Amazon.co.uk
Vhunze Moto means "burning ember" in Oliver Mtukudzi's native Shona, and this new collection of "Tuku music" will glow right round the globe. Oliver Mtukudzi has a bigger, rougher, less ingratiating voice than that of his internationally more famous colleague (and acknowledged influence) Thomas Mapfumo, but his favourite themes are gentler, dealing with the virtues of honesty, decency and kindness. At the same time he was the first man to sing about Aids in Zimbabwe: he's passionate about the fate of his embattled land. This new album has the same gently electrified sounds and lilting rhythms as his previous album
Paivepo; in its notably spare instrumentation, consisting mostly of acoustic African percussion, his softly-plucked guitar is the biggest sound around. Indulging in call-and-response with his backing singers, he sometimes produces a timbre which is more a wobbly rasp than a vibrato, but the total effect is very beguiling. No wonder Bonnie Raitt is covering one of his songs on her new album
Silver Lining. In its sunny way, this stuff really is addictive.
--Michael Church
Review
Few artists have released albums with the clockwork regularity of Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi. Once the year has completed its cycle, Oliver, without fail, puts a new record on the market. He has maintained this output throughout his 25-year long career, but has only become a household name on the international scene since the highly acclaimed
Tuku Music (1998). With an enormous back-catalogue to draw on, churning out records isn't too much of a struggle for the senior of Zimbabwean music, but the upholding of musical surprise is far more difficult to achieve. And that's where
Vhunze Moto doesn't entirely convince. There is nothing wrong with this album. The songs are well-crafted, the melodies beautiful, the lyrics profound, the rhythms lustrous--it just seems to lack the spark of his earlier records. It has got its striking moments, though. The gently rocking opening track is a persuasive invitation to listen to the rest of the record, and the final "Tapera" closes the album with a heart-rending lament about the tragic impact of Aids in Zimbabwe. Overall, I miss the production effort that made
Tuku Music such an intriguing record.
Vhunze Moto is an enjoyable album, but not one to make history.
--Katharina Lobeck © fRoots Magazine all rights reserved -- fRoots, July 2002