Soundway Records is a British,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, founded and run by English DJ and music producer Miles Cleret. Since its initial release of a collection of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

ian music in 2002, it has released compilation albums of

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Et ...

, Caribbean,

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

, and

Asian music Asian music encompasses numerous musical styles originating in many Asian countries. Musical traditions in Asia * Music of Central Asia ** Music of Afghanistan (when included in the definition of Central Asia) ** Music of Kazakhstan ** Music o ...

from the 1950s to 1980s.

History

The label started in 2002 with the release of ''Ghana Soundz: Afrobeat, Funk & Fusion in '70s Ghana''. Composed of

Ghanaian music There are many styles of traditional and modern music of Ghana, due to Ghana's worldwide geographic position on the African continent. The best known modern genre originating in Ghana is Highlife. So many years, Highlife was the preferred mus ...

from the 1970s, the release was compiled from a hoard of dusty LPs and 45s that Cleret discovered whilst on a search mission to

. With immediate critical acclaim from Joe Tangari, writer for

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

and creator of Africa 100, Cleret was encouraged to set off again on a number of expeditions around the world. As a result, the label has released a series of critically acclaimed compilation albums and re-issues of African, Caribbean, Latin, and Asian music from the 1950s to 1980s. These include the ''Nigeria Special'', ''Ghana Special'', and ''Kenya Special'' compilation albums, as well as '' Doing It In Lagos: Boogie, Pop & Disco in 1980s Nigeria'', and a retrospective from Ghanaian disco legend

Kiki Gyan Kiki Gyan (7 June 1957 – 10 June 2004), also known as Kiki Djan, was a Ghanaian musician. He was the keyboardist of the band Osibisa which was popular in the 1970s. He also recorded and produced a series of disco records. He was a prodigy who c ...

. ''Highlife on the Move'' (2015) features one of the earliest recordings of Afrobeat founder

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the pi ...

. Fela recorded the song "Fela's Special" in London in 1960 for the Melodisc label with his band Fela Ransome-Kuti & the Highlife Rakers. In the sleeve notes, Markus Coester adds that "Even though

he recordings He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

had been discographically tracked and people interested in Fela's musical life knew of them, they kept hiding for more than 50 years. Before I came across them, I was even in doubt whether they had been released at all. These are amazing first recordings, however". Since 2012, the label has issued a series of original contemporary releases as well as re-issued older music. These include releases from acts such as Batida,

Ibibio Sound Machine Ibibio Sound Machine is an English electronic afro-funk band from London. Formed in 2013, the band currently consists of vocalist Eno Williams, guitarist Alfred Kari Bannerman, percussionist Afla Sackey , drummer Joseph Amoako, bassist Philip P ...

, Debruit &

Alsarah Alsarah (Arabic: السارة) (born 1982) is a Sudanese-American singer, songwriter, and ethnomusicologist. She is the leader of the group Alsarah & the Nubatones, and has performed with other groups such as The Nile Project. Her stage name is a ...

, Fantasma, Fumaça Preta, Ondatropica, The Meridian Brothers, Los Miticos Del Ritmo, Chico Mann,

Bomba Estereo Bomba may refer to: Places *Bomba, Belize, a village in the Belize District of Belize *Bomba, Abruzzo, a ''comune'' in Province of Chieti, Italy * Bomba, Libya, a village near the city of Derna in Libya * Gulf of Bomba, a body of water in the Med ...

, My Panda Shall Fly, KonKoma, Family Atlantica, and Dexter Story. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' included Soundway Records on its list of the "10 British recording labels defining the sound of 2014". In January 2017, Soundway Records was awarded 'Label of The Year' by Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards held at Koko London.

References

{{Authority control British independent record labels Record labels established in 2002 World music record labels 2002 establishments in England