QDK Media releases an official reissue of Zambian psych-rockers Witch, with their ridiculously good Lazy Bones!!, originally released in 1975. By the mid 1970s, the South African nation known as the Republic of Zambia had fallen on hard times. The new Federation found itself under party rule. Zambia's then-president engaged what was then Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in a political fencing match that damaged his country's ability to trade with its main partner. The Portuguese colonies of Angola to the west and Mozambique to the east were fighting their own battles for independence; conflict loomed on all sides of this landlocked nation. This is the environment in which the catchy -- if misleadingly-titled "Zam Rock" scene that flourished in 1970s Zambian cities such as Lusaka and Chingola emerged. Though full of beacons of hope for its numerous musical hopefuls, it was a tumultuous time, and it's no wonder that the Zambian musicians taken by European and English influences gravitated to the hard, dark side of the rock and funk spectrum. From the little of the Zambian '70s rock and funk music that has been spread via small blogs and bootlegs -- the likes of Chrissy Zebby, Paul Ngozi and the Ngozi Family, and the devastating Peace -- we learn that fuzz guitars were commonplace, driving rhythms as influenced by James Brown's funk as Jimi Hendrix's rock predominated, and the bands largely sang in the country's national language, English. The European and North American compilers that had, say, fallen in love with the wonders of Nigeria's '70s scene via an introduction by Afro-Beat maestro Fela Kuti and decided to journey to Lagos to investigate further never even bothered to visit Zambia. Only a small number of the original Zam Rock godfathers that remained in the country survived through the late-'90s, when the music recorded in Zambia became the next frontier for those global-psychedelic rock junkies searching for the next fix. Normal Records, in conjunction with Los Angeles' Now-Again Records and Zam Rock pioneer Rikki Ililonga licensed this album from the last remaining member of Witch, Emmanuel Jagari Chanda. Hopefully, the music he and his late compatriots created will now reach a larger audience. One that they truly deserve. Another out-of-nowhere African '70s rock discovery in the Blo mold, privately pressed on a small local label, this five-piece electric band plays a strong electric African underground style. Tons of wah-wah fuzz guitar in every track, African-style beats and vocals and all original songs. If bands from Nigeria such as Blo and Ofege and bands from Zambia such as Rikki Ililonga and Chrissy Zebby are all traveling on the psychedelic highway at 100 mph, the Witch overtakes them with 120.