What begins in a buoyant, funky groove with unmistakably African vibes makes its intentions clear from the very first lines of the opener »Mad House«: »The other day / You came down to the mad house / intending to do a song or two for us / But they closed the door in your face.« This isn’t about the weekend party.
Sankomota, from Lesotho, had more to contend with than most bands of their time. After touring South Africa, they were banned from re-entering the country — a move that made them even more popular at home, though Lesotho, completely surrounded by South Africa, offered few opportunities for live shows and didn’t even have a proper recording studio. Luckily, filmmaker Lloyd Ross met the band while working on a film in Lesotho. Bringing his mobile studio to the capital, Maseru, he recorded nine tracks with Sankomota — songs that drew attention not only for their heady blend of funk, reggae, pop, psychedelia, Cape jazz and traditional rhythms, but also for lyrics that, barely coded, offered biting commentary on the situation in southern Africa.
For major labels, this was a non-starter. So Ross released the album himself in 1983 on his newly founded Shifty Records, where it became a quiet classic. Together with Sounds of Subterrania, this historically vital document is now being made available again — in a beautiful new edition.
