Syliphone record label recordings from Guinea

Long description:

Recordings in this collection can be played by anyone.

These recordings are from the Radio Télévision Guinée archives, created in the Republic of Guinea under the Presidency of Sékou Touré (1958-1984) following independence from France.

Sékou Touré saw the development of a national identity as key to the progress of his nation. The development of culture was thus central to his government. State-sponsored orchestras were created and the government bought them their musical instruments, paid them a wage, and created national arts festivals in which their groups performed. Foreign music was banned from the radio, and here the government filled the gap by building a state of the art recording studio and creating its own recording label, Syliphone.

The music of Syliphone was recorded on magnetic tape at the studios of Radio Télévision Guinée (RTG). Some of the music was released as 33.3 rpm and 45rpm vinyl discs; all of it was broadcast by the RTG on one of the largest radio transmitters in West Africa.

This material was digitised as part of the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) project, to read more about this project please view Dr Graeme Counsel’s Radio Africa website website, blogposts and the chapter Music for a revolution: The sound archives of Radio Télévision Guinée available for free download in From dust to digital: Ten years of the Endangered Archives Programme (Maja Kominko ed., Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2015).

'A Guide to the Syliphone Archive' (PDF document 354KB) has been created by project holder Graeme Counsel which gives a history of the archive alongside some recommended listenings.

Recordings licensed from Sterns Music.