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Amanaz Africa

Now-Again | Item No: 412993
Vinyl 2LP | 1975 / US – Reissue | New
$ 31.11
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Item Description
"Issued in 1975, this is the articulation of Zambia’s Zamrock ethos. While other albums - Rikki Ililonga’s Zambia, WITCH’s Lazy
Bones!! - are competitors, it’s hard to best this album as it covers each major quadrant of the Zamrock whole: it came from
the mines; 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 whiskeyburned,
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.
It is a perfectly arranged album, from the dichotomy of Mpofu’s and Kanyepa’s lead and rhythm guitars, to the
vocal harmonies, to the rhythm section’s sense of space and time, which allows Africa’s funk to build.
Inexplicably, Africa was given two separate mixes and two separate presses: one version is dry, with the
vocals and drums mixed loud, the other slathered in reverb, with the vocals and drums disappearing into the
mix, and with the guitar solos mixed much louder. We’ve presented them both here as they each have their
appeal: it’s up to the listener to pick the one he or she prefers. This is a highpoint of the Zamrock scene and
we hope that this can be seen as its definitive reissue."
Item Details
Item No: 412993
Artist: Amanaz
Title: Africa
Label: Now-Again
Catalog No: NA5123-LP
Format: Vinyl 2LP, Vinyl, LP
Pressing: US – Reissue
Release Date: 1975
Genre: Organic Grooves
Style: Afrobeat
Available since: 2015-04-22
Condition: New
Price: $ 31.11
Weight: 500g (plus 250g Packaging)
Tracklist
A1 Amanaz
A2 I Am Very Far
A3 Sunday Morning
A4 Khala My Friend
A5 History Of Man
A6 Nsunka Lwendo
B1 Africa
B2 Green Apple
B3 Making The Scene
B4 Easy Street
B5 Big Enough
B6 Kale
C1 Reverb Mix
D1 Reverb Mix
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