Brand new vinyl record.

• Re-Issue
• Limited Edition
• Bonus Item: Album Digital Download + 16-Page Booklet
• Other Properties: 2 Versions (Drums-Up Mix & Reverb Mix)

SHIPPING TIME AND RETURN POLICY:

SHIPPING: We ship within 2 business days of payment most of the time (orders place over the weekend won't be processed until the following Monday. We ship via USPS: First Class for CDs, Media Mail for vinyl, and First Class Mail International for overseas orders (orders over 4lb require Priority Mail International). Actual shipping time varies by destination.

RETURNS: We generally do not accept returns except if something is not as described, and we take care to make sure everything fits our description. Sometimes CDs or vinyl will have a "cut-out" slice or "promo punch" either in the corner or through the UPC code - we will include this in the description if applicable. If there is a problem with an item, contact us and we will figure out the best action to take. We do NOT accept returns if you decide you simply don't like the item, or have buyer's remorse - buy wisely, and ask questions if necessary. Damage incurred during shipping should be brought up with the carrier but is extremely rare as we box everything adequately, including using extra cardboard for protection.

Item Summary:

Issued in 1975, this is the articulation of Zambia's Zamrock ethos. While other albums - Rikki Ililonga's Zambia, WITCH's Lazy Bones!! - are competitors, it's hard to best this album as it covers each major quadrant of the Zamrock whole: it came from the mines; its musicians were anti-colonial freedom fighters, it envelops Zambian folk music traditions, and it rocks - hard.

Amanaz were serious, and they made a serious stab at an album. They titled their album Africa, according to original band member Keith Kabwe, "because of how it was shared and how its inhabitants were butchered and enslaved, its resources stolen... all the atrocities slave drivers committed. " Thus, their "Kale," a blues sung in Nyanja, that traced the continent's arc from slavery to Zambia's independence closes the album.

Kabwe and rhythm guitarist John Kanyepa have a winsome softness to their vocals, which sit politely aside the feral growl of drummer Watson Baldwin Lungu, bassist Jerry Mausala and bandleader/lead guitarist Isaac Mpofu. Africa's vibe ranges from anxious ("Amanaz") to escapist ("Easy Street") to straight-up pissed-off. On the "History of Man," his voice whiskey-burned, his distorted guitar buzzing like swarming hornets, Mpofu indicts his species.

There's a darkness to Africa not found on any other Zamrock records, and a melancholy drifts throughout, specifically on Mpofu's more restrained "Khala My Friend," which stands as an effective, bleak situation for the Zambian everyman, the average citizen of a struggling, new nation, who might have had relatives in conflict-torn countries on the horizon, who might have been struggling to find his next meal, who might have seen a bleaker future than his president promised.

Then there's the clear Velvet Underground-influence on the nostalgic "Sunday Morning," which, as Kabwe recalls, was the first song written for the album, back in 1968, when Velvet Undergound and Nico was a new release - and the underground funk of "Making The Scene." The album also tackles traditional Zambian music and early-'60s rock û punctuated, of course by Kanyepa's wah-wah and Mpofu's fuzz guitars. But every time Amanaz get too deep, too violent, they come back with an accessible song and woo their listener back to the groove. "Green Apple" is a civil song, featuring Kanyepa's sighing guitar.

It is a perfectly arranged album, from the dichotomy of Mpofu's and Kanyepa's lead and rhythm guitars, to the vocal harmonies, to the rhythm section's sense of space and time, which allows Africa's funk to build. Inexplicably, Africa was given two separate mixes and two separate presses: one version is dry, with the vocals and drums mixed loud, the other slathered in reverb, with the vocals and drums disappearing into the mix, and with the guitar solos mixed much louder. We've presented them both here as they each have their appeal: it's up to the listener to pick the one he or she prefers. This is a highpoint of the Zamrock scene and we hope that this can be seen as its definitive reissue.