there exists a world just beyond the veil…
slightly beyond the minds' grasp…
indescribable… my spiritual teacher called it the unknowable'…
there are some among us, seers, diviners, yogis, saints, artists, philosophers, mystics, prophets and so on who are able to constantly or once in a while take a peek at this world and enable others to do the same… … while on this plane … in this life….
sometimes when we pray fervently... feel deeply or meditate on any particular thing long enough, we reach a state of mind that allows the veil to this world to be lifted... albeit momentarily.
we've been blessed to have among our generation artists who despite and in spite of difficulties... being ostracised and snubbed by babylon's authority in SA music... better known as the SAMAs... continue to gift us with gems that we'll be swinging to, thinking of, teaching, learning and talking about well into our senile times....these are the sort of artists who are rooted in the same defiant and revolution/arising conscious sounds of the makebas and mhlongos of yesteryear...
mazwai and dana are the two who are easiest to spot among our generation...
it often takes more than one offering to know for sure.
it is Dana's Kulture Noir ('Black Culture') album i wish to reflect upon….
…there are a few things in life that speak to the soul more than music…. there are a few in music who are as spiritually attuned as Simphiwe Dana…
when i learnt on her live dvd sleeve that "her music is now part of the curriculum at prestigious universities such as Oxford University in England and other academic institutions." the saying 'a prophet is never appreciated in their own country' came to mind…
how else does one explain the complete snubbing of this brilliant offering at last year's SAMAs?
"this one is for the nomads" she writes on her album sleeve…
those continuously on a way some place… be it in word, thought or indeed…
with just words sung and instruments played…. Kulture Noir inspires one to look within for all they seek without…
the 1st track… Mina Nawe… is a track whose essence i'm not certain words can ever capture…
then there are the 2 musical chants… laid down on the 3rd and 11th tracks… both under 2 minutes long… both hauntingly magical.
fairy-bells if you will… sprinklings of star dust that remind us in the 2 songs that follow these chants…. mina iqhawe and inkwenkwenzi… that we are cosmic beings…
in souls and minds that are ripe for awakening… Kulture Noir births a vision of Azania whose people do not live like slaves on their ancestors land…. no longer living lives that look, smell and feel like remnants of the grime that is left behind after the purification process…
and then there is mayine… a hymn that probes us in those depths we weren't aware were reachable… those areas of the self we keep well-hidden…
the sort of depths that one would rather leave for an "illuminated master" to probe… to some extent it dares us to BE the master… Asking us questions that require answers that we have not yet taught the mind to answer…
if not in any other song on Kulture Noir then definitely on this song… Mayine… the veil gets lifted.
Kulture Noir digs into a past and brings into the present a musical experience that reflects a space and place where humans identify primarily as spirit… and not as dying and decaying bodies…
in a 60 minute long conscious music experience divided into 12 tracks… Simphiwe thrusts her Artistic spirit into one's soul with such a gentle force one could be forgiven for missing it…
Kulture Noir is a musical masterpiece… a timeless classic… world class universities recognise this… Whoever was behind its snubbing at the SAMA2011 denied Azania a chance at self-reflection… Azanian's people are poorer for it.
if you are unfortunate enough not to have heard this album in its entirety… do yourself a favour and rectify that misfortune.
if i could put it any other way i would say that Kulture Noir is not just an honest and truthful artistic expression… but is also a rare reflection of a true artist's spirit in communion with its Creator…
Dana gives a bit of her soul on this one… as she has twice before before… this time though… she bares her soul in its entirety while delicately inviting the listener to do the same…
Those who dare to do just that are able to take a glimpse through her artistic expression at a world within themselves I write about at the beginning of this reflection…
"a world just beyond the veil…
slightly beyond the minds' grasp…
indescribable… "
Thank you for the music… Sinethemba...
*1Love.
