Including Janet

The '70s Zambian band Witch served up a brew of garage, psych, and hard rock on its first three releases, but the group began to incorporate more obvious African elements on Lukombo Vibes and its follow-up, Including Janet. On that latter album, Witch sequenced the songs so that it moved back and forth between African-flavored material and more Western-sounding pieces. The opener, “Janet,” rides a triple-meter groove festooned with a cool organ riff as lead singer “Jagari” Chanda lets loose plaintive vocals. “As Days Go By” is '70s rock with sweet lead guitar with just a drop of country in it, while the upbeat African pop of “Ntedelakumbi” has chanted backup vocals and phase-shifted electric guitar. The back-and-forth continues: the steady rock chug of “In Flight” is followed by the speedy flow of “Nazingwa,” and the light bounce of “Silver Lady” moves on to the head-nodding “Anyinamwana,” which features interlocking instrumental parts and catchy call-and-response singing. One of the most distinctive tracks here is “Mama Feel Good,” which has a strange and subtle guitar riff.