Friday, December 29, 2023

Track Of The Day: Mutabaruka - De System (Alligator)


So I woke up this morning at about 6:45, stuck the radio on low, settled back onto my pillow and listened to it. And whoever was being interviewed started talking about “the system”, and started off this earworm. And then I realised that I’d been priming this particular track for a while in my head. I remember buying ‘Check It’ when it came out and it completely blew my mind; the words are incredible, as is the music. In the same way that Linton Kwesi Johnson used Dennis Bovell’s dub band to devastating effect, the versatile stylings of the many musicians used on this album lift and enhance the utterings. ‘De System’ is less than three minutes long, but packs a considerable punch. Having said that, nothing much has changed to alter its sentiments in the forty years since it was released. 

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