ethiopia

Aar Maanta moved from his native Somalia to the UK in the late 1980's due to the civil war. As a lone child in a new country he turned to music for comfort absorbing many genres including pop, rock, hip hop, RnB and house. He now produces an eclectic mix of styles blended with traditional Somali music. Aar Maanta's first notable performance was in July 2006 at Rise: London United the UK's largest multi-cultural festival.

Mahmoud Ahmed (born May 8, 1941) is an Ethiopian singer of Gurage ancestry. Born in Addis Ababa, Mahmoud shined shoes in that city before becoming a handyman at the Arizona Club, where he first sang professionally in the early 1960s. He sang for the Imperial Body Guard Band until 1974, and recorded with other bands for the Amha and Kaifa record labels throughout the 1970s. He opened his own music store in Addis Ababa's Piazza district during the 1980s while he continued his singing career.

Recorded by a group of adventurous Ethiopians and Nick Page, one half of the British group Temple Of Sound, Dub Colossus is a unique attempt to mix traditional East African music with the most experimental reggae sounds. Recorded first in Addis Ababa, it was completed in a two-week session at the Real World studios in Wiltshire, thanks to the involvement of the B&W Music Club. Their first studio was a shed where electricity and water were intermittent and distractions included the noise of children playing outside...