Last month Strut Records released Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band, an album that featured full band rearrangements of Ghanaian highlife star Pat Thomas's 1980s classics with new contributions from Tony Allen, Ebo Taylor, multi-instrumentalist Kwame Yeboahand saxophonist Ben Abarbanel-Wolff. Pat Thomas Highlife Selecion, a new mixtape from Strut compiler Duncan Brooker (Nigeria 70, Next Stop Soweto), follows that LP with a 45-minute excursion into rare and classic cuts from the Ghanaian "Golden Voice of Africa." Highlights include the original 1978 version of Thomas' recent airy single "Gyae Su" and the tireless 1980 tune "Yamona: Disco Hi-Life." Stream our premiere of Brooker's Pat Thomas Highlife Selection mix below and purchase Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band LP, which features hand-drawn artwork by London designer/illustrator Lewis Heriz, from Strut Records.
'Pat Thomas Highlife Selection. Vinyl Mix By Duncan Brooker' Tracklist
1. YAMONA: DISCO HI-LIFE (Pan African Records, 1980)
2. WE ARE COMING HOME (Gapophone, 1975)
3. GYAE SU (Nakasi Records, 1978)
4. MEWO AKOMA (Sankofa, 1980)
5. AWURADE MPAEBO (Gapophone, 1976)
6. ODO A ME DO WOYI (JAP Records, 1986)