Monday, January 04, 2010

Outside the rotation: no rules

Jools Holland: "The only rule in music is that there are no rules."

Stunning music from Ronnie of Bokete's Shebeen.



You know what I love about this, over and above the jaw-dropping individuality of the technique? The hellacious mbaqanga groove that Ronnie lays down, and the fact that the South African (and Botswanan) word shebeen, signifying a little bar or drinking establishment where music like this was played, is based in the Irish word sibin, meaning "little pot", or "still", or "drinking establishment."

Both colonial populations, both taking the colonizers' instruments and creating their own kind of indigenous beauty.

The Local will never be defeated.

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