The annual discoveries and celebrations of artists and music by Mississippi Records are hugely appreciated and frequent throughout any year – three favourites in 2023 were the Canto A Lo Divino compilation, the debut album from Assiko Golden Band De Grand Yoff! and the reissue of the 1976 gem from Aselefech Ashine and Getenesh Kebret.

Firstly, the curation of folklore and field recordings – named after the sacred music of the Central Valley, Canto A Lo Divino, in Chile – was one of the best presented records this year, with artwork from Frederico Lohse. The apocalyptic visions by Lohse, a baker from the village of Los Vilos, painted on old flour sacks, are on this compilation’s cover.

Cantos is a centuries-old communal form of worship, reflection for the peasants of the remote region, with the accompanying music played in packed rooms throughout the night after a day’s work. Hypnotic melodies and rhythms are plucked on guitar and a 25-string guitarron, as well as emanate from accordion.

The world’s end, divinity and mortality are thematic – as well as verses documenting daily life, work, drought, family, animals and the life cycles of plants. The ten-line rhyming decimas – an ancient song form originating in Spain and brought from South America to the Mississippi Delta – are engrossing.

“Mississippi Records is privileged to work with the Museo Campesino En Movimiento and their archive of hundreds of hours of intimate field recordings of the Canto – music rarely, if ever, heard outside of the region,” the label proudly states.

Beauties (ሸ​ገ​ኔ​ዎ​ች) is the highly apt name of the 1976 album by Ethiopian songstress, Aselefech Ashine and Getenesh Kebret and is one of this year’s most hungered for reissues. As many fans of Ethiopian music will know, many recordings brought back to life can sound a little grainy (adding to the charm for most – Ed.), but the harmonies on these songs between Ashine and Kebret make these among the very best from ‘Ethiopia’s Golden Age’ of music – and being finally available again was huge news in 2023.

This iconic collection also features The Army Band – backing musicians for greats such as Tlahoun Gesesse, Mahmoud Ahmed and arranged by Teshome Sisay – brings some of the greatest element of Ethiopia’s Golden Age together. Singers Aselefech and Getenesh were raised in the bustling cosmopolitan world of late-empire Addis Ababa. They met at the Hager Fikr Theatre, the legendary center for art and cultural learning in Addis, where they were trained in centuries-old vocal techniques as well as acting.

“Beauties was a hit,” the label explains. “…selling out upon its release in 1976. But its glory was short-lived. The Derg Regime was imposing strict crackdowns on music and artistic expression. Targeted as allies of the deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, the artists (and most musicians) had to keep a low profile.

“For two decades, nearly all recording and live music would cease in Ethiopia. This is one of the last great releases of the Ethiopian Golden Age.”

Though she was never able to release a second record, Ashine, from her home in Addis, says: “I have full confidence that this album will be popular and a hit when it is released again now!”

This long-awaited reissue of the album is released in collaboration with the artists and Domino Sound of New Orleans – the Newly remastered vinyl has a ‘tip-on’ jacket with lyric translations, photos and an interview with Ashine.

As seen, Assiko Golden Band De Grand Yoff! are at the heart of their community and create an electric atmosphere. For 20-years and across three generations of band members, Assiko have played raucous all-night jams at weddings, secret parties, and political rallies. Senegalese poet, Djiby Ly (Wau Wau Collectif), is backed by 14 different percussive instruments plus horns, winds, balafon, as well as the occasional accordion.

Listen! Let me tell you how it’s going down
It won’t be this, nor that – we’re celebrating
No fights
Let’s drop everything
And just feel the vibrations of happiness

Let’s come together in our shared love for music

Let’s celebrate and be happy together
Life’s a party
Come on, let’s go! (lyrics to B​è​gue B​è​gue)

This first album is the result of a collaboration with Swedish musician and archivist Karl-Jonas Winqvist (Sing A Song Fighter), who met the band in Dakar in 2018 and facilitated recording sessions and overdubs via Whatsapp. The band are based in the impoverished neighborhood of Grand Yoff.

The band builds its songs on ancient rhythms passed on from Senegal, Cameroon and Gorée Island (the smallest and least populated 19 communes d’arrondissement of the capital of Senegal, Dakar). In both Wolof and French, Djiby preaches an inspiring message of cooperation rooted in the Sufi teachings of the Mouride Brotherhood, as well as Christianity and animist religions.

“Senegal, my life my joy” is the call and response chanted over layered drum patterns on album opener La Musique Du Cœur.

Assiko Band music from the heart
It’s pure joy!

SENEGAL if you enjoy it
Senegal, my life, my joy
SENEGAL if you like the taste
That’s the Assiko rhythm

SENEGAL, my life, my joy
Move! Move!
Move! Dance!

Seydou, I sing for you
Seydou Golden Sikko
Henry, I sing for you
Henry Golden Sikko
Vincent, I sing for you
Vincent, Golden Sikko
Abba, I sing for you
Abba, Golden Sikko
GOLDEN I sing for you all

“We build our own country” the band proclaims in Wolof on Xarritt.

I beheld you, by calling you “friend”
I beheld you, by calling you “fan”
Apart from God who brought us together
Assiko brought us together

Come, let us join in friendship,
Let us walk together, let us build our country
(Let us walk together, let us build Senegal)
Friendship, Friendship!

Senegal is our canoe
If it is peaceful, it is ours
We build our own country
Let’s reconsider our behaviors

Let’s stick to our patriotism
by keeping our word
We build our own country
Let’s reconsider our behaviors

Grand Yoff is my neighborhood
If it’s peaceful, it’s ours
We build our own country
Let’s reconsider our behaviors

The label describes them “as combining Count Ossie’s spiritually elevated polyrhythms with Fela Kuti’s orchestra and Tony Allen’s groove.

“Every neighborhood in Dakar has its own Assiko band, they’re community groups, open to anyone who wants to join, as opposed to the legendary griot culture that only allows select families to take part. These hyper-democratic bands can kick off a thousand-person street party at any moment. But they also operate as mutual aid groups, neighborhood security, impromptu after-school programs, and repositories of local music and lore.

“[Band leader] Djiby Ly takes his role in the community seriously. He’s led iterations of the band for over a decade, and describes in detail each rhythm they play, its roots, travels, and contours. This Assiko band is particularly prolific and popular, and these recordings remind me of a good rock band – loose and rangy, you can hear the humor and warmth amongst the bandmates come through.”

Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff! are:

Aziz Gning : vocals, percussion
Oscar Gomes – vocals
Dieugue Diop : thioung percussion, coeur
Henry Coly : bouga perciussion
Vincent Mendy : vocals, contre percussion, coeur
Babacar Nging : contre percussion, coeur
Seydou Dia : vocals, basse percussion, coeur
François Bass : basse percussion, coeur
Abdoulahad Faye : thiathia percussion, coeur
Joacheme Mendy : djiémé percussion, coeur
Djiby Ly – flute, poem, vocals
Ndongo Faye – percussion
Ibrahima Camarra – balafon
Alladı N’diaye – vocals
Laye Mangane – percussion
Bapis Faye – percussion, coeur
Japha – percussion

Plus:

Lina Langendorf: saxophone
Amanda Fritzén – accordion
Abdou Cissokho – kora
Lamine Cissokho – kora
Karl Jonas Winqvist – bells and rattles

More at Mississippi Records on Bandcamp.