Awesome Tapes from Africa
Reissues of one-of-a-kind recordings from Africa. Some are hifi and masterful; others are experimental and fresh. If you aren’t convinced that a web directory can still be fascinating to explore, wander through this.
Tapes/Africa
href.coolOne of the joys of the Internet is a connection to rare, unpublished, uncirculated works. I had never had access to much African music—now I do.
Paths to Graceland
An attempt to recreate the notorious “Gumboots: Accordian Jive Hits, Vol. 2” cassette that once mesmerized Paul Simon. This certainly mesmerizes! The sound of ‘groaner’ Mahlathini, alongside The Mahotella Queens or Dark City Sisters, is transporting. (To me, discarding the works of these musicians does make Simon’s appropriation a crime—if he had just introduced us to all of these artists.)
