| Details / Tracklist: |
1. AMANAZ
2. I AM VERY FAR
3. SUNDAY MORNING
4. KHALA MY FRIEND
5. HISTORY OF MAN
6. NSUNKA LWENDO
7. AFRICA
8. GREEN APPLE
9. MAKING THE SCENE
10. EASY STREET
11. BIG ENOUGH
12. KALE |
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| Number of discs: |
1 |
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| Description: | Issued in 1975, this is the articulation of Zambia??s Zamrock ethos. Its' musicians were
anti-colonial freedom fighters, it envelops Zambian folk music traditions, and it rocks - hard.
Amanaz were serious, and they made a serious stab at an album. They titled their album Africa, according to original band
member Keith Kabwe, ??because of how it was shared and how its inhabitants were butchered and enslaved, its resources
stolen... all the atrocities slave drivers committed. ?? Thus, their ??Kale,? a blues sung in Nyanja, that traced the continent??s arc
from slavery to Zambia??s independence closes the album.
Kabwe and rhythm guitarist John Kanyepa have a winsome softness to their vocals, which sit politely aside the feral growl of
drummer Watson Baldwin Lungu, bassist Jerry Mausala and bandleader/lead guitarist Isaac Mpofu. Africa??s vibe ranges from
anxious (??Amanaz?) to escapist (??Easy Street?) to straight-up pissed-off. On the ??History of Man,? his voice whiskey-burned,
his distorted guitar buzzing like swarming hornets, Mpofu indicts his species.
There??s a darkness to Africa not found on any other Zamrock records, and a melancholy drifts throughout, specifically on
Mpofu??s more restrained ??Khala My Friend,? which stands as an effective, bleak situation for the Zambian everyman, the
average citizen of a struggling, new nation, who might have had relatives in conflict-torn countries on the horizon, who might
have been struggling to find his next meal, who might have seen a bleaker future than his president promised.
Then there??s the clear Velvet Underground-influence on the nostalgic ??Sunday Morning,? which, as Kabwe recalls, was the first
song written for the album, back in 1968, when Velvet Undergound and Nico was a new release - and the underground funk of
??Making The Scene.? The album also tackles traditional Zambian music and early-??60s rock ?? punctuated, of course by
Kanyepa??s wah-wah and Mpofu??s fuzz guitars. But every time Amanaz get too deep, too violent, they come back with an
accessible song and woo their listener back to the groove. ??Green Apple? is a civil song, featuring Kanyepa??s sighing guitar - Vinyl LP pressing. Originally released in 1975 on Zambia Music Parlour. Recorded at Malachite Film Studios, Chingola, Zambia in 1975 by Geoff Kachusha Mulenga and Grayson Phiri. Produced by Amanaz and Emmanuel Mulemena; directed by Edward Khuzyawo; production arrangements by Billie David Nyati. Licensed courtesy Keith Kabwe and Isaac Mpofu. This compilation produced by Eothen "Egon" Alapatt.Hype sticker: "Archival reissue of the preferred, "flat" mix of the album that articulates the Zamrock ethos: Africa came from the minesl its musicians were anti-colonial freedom fighters; it envelopes Zambian folk music tradition; and it rocks - hard." |
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| Manufacturer No.: |
NA5203LP |
|
Product Safety
Responsible Person for the EU:
Lounge Records / Legere Recordings
c/o BROKEN SILENCE
Stadtdeich 27, 20097 Hamburg, DE
helmut@lounge-records.de |
|
Progressive Rock
6.083
