6/6/2023 0 Comments Opika pende![]() Within these 100 tracks, traditional music stands side by side with popular music as traditional culture coexists with so-called modernity. Around one musical corner is another corner, and another. While it is not definitive, nor am I attempting to construct or invent a narrative, there are important connections to be made. It is one person’s offering of music that is wholly unavailable except in its original elusive and fragile format. ![]() I have created this compilation with one simple goal in mind: to showcase a diverse amount of long-forgotten music from Africa that transports me as a listener. By the mid-1960s, 78s were still a popular if not preferred medium in much of Africa, as a significant amount of the population still used wind-up gramophone players. But that doesn’t mean that 78s weren’t everywhere, even in remote parts of the continent. ![]() No doubt it was the same with many cultures. ![]() Complicating things further, entire countries seem to have been skipped over by both commercial 78 rpm record companies and ethnographers during the 78 rpm era. ![]() The boundaries of cultures and languages are often far more complex than political boundaries. Further, African geography itself resists boundaries. Popular songs, topical songs, work songs, comic songs, songs of worship, ritual, dance, and praise-the sheer range of musical styles resists any easy categorization. It is truly astonishing to consider the tremendous variety of music that was pressed to shellac discs on the continent of Africa. ![]()
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