Elementor #3735
Bandcamp Friday release: Xangbetos. TGU 90s Afrobeat
On this Bandcamp Friday we follow up our re-discovery of TGU side project Beach Bellydance Babylon last month with ‘Notions Potions and Lotions‘ by TGU side prjoect Xangbetos.
In the late 90s, Hamid Mantu teamed up with Jo Cohen of the Bollywood Band and South African vocalist Doreen Thobekile, at that point very much in the public eye after working with the KLF, with the intent of creating a London based jazz-Afrobead project. Doreen became TGU’s lead singer and is still deeply missed after her death in 2010.
But Xangbetos grew into a band, bringing in Neil Sparkes and Mick Bevan (of west London band the Decorators, who Joe had also been in) along with a whole bunch of local collaborators and members of the TGU/Nation Records family. An EP was released in 1997 and the band played WOMAD to a great reaction, but the whole album was never released, mainly due to TGU and the Bollywoods being much too busy in their own rights. But a lot of great music was recorded and it deserves to be heard. In fact we reckon it’s matured like a fine wine, and that Xangbetos produced an album that predicted the London Afrobeat scene before it happened.
Listen for yourselves, on download or limited edition CD. Anyone buying today gets a free download code for a bunch of dubs and remixes!
We’re really sorry but we currently can’t post CDs to the USA….you all know why.
