http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2009/08/20/the-very-best-warm-heart-of-africa/ Los Angeles Based MP3 & Music Blog Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:21:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2009/08/20/the-very-best-warm-heart-of-africa/comment-page-1/#comment-887314 Profoundly South African Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:19:55 +0000 http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/?p=6867#comment-887314 Firstly, it's great to read intelligent North American writers engaging African music with a pure and true spirit of inquiry! "African," of course, is an extremely broad genre brushstroke. In the case of The Very Best, however, I detect a deliberate rendering of the continent's sound as an amorphous amalgam. There's are even traces of Disney sensibilities (i.e. Western fantasies about Africa) running through Mixtape, not least in the album imagery! We're clearly dealing with the Empire writing back by reformulating Western forms. The thing is, Afrobeat, Highlife and other traditional African sounds are not the principle inspirations. The Very Best reformulates existing reformulations of Western sound (like House-inspired South African Kwaito) and grafts it onto samples (in the case of the Mixtape) that are deeply buried in our global collective consciousness. Post-postmodern? Africa distilled and then mixed with Coke? Perhaps there's a clue in the name The Very Best? The Warm Heart of Africa certainly speaks of Malawi, which has the strongest national vein running through this music. Anyway, enough form me. Happy days... Firstly, it’s great to read intelligent North American writers engaging African music with a pure and true spirit of inquiry! “African,” of course, is an extremely broad genre brushstroke. In the case of The Very Best, however, I detect a deliberate rendering of the continent’s sound as an amorphous amalgam. There’s are even traces of Disney sensibilities (i.e. Western fantasies about Africa) running through Mixtape, not least in the album imagery! We’re clearly dealing with the Empire writing back by reformulating Western forms. The thing is, Afrobeat, Highlife and other traditional African sounds are not the principle inspirations. The Very Best reformulates existing reformulations of Western sound (like House-inspired South African Kwaito) and grafts it onto samples (in the case of the Mixtape) that are deeply buried in our global collective consciousness. Post-postmodern? Africa distilled and then mixed with Coke? Perhaps there’s a clue in the name The Very Best? The Warm Heart of Africa certainly speaks of Malawi, which has the strongest national vein running through this music. Anyway, enough form me. Happy days…

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