Roots Rocking Zimbabwe - The Modern Sound of Harare' Townships 1975-1980
Last year, someone from the club wrote to me to say we’d sent out too many “Afro-jazz and world music albums.” Uh oh. I hope that wasn’t you, because... here’s another one (and yes, there’s more on the way). Since this is our first record of the year, we take it pretty seriously. You’ve got to lead off strong—a sure thing. A home run. A humdinger. And when we need that kind of reliability, I look no further than the curators at Analog Africa. This compilation also marks our first release from Zimbabwe, and I’ll admit I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when our copy arrived. What a surprise. The guitar work alone is astonishing—virtuosic, light, and almost ethereal. It’s just so good. Lucky us. Happy New Year!
Olvin Moreno - Santa Barbara, Honduras
Olvin Moreno is a producer from Santa Barbara whose coffee we’ve been purchasing for several years now. He came up learning the ropes of coffee farming and production from his dad, the legendary Daniel Moreno, and has been producing specialty coffee on this farm, El Filo, for nearly 15 years. We are suckers for clean and sweetness-driven coffees, and this lot of Pacas — the only variety grown on Finca El Filo — checks all our boxes. A classic profile of caramel, spice, and lightly toasted nuts livened by subtle purple fruit.
