Amanaz: Africa

Label: Normal

We normally don’t list reissues in with our Top 50, but we’re happy to make an exception for this wickedly cool Zambian rock record — and besides, to whom among us was this not a new record? Amanaz recorded this mellow killer in 1973, under the influence of the US/UK and European psych-rock that had penetrated the dark continent, and it is vibey like cigarette smoke in a dimly lit room, sweet as anything to come out of the modern psych-folk-puh-whatevah scene. Killer hill-climbing bass lines, the flame of a few blazing leads in the dark, a smattering of fuzz, the occasional nod to place (the title track — just, wow) and an atmosphere that could not be re-created all add up to the latest vital reissue from the sprawling psych-rock diaspora.