Great Cause, Shame About The Music

I acquired that various artists compilation album called Spirit Of Africa as a freebie for signing up to a subscription to Songlines magazine. Maybe it wasn't the best choice of the freebies on offer since it is a bit pop oriented for me, with many of the tracks suffering from synth laden eighties production values alongside any African rhythms and vocals. The disk certainly has its' heart in the right place, being a joint initiative of the Mercury Phoenix Trust and Real World records to help fight AIDS worldwide. Many of the lyrics apparently tackle this theme also but that isn't immediately apparent from the musical content. The musicians are mainly unknown to me too, apart from Papa Wemba on one track, Youssou N'Dour on another and the powerhouse Drummers of Burundi on a third. A further admirable feature is the way the compilation ranges over a wider area than is currently fashionable, so that alongside tracks from the familiar Senegal and Mali there are artists from Somalia, Algeria, Zimbawe, Congo, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.