The sole release from Niama Makalou back on wax courtesy of Sofrito! Leave it to the UK label to dig up such a fiery Malian disco gem, the only one of its kind that this reviewer has ever heard. The track was conceived in the mid-70's, a time when France was swept up in disco fever. It was at this moment in time Niama Makalou, a descendant of traditional Malian praise singers (aka griots), went to cut "Kognokoura" with a group of Malian musicians to make a disco track - griot style. As the label so succinctly put it - "The resulting mixture of off-kilter handclaps, raw string arrangements, Balafon flourishes and Bambara vocals combine with a heavy disco groove to produce a one-off piece of cross-cultural dancefloor mayhem." To top it off, Sofrito tapped Daphni (aka Caribou) to lend his magic touch on the edit that stays respectful to the OG, but slightly modifies it for more contemporary dance floors.

• music label: Sofrito Super Singles 2016

reviewed by Aloo Pye 11/2016