Crammed Discs have announced a very exciting and extravagant release entitled Kinshasa 1978: Originals And Reconstructions. A double record, it features unreleased music from Sankayi, Orchestre Bambala, Orchestre Bana Luya and Konono Nº1, recorded in Kinshasa in 1978 by Bernard Treton. The release also features new reconstructions by French producer Martin Meissonier, who had this to say about it:

“Bernard Treton – who produced the original recordings in 1978 – is a longtime friend and colleague: we were working together at Radio France during the ‘70s, often with composers of minimal music, in which we were both interested. During his stay in the Congo, he regularly kept me informed about the emerging scene there, about bands such as Konono No.1, Les Stukas etc., and was bringing me 7” records. I was fascinated by these quasi-punk African musicians, who were manufacturing their own instruments and microphones, and were playing in the streets in front of fake amplifiers.

When he offered me to create remixes from the original stereo tapes, I didn’t hesitate. I aimed at staying as close as possible to the rhythms and the spirit of their trance-inducing music, while giving it a fatter sound, for use in my DJ sets. It turns out that it does work, and young audience members often come and ask me about the identity of these strange tracks that they can’t find with shazam…”

Kinshasa 1978 : Originals And Reconstructions is due out on November 15th but we can already get a taste with two ecstatic singles, Konono N°1’s original ‘Kin 78 One’ and the reconstruction of Sankayi’s ‘Il ne faut pas intervenir’.