October 17, 2009

Gold/Lily


'I don't know what this gold is doing or where its going... who's gold is this, man?'

It may be that we are separated from certain realities by filters like media, popular opinion, and our own important lives. Poignancy is squished out by the filters, and the muck becomes mundane. Masekela puts a little muck into an everyday sounding tone in the following track. In its pacing and his only slightly strained mood, the question is asked from the perspective of the miner: who's gold is this? No comment on the political nature of the arrangement, just a little voice from within it. A position within it. Home was so groovy; exploitation is confusing.

Gold - Hugh Masekela, Masekela (1968)


These artists who grew out of Africa really really knew what they were doing. I can hear an absence of influence, in terms of so many influences that are familiar to my ear. I like this one because of its name.

Lily - Manu Dibango, Soul Makossa (1972)