{"title":"Ethiopian Music","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"alemayehu-eshete-ethiopian-urban-mode","title":"Alemayehu Eshete - Ethiopian Urban Mode","description":"","brand":"HEAVENLY SWEETNESS","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":53021357408598,"sku":"MRM-00066","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/6088\/9430\/files\/babab1570f588bc11064b20f5f703411.jpg?v=1775183709"},{"product_id":"ayalew-mesfin-hasabe-my-worries","title":"Ayalew Mesfin - Hasabe (My Worries)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAyalew Mesfin is among the legends of the 1970s Ethiopian musical scene – his music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Ayalew was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of the country in 1974. Now, over 40 years later, his triumphant return – and the first time that his music has been presented in album form – gives us a chance to discover a rare \u0026amp; beautiful moment in music history.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor many who are now discovering this album and Ayalew Mesfin, the music created in 1970s Ethiopia will sound both familiar and alien: while the trappings of ’70s Ethiopian music carry some aspects that those in the West will easily identify with—trap drum kits, jazz big-band styled horn sections, guitars played through wah wah and fuzz pedals—the Ethiopian style of singing, and the modes in which the musicians move, may confound. Perhaps some who have delved into the instrumental Ethio-Jazz of Mulatu Astatke—a well-known Ethiopian musical export, relatively unknown in his homeland—will have a context in which to engage this, presumably the last great, unheard catalog of ’70s Ethiopian music. The music he created with his Black Lion Band is amongst the funkiest to arise from Addis Ababa; his recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003esingles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia’s 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this unconquerable East African nation. To date, only four of Mesfin’s songs have been reissued, as part of Francis Falcetto’s Ethiopiques series: This is the first anthology of his music, and the first time he has involved himself in the process.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEthiopians celebrate an ancient history and civilization, a culture in line with those from the earliest epochs of human history. Ethiopia’s architecture stands alongside that of ancient China and Egypt. Strategically located in the eastern part of the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia maintained close connections with African, Middle Eastern, Asian, and European countries for millennia, through which it fostered the introduction of some of the major religions in the world—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—to many parts of Africa. Shaped by these historic, geographic and religious processes over centuries, diverse Ethiopian musical traditions emerged.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"VAMPISOUL","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":53021389881686,"sku":"MRM-00227","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/6088\/9430\/files\/a2486149683_10.jpg?v=1776095766"},{"product_id":"ayalew-mesfin-wegene-my-countryman","title":"Ayalew Mesfin - Wegene (My Countryman)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMesfin’s recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7” singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia’s 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThough Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set albums – the first time that his music has been presented in this form.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThese albums give us a chance to discover a rare and beautiful moment in music history, in anthologies built from Mesfin’s uber-rare 7” single releases and from previously unreleased recordings taken from master tapes.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"TRAFF - TRAFFIC ENT GROUP","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":53021389914454,"sku":"MRM-00228","price":30.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/6088\/9430\/files\/a0759255163_10.jpg?v=1776095950"},{"product_id":"getatchew-mekurya-ethiopian-urban-mode","title":"Getatchew Mekurya - Ethiopian Urban Mode","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"product-wrap row\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv itemprop=\"offers\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Offer\" class=\"product-info col-sm-8 col-md-7 col-md-offset-1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"product-tabs row\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tabsPages\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"page info active\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"sc-hZDbVM kylDyV\"\u003eGetatchew Mekurya is probably the most revered veteran of Ethiopian saxophone.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"HEAVENLY SWEETNESS","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":53021457678678,"sku":"MRM-01262","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/6088\/9430\/files\/heavenly-sweetness-getatchew-mekurya-ethiopian-urb.webp?v=1776096147"},{"product_id":"muluken-mellesse-muluken-mellesse-with-the-dahlak-band-2026-reissue","title":"Muluken Mellesse - Muluken Mellesse With The Dahlak Band (2026 Reissue)","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn absolute masterpiece of the Ethiopian groove scene - the swan song of swinging Addis: \u003cem\u003eMuluken Mellesse With The Dahlak Band\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe vinyl LP was at the heart of the 'Ethiopiques 31' compilation [tracks 2 to 11] and was one of the very last vinyl records ever released in Ethiopia. The album leaves a clear idea for posterity of the level of sophistication and mastery that modern Ethiopian music had achieved, before being crushed under the Stalino-military heel of the Derg - as the bloody revolution that was unfolding came to be called. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was three tracks by Muluken that served as the opener for 'Ethiopiques 1' more than 25 years ago. Seven more tracks appeared on 'Ethiopiques 3' and '13', all accompanied by The Equators, which was soon to become the Dahlak Band. The first track, Hedetch alu, also the very first piece that Muluken ever recorded, left audiences stunned and amazed. Reflecting the singer's extremely young age (he was just 17 at the time), this angelic voice mystified many, who thought they were in fact listening to a feminine voice.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HEAVENLY SWEETNESS","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":53021579706710,"sku":"MRM-02250","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/6088\/9430\/files\/99506fda75bb04e493b1b7326cb061aa.jpg?v=1775198620"},{"product_id":"nalbandian-the-ethiopian-either-orchestra-ethiopiques-32-nalbandian-the-ethiopian-either-orchestra","title":"Nalbandian The Ethiopian \u0026 Either\/Orchestra - Ethiopiques 32: Nalbandian The Ethiopian \u0026 Either\/Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe prestigious Ethiopiques series returns! Before \"Swinging Addis\" took over the world, there was Moussie Nerses Nalbandian - the Armenian-born composer who shaped modern Ethiopian music. Mentor, arranger, and pioneer, he laid the foundations of Ethio-jazz. This Ethiopiques volume revives his forgotten legacy, recorded live with the Either\/Orchestra. First issue ever with new, exclusive photos! \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eEthiopiques 32: Nalbandian the Ethiopian \u0026amp; Either\/Orchestra\u003c\/em\u003e brings to life music by Nerses Nalbandian, an Armenian refugee who moved to Ethiopia in 1938 and rose to become the favourite musician of Emperor Haile Selassie. An eclectic musician with a great love for American music, he was essential in the creation of Ethiopian jazz, leading the Orchestra of the National Theater, configured as a jazz big band and featuring many of the future solo stars of Ethiopia. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNalbandian's music has seldom been played after Haile Selassie was deposed by the Derg dictatorship in 1974. In 2004, when the Either\/Orchestra first played in Ethiopia, Nalbandian's children heard the E\/O and - together with Ethiopiques curator Francis Falceto - proposed that the E\/O revive Nerses's music. 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