One of the things that will hopefully continue in 2010 is Strut’s magic streak. They hit bullseye this year with Mulatu & Heliocentrics and the 4th edition with Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen (feature coming soon). The shower continues with the Mulatu Astatke Career Retrospective released two days ago. I already have most of his records but it’s practically impossible to complete 50 years of back catalogue, so I’ll be getting my copy.

To make up for the waiting, here are two wonderful songs coming off a recent compilation called Ethiopian Urban Modern Music Vol. 3, if it weren’t for Mulatu most of us would have missed Ethio Jazz completely. And that would have been awful.

The amazing Ethiopoques series continues to amaze with another stunning album of classic “Golden Era” Ethiopian recordings from 60’s & 70’s Addis Ababa. The third in their ‘Ethiopian Modern Music’ volumes, this album collects a massively varied set of killer grooves; from the super tight soul funk of Girma Béyéné’s ‘Ené négn bay manésh’ or his kinkier psyche funk winner ‘Yebeeqagnal’, to Seyoum Gébreyés and Wallias Band’s rhodes driven ‘Métch ené terf féléghu’ or the extended slow jam ‘Djémérégne’ from Muluqén Mélléssé and the intoxicating female vocals of ‘Métché néw’ from Asséléfétch Ashiné and Géténésh Kebrét. Boomkat