Decca Records

Underground to overground. Forest to metropolis. North Africa and South Africa, meeting up, digging down, finding gold in the seams. Here, at the intersection of club floor and ritual, of electronics and ceremony, are worlds both ancient and modern. Otherworlds, where inhibitions fall away, dancers shakedown and trance takes you out there, and far away.

This is Archeology – the astounding debut album from Montparnasse Musique. Wrapped in striking visuals and released on Real World Records, Archeology finds the live rhythms of traditional and urban Africa meeting the programmed beats of modern Johannesburg. It’s a distinctive sound: wild, nuanced, pan-African.

Featuring a hot list of Congolese musicians including singer/multi-instrumentalist Cubain Kabeya, singers Muambuyi and Mengu Waku and guitarist Mopero Mupemba, variously from Congotronics acts including Mbongwana Star, Konono Nº1 and the Kasai Allstars.