Amazon.co.uk Review
To understand why heady East African sounds are invading British clubs, listen to
The Rough Guide to Marrabenta Mozambique. Marrabenta--cousin to Latin America's salsa and Angola's merengue--derives from the Portuguese word meaning "to break" and it made the Portuguese colonialists in Mozambique so anxious that when revolution loomed they banned it. That gave it the impetus it needed to sweep the country when independence came and it's been Mozambique's predominant urban music ever since. This superb compilation demonstrates why, as Marrabenta's grand old men mingle with its newest young stars to create sounds which will make you want to leap out of your chair and dance. Marrabenta instruments are traditionally primitive--sometimes made from oil cans, wooden stakes and fishing lines--and even today the backing is basic but the excitement generated is intense. The instruments tend to create a sort of lattice-work, through which the voices intertwine and these voices are fascinatingly varied. As the liner notes indicate, the life of these groups is often precarious: the saxophonist on one outstanding track was murdered soon after making the recording. Eight of these tracks are previously unreleased, having been recorded specifically for this album.
--Michael Church