Amateurs of vintage 1970s music from Africa should definitely check out '70s Pop' by Kenyan band Slim Ali & The Hodi Boys. Ali was born in Mombasa and took his first steps in music as a member of bands like Blue Boys Band and The Tusker Band. When in 1968 Faisal Brown, singer with The Hodi Boys, decides to head to Ethiopia, Ali is the right man in the right place. With a repertoire initially consisting mainly of covers of soul heroes like Otis Redding and Percy Sledge, the band mainly gained popularity in Kenya's tourist circuit, but gradually Slim, who alternates between English and Swahili, also starts writing his own songs and with 'You Can Do It' he finally scores a first big hit. Slim Ali & The Hodi Boys would go on to record three albums ('You Can Do It', 'Smile' and 'Home'), from which the ARC Music label has now it has selected the best tracks for this somewhat misleadingly titled compilation full of soul ('Keep On Doing', 'We've Got To Progress On'), funk ('We Gonna Sing A Song', 'We Gotta Dance') and even a dash of reggae ('Smile', 'Home').

Of a very different order is the somewhat simplistically titled 'Music Of Angola' - and the horrible cover design, giving the impression this is a release from an obscure ethnographic series, is another thing you have to forgive the ARC Music label for - by Manuel Diogo. Titles like 'Yaweh Deus De Angola', 'Teu Nome E Jesus' or 'Moninga Yaka Na Yesu' are a clear indication we're mainly dealing with Christian-inspired music here, but Diogo blends his gospel with native genres like semba ('Ora Não Cessa') and rebita ('A Chamada Vai Haver'), and, a few corny tracks aside ('Mpeve Ya Longo', 'Torrent D'amour'), that results in an extremely infectious and danceable album.