Acclaimed Music Forums

Because I'm a little late posting this, the voting will be open until midnight on Monday instead of Sunday.

Bracket 2.1.13
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Inkomo Zodwa
Thomas Mapfumo - Haruna

Bracket 2.1.14
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica
Regis Gizavo - Malaso

Bracket 2.1.15
Miriam Makeba - Qongquothwane (The Click Song)
Danyel Waro - Banm Kalou Banm

Bracket 2.1.16
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Nomathemba
Mulemena Boys - Navuluku

Bracket 2.1.13
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Inkomo Zodwa (South Africa, 1959)
Thomas Mapfumo - Haruna (Zimbabwe, 1980s)
"Haruna" is great, with terrific guitar and vocal parts, but the delicious flute and harmony vocals from the Skylarks conquered my vote.


Bracket 2.1.14
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica (Angola, 1972)
Régis Gizavo - Malaso (Madagascar, 1996)
Bonga is one of the surprises of the game (thanks, nicolas), powerful vocals and relaxed backing (reminiscent of Garifuna music from Belize). I like a lot Régis Gizavo's accordion playing and singing also.


Bracket 2.1.15
Miriam Makeba - Qongqothwane (The Click Song) (South Africa, 1960)
Danyèl Waro - Banm Kalou Banm (Réunion, 1999)
The slave chant of Danyèl Waro is amazing, but the wonderful "Qongqothwane" is my candidate for winning this part.


Bracket 2.1.16
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Nomathemba (South Africa, 1973)
Mulemena Boys - Navuluka (Zambia, 1983)
"Navuluka" is great and features beautiful tight vocal harmonies but (talking about vocal harmonies) it cannot compete against Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Well, in fact very few can compete against them in that field.

Bracket 2.1.13
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Inkomo Zodwa

Bracket 2.1.14
Régis Gizavo - Malaso

Bracket 2.1.15
Danyèl Waro - Banm Kalou Banm

Bracket 2.1.16
Mulemena Boys - Navuluka

Western and Northern African music tend to get more exposure internationally, but Southern Africa clearly have a lot to offer too. Wonderful songs this week.

"Inkomo Zodwa" seems to have been been removed from YouTube. Here it is on Grooveshark.

Bracket 2.1.13
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Inkomo Zodwa
Thomas Mapfumo - Haruna

Bracket 2.1.14
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica
Regis Gizavo - Malaso

Bracket 2.1.15
Miriam Makeba - Qongquothwane (The Click Song)
Danyel Waro - Banm Kalou Banm

Bracket 2.1.16
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Nomathemba
Mulemena Boys - Navuluku

Bracket 2.1.13
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Inkomo Zodwa 4.25
Thomas Mapfumo - Haruna 4

Bracket 2.1.14
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica 4.5
Regis Gizavo - Malaso 4

Bracket 2.1.15
Miriam Makeba - Qongquothwane (The Click Song) 4.25
Danyel Waro - Banm Kalou Banm 4.5
I feel sorry for Miriam but Danyel Waro's voice is too amazing.

Bracket 2.1.16
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Nomathemba 4+
Mulemena Boys - Navuluku 4

Bracket 2.1.13
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Inkomo Zodwa
Winner: Thomas Mapfumo - Haruna
I think in every matchup this week I preferred the musical arrangement of one song and the vocals of the other. In this case, I’m voting for the wonderful vocals (and guitars) of Mapfumo over the distinctive flutes of Makeba.

Bracket 2.1.14
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica
Winner: Regis Gizavo - Malaso
My two favorite songs this week (and amongst my favorites I’ve heard in a while). When I heard the great vocals of Bonga, I was positive where my vote would go. Then I listened to the musical texture of Gizavo (with a pretty good vocal performance, as well) and I reluctantly changed my mind. Never has an accordion sounded so magical to me. I’ll be listening to both of these songs, over and over, for quite some time.

Bracket 2.1.15
Miriam Makeba - Qongquothwane (The Click Song)
Winner: Danyel Waro - Banm Kalou Banm
Again, I had to decide between the amazing voice of Makeba , and the exotic instrumentation of Waro. Because the vocals in “Banm Kalou Banm” are outstanding, too, I went with Waro in another close vote.

Bracket 2.1.16
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Nomathemba
Winner: Mulemena Boys - Navuluku
It’s always hard to vote against the smooth, soothing vocals of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. However, as I did in three of the four brackets this week, I chose the song that featured the instruments that I enjoyed more. (Which makes sense, since I typically listen to the melody and instruments in a song first, and the vocals and lyrics second.)

Bracket 2.1.13
Thomas Mapfumo - Haruna

Bracket 2.1.14
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica

Bracket 2.1.15
Danyel Waro - Banm Kalou Banm

Bracket 2.1.16
Mulemena Boys - Navuluku

Bracket 2.1.13
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Inkomo Zodwa
Thomas Mapfumo - Haruna
Inkomo Zodwa wins mostly because of its marvelous flute; I also think, that it is tighter and more consistent than Haruna (which is solid too).

Bracket 2.1.14
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica
Regis Gizavo - Malaso
Uh oh. Such a bracket is joy to listen to, but painful, when it comes to voting. These songs are truly wonderful and I would like to see both of them winning this part of the game. My vote goes to Bonga, but it was really close.

Bracket 2.1.15
Miriam Makeba - Qongquothwane (The Click Song)
Danyel Waro - Banm Kalou Banm
Banm Kalou Banm is OK, but harmonies of The Click Song make me smile to myself - this song is yet another highlight of this amazing part.

Bracket 2.1.16
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Nomathemba
Mulemena Boys - Navuluku
My first instinctive thought after first two or three of Navaluku was "Remain In Light", and that's not a bad thing! Rest of the song was not that groovin', but anyway, harmonies, guitar and melody are very, very enjoyable. I must admit that sheer amount of great music here is a very pleasant surprise (not that I had something against southern Africa before, of course).

Bracket 2.1.13
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Inkomo Zodwa
Thomas Mapfumo - Haruna

Bracket 2.1.14
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica
Regis Gizavo - Malaso

Bracket 2.1.15
Miriam Makeba - Qongquothwane (The Click Song)
Danyel Waro - Banm Kalou Banm

Bracket 2.1.16
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Nomathemba
Mulemena Boys - Navuluku

My votes are for Miriam (twice), Bonga, and the Boys.

Bracket 2.1.13
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks - Inkomo Zodwa - 7
Thomas Mapfumo - Haruna - 2

Bracket 2.1.14
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica - 6
Regis Gizavo - Malaso - 3

Bracket 2.1.15
Miriam Makeba - Qongquothwane (The Click Song) - 4
Danyel Waro - Banm Kalou Banm - 5

Bracket 2.1.16
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Nomathemba - 4
Mulemena Boys - Navuluku - 5