Sold Date: December 14, 2021
Start Date: December 5, 2021
Final Price: $55.00 (USD)
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SEALED NEW COPY.  Limited edition copy of 500
Double LP version. Cameroonian musician Francis Bebey is truly one of a kind. He entered the music scene with his African compositions for classical guitar. He gave recitals while pursuing a career in journalism and then as an international civil servant. The same creative impulse also led him to write pop songs, some of which (based on novels he had written) became big hits in Africa and in the French-speaking world. But few people know that in the '70s, Francis Bebey delved into electronic music. The first electronic keyboards, organs and drum machines offered him new possibilities of totally controlling his compositions. He embraced the technique of "sound on sound" recording (recording several tracks, sequentially juxtaposed on the same tape). This new stage in his musical career included the production of several records (Savannah Georgia, New Track, Haiti), rarities both for their creative explorations as well as their manifestations on vinyl. This was a particularly rich period for him, as he tested the limitless possibilities of the medium, and made use of surprising and novel instruments. Incredible sounds -- in the literal sense of the word -- would soon appear on the planet Bebey. Full-color printed innersleeves with notes in English and French.

**Mindblowing electronic productions and songcraft from Africa-via-Paris circa 1975-1982!** Cameroonian musician and cultural polymath Francis Bebey is a bona fide legend of 20th century African music, art and literature. He introduced the world at large to Manu Dibango and had a stack of hits in the French-speaking African world, but it's his little known work with electronic keyboards, organs and drum machines which is staggeringly revealed here. Across 14 tracks, Francis cooks up a minimal but richly layered and heady concoction of frothy, improvised melodies, body-rippling rhythms and deeply endearing vocals surely ranking as some of Africa's greatest contributions to the history of electronic music. From the tinkling marimbas and offset bass hits of 'New Track' inwards, we're witnessing a unique musical manifesto in creation, at once reflecting the phased reps of Steve Reich and the burgeoning minimal wave experiments of that era yet with an instinctive freshness and lightness of the rarest, earthly substance. More than once you'll need to pinch yourself to realise what you're hearing, and by the time you've reached the percolating 'Coffee Cola Song' you'll really need to take a moment aside; we pretty much did! We've no need to go on, just check the samples and catch your jaw. Hugely recommended!

A1 New Track 8:16
A2 La Condition Masculine 3:23
A3 Wuma Te 5:27
B1 Divorce Pygmée 5:26
B2 Fleur Tropical 3:52
B3 Tiers Monde 3:25
C1 Agatha 7:05
C2 Pygmy Love Song 3:49
C3 Catching Up 2:36
C4 Sahel 5:07
D1 The Coffee Cola Song 5:04
D2 Super Jingle 9:17
D3 Savanah Georgia 3:31
D4 Il N'Y A Pas De Crocodiles A Cocody 2:37