Beginner’s Guide to Africa

These kind of compilations, which seek to present what the box describes as ‘the best of African music, past, present and future’ look, on the surface, like simple and straightforward enterprises. Apart from the genuine ‘beginners’ targeted in the title, most of us will probably look at the track listing and imagine we could do a better job. The reality is rather different, the task is much harder than it looks, with a whole set of issues that don’t apply when making a mixtape for your mates. First, the compiler is limited by which labels will license material. If a label won’t play ball, that could well mean that half a dozen of the most significant acts are not available. Then you have to strike a geographical balance and spread the spotlight across the entire continent. And how do you strike up a balance between the classic recordings by the legendary names of past decades with the sounds of modern Africa today? Finally, there’s the tricky question of the running order and how you fit together so many different sounds, styles and cultures without it sounding like a disorganised mishmash. Over 47 tracks, spread across three discs, compiler Phil Meadley has handled all of these issues with aplomb, to create a terrific overview of the world’s most musically vibrant continent. Established names such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Thomas Mapfumo and Kanda Bongo Man sit easily alongside today’s emerging stars such as Bajoli and Hip Hop Pantsula. West African heroes Amadou & Mariam share room with the Malawi Mouse Boys and the township bubblegum of Brenda Fassie nestles happily alongside the trance-like tones of the Musicians of the Nile. There’s no Baaba Maal, Youssou N’Dour or Ali Farka Touré. But the selection is so diverse and well-balanced that the absence of a few big names is hardly missed. A beginner’s guide; but one assembled with incomparable expertise.