With 'Next Stop... Soweto' the Strut Records label zooms in on the glory period of mbaqanga. Mbaqanga, also called township-jive, originated in the slums of Johannesburg in the 1960s and contains elements from both traditional Zulu music and Western jazz. Popular artists like Simon 'Mahlatini' Nkabinde and the Mahotella Queens performed in shebeens, small illegal in-house pubs. Most of you will probably already have heard this music in one of the many movies that were shot about the apartheid regime in South Africa. Since the majority of the tracks on this compilation was meant for the black community in a racist regime, it should come as no surprise that it took Duncan Brooker and Francis Gooding years of research to compile 'Next Stop... Soweto', but their hard work is reflected in the quality of this compilation: the songs on 'Next Stop… Soweto' sound as fresh as if they were recorded yesterday and bring the listener in a cheerful mood (which, keeping in mind the dreary reality of life in the townships, was of course the main goal of this music). 'Next Stop... Soweto' is the first part of what should become a triptych (part 2 and 3 will focus on South African soul, funk and jazz). The year is off to a good start!