Country : Ghana Label : Glitterbeat Genres and styles : Afrobeat / Disco / Funk / Highlife Year : 2020

The Pace Setters

· by Rupert Bottenberg

At the turn of the ’80s, legendary soundsmith Brian Eno was at the peak of his African investigations. Around the same time he and Talking Head David Byrne concocted the bizarre, prescient culture clash My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Eno also tackled the production on this first (and sadly, last) album from Ghanaian octet Edikanfo. 

The Pace Setters strikes a balance between the effervescence of Ghana’s locally brewed nightclub music, highlife, and the tensile strength of Afrobeat from nearby Nigeria – found in the proud, punchy brass refrains and tough percussion breakdowns. It’s of its moment, of course, so delicious disco-funk is the name of the game here, with lots of snapping bass and cute laser zaps. An Ethiopian angle asserts itself on “Gbenta”.

This reissue surfaces almost 40 years after the fact, and with a tragic footnote to explain the absence of further Edikanfo gold. The Pace Setters was released in 1981, a year that for Ghanaians, concluded with a coup d’état that killed off Accra’s happening nightlife just as surely as the COVID bug is doing so right now, worldwide. The band dissolved soon after, leaving only this congenial slab of vinyl behind. 

Latest 360 Content

Cammac music camp : where professionals and passionate amateurs meet through music

Cammac music camp : where professionals and passionate amateurs meet through music

Nuits d’Afrique | Yawo and The Music of The Desert Nomads

Nuits d’Afrique | Yawo and The Music of The Desert Nomads

Nuits d’Afrique | Zal Sissokho and Toumany Kouyaté, a Kora Highlight

Nuits d’Afrique | Zal Sissokho and Toumany Kouyaté, a Kora Highlight

Nuits d’Afrique | Wesli, One Foot in Haiti, One Foot in Canada

Nuits d’Afrique | Wesli, One Foot in Haiti, One Foot in Canada

Nuits d’Afrique | Fabrice Koffy and His Slam, in Full Band Mode

Nuits d’Afrique | Fabrice Koffy and His Slam, in Full Band Mode

Nuits d’Afrique | Daby Touré Restarts His Machine

Nuits d’Afrique | Daby Touré Restarts His Machine

Nuits d’Afrique | Stogie T, South African Rainbow, Hip-Hop, Soul, Rock, Jazz

Nuits d’Afrique | Stogie T, South African Rainbow, Hip-Hop, Soul, Rock, Jazz

Nuits d’Afrique | Mateus Vidal Reborn With Axé Experience

Nuits d’Afrique | Mateus Vidal Reborn With Axé Experience

Festival de Lanaudière | Chanticleer : To Polyphony And Beyond

Festival de Lanaudière | Chanticleer : To Polyphony And Beyond

Nuits d’Afrique | Less Toches, Three Nights in A Row

Nuits d’Afrique | Less Toches, Three Nights in A Row

Nuits d’Afrique | All the Peppers of Sauce Piquante Sound System

Nuits d’Afrique | All the Peppers of Sauce Piquante Sound System

Festival de Lanaudière | Collectif9 : contemporary music through groove and folk

Festival de Lanaudière | Collectif9 : contemporary music through groove and folk

Nuits d’Afrique | Jean Jean Roosevelt and The Afro-Realist Song

Nuits d’Afrique | Jean Jean Roosevelt and The Afro-Realist Song

Nuits d’Afrique | Daby Touré’s Montreal Cycle

Nuits d’Afrique | Daby Touré’s Montreal Cycle

Nuits d’Afrique | Las Karamba, Between Sisterhood and Activism

Nuits d’Afrique | Las Karamba, Between Sisterhood and Activism

Nuits d’Afrique | A Groovy Night with Fulu Miziki Kolektiv

Nuits d’Afrique | A Groovy Night with Fulu Miziki Kolektiv

Laura Krieg – Crépuscule

Laura Krieg – Crépuscule

The Cure – Mixes Of A Lost World

The Cure – Mixes Of A Lost World

Nuits d’Afrique | Sarab, East-West Conversation In Your Face

Nuits d’Afrique | Sarab, East-West Conversation In Your Face

Squid – Cowards

Squid – Cowards

Nuits d’Afrique | KillaBeatMaker, Colombian Consciousness and Dynamism

Nuits d’Afrique | KillaBeatMaker, Colombian Consciousness and Dynamism

Five Wonderfully Weird Acts to Catch at ShazamFest 2025

Five Wonderfully Weird Acts to Catch at ShazamFest 2025

Nuits d’Afrique | Flavia Coelho, A Woman of Many Instruments

Nuits d’Afrique | Flavia Coelho, A Woman of Many Instruments

Nuits d’Afrique | Shatta Initiation with Blaiz Fayah

Nuits d’Afrique | Shatta Initiation with Blaiz Fayah

Subscribe to our newsletter