Eric Trosset 3 (2020) by KopetoLe Mila
Founded in 1998 by Eric Trosset and Manu Boubli, record label Comet Records has been playing its part to increase the visibility of African music for more than 20 years, from the urban rhythms of English-speaking parts of West Africa (such as Nigeria and Ghana) to jazz, trance, and Afrofuturism.
Tony Allen - Black voices AlbumLe Mila
Black Voices (1999), Psycho on da Bus (2001), and Homecooking (2002)—cult albums by Tony Allen and Doctor L—were avant-garde manifestos for Afrobeat. Later, together with master drummer Tony Allen, the label became one of the pillars of the Afrobeat revival.
mur vinyl at comet (2020) by KopetoLe Mila
Going forward, the label put its name to the Afro Rhythms collections of Afrofunk re-releases, electronic projects like Allenko, maverick producers like Bumcello with Cyril Atef and Vincent Segal, Rare Moods (Doctor L Manu Boubli), Brighter Days (Julien Lourau and Jeff Sharel), Donso led by Pierre Antoine Grison aka Krazybaldhead (Ed Banger), and the Afrobeat Makers collection of hip hop and electro-styled Afrobeat instrumentals over patterns by master drummer Tony Allen.
comet office (2020) by KopetoLe Mila
From 2010 onward, Eric Trosset continued to bring out new records (Metá Metá from São Paulo, Nu Guinea, and the Disco Afro and Disco High Life remix series), but also expanded his activities to include artist management, development of the publishing company Shining, and executive production on a range of projects by artists like Theo Parrish, Jeff Mills, Tony Allen, Ebo Taylor, and Pat Thomas.
Ampli (2020) by KopetoLe Mila
Having been based since its early days starting in 1998 just off Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis, Comet moved to Mila in 2008, before joining up with the store Phunk in 2011. Incidentally, Eric Trosset subsequently took over the former office of Eric Morand, founder of the label F Com, after the latter relocated to Bordeaux.
Poster Strata East (2020) by KopetoLe Mila
The northern part of Paris's 18th district has experienced quite a reawakening in recent years, with the opening of new restaurants, bars, wine cellars, and—the icing on the cake—new record store Dizonord, which also runs workshops for young people from the neighborhood.
Turntables (2020) by KopetoLe Mila
Over the years, a real momentum has developed among the various labels based at Mila, and Comet takes advantage of that synergy all the time, working with their neighbor Pusher, their vinyl distributor, their cotenant Phunk founded by Fabrice Desprez, and Simon Veyssière's Accent Presse, who provides PA duties for Comet's artists.
Tony Allen & Doctor L at Comet HQ summer partyLe Mila
And then of course there's Studio CBE, Tony Allen's home studiowhere he recorded numerous projects, including the album he made with Jeff Mills which was released on Blue Note in 2018, sessions with Lojo, Sebastien Tellier, Oumou Sangare, Theo Parrish, and more.
Tony's Drumsticks (2020) by KopetoLe Mila
Tony was a constant presence in the neighborhood, having his barber, his African restaurants, and of course his HQ, Comet, all in the area. He came with his legendary discretion to our offices, always warmly greeting whoever was there, and staying for a few gin and tonics or single malts from Eric Trosset's mini bar.
"Go Back Ft Damon Albarn" de Tony Allen
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.