sonic textures from around the world, TC & The Groove Family present a bold project… Released by Worm Discs, First Home celebrates the coming together of cultures in style, reminding us that music is one of the strongest factors for unity.
May 2022 breezes through the rhythms of jazz, deep house, instrumental hip hop and music from the world. There’s always that impending feeling of discovery every day that makes us move deeper into genres, movements, artists.
Originally formed by the the legendary Ghanaian highlife musician Ebo Taylor about seven years ago, the Saltpond City Band is now led by his son Henry Taylor, a keyboardist and lead vocalist that commands the buoyant 8-piece outfit to glory in their latest album Boko A Ko.
Following the acclaimed Nuova Napoli, released 4 years ago, Nu Genea are back with Bar Mediterraneo - based on an idea of a shared place where people meet and fuse together; a space that leaves its doors open to travellers and their lives, always exposed to the whims of fate.
The navigation through O Sótão’s April is easier through the month’s playlist, summarizing a high-karat-gold selection of the artists and projects we’ve showcased. The usual 50 tracks explore a variety of approaches to music, showcasing young promise’s magic and well-established virtuosity.