Just in case your appetite for funky, bass-heavy, horn-tastic afro-pop grooves from the 1970s wasn’t satisfied by the excellent 2010 compilation Afro-Beat Airways—itself a follow-up to 2008’s African Scream Contest—the always-reliable Analog Africa label has released another 13 pristinely cleaned-up nuggets, this time focusing on the musical crossroads-slash-hotbed of Ghana. Anyone looking for an offbeat collection of uptempo, goodtime grooves could do a lot worse than this.

Some contributors are familiar enough to fans of the genre—Ebo Taylor is still recording, and released an album just last year. Other tracks are fairly obscure, though no less booty-shaking for all that. While there may be some degree of diminishing returns for this genre, given the large number of comps and rereleases over the past few years (fueled by blogs like Voodoofunk and Awesome Tunes From Africa, both of which offer up significant amounts of free music in “raw,” un-remastered form), the fact is that this is another solid set. Newcomers are especially encouraged to jump in.

Given the nature of the album—13 tracks by different artists—there are bound to be highlights and lowlights, but they’re unlikely to be the same for any two listeners. For my own part, I’m less enamored of brass and horns than I am of a bouncing bassline, shredding guitar, shimmering keyboard and lively percussion; full-throated vocals are a plus too. Happily, there’s plenty of that here, though at times the aforementioned horns make themselves a little too prominent.

The good news is that if you wait long enough, the horns will usually recede as the rest of the band takes over. This is true right from the outset, with opening track “Aja Wondo” by Uppers International. Despite its horn-heavy opening minutes, the second half lead break is dominated by tinkling keys and scratching guitar, along with urgent vocals and a bubbling bed of percussion and bass. Follow-up track “Children Don’t Cry,” from Ebo Taylor Jr., follows a similar pattern, with bright horns introducing the tune and a lengthy sax improvisation kicking in even before the first verse. The second half of the nearly-seven-minute tune is given over to an extensive jam, with the guitars and vocals fighting for equal prominence.

There’s plenty more where that came from. De Frank’s Band’s “Do Your Own Thing” offers up an irresistible organ-and-percussion groove, while “Wope Me a Ka,” from The African Brothers, brings edgy percussion and a hypnotic bassline to the proceedings. This is one of the record’s several tunes that clock in at the six-minute mark, and it effortlessly maintains its energy throughout. In fact, the longer tunes here tend to be more satisfying than the shorter ones, if only because the music lends itself to stretched-out jams rather than short, sharp verse-chorus-solo structures.

“Wope Me a Ka” is a highlight, but so too is “I Beg” from Tony Sarfo & the Funky Afrosibi, a relentlessly funky song powered by wah-wah guitar, Farfisa accents and a lilting rhythm that is impossible to resist. Another long tune, this one eschews vocals entirely, instead adding in layers of sound in the form of multiple percussion lines and a meaty stew of guitar and keyboard licks. The lack of vocals is a surprise, but one that ends up being as delightful as it is unexpected. Album closer “God Is Love” tosses out another surprise, in the form of lyrics that are unabashedly devotional.

Ultimately, the appeal of this compilation lies in such moments. Fans of the genre will probably not hesitate to listen, as well they should, but it’s newcomers who really should give this album a shot. With its relentless good-time groove and mix of modern instrumentation with traditional language and rhythmic elements, this era of Afropop continues to sound fresh.