We used to share a special New Year’s carol from South Korean psych-legends He 5. But now we’re Zamrocking more frequently…so we’re digging a bit deeper and offering you a rather bizarre single by Zambian guitarist, singer and songwriter Paul Ngozi. This song, the b-side to his “Happy Christmas” single, is a departure from the hard-edged garage-psych of the Ngozi Family’s early recordings – but it’s the perfect companion for your New Year’s revelry. If you don’t mind crackle – imagine it’s the bubbles popping in your champagne – download the track below the link….

Download: Paul Ngozi: “Happy New Year”.

And, if you missed it:

Download: “He 5: “Auld Lang Syne”.”

Download: “Sweet Peace.”

By now, regular visitors to this site know that it’s somewhat of a Christmas/New Year’s tradition: we try to dig out some interesting record from the collection to share, in the hopes that you can somehow find a way to slip Paul Ngozi’s ode to the big fella above or the He 5’s stupendous Merry Christmas Psychedelic Sound (pictured above in a photo by Eilon Paz from his Dust and Grooves project) in between Bing Crosby and selections from John Denver and The Muppets’ A Christmas Together at your family’s get together.

So, this year, as we take a few days off to celebrate a year of good music, we’re sharing with you one of the weirdest, genius Christmas-adjacent songs we’ve ever heard. Honestly, we’ve no idea who performed this spiritual get down – it came via the esteemed drummer and producer Karriem Riggins, and has been an endless supply of holiday joy for us over the years.