Malawi’s Madalitso Band Celebrates Bongo Joe Records’ Fifth Anniversary

<p> From the stellar compilation of São Tome and Principe recordings, <em>Léve Léve</em>, and Pedro Lima’s <em>Maguidala</em> reissue, to new releases from the weird-cumbia astronauts, the Meridian Brothers, we’ve got a lot of good will for the Swiss label Bongo Joe Records. To celebrate turning five years old this year, the label is releasing a compilation of their active artists covering selections from the label's growing eclectic reissue cache. <br> </p> <p><a name="docs-internal-guid-a4c2b3e8-7fff-39b7-8774-d4c4472f0de1"></a> In a cool fusion of old and new, acoustic and synth, Malawi’s Madalitso Band covers “Computered Love” by Carole Rich. The original Rich tune is from 1984 and appeared on Bongo Joe’s <em>Intenta: Experimental & Electronic from Switzerland 1981-93. </em>Madalitso is a duo that got its start busking in Malawi, and their sound is pretty far afield from anything that sounds like a computer, and yet they adapt the song effortlessly to their groove and energy.</p> <figure><iframe loading="lazy" width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1004015524&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true"></iframe></figure> <div><a href="https://soundcloud.com/bongojoerecordshop" title="BONGO JOE" target="_blank">BONGO JOE</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/bongojoerecordshop/madalitso-band-computered-love" title="Madalitso Band - Computered Love" target="_blank">Madalitso Band - Computered Love</a></div> <p><br></p> <p>The compilation, titled <em>Futur </em><em>Anterieur</em>, also features the Meridian Brothers revisiting a song from <em>La Contra Ola: Synth Wave & Post Punk from Spain 1980-86; </em>L’Eclair covering Mauritian singer Allen Meller; the Belgian synth outfit Nyati Mayi and the Astral Synth Transmitters interpreting a ‘50s Blind Blake song from the Bahamas; and more tasty combos spanning time and space. <br></p> <p>It’s a worthy celebration for Bongo Joe, which has brought us a lot of great music in just a half decade. <a href="https://lesdisquesbongojoe.bandcamp.com/album/futur-ant-rieur-bongo-joe-5-years" target="_blank"><em>Futur Antérieur</em> is available digitally April 16</a>.</p>