Lusafrica 30th Anniversary Album

The 30th anniversary of Lusafrica is certainly cause for celebration. Having exposed the world to musical giants such as Cesaria Evora and Boubacar Traoré, Lusafrica have carved their name into the history of African music. Given the sheer volume of recordings available, I was expecting a mammoth three-CD release filled with indisputable bangers. However, the first five (of just ten) tracks are remixes. Why tamper with something that is already pretty damn good, if not perfect? Why renounce your responsibility for the music you have put out, in order to appeal to the watered-down ‘worldbeat’ market? It would be understandable if the remixes added anything – or were even any good. Despite this, it was nice to eventually hear carefully selected tracks from the likes of Evora, Bonga and Tito Paris, among other revered musicians: so just ignore the first half and skip to the real stuff.