MemeStreams | On Misquoting Amis, and African Music

I even went to Lexis-Nexis in search of the Amis quote from the Hitchens piece. It's not there; not even approximately. Surely he didn't intentionally fabricate the quote ?!? Why is it so impossible to reproduce? Who knows.

adam wrote:

My friend Chet ... the one musical piece I wanted to refer you to ... -- The East African Gujarati Company ...

That one was interesting but I found it a bit inaccessible to me. I preferred the Bana Congo piece:

While I'm on the subject of African music, I'd like to recommend The Indestructible Beat of Soweto. An older album, circa 1985/1986, it's really quite excellent. Amazon had this to say:

This is possibly one of the most important collections of South African music to be released off the continent. Before Paul Simon, Sting, and Peter Gabriel started their explorations and exploitations of African music, this stunning set of music was already out there showing the world how it was done in South Africa's townships. Now well-known names like Ladysmith Black Mambazo (before they did candy commercials) and the growling Mahlathini were given their first international hearing. But the real gems are the sounds we never got to hear on Graceland: the raw mandolin and fiddle of Moses Mchunu, the wonderful jive vocals of Amaswazi Emvelo, the loping swing in the voice of Nancy Sedibe, and the fat guitar grooves of Johnson Mkhalali and his band. The collection is a gem, a representation of what was happening on the radio and in the dance clubs of Soweto in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as mbaqanga swept through the country and took everyone with it.

I also like to recommend The Éthiopiques Series, of which my favorite album is probably Volume 7. I also like the more uptempo, at times even manic, recording of "Mhla mhla" by Shyfu Yohannhs on Volume 1. Also worth a listen is "Enem Lefelefkugn Melageruw Sema" on Volume 18.

On Misquoting Amis, and African Music