Zulu Stomp!!

New Garage Rock compilation is out on No Smoke hot off the heels of the mind blowing Ngozi Family '45,000 Volts' reissue.

The same label previously released two Garage Rock compilations 'Cazumbi', covering bands from a variety of regions of Africa. 'Zulu Stomp!!' Exclusively celebrates South Africa with mid sixties, psyched out, garage rock stompers. The western influence on the songs is palpable in both language and experimentation with guitars.

It's been a fetish to get as many garage rock compilations as possible around these parts. Just when it seemed the bottom of the barrel had been scrapped No Smoke true to form, come out with another knock out release. Yes, it's probably more than you'd normally spend on an LP, Yes, it will sell out and Yes, it's totally worth your time.

Witch!!

I'm no doctor, but it seems that people have Zamrock FEVER lately!

Underground Zambian five-piece Witch originally released psych-rock gem, Lazy Bones!! on a small local label in 1975. A treasure trove of ‘Zamrock’ (Zambia + Rock = Zamrock!) was unearthed by collectors at the time after been turned on to Nigerian Afro Beat by Fela Kuti. Normal Records, with the permission of the soul surviving member of Witch, Emmanuel Jagari Chanda have given this record the reissue treatment.

This lo-fi blues album mixes punk/garage/wah wah guitars with African rhythms and it just hits the spot, you know? That album you can throw on, no matter what mood you're in, and it just fits. Fans of BLO, Ofege, the Nigeria Special compilations and Chrissy Zebby will not be disappointed here; it's even better than those records! Stand out tracks are; "'Strange Dream," "Tooth Fairy" and "Off Ma Boot's."

Included here are the liner notes on the back of the album I enjoyed them so much I thought you might too:

"If you're feeling depressed, low, disturbed, irritable, out-of-sorts, sad, frustrated or wildly demented, then folks, we suggest you seek out a quiet place, indulge in some soothing meditation and cut away that headache by listening to this inspirational album (we've even included a copy of our lyrics to assist those who have difficulty in understanding the messages we transmit, in the hope that this will help them dig the LP in total). We would also like to extend our thanks to all those who have supported us in the past - we wish you well, brothers and sisters. To those of you who have been unkind and deliberately troublesome, we suggest you go jump in the lake specially featured for you on our cover. In closing, a special tribute to our collaborator Shaddick Bwalya for his tremendous contribution to this album."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpZSui_JJvs