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Mot Aykerim (You Can​’​t Cheat Death)

by Ayalew Mesfin

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend 1970s Ethiopia. The music he created with his Black Lion Band is amongst the funkiest to arise from Addis Ababa.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Exclusive Red Vinyl LP.

    Contains an oversized 11” x 11” 16 page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Ayalew’s role within it.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mot Aykerim (You Can’t Cheat Death) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $27 USD or more 

     

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about

Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin’s music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation.

Mesfin’s recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7” singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia’s 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation.

Though Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set albums – the first time that his music has been presented in this form.

These albums give us a chance to discover a rare and beautiful moment in music history, in anthologies built from Mesfin’s uber-rare 7” single releases and from previously unreleased recordings taken from master tapes. Each individual album contains an oversized 11” x 11” 16 page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin’s role within it. An OBI wrapped “box set” of all five albums is available at a discounted price. The box set only contains one booklet.

Mot Aykerim (You Can’t Cheat Death) gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history, in an anthology built from previously unreleased songs re-discovered on master tapes. Contains an oversized 11” x 11” 16 page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin’s role within it.

credits

released August 4, 2020

Original sessions produced by Ayalew Mesfin, Amha Eshete and Ali Abdella Kaifa. This anthology produced by Eothen Alapatt. Restored and remastered by Dave Cooley and Jason Bitney. Liner notes by Simeneh Gesbremariam and Eothen Alapatt. Art direction by Errol F. Richardson. Licensed courtesy Ayalew Mesfin. Special thanks to Hellen Asfaw Dubale and Danny Mekonnen.

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Ayalew Mesfin Ethiopia

Ayalew Mesfin is among the legends of the 1970s Ethiopian musical scene – his music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Ayalew was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of the country in 1974.

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