William Kentridge-Johannesburg

The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

Various Artists - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto
Earthworks - 1985

The first 'Bantu' recordings in South Africa were made in 1912/13 by the visiting British Zonophone Company Recording Unit. It was in 1931 that Gallo Ltd. set up the first South African recording studio in Johannesburg. Initially these studios recorded material from all over Anglophone Central Africa but after 1960 Zulu and South Sotho material began to dominate the recording industry. After the 2nd World War in the townships that serviced the gold mines and industrial heartland of the Witwatersrand, the traditional music of the Zulu and Sotho collided with the Afro American rhythm and blues, jazz and blues of the period to form new urban styles such as township jazz, the pennywhistle street music, Kwela, and the shebeen inspired marabi. Mbaquanga drew upon all these forms for inspiration to become a powerful new urban pop style. The music presented in this compilation was recorded in the period 1981-84.

-Text from liner notes

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Various Artists - Mbube Roots: Zulu Choral Music From South Africa
Rounder - 1988
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Max Romeo - War Ina Babylon
Island - 1976
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Island - 1977
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Island - 1977
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