Green Arrows

What a canny name for a label: Analog Africa. Putting those two words together will attract precisely the audience it’s looking for, and the disc title 4 Track Recording Sessions seals the deal. The Green Arrows thrived in 1970s Rhodesia, wowing crowds with their energetic guitar lattice work augmented by a nasty fuzz tone/wah pedal and Bedrock drumming. Said pedal was given to them by their producer West Nkosi, and they relied on it so much that their fans referred to them as the purveyors of "waka waka” music. Their first album — the first LP ever in Rhodesia — recorded in 1975, sold some 250,000 copies, and represents tracks one through ten here. Two funky tunes stand out among acidy yet earthy grooves: "Towering Inferno,” which is a loose retelling of the movie, and "Bullitt.” The second half of the disc collects recordings from 1976 to 1979, which show them adopting more chimurenga styles, the Zimbabwean liberation music that incorporated traditional rhythms in a guitar band context. Despite their domestic popularity, the Arrows never really made it out of Zimbabwe, and this represents the first full-scale introduction to their work in North America — get it while you can.