497 - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

#497: Various Artists - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (1985)

The Abrahams embark on a cultural excursion with album #497: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, a compilation that Rolling Stone calls the "greatest album ever marketed under the heading 'World Music'." Abraham (Chenzie) and AbraHAM (Guy) immediately question the "checkbox" nature of this entry - is it a cohesive artistic statement or just a playlist put together by two British guys to introduce "exotic" sounds to the West?

They dive into the "jarringly fresh" sounds of Mbaqanga and Isicathamiya, debating whether the beats are "loping" or "looping" (spoiler: it’s a horse thing). The hosts struggle bravely with pronunciations that sound like "Harry Potter spells," celebrate the "goat-voiced" growl of Mahlathini, and discuss the Mean Girls connection to Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Did Paul Simon steal this entire vibe for Graceland two years later? Does the electric guitar work sound surprisingly like American country or 70s funk? And why does a discussion about South African resistance music inevitably turn into a tangent about Paul Rudd’s agelessness in Clueless?

In This Episode

• (00:00:00) - Welcome to The Abraham Records
• (00:01:34) - This Week's Album: #497, Various Artists - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto
• (00:03:48) - Roasting the Blurb: "Loping" beats vs. "Looping" typos
• (00:06:33) - The Compilation Dilemma: Is a "Various Artists" Collection a Valid Album Entry?
• (00:10:00) - Artist Spotlight: Nelcy Sedibe, Mahlathini, and the "Goat singer"
• (00:13:10) - Understanding the Genres: Mbaqanga, Mgqashiyo, and other made up words
• (00:16:57) - Historical Context: The disconnect between Apartheid-era Soweto and "Happy" Music
• (00:22:25) - Album Structure: Melodic Shifts between the First and Second Halves
• (00:23:37) - Track Attack: "Holotelani", "Indoda Yejazi Elimnyama" and Vocal Percussion Techniques
• (00:27:42) - Artist Spotlight: Ladysmith Black Mambazo & The Isicathamiya Choral Style
• (00:32:15) - The Ranking Game: Rolling Stone’s Drop vs. Pitchfork’s 80s List
• (00:34:53) - The Graceland Connection: Is Recording a Form of Documentation or Stealing?
• (00:39:51) - Musical Analysis: Western Instrumentation (Electric Bass/Guitar) in African Pop
• (00:43:37) - Critique: The Problematic "World Music" Label and Western-Centric Framing
• (00:45:26) - The Final Verdict: A Fantastic Historical Artifact, but is it a Top 500 Album?

About The Abraham Records

Welcome to The Abraham Records, where we cover the 500 “greatest” albums of all time according to Rolling Stone Magazine, but certainly not according to us.

Join us on an odyssey of discovery to determine which albums are truly great and which ones will hurt your face.

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