If It Rotates We Can Control It

First of all, a big Happy New Year from me to all the good folks out there.  I hope you had a good holiday, and had a chance to rest and see the people you love.  Now we're back in the new year, and I've got lots of cool music to share with you... this week - Ethiopia!

 Ethiopia is a country rich in musical tradition.  During the 1960s and early 70s, the capital, Addis Ababa was known as 'Swinging Addis' for it's vibrant nightlife.  A military coup and the fall of the Emperor Haile Sellassie I and the subsequent curfews put an unfortunate end to this very creative time.  For this episode of the If It Rotates podcast we take a look at some seriously funky Ethiopian music.

For fans of this kind of music, the best way to listen to it is on the Ethiopiques series of CDs put out by the french label Buda Musique.  Now, for vinyl fans, the L'Arome label is picking some choice tracks for release.  They've released two LPs, 'Ethiopian Urban Modern Music' volumes 1 and 2.  The first is a compilation of tracks from artists such as Mahmoud Ahmed, Ayalew Mesfin, Hirut Beqele, and more, and the second is devoted to a great Ethiopian artist Alemayehu Eshete.

For this episode, I've got three tracks for you to sink your teeth into - the first, from Ayalew Mesfin is a real rocking number, the second is the great Alemayehu Eshete, and the third is by Asselefetch Ashine. 

Ayalew Mesfin - Hasabe (from Ethiopian Urban Modern Music vol. 1)

Alemayehu Eshete - Feqer feqer new (from Ethiopian Urban Modern Music vol. 2)

So I hope this gives you a little taste of Swinging Addis, and I highly recommend the Ethiopiques CDs as well as these new L'Arome LPs, they're great!