Wewantsounds in 2025: Private Press Funk, Cassette Heat, and Jazz That Swings Wide

From backroom Paris sessions to L.A. studio burners, the label’s latest batch is pure voltage.

Wewantsounds is in the middle of a heavy year. The Paris-based label has been moving fast, resurfacing rare and remarkable records from around the world. Already in 2025, they’ve brought back Meiko Kaji’s Yadokari and Roy Haynes’s Hip Ensemble, and announced an upcoming reissue of Warda’s We Malo. They’ve compiled a killer set of electro-Raï cassette cuts with Sweet Rebels, unearthed live heat from Manu Dibango, and spotlighted Japanese funk, boogie, and city pop with Tokyo Bliss. Each release comes correct, with original artwork, remastered audio, and liner notes that treat the music with respect.

This latest batch turns to Algerian music’s golden years, pulling in two full-length rarities and a hypnotic cassette-era Raï compilation. The outlier is Woga, a soul-jazz burner from Los Angeles that holds its own alongside the rest. Cheb Gero, the Paris DJ and deep-digging collector behind much of the Algerian series, has shaped this corner of the catalog with a sharp ear and a wide reach. His selections connect scenes, cities, and styles without losing the thread.

Les Abranis – Album No. 1

Originally self-released in Paris in 1983, this private-press LP by Algerian group Les Abranis (also known as Id Ed Was) blends Kabyle rock, sharp-edged funk, and a low-slung reggae pulse. It’s lean, rhythmic, and wired with the energy of young musicians making tradition bend to the city’s pulse. This first-ever reissue, which came out last week, was curated by Gero and remastered in Paris. The package includes original artwork and liner notes by Algerian journalist Rabah Mezouane.

Freh Khodja – Ken Andi Habib

A more obscure name, but just as essential. Saxophonist Freh Khodja recorded this set in Paris in 1975 with a crew of immigrant musicians called Les Flammes. The album blends modal jazz with Arabic phrasing, Cape Verdean rhythms, and Latin undercurrents. It’s fluid and reflective, stitched together by players who understood exile not as a topic but a sound. Gero tracked this one down and gave it the treatment it deserves, pairing remastered audio with original artwork and liner notes from Mezouane.

Various Artists – Sweet Rebels: The Golden Era of Algerian Pop-Raï

Compiled by Gero and pulled from cassettes released by Algeria’s Oriental Music Production label, Sweet Rebels captures Raï as it morphed into something raw and electric. These tracks come from the early days of synths and drum machines, when traditional ballads collided with street rhythms and tape hiss. Zahouani, Zohra, Djalti: Their names were rising, their voices carried a youth culture on the edge of explosion. Eight tracks, newly remastered, with liner notes by Mezouane. It’s sweaty, immediate, and impossible to fake.

Charles Kynard – Woga

The lone American title in this batch, but spiritually right in line. Recorded in Los Angeles in 1972, Woga is one of the funkiest records on Bob Shad’s Mainstream label. Charles Kynard’s Hammond organ leads the way, with Chuck Rainey, Paul Humphrey, Arthur Adams, and George Bohanon forming a session band with no weak links. The album moves between fiery originals and sharp covers of Donny Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, and The Staple Singers. The reissue also includes “Smiling Faces Sometimes,” cut at the same session with Carol Kaye on bass. Original gatefold art, remastered audio, and liner notes by Kevin Le Gendre round it out. Fifty years on, it still hits hard.

For more info on these releases and more, hit the Wewantsounds site.