Name: Direct From Dakar
Brand: Omar Pene and Super Diamono

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

LPRW233AFS

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-06-24

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Universal

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

884108009000

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1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / red

CDRW233AFS

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "CDRW233AFS"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

884108008997

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Omar Pene and Super Diamono

Genre GB

African

Label GB

Real World

<br>Senegalese vocalist Omar Pene was at the height of his powers when, with his group Super Diamono, he arrived at Real World in 1996 and gifted a live session that blew everybody’s hair back. By then Pene had been with Diamono for over two decades, assuming a captaincy in the ‘80s that saw the band jousting for popularity at home with the mighty Youssou N’Dour. Both acts were rooted in mbalax, Senegal’s explosive, syncopated dance music. Both were pivotal to the development of modern music in Senegal. But instead of the customary tama talking drums, Diamono used horns and guitars. They folded in reggae, and wielded jazz chords. In Ousmane Sow they found a keyboardist with a tough electric sound. 

Pene’s voice, too, was different: deep, melodious and effortlessly soulful. Heard here, on such self-penned, socially conscious tunes as ‘Giande’, a toe-tapper about courage; oh-so-funky anti-war anthem ‘Xamiene’; ‘Soweto’, a guitar-driven ode to the South African township; and even ‘Diaraf’, a paean to Pene’s favourite Dakar football team, it’s an instrument imbued with genuine emotion. Ultimately, Direct From Dakar is a party album: an aural snapshot of a dance band in the zone and a lead singer in his element, vibing on collective energy and letting the good times flow.

Recorded at Real World Studios in 1996, this CD/LP reissue features brand new cover art. First time on vinyl. Part of the reissue series Africa Sessions at Real World.

Direct From Dakar

Music GB