FLUSH IT FRIDAY: ONE ZAMBIA, ONE NATION
IGoM‘s out this week (something about “having a life” or “not being a loser,” I don’t remember exactly), so you’re stuck with Professor R. Tower for today.
If somehow you’re not psychedelic’d out by this week’s return of Tag Diving, I’ve got something to put you onto, and a fun little history lesson to go with it. Let’s talk zamrock!
Zambia (formerly known as Northern Rhodesia) declared its independence from the British in 1964 after a successful cooperative effort between the country’s two main African nationalist parties. Shortly after gaining independence, there was a push both among government officials and the people for a more unified cultural identity, with Zambia’s president, Kenneth Kaunda, introducing the slogan “One Zambia, one nation.” In an effort to encourage artistic expression among Zambians, Kaunda, a musician himself, passed a law requiring 95% of the music played over the radio to be Zambian.
With early psych rock having a pretty sizable following in much of Eastern and Southern Africa, many Zambians realized that if they wanted to be able to hear it on the radio, they were going to have to start making it themselves. The result was a unique blend of classic Western psych with elements of traditional Eastern/Southern African music and percussion that just hits like nothing else. Bands like WITCH, Ngozi Family, The Peace, and Musi-O-Tunya—which was fronted by guitarist Rikki Ililonga, whose name I will scream into the void until it gets the recognition it deserves—did some serious heavy-lifting to develop the genre. There’s a certain bright, funky, almost happy-go-lucky feel to a lot of this stuff that I’ve always found really beautiful. In contrast, however, much of the lyrical content deals with pretty heavy-handed topics, especially focusing on racial inequality and sociopolitical issues, with a strong focus on anti-government/anti-establishment themes towards the end of the genre’s lifespan.
Zamrock was, unfortunately, somewhat short-lived. A major economic crash brought political and financial unrest to virtually the whole country, AIDS ravaged community after community, and to top it all off, Zambia’s music industry kept getting scummier and scummier. Thankfully, the age of the internet has given us unprecedented access to information and a remarkable capacity to preserve and rediscover things that may otherwise have been lost. Zamrock’s seen a relative resurgence in popularity in the last 5-10 years, with several records being reissued and lost recordings being rediscovered.
Alright, now that we’re all caught up, I can show you what I’ve been listening to for the past few days.
This album has had a serious grip on me this week. The combination of the funk and the fuzz makes this some super solid summer driving music. One of Ngozi’s less political releases, this one deals a lot more with relationships: heartbreak, frustration, commitment, and everything else that comes with it. There’s also some really fun proto-punky sounds on this album that tickle a certain wrinkle in my brain. It’s just such a fun record. Go listen to this thing in the car while driving to your favorite place to get lunch! But don’t do it quite yet! We’ve got some serious flushing to do!
TMP! TTT (this time featuring space dragons)! Where would we be without Stick and Roldy?
Our boy Falx takes on the newest Zeicrydeus:
Mr. Thrashnkill and Mr. Of Horror don’t care much for doom metal. And that’s OK! But they better have me on for when they talk about sludge!
Sean Ghoulson premiers a new track from Thorn:
Stevo gives us the rundown on the new (old) Sigh:
Yours Truly brings Tag Diving back from the dumpster:
And that’s all she wrote! Or at least it is for this week. Thanks for sticking around, poking around, messing around, and using your eyes that are round to look around because if there’s one thing we’ve got, it’s articles by the pound. Now post those GBUs or you’ll get clown’d!
