''The Indestructible Beat of Soweto'', later repackaged as ''The Indestructible Beat of Soweto Volume One'', is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

released in 1985 on the Earthworks label, featuring musicians from South Africa, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Mahlathini.

Overview

The album was conceived by white South African expatriates Trevor Herman and Jumbo Vanrenen and released in 1985 on the British-based Earthworks label. The following year it was released in the USA by the

Shanachie Records Shanachie Records is an American, New Jersey-based record label, founded in 1975 by Richard Nevins and Dan Collins. The label is named for the Gaelic word ''seanchaí'' (anglicised as shanachie), an Irish storyteller. It was previously distribu ...

label. It features twelve tracks by artists from South Africa. The sleeve notes state that all songs are in the mbaqanga style, a guitar-based style popular at the time in the townships of Johannesburg and Durban, but the tracks actually cover four different styles, mbaqanga, mqashiyo, maskanda, and isicathamiya. The former two are the least traditional-sounding of the styles, while the latter two styles incorporate elements of urban and more rural music. Released prior to the more commercially successful '' Graceland'' by

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

, it was one of the first albums of contemporary South African music to be widely available outside the country. The album has been re-released several times and also spawned a succession of later volumes in the Indestructible Beat series, released by the Earthworks label.

Critical reception

The album was placed in the top 10 in the annual Pazz & Jop poll in the magazine '' The Village Voice''. AllMusic calls it "an essential sampler of modern African styling, a revelation and a joy." Leading critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

gave it an A+ rating, and called it the most important record of the 1980s. It was ranked number 388 in '' Rolling Stones original

500 Greatest Albums of All Time * Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time * NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine '' NME'', available digitally or in newsstands on October 23. The li ...

list, and ranked no. 497 in the updated version of the list published in 2020.

Track listing

;Side A # "Awungilobolele" (Can You Pay Lobola for Me) – Udokotela Shange Namajaha # "Holotelani" (Daughter-In-Law) – Nelcy Sedibe # "Qhude Manikiniki" (Fair Fight) – Umahlathini Nabo # "Indoda Yejazi Elimnyama" (The Man in the Black Coat) – Amaswazi Emvelo # "Emthonjeni Womculo" (The Stream of Music) – Mahlathini Nezintombi Zomgqashiyo and the Makgona Tsohle Band # "Sobabamba" (We Will Get Them) – Udokotela Shange Namajaha ;Side B # "Qhwahilahle" (Leave Him Alone) – Moses Mchunu # "Thul'ulalele" (Just Stop and Listen) – Amaswazi Emvelo # "Sini Lindile" (We Are Waiting for You) – Nganezlyamfisa No Khambalomvaleliso # "Ngicabange Ngaqeda" (I Have Made Up My Mind) – Mahlathini Nezintombi Zomgqashiyo and the Makgona Tsohle Band # "Joyce No. 2" – Johnson Mkhalali # "Nansi Imali" (Here Is the Money) – Ladysmith Black Mambazo

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Indestructible Beat Of Soweto 1985 compilation albums Folk compilation albums Regional music compilation albums Folk albums by South African artists Soweto Mbaqanga albums Zulu music