There are some things that land on your desk that you have no expectations of whatsoever. Usually this means that it’s likely to make as lasting impression as writing your name in the sand as the tide comes in and a fishing-trawler comes crashing right in over it with catch-load of erasers. Occasionally though, you’ll get something like this, a collection of sounds so fresh and so exotic that you can’t help spreading a full pack of salted butter on your heels and sliding across your vinyl floor with your hands in the air, your butt pushed out and grinning like someone who had just received a sunshine enema. ‘Africa Plays On’ is 14-track compilation of crossover African music inspired by and celebrating the African Teams at the Fifa World Cup. The album also features number of collaborations including Senegalese rapper Akon’s reworking of Malian duo Amadou & Mariam’s ‘Coulibaly’, The Roots-produced ‘Kettode’ by Senegal’s Baaba Maal and ‘Silani’ by Guinea’s Ba Cissoko and Sudanese rapper K’Naan.
‘Cocody Rock’, the Ivory Coast classic by Alpha Blondy, is remixed and features France’s Neg’ Marrons; Angolan vocalist Waldemar Bastos features the Jamaican artist Chaka Demus on a rework of ‘Pitangha Madurinha’ while Cameroon’s Manu Dibango (of ‘Soul Makossa’ fame) joins Onda for ‘Ngando’, a remix of the PUMA “Welcome to Football” advertisement.