{"title":"Afrosynth","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfrosynth Records is a record store and label based in Johannesburg. Founded by DJ Okapi, the label specializes in reissuing *rare and obscure South African disco, bubblegum, and boogie music* from the 1980s and 1990s. With an extensive collection of vinyl records, Afrosynth Records aims to preserve and share the rich musical heritage of South Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt Afrosynth Records, we are passionate about showcasing the vibrant sounds of *South African artists* who have been overlooked or forgotten over time. Our carefully curated selection includes releases from iconic musicians such as *Sipho Mabuse*, *Brenda Fassie*, and *Hugh Masekela*. By bringing these hidden gems back to life, we hope to introduce a new generation of music lovers to the incredible talent that emerged during this era.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith our online platform, customers can explore our diverse catalog and discover their own personal favorites. Whether you're searching for funky grooves or soulful melodies, Afrosynth Records offers a wide range of genres that will satisfy any musical taste. Join us on this journey through South Africa's musical history as we celebrate the timeless artistry found within each record.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"big-world","title":"Big World","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in 1991, PT House’s debut album ‘Big World’ signaled the arrival of a young Soweto rapper named Nelson Mohale (later better known as Dr House) on South Africa’s early house and kwaito scene. Teaming up with producer Danny Bridgens — an up-and-coming studio hand and session guitarist for the likes of Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Margino, also releasing as The Stone and Leroy Stone — the pair drew influence from US \u0026amp; UK hip-house contemporaries but were determined to give their sound a local flavour, as well as a positive vibe that looked forward to a brighter future. PT House’s four-track debut was a bold statement that still holds up today, reissued for the first time on Afrosynth Records.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Afrosynth","offers":[{"title":"Black LP.","offer_id":50406132547915,"sku":"2170302","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/afs056_front2_8b09eec8_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726583824"},{"product_id":"new-horizons","title":"New Horizons","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew compilation of South Africa’s leading young jazz talent on Afrosynth Records, compiled by DJ Okapi and Shane Cooper. Featuring Thandi Ntuli, Kyle Shepherd, Mabuta, Yonela Mnana, Zoë Modiga, Benjamin Jephta, Siya Makuzeni, Lwanda Gogwana, Mandisi Dyantyis, Reza Khota, Bokani Dyer, Vuma Levin and a broader group of talented supporting musicians. From tight trios to expansive, cosmic collectives, this compilation highlights the best of what’s come out of the country in recent years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Afrosynth","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x2","offer_id":50417142628683,"sku":"1099608","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9fc33cc8-ce57-463d-bfa2-045aec91f3d0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726718646"},{"product_id":"gorilla-man","title":"Gorilla Man","description":"\u003cp\u003eFour tracks by one of the biggest names in South African disco: Condry Ziqubu. A regular on the local soul scene since the late 1960s in groups such as The Flaming Souls, The Anchors and The Flaming Ghettoes, by the mid-80s he had qualified as a sangoma (traditional healer), recorded with Harari (the biggest group in the country at the time), fronted his own group Lumumba, and travelled the world as part of Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu’s band.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1986 he ditched Lumumba and released his first solo hit, \u003ci\u003eGorilla Man\u003c\/i\u003e. Opening with an audacious 20-second intro, the song tells the story of a man preying on women in downtown Johannesburg. It highlights Condry’s winning formula of lyrics that touch on everyday South African issues and places (without drawing the attention of apartheid censors). Musically the song draws obvious influence from Piano Fantasia’s 1985 Euro-disco hit \u003ci\u003eSong for Denise\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlso included on this new anthology is another song from the same album, the politically charged \u003ci\u003eConfusion (Ma Afrika)\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as \u003ci\u003ePhola Baby\u003c\/i\u003e from his 1988 album Pick Six – a call to men to “stop pushing your woman around … what kind of man are you?” – and \u003ci\u003eEverybody Party\u003c\/i\u003e from 1989’s Magic Man, a straight-up party song with no political or social intimations, other than as a brief escape from the harsh reality of the time, one that still resonates today.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Afrosynth","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50417184997707,"sku":"1110817","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/be6e2a5e-43db-43d7-995e-d477ee07bbdb_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726720350"},{"product_id":"tomorrow-2","title":"Tomorrow","description":"\u003cp\u003eIncl. her in demand tune \"Tomorrow\" . Six-track anthology of South African singer Ntombi Ndaba, featuring 2 songs from 3 of her solo albums, Mina Ngiljaji (1988), Mama Nature (1989) and Why Me (1991).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNtombi Ndaba first rose to fame in 1985 with Ntombi \u0026amp; Survival, becoming one of the most popular singers of the bubblegum era. After setting up the independent label Anneko with her producer A.T. ‘Rubber’ Khoza in 1988, she went solo. Following Khoza’s death in the early 1990s, Ndaba never recorded again.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Afrosynth","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50441564193099,"sku":"2176995","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Tomorrow_-_EP_3f4f811a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726982543"},{"product_id":"welcome-to-this-world","title":"Welcome To This World","description":"\u003cp\u003eShane Cooper is a bassist, composer and producer from Cape Town, South Africa. He is part of the new wave of young voices in the South African jazz scene. A prolific sideman and award-winning acoustic jazz artist, he also involved in South Africa’s leftfield electronic dance scene under the alias Card On Spokes.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Afrosynth","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50449282957643,"sku":"1045797","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/dd27fb60-26be-45ac-85c7-05d9b5662ea2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727101132"},{"product_id":"umakhulu","title":"Umakhulu","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn in 1981 in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape, Ayanda Sikade is one of South African jazz’s most in-demand and respected drummers, a familiar face on the scene for years and a driving force behind its growing prominence on the world stage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDedicated to his grandmother who raised him, Sikade’s long-awaited sophomore album as a bandleader, Umakhulu, follows his 2018 debut Movements. Recorded in Johannesburg in early 2021, it features the talents of frequent collaborator Nduduzo Makhathini on piano, young Simon Manana on alto sax and Nhlanhla Radebe on bass. The album’s nine tracks, composed and produced by Sikade, pay homage to the artist’s heritage — most noticeably on \u003ci\u003eMdantsane\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eNxarhuni River\u003c\/i\u003e — while forging onwards to a brave new world on others, like \u003ci\u003eImithandazo Yeengelosi\u003c\/i\u003e (Prayer of Angels) and \u003ci\u003eSpace Ship\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Afrosynth","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50452195934539,"sku":"1160252","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/b267e6c7-d0f2-4d1f-b5a8-e07f58186eb5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727144076"},{"product_id":"new-horizons-2","title":"New Horizons 2","description":"\u003cp\u003eFollowing a definitive first volume jam-packed with forward-thinking musical talent working in the South African creative improvised music idiom, New Horizons returns with a fresh iteration of young artists who continue in the same tradition and tone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe compilation showcases recent recordings from 14 more leading lights in South Africa’s contemporary jazz scene: pianists Thembelihle Dunjana, Afrika Mkhize, Sibusiso ‘Mash’ Mashiloane, Blake Hellaby and Siphephelo Ndlovu’s The SN Project; saxophonists Sisonke Xonti, Muhammad Dawjee and Linda Sikhakhane; singer Spha Mdlalose; drummers Ayanda Sikade, Leagan Starchild and Tefo Mahola; and trumpeters Ndabo Zulu and Marcus Wyatt accompanied respectively by Umgidi Ensemble and The ZAR Jazz Orchestra.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTogether they form part of a vibrant, connected community charting new sonic territory that speaks to today’s troubled times while building on the country’s unique and proud jazz history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Afrosynth","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50453652898123,"sku":"1127386","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0dde7187-7570-49c6-a512-77d141720f28_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727175064"},{"product_id":"music-team-sampler","title":"Music Team Sampler","description":"\u003cp\u003eSelection of all winners from the Music Team label - mid 80s to early 90s gems on here!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of South Africa’s biggest independent labels for more than a decade, Music Team offered working musicians a shot at fame via access to top studios, producers, songwriters and session musicians, as well as distribution via a number of imprints: CTV, Red Label, Solid, Spinna, Mambo Music and others. Artists in the stable who tasted success would typically release a few albums over as many years before moving on to other labels or falling off the radar as times changed. At their peak, according to label boss Maurice Horwitz, Music Team was selling a million records a month, and was at the forefront of South African pop music as it evolved from soul to disco and beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfrosynth Records’ ‘Music Team Sampler’ dusts off six rare and long-forgotten gems from the Music Team catalogue, originally released between 1986 and 1992. Four are typical of the label’s take on the popular ‘bubblegum’ sound of the day — Isaac ‘Cool Cat’ Mofokeng’s ‘Candy’, ‘I Won’t Let You Go’ by Linda Oliphant, Jappie Lebona’s ‘My Love is Yours and ‘Instant Love (Eyami Lendoda)’ by Thandi Zulu (aka TZ Junior). Two instrumentals — Mr. Ace’s ‘Ace 1’ and ‘Axe Chop’ by The Hard Workers, a studio project by Music Team’s in-house producer Tom Mkhize — meanwhile hint at the imminent rise of kwaito and house.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eForged in the fire of a cruel and volatile political system that was gradually unraveling, instead of addressing political realities these indelible pop songs sought to provide an escape to a world where love and music were all that mattered.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Afrosynth","offers":[{"title":"Black 12\"","offer_id":51246079213899,"sku":"2228102","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/afs045_side_a_circle_92b1c124_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1739231740"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_aca6df39_thumbnail_4096_201c07bc-092b-443a-9e8c-b221dd796f92.jpg?v=1726583802","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/afrosynth.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}