VA: Shweshwe - The Sound of the Mines (1988)

Rounder Records (Cambridge, Mass., USA) /Reamusic, 5031
Producer: Clive Risko
Engineer: Jan Smit

Compilation featuring four Basotho bands: Manka le Phallang, Manonyane a Moama, Majakathatha and Sebata Sebata, all based in the goldmines of the then Orange Free State. The album offers typical South Sotho (Shweshwe) music - accordian-driven and repetitive, with distinctive rap-like vocals, packaged for foreign audiences. Not everybody's cup of tea, but an interesting compilation nonetheless.