Aficionados of Francis Falceto’s Éthiopiques series will recall Ayalew Mesfin from the extraordinary track ‘Hasabe’ on volume eight: Swinging Addis. ‘So singular is his style: angry, very rock-R&B and very fast, Falceto wrote of Mesfin’s unique synthesis of James Brown and Jimi Hendrix in his liner notes. These two albums offer a deeper insight into Mesfin’s style. With his Black Lion Band he created some of the funkiest sounds ever to emerge from Addis Ababa’s vibrant 1970s scene, before being forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974. Compiled from rare 7” single releases and from previously unreleased recordings taken from newly discovered master tapes, these two albums from the early 70s feature Mesfin’s sturdy baritone voice singing serpentine melodies to a classic Ethio-groove. However, it’s the surprises, twists and innovations that stand out, such as the spooked 12-bar blues of ‘Mot Aykerim’ (You Can’t Cheat Death), the Memphis soul flavours of ‘Shuferu’ (The Driver) and the raucous, rave-up on ‘Gora Weshebaye’ (The Mountain Hero), all of which are found on Tewedije Limut. The ten cuts on Che Belew tend to be shorter at single length, and tracks such as ‘Libe Menta Hone’ (My Divided Heart) make thrilling use of electric guitar effects.