Mot Aykerim (you Can't Cheat Death)

Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and

Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin's music is some of the funkiest to

arise from this unconquerable East African nation.

Mesfin's recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7" singles and numerous reel-to-reel

tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia's 20th century recording industry,

when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths,

even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation.

Though Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in

1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set albums - the first time

that his music has been presented in this form.

Mot Aykerim gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history, in an

anthology built from his uber-rare 7" single releases. Contains an oversized 11" x 11" 16 page

book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin's role within it.