Category Archives: african

african, World

The Lidaju Sisters – Mother Africa

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The Lidaju Sisters transmit beauty of spirit, and quiet euphoria with this album. I couldn’t believe how cool Mother Africa was on first listen. The sound of the traditional African percussion is quite unique and grabbed me immediately. Laid over the top of this are some beautiful slow and tuneful African harmonies. I had only heard the first and last album by the sisters before this so expected something more up-tempo.

I like albums where I don’t understand the words, it helps me not get sucked in to listening to them. The Lidaju sisters sing from the heart, there is one track about their mother, story-telling, the moon, pleas for peace and understanding in the other tracks. One song is about the ‘two-faced people’ who had criticised Taiwo Lidaju for having had a relationship with a white man – otherwise known as Ginger Baker of fame from supergroup Cream.

The context of this album is a thriving male-dominated Nigerian music scene, where civil war in Biafra 1967-70 was still fresh. Usually over-shadowed by their cousin Fela Kuti, the sisters could hold their own and are experiencing a latter day renaissance amongst music fans. Have a listen, it won’t take more than ten seconds to tell if they’re your jam.

Released
1977, rereleased by Knitting Factory records in 2011

Lyrics
Yes but not abrasive so quite calming. Unless you are going to learn Yorubu it’s not going to be too distracting.

Mood
Very chilled out and soulful with lots of African traditional percussion.

Good to work to
A big thumbs up from me, a good one when you need to get back down to earth.

Like
They are most often talked of in light of their second cousin Fela Kuti and the other male artists of the seventies Nigerian heyday, but I would say they have their own thing going on.

They are different to the other African artist I feature on this site Ladysmith Black Mombazo. However there are some similarities as both albums are rooted in great vocals and earthiness, but they are still quite distinct. They might be worth giving a try though if you like this one..

The Artist/s
Kehinidi and Taiwo Lidaju are and were living in northern Nigeria when they recorded this album. They performed with many of the stars of their era in Nigeria including a touring Ginger Baker. After their seventies hey day they moved. In the eighties they moved to the United States where Kehinde fell down a set of stairs and suffered spinal injuries. The injuries took the wind out of their sails and I don’t know of any later releases from the sisters.

Kehinidi and Taiwo Lidaju – vocals
Biddy Wright – (arranger) guitars, talking drums, and shekere

Other works
The Lidaju Sisters recorded only four albums at this time, and I think they all have their own unique sound. Danger from 1976, Mother Africa in 1977, Sunshine in 1978, and Horizon Unlimited from 1979.

I only have Sunshine and Mother Africa and they are very different in style. Sunshine is more experimental, but not as good an album and definitely not one for everyone to work to. I have heard some tracks from Horizon Unlimited and Danger, but haven’t heard enough to say whether they are good to work to, but the tracks I heard sounded great.

Where Can I buy it, and in what formats
You can get this on iTunes but for some reason I had to search for Mother Africa, instead of by the Lidaju Sisters to find it when I searched in iTunes, I assume it won’t take them long to fix this. This was re-released on vinyl in 2011 by Knitting Factory Records and you should be able to track it down on the web.

The Verdict
Yes, yes, yes. I think this album will work for most people as a work album. I love it.

african, World

Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Shaka Zulu

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Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Shaka Zulu
Shaka Zulu is an acapella aural sensation. I find it unlike anything else in my collection. There are a lot of percussive sounds in the acapella arrangements that give it a palpable depth. It could just be that I don’t understand a word of the vocals, as most of them aren’t in english, but I  find this album just floats along below the surface while I write. The steady rhythms and percussive nature of the different tracks, despite the lack of drums, that keeps me moving along.

There is something about the harmony between the many voices which is essential so the whole thing doesn’t fall apart that gives me energy to keep on going as I write. I don’t want to give the impression that I just blank out the music when I’m listening to this album, because in those moments where I need some respite from tapping, but I generally find this album enjoyable whether I need to write or not.

I have written about this in the past but one of the things about world music that works for me is that it is not in the familiar musical patterns of songs that I’m used to. I need something different that I can’t immediately grasp onto to set me free and immerse myself in my thoughts. The sounds are sweet and harmonious, so despite the cultural differences for a westerner like me I don’t find the sounds distracting in any way. On the contrary I find this to be an album that helps me set patterns that I integrate in my keystroke pattern. This sounds pretty good when I wrote it, but I don’t know whether Zulu QWERTY is a style of writing, but it is now.

Released
1987

Lyrics
Yes in multiple languages, some in english some in Zulu.

Mood
This album has a calm feeling. The deep resonance of the vocals is definitely calming. The songs which are all acapella have percussion inserted.

Good to work to
I find this is a relaxing album to work to. It creates a different atmosphere which creates space for you to zero in on whatever you are writing. The soulful deep basses and harmonies touch me, but let me keep working.

Like
It is soulful but I don’t find it to be specifically like anything else I can think of. If you were going to give it a label I’d say world music.

The Artist/s
Formed by Joseph Shabalala, Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African acapella group. They gained fame as a result of their earlier work with Paul Simon on the Graceland Album but were active in different incarnations since the mid 50s and as Ladysmith Black Mambazo from the mid sixties playing weddings etc. They did not record their first album until the 1973.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo came to prominence when Paul Simon came to South Africa in 1986 to record his Graceland album. This move was extremely controversial as there were sanctions against western artists performing in South Africa due to the apartheid policies of the white South African government. The collaboration was however highly successful. Graceland sold over 16 million copies but tarnished the populations of Simon. Ladysmith Black Mambazo benefited greatly from the exposure as did a suite of other African acts.

After Graceland Simon produced Shaka Zulu as Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s first American release album. The only shared track between the two albums is homeless a co-write between Simon and Shabalala. It was hugely successful and heralded a run of others and collaborations with other major US acts such as George Clinton. They have one multiple awards and Grammys over the length of their career.

Other works
Ladysmith Black Mambazo have released many albums, but I have not listened to enough of their other albums.

I know it has been overplayed but if you like this album I would recommend Graceland, but only as an enjoyment album not as a writing album.

Where Can I buy it, and in what formats
You will be able to get copies of this I any format, although chances are it will be second hand.

The Verdict
This album is a good one. Great for working to and great for changing the mood of what you are doing. Not many other albums have this level of resonance and you need to make the decision whether this will be more distracting or helpful for you. For me I find this to be a meditative album. That and the fact that I feel like singing along even though I usually don’t know the words makes it a winner for me.