Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou - Volume One _The Vodoun Effect_ 1973-1975 Funk & Sato from Benin's Obscure Labels [Flac]

Formed in 1966 and still sort-of existent today (at least they got together for a scene in Raymond Dumas’s forthcoming The Legends Of Afrobeat movie), the Orchestra Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou enjoyed a long run as Benin’s top band. Analog Africa boss Samy Ben Redjeb, who curated this compilation from hundreds of records he secured during years of crate digging in West Africa, overstates things a bit when he calls them the best-kept secret from that neck of the woods. After all, they have already been the subject of two (currently out-of-print) collections on Soundway and Popular African Music; they’re the backbone of the recent African Scream Contest collection, also on Analog Africa; and their convulsive yet intricate “Minsato Le, Mi Dayihome” proved hard to top a few years back as the opener to Luaka Bop’s World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love’s A Real Thing. But if they’re not total unknowns, their reputation outside their homeland falls far short of the quality of their music, a fantastic synthesis of funk (known locally as jerk), Latin, rock, and various African styles with homegrown Sato and Sakpata rhythms derived from Vodoun ceremonies.