Himba Hymn: Ghosts of Namibia’s Skeleton Coast plunges listeners in the midst of tribal traditions in northern Namibia’s mostly arid Skeleton Coast, on the border with Angola. The only instruments heard are unnamed strings (a sort of lyre?) and the Cattle Gun, a mud-coated Onyx horn blown to produce a raspy rattle, while the voices produce a remarkable range, from frankly unimaginable, growled invocations, to chants and one piece of soul-slapping bloozy holler that unmistakably highlights historic Black Atlantic links. For us pasty UK office dwellers it’s astonishing, life-affirming stuff: plunging into timeless traditions on ‘Lion Attack, Cattle Massacre’ with a range of extended vocal tekkerz that give Phil Minton a run for his pennies, thru an air-horn strewn, multi-tracked,…

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