All those phantastic blogs on good and African music were motivation enough to start another one in the same vain. Lost or nearly lost sounds from different places I've come across over the years.
I'd like to start with some music from 1980s Rwanda (with more to follow), where I've been working in those times. This wonderful country with it's tragic history was never a musical powerhouse. There was no record industry, only a few tapes were produced. The best known orchestra in those times was
Orchestre Impala (de Kigali) who released ca. 10 tapes; a late compilation from ca. 1988 I would like to share today.
Rwanda in those days was a very poor country. Rwanda was not jet controlling the eastern parts of Congo, then Zaire, was not exporting valuable raw materials but some coffee and tea. Electricity was available only in the towns; the biggest, the capital Kigali was not more than big village, no city at all.
The music is mostly slow, controlled, nothing goes wild ... And there is a kinyarwanda version of the Bellamy Brothers' song 'Let Your Love Flow" - funny.