Mbeng-Ntam - Gabon: Traditional Songs & Dances Bwiti Tribute - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Kaabi Kouyate - Tribute To Kandia [COMPACT DISCS] date 09/12/2025

Violet Vinyl, 140gram trans-violet 12Inch vinyl; Black canvas tote bag; Friendship bracelet; A2 Poster; A5 Print. Arlo Parks sophomore album, My Soft Machine, is a deeply personal body of work; a narration of Parks' experiences as she navigates her 20's and the growth intertwined. It follows her highly-praised debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, which received two GRAMMY nominations for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album, won the BRIT Award for Best New Artist, received the Honda Mercury Prize, won the BBC Introducing Artist Of The Year Award, was nominated for Breakthrough International Act at the BET Awards and reached the top 3 on the UK Album Charts. Parks shares about how the new album and album title came to fruition InchThe world/our view of it is peppered by the biggest things we experience - our traumas, upbringing, vulnerabilities almost like visual snow. This record is life through my lens, through my body - the mid 20s anxiety, the substance abuse of friends around me, the viscera of being in love for the first time, navigating PTSD and grief and self-sabotage and joy, moving through worlds with wonder and sensitivity- what it's like to be trapped in this particular body. There is a quote from a Joanna Hogg film called The Souvenir, it's an A24 semi-autobiographical film with Tilda Swinton - it recounts a young film student falling in love with an older, charismatic man then being drawn into his addiction - in an early scene he's explaining why people watch films - 'we don't want to see life as it is played out we want to see life as it is experienced in this soft machine.' So, there we have it... My Soft Machine.Inch The album was recorded between London and Los Angeles throughout 2021/2022. Arlo worked alongside producers including Paul Epworth, Ariel Rechtshaid, Romil Hemnani (Brockhampton), Frank Ocean-collaborator Buddy Ross, and Carter

Timbila is a xylophone-like instrument and the name of the rhythmic music that comes from the Chopi people of rural Mozambique. One of the last living masters of the timbila drum orchestra is Venancio Mbande. He is 70 years old, lives in a small village without electricity or modern amenities, but his skills as an ensemble leader, musician and master of the timbila tradition are undeniable. Timbila is a music that dates back hundreds of years (first documented by a Portuguese missionary in 1560). The foremost characteristic of timbila is the instrument. The Chopi people's mbila, singular for timbila, is a unique instrument in the music of the Bantus of the Southern Africa continent. The xylophone and marimba are the Western variants of this remarkable instrument, born much later than it's timbila ancestor. Made from the wood of the Mwenje tree, the timbila comes in different types depending on their tone. It uses heptatonian tuning which means that an octave is divided into seven roughly equal intervals. The music itself is a vibrant mesh of rhythms and whistles, dancing and drumming. A group orchestral suite, Ngodo, is usually renewed about every two years. In general, the topics of the lyrics deal with current issues. But it always starts with an introduction by a solo timbila. For this live field recording session, Mbande's orchestra took it's customary places in the shade of two big trees. In front of them was an open square for the dancers. Like the visual splendor of South Africa's Zulu dances, it is a remarkable feat to witness and hear. On the whole, Ngodo resembles music theatre and ballet. However, the leading role in this colourful form of art is the music.