Beats of the Heart

The Skinny loves a bit of music, as you may well know. When the opportunity arose to see the first two parts of Jeremy Marre's award winning series on the world of music, we leapt at the chance.

The first part is the most well known, Roots, Rock, Reggae, his snapshot of the music scene in Jamaica around 1977. He takes a camera with him for two weeks, two weeks during which he manages to interview the likes of Jimmy Cliff and Joe Higgs, among others. Most of the live music is for the film - The Abyssinians, Scratch, even an intimate man-and-guitar piece from Gibbs, the man who taught Bob Marley his trade. Reggae needs little introduction here at The Skinny, or indeed worldwide, but this film is still an education for all of its hour's length.

A scene less well represented in popular culture is the subject of the next film, Rhythms of Resistance. Marre takes us to South Africa in 1979 - a place where apartheid still reigns - to see Zulu dancing their defiance, Ladysmith Black Mambazzo singing of life as it should be, and to hear of restrictive laws and attitudes.

The resistance of the title is subtle yet powerful; even when it boils over to shouting slogans, the most overt political action is someone being unafraid to tell the crowd they are black over a public microphone. Simple words communicate a strong message, and it is not lost on the audience.
Context is important in music and politics, and both of these films do a great job of assessing and describing it for us. We can't wait to see what happens in parts three through fourteen. [James Blake]