The Beat That Changed the World
More than Zappa’s Joe’s Garage. More than Centerfield. More than the Indiana Jones Theme Song. More than AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. More than even Glen Miller’s In the Mood. If I ever got the once in a lifetime chance to request a single song for Phish to cover, there currently exists one song that I would rather hear over any other song. It’s called Indoda Yejazi Elimnyama by Amaswazi Emvelo and comes from a ridiculously good recording called The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Vol. 1.
I suspect a lot of folks probably already know the story of the Indestructible Beat, but it’s essentially a collection of South African mbaqanga music compiled by a pair of visionary ex-pats named Trevor Herman and Jumbo Van Renan in 1985.
Within seconds of listening to any number of its songs, the aircraft carrier-wide influence of this music becomes painstakingly obvious. With Graceland released just one subsequent year later, Paul Simon typically takes credit as the most famous alum of the School of the Beat, but other graduates who borrow influence from this album include the heavyweight likes of David Byrne and Peter Gabriel. More recently, the wildly popular upstart Vampire Weekend even referred to their own sound as “Upper West Side Soweto.”
[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/04-indoda-yejazi-elimnyama.mp3]READ ON for more on this incredible compilation…