Boosting the bass guitar, blending the vocals, overdubbing
percussion while fretting over shoot-outs in the street. Grumbling
about a producer, teasing a white engineer, challenging an artist
to feel his African beat. "Sound of Africa " is a riveting account
of the production of a "mbaqanga" album in a state-of-the-art
recording studio in Johannesburg. Made popular internationally by
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, mbaqanga's distinctive style
features a bass solo voice and soaring harmonies of a female
frontline over electric guitar, bass, keyboard, and drumset. Louise
Meintjes chronicles the recording and mixing of an album by
Izintombi Zesimanje, historically the rival group of the Mahotella
Queens. Set in the early 1990s during South Africa's tumultuous
transition from apartheid to democratic rule, "Sound of Africa "
offers a rare portrait of the music recording process. It tracks
the nuanced interplay among South African state controls, the music
industry's transnational drive, and the mbaqanga artists' struggles
for political, professional, and personal voice.
Focusing on the ways artists, producers, and sound engineers
collaborate in the studio control room, Meintjes reveals not only
how particular mbaqanga sounds are shaped technically, but also how
egos and artistic sensibilities and race and ethnicity influence
the mix. She analyzes how the turbulent identity politics
surrounding Zulu ethnic nationalism impacted mbaqanga artists'
decisions in and out of the studio. Conversely, she explores how
the global consumption of Afropop and African images fed back into
mbaqanga during the recording process. Meintjes is especially
attentive to the ways the emotive qualities of timbre (sound
quality or tone color) forge complex connections between aesthetic
practices and political ideology. Vivid photos by the
internationally renowned photographer TJ Lemon further dramatize
Meintjes' ethnography.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
