Soundway Records is a British,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

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

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian music in 2002, it has released compilation albums of African,

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and

Asian music Asian music encompass numerous musical styles, traditions, and forms originating in Asian countries. Asian music traditions include: * ** Music of China ** Music of Hong Kong ** Music of Japan ** Traditional music of Korea *** Music of Nor ...

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. For 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 magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

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 – 6 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 co ...

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

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...

. 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 recordingshad 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 PK ...

, Debruit &

Alsarah Alsarah, born Sarah Mohamed Abunama-Elgadi, (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 T ...

, 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 M ...

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

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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.

Notable releases

* '' Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968–1981'' (2009, SNDW016) * '' Doing It In Lagos: Boogie, Pop & Disco in 1980s Nigeria'' (2016, SNDW087) * '' Ghana Special 2: Electronic Highlife & Afro Sounds In The Diaspora, 1980–93'' (2024, SNDW148)

References

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