Dinner Music 130: The weekly lineup
zamrock, afro-psychadelia, tezeta
This week we’re listening (mostly) to Zamrock, a raw, energizing movement that came after Zambia’s independence from British colonialism in the 1970s with “deep hippie styles, big funky sounds mixed with ancient rhythms and marked by wild concerts.”1 Western rock and blues poured into the country and Zambians took hold of the sound, making their own punk-rock versions. Vinyl Me, Please, Now Again Records and Strawberry Rain Music made a mini-doc that is absolutely worth watching and there’s a feature-length documentary on WITCH, featured below. Now Again Records has also released two Zamrock compilations, Welcome to Zamrock! vol.1 & vol 2, which were my introduction to this massive movement.
We begin with Africa by Amanaz, a group of anti-colonial freedom fighters, that have had a resurgence after 45 years due to the above compilation, a few spots on TV shows and, evidently, their fan Snopp Dogg. Perhaps that anti-colonial spirit is also infecting, in this particular era, with that lo-fi, fuzzy sound of defiance that threads itself through the record. They took inspiration from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, two bands that “changed everything,” so says Keith Kabwe (an original member of the band). We move into WITCH, one of the few original Zamrock bands that is still active, albeit with a few new members. The band was a relative late-comer into the scene, yet they changed things — crowds got bigger, yells got louder. They hold that same defiant, lofi, fuzzy sound as Amanaz and push it harder and further, with more synth and more psych, as though their cry was “more!” They’re touring this year through Europe and North America, a rare opportunity to see a group that was, and is, at the forefront of anti-colonialism. We step away from Zambia and into Ethiopia for an early, newly(ish) reissued tezeta album from Hailu Mergia & The Walias Band. The album was also recorded during a time of political turmoil, Ethiopia in this case, and represents the sound of defiance — the group played for nearly a decade in a Hilton hotel, defying curfews and restrictions. Eventually, Mergia moved to the US and worked as a taxi driver. “After I drop my customer, I grab my keyboard from the trunk and sit in the car and practice,” he said in an interview with The Guardian. I wrote more about Mergia in a very, very early Dinner Music. We move into a new album from Nigerian synth-work master Mamman Sani (early Dinner Music) in collaboration with Tropikal Camel. Sani was an early pioneer of African electronic music and claims to have brought the very first organ into Niger (an Italian “orlo” organ). This new album takes his earlier sound, dreamy and lofi, and re-makes it with a cosmic and dance-forward sound, while staying true to the African rhythms that made the original tapes special. We end with Dark Sunrise from Rikki Ililonga & Musi-O-Tunya, two massive and early Zamrock pioneers.
Enjoy.
Paid subscribers have access to the full Dinner Music archive (via Spotify and Apple Music), an after hours playlist, a “New York Grooves” playlist and more — hundreds of hours of groove, soul, jazz, folk, samba, hi-life, disco, electro, post-punk, funk and more, lovingly selected.
Plus, paid subscribers get a monthly playlist and albums recs for new music and access to the “for consideration” weekly playlists (2-5 hours of additional music!).