SOUNDTRACK: BLACK MOTION-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #233 (July 8, 2021).
Black Motion specializes in Afro-House and this set is infectious.
Afro-House has spread joy and healing across the country of South Africa, transcending local boundaries to become a thriving global dance phenomenon. In my experience, Its indigenous sounds and percussive rhythms drench the soul and heart with healing powers and cultivate communion with the infinite.
This Afro-House set is brought to life thanks to several featured vocalists and guest musicians. Black Motion’s Tiny Desk (home) concert, recorded at the former residence of Nelson Mandela, feels like a spiritual sound bath. The South African production duo turntablist Bongani Mohosana of the Zulu tribe and percussionist Thabo Mabogwane of Sotho tribe — open their set with “Mayibuye iAfrica,” a cry for Africa to return to its culture and history.
“Mayibuye iAfrica” opens with a fun introduction. There’s whooping, growling, cawing, (from DJ and producer Bongani Mohosana and keyboardist Almotie “Alie-keyz” Mtomben). There’s some great percussion (producer and drummer Thabo Roy Mabogwane’s set has over ten different drums and a few cymbals). Then, after a minute or so Siyabonga Hosana Magagula’s grooving bass and Lifa “Sir_Lifa” Mavuso’s slow but perfect-sounding guitar enter the picture.
Then the singers come in singing a beautiful chorus. The three of them are: Lusindiso “Jojo” Zondani (tenor), Gugu Shezi (soprano) and Noxolo Radebe (alto), and there voices gel wonderfully.
Up next is “Rainbow” which shuffles along with the DJs sampling and a simple keyboard melody (that sounds a bit like The Way It Is).
South African singer Msaki makes her third appearance in our (home) concert series, after earlier credits with Black Coffee and our Coming 2 America special. She lends her vocals to “Marry Me,” a soulful jam from Black Motion’s 2020 album, The Healers: The Last Chapter.
Next up is “Marry Me.” Msaki sings lead vocals on this song which has a grooving echoing lead guitar. “Alie-keyz” plays a cool retro organ solo before “Sir_Lifa” jams out a guitar solo.
Interestingly, Msaki’s voice was relatively deep, but on the next song, “Joy Joy,” Brenden Praise’s voice is pretty high (in the choruses). For the verses, he sings a bit deeper. I like the way the backing vocalists sound like gospel singers here.
“Imali,” featuring Nokwazi, soothes the lingering remnants of pandemic fears,
The snare drum introduces the colorfully dress Nokwazi who sings “Imali.” Her call and response singing is really great, as is her intense, growling style.
Tabia closes with the lilting “Prayer for Rain.”
Tabia comes out for “Prayer For Rain” and says “let’s pray” as she sings some wordless notes to warm up the song. When she starts singing, I don’t know what language she’s singing, but the passion is palpable. And the thunderclap that DJ Bongani Mohosana adds at the end is a welcome touch.
This is a powerful and moving (emotionally and physically) set of songs.
[READ: May 10, 2021] “Easy, Tiger”
After reading David’s story about shopping in Tokyo, it was funny to go backwards and read about one of his first few trips abroad and how he started learning the local language(s).
He says that he had been using Pimsleur Japanese and felt fairly comfortable when in Japan. But on this trip he was also going to Beijing and he had forgotten to study.
But this is not so much about China as it is about learning languages in general.
Since he doesn’t drive, phrases like “as for gas, is it expensive” don’t really help him out. But he uses “fill her up please” when asking for a tea refill. He also gets to say that he is a man with children since they do not have a phrase for “I am am middle aged homosexual… with a niece I never see and a small godson.”
He recommends Pimsleur for pronunciations and memorization. But he also likes Lonely Planet.
Lonely Planet is a bit different, it’s more casual. The section on Romance includes phrases like “Would you like a drink” and “you look like a cousin of mine” [Ew].
But they also include “I want you and I want to make love to you” (this is where he gets the titular “easy tiger”). Of course, the relationship ends badly: “You’re just using me for sex” and “I never wan to see you again.”
He says in Germany you can speak English and the Germans not only will not be offended, they will thank you for “allowing me to practice my perfect English.”
Indeed, German is a different all around. In Japanese and Italian Pimsluer classes, the given response to “How are you?” is “I’m fine.” But in German, it’s answered with a sigh followed by “Not so good.” David’s German friend says that Germans can’t understand people ask that just to be polite.
There is no discord in Pimsleur’s Japan but its Germany is a moody and often savage place. It encourages you to argue with a bellhop and when he sneers and says you don’t understand German, you can now say “Ah, but I do understand German.”
Another instructional program is from Michael Thomas. Thomas doesn’t give phrases to memorize. Rather, he tries to get you to think about what you might do in a scenario. He suggests that Thomas even tries to guide you into past and future tenses. Like this session in German:
“How would you say, ‘Give it to me?’ ” he asks the female student. She and I correctly answer, and then he turns to the male. “Now try ‘I would like for you to give it to me.’ ”
Ten minutes later, we’ve graduated to “I can’t give it to you today, because I cannot find it.” To people who speak nothing but English, this might seem easy enough, but anyone else will appreciate how difficult it is: negatives, multiple uses of “it,” and the hell that breaks loose following the German “because.” The thrill is that you’re actually figuring it out on your own. You’re engaging with another language, not just parroting it.
There’s always something to marvel at when you travel.
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