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Bulawayo / Harare EP (Various Artists) on LP

An ode to the music of Zimbabwe past and future, representing the country's two major cities - Bulawayo and Harare. The Bulawayo side sees longtime township legends Bulawayo Kwela meet UK producer Danalogue (the Comet is Coming). Reverb-drenched drums and snatches of Penny whistle back the words of the poet Albert Nyathi for a leagues-deep dub conference. Nomalenga stays true to the Township Kwela style that the group have been playing for over 30 years. The Harare side sees David Tapfuma (longtime collaborator with Stella Chiweshe) deliver an ode to the ghettoes of the capital, accompanied by a solo mbira. Cape Town's ESA delivers a subtle treatment of the original, drifting the mbira hook into 3am dancefloor territory on a cloud of synths.