Dougbe, Antoine
Et L'orchestre Poly-rythmo De Cotonou
If there's is one band that is intimately tied to the history of Analog Africa, it's definitely Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou. 13 years after the last release, AA is back with a compilation featuring the mighty Poly-Rythmo ! But this time it comes with a special touch, the touch of the Devil's Prime Minister - Antoine Dougbé himself ! "Antoine Dougbe et L'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou" comes as a 140g Virgin Vinyl double LP with a Gatefold Cover full of pictures and liner notes. The compilation highlights 12 songs, a whirlwind of circular guitars, synths, mesmerising layers of Afro-Cuban and Cavacha madness featuring the Poly-Rythmo playing at the absolute height of their considerable powers. Who was Antoine Dougbé? Even the most dedicated crate-digger might go their whole life without stumbling across any of the three LPs he released in the late 1970s and early '80s. Yet all the musicians who happened to cross paths with him remember him with a mixture of admiration and fear; for Antoine Dougbé was not merely one of the most inventive songwriters to emerge from the fertile music scene of Cotonou, but also a powerful Vodún initiate whose close connection to the spirit world allowed him to refer to himself as "the Devil's prime minister".