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A REVOLUTION IN FOUR-PART HARMONY: THE SOUNDTRACK
(ATO)
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This collection of political music from South Africa is unique because the film it accompanies has songs, rather than people, as its principal characters. There are genuine movement songs, like Hugh Masekela’s soulful ode to the train that carried South African miners to the camps ("Stimela") and his boisterous call for Mandela’s release from prison ("Bring Him Back Home"); or "Beware Verwoerd," a young Miriam Makeba’s swinging sneer at the intellectual architect of apartheid; and, of course, the South African national anthem, "Nkosi Sikele’ i-Africa." These 29 mostly short tracks include choirs belting out in community halls and prisons, snippets from rallies, living artists ad-libbing important songs of the struggle, old and new band performances, and even Abdullah Ibrahim musing alone at the piano. The fabulous voice of Vusi Mahlasela shines on four tracks, most notably his signature anthem, "When You Come Back." If there’s any downside here, it’s that some of the tracks are painfully abbreviated. But the selection moves, and when it hits its peaks, like Mbongeni Ngema’s explosive "Lizobuya," or Nancy Jacobs’s deceptively cheerful slam on forced resettlements, "Meadowlands," you really believe that music can change the world.
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