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SITE RATING:  6/10 SITE REVIEW:  A bit of a disappointment - when I saw that South African store OneWorld was offering Handel's Messiah: A South African Revival, I expected a more culturally pure representation of South African sounds, more akin to Paul Simon's Graceland with its now-legendary blending of Zydeco, Mbaqanga, and jive - but this recording doesn't take that route.  Yes, it re-orchestrates the oratorio, using electric guitar, drums, flute and violin, and the producers decided to mix the languages up, using English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, and Zulu; but musically, the the sound isn't that far removed from what you'd find in a Los Angeles record shop.  The sound is firmly R&B, with hints of xylophone and other regional tastes, but rather than transforming the work in a revolutionary way, this South African Revival has more in common with the pop sensibilities of The Young Messiah than Ladysmith Black Mambazo.  That's not to say that it's a poor recording - I enjoyed the choral work of The Original Arts Company on "Want aan ons is daar 'n kind gegee" ("For Unto Us A Child Is Born") which dips its toe into Soweto choral traditions, and the use of flutes on the "Pifa (Pastoral Symphony)" is lovely - it's just that in my view, if you're going to re-imagine Messiah into a cultural landscape, you ought to NOT play it safe - strip away all of the original baroque trappings and start anew; but the producers of this set sought to make the work "contemporary" and "accessible" which meant adding drum loops, synthesizers, and other modern conveniences in place of more natural, traditional, flavorful color.  This recording sounds as if it could have been produced in L.A. - a somewhat pale, pasturized, "pop" recording - OK, but could have been so much more.

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