Aero Manyelo est un homme très actif… en même temps qu’il sortait son album Herbs Abroad, il sortait aussi Dictionary of Herbs avec son label Sud Africain Herbal 3 Records. Voici son nouveau clip pour le morceau Tshunga extrait de son “dictionary.”
Gqom is the most excitingdiscovery of my trip to South Africa last November. Jumping Back Slash knowledgeably takes us through a deep Durban odyssey. Listen, then feel free to feed your developing addiction to gqom over at kasimp3.com
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...
Jumping Back Slash – Gqom Bhengz Mix
Gqom is the most excitingdiscovery of my trip to South Africa last November. Jumping Back Slash knowledgeably takes us through a deep Durban odyssey. Listen, then feel free to feed your developing addiction to gqom over at kasimp3.com
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...
With this new mix A.J. Holmes shows yet another angle to his musical taste. “I first discovered Kwaito in 2003 after a friend, João Orecchia (who now lives in Johannesburg and has a great project with members of the BLK JKS called Motel Mari) returned from his first visit to South Africa with a bag filled with Kwaito cassettes. The track that first grabbed me was TKZee – Magesh which had been a hit in SA a few years earlier. I listened to these cassettes reputably on car journeys touring in Germany the following year.
I was DJing a mix of Old School Rumba, Township Jive, High Life and Grime (UK Hip Hop) at the time. The down beat groove of Kwaito seemed to fit perfectly in this mix and to be the ‘missing link’ in my taste pallet: Employing the beautiful melodies of township Jive and the urban experience of – what was at the time – modern Soweto. This mix seemed to work in the clubs and bars in Europe: London, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Rostock, Malmö, Copenhagen…for me it was a big part of the sound of 2004; but of course I ‘discovered’ this music 10 years after the fact, as some of it – to my surprise – had been released in the mid 90’s; however it still sounded fresh and exciting to me!”
Here’s what A.J. has to say about this mix in particular:
20 years ago – on the 27th April 1994 – ‘Nelson Mandela took office as the first democratically elected president of South Africa. The removal of the political and economic sanctions greatly transformed the South African music industry. In the backdrop of a transforming South Africa, Kwaito took shape in the township Soweto’
For me this mixtape marks a personal 10 year reflection; since I first heard this mid 90’s / early 00’s Kwaito – South African Hip Hop – music. Which became a big part of the 2004 Summer sound track for me and my friends, after my friend João Orecchia returned from South African the previous year with a plastic bag filled with cassettes.
I was recently having a bit of a spring clear out and come across these cassettes. As much as I was really into them at the time; I somehow wasn’t surprised to discover that they sound even better to me now then they did all those years ago!
I think it’s time to ‘re- discover’ – or even ‘discover’ for the first time (you lucky person if that is the case!) – this amazing dance music. 20 years after some of it was made and – to me – this music sounds as relevant as ever.
I would love to go to a club that played this music. So if anyone wanted to invite me to play a set of hissy old Kwaito cassettes from this gold era of South African dance music; I’d be well up for it!
I’ve creamed off some of my favourite tracks to make this mixtape. Most of which can be bought on the great compilation – Kwaito: South African Hip Hop CD
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...
A.J. Holmes – 20 years of Kwaito Mix
With this new mix A.J. Holmes shows yet another angle to his musical taste. “I first discovered Kwaito in 2003 after a friend, João Orecchia (who now lives in Johannesburg and has a great project with members of the BLK JKS called Motel Mari) returned from his first visit to South Africa with a bag filled with Kwaito cassettes. The track that first grabbed me was TKZee – Magesh which had been a hit in SA a few years earlier. I listened to these cassettes reputably on car journeys touring in Germany the following year.
I was DJing a mix of Old School Rumba, Township Jive, High Life and Grime (UK Hip Hop) at the time. The down beat groove of Kwaito seemed to fit perfectly in this mix and to be the ‘missing link’ in my taste pallet: Employing the beautiful melodies of township Jive and the urban experience of – what was at the time – modern Soweto. This mix seemed to work in the clubs and bars in Europe: London, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Rostock, Malmö, Copenhagen…for me it was a big part of the sound of 2004; but of course I ‘discovered’ this music 10 years after the fact, as some of it – to my surprise – had been released in the mid 90’s; however it still sounded fresh and exciting to me!”
Here’s what A.J. has to say about this mix in particular:
20 years ago – on the 27th April 1994 – ‘Nelson Mandela took office as the first democratically elected president of South Africa. The removal of the political and economic sanctions greatly transformed the South African music industry. In the backdrop of a transforming South Africa, Kwaito took shape in the township Soweto’
For me this mixtape marks a personal 10 year reflection; since I first heard this mid 90’s / early 00’s Kwaito – South African Hip Hop – music. Which became a big part of the 2004 Summer sound track for me and my friends, after my friend João Orecchia returned from South African the previous year with a plastic bag filled with cassettes.
I was recently having a bit of a spring clear out and come across these cassettes. As much as I was really into them at the time; I somehow wasn’t surprised to discover that they sound even better to me now then they did all those years ago!
I think it’s time to ‘re- discover’ – or even ‘discover’ for the first time (you lucky person if that is the case!) – this amazing dance music. 20 years after some of it was made and – to me – this music sounds as relevant as ever.
I would love to go to a club that played this music. So if anyone wanted to invite me to play a set of hissy old Kwaito cassettes from this gold era of South African dance music; I’d be well up for it!
I’ve creamed off some of my favourite tracks to make this mixtape. Most of which can be bought on the great compilation – Kwaito: South African Hip Hop CD
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...
One of the most exciting discoveries on my recent trip to South Africa is Jumping Back Slash (Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud). His 4th EP just came out this week, don’t sleep on this dude, and be sure to read the story at Lungu Lungu.
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...
Jumping Back Slash: JBS004
One of the most exciting discoveries on my recent trip to South Africa is Jumping Back Slash (Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud). His 4th EP just came out this week, don’t sleep on this dude, and be sure to read the story at Lungu Lungu.
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...
DJ Znobia is one of my all time musical heroes. The guy has done more to shape kuduro or tarraxinha into what we now know them to be, than any other angolan or Portugues artist I can think of. On this track he goes bananas over a very, very famous sound. Bloooohoooooooood!
In case you didn’t know… we will be releasing a so far so siiiiiiiick remix EP of new unreleased tracks by Mohamed Alidu, whom you can read about here. The first remix was just released as a teaser via the XLR8R website, and features the work of…. Murlo! A current favorite of mine, check thesecrazytunes.
In other news, big up to The Republic for their feature in the Guardian! And a special shout out to SanSe my DJ partner in crime in Accra, who turns the big 4-0! And is about to celebrate in style, with Ackah Blay’s full highlife band… chale more vim, enjoy the weekend!
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...
Friday Freebies – BIG FKN GUN, DJ Znobia, Alidu, Murlo, DJ Zhao
DJ Znobia is one of my all time musical heroes. The guy has done more to shape kuduro or tarraxinha into what we now know them to be, than any other angolan or Portugues artist I can think of. On this track he goes bananas over a very, very famous sound. Bloooohoooooooood!
In case you didn’t know… we will be releasing a so far so siiiiiiiick remix EP of new unreleased tracks by Mohamed Alidu, whom you can read about here. The first remix was just released as a teaser via the XLR8R website, and features the work of…. Murlo! A current favorite of mine, check thesecrazytunes.
In other news, big up to The Republic for their feature in the Guardian! And a special shout out to SanSe my DJ partner in crime in Accra, who turns the big 4-0! And is about to celebrate in style, with Ackah Blay’s full highlife band… chale more vim, enjoy the weekend!
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...
Originally posted in the Lungu Lungu column at Fader.
Once in a while, I’ll stumble upon a voice I immediately must track down. I get this urge to listen to anything I can find with that same voice. This happened to me a couple of months ago, right when I got back from Angola. DJ Satellite sent me his Luanda no Horizonte mixtape, which starts with a track I could not get enough of: “Invitation to Dance,” by Monotone, featuring a certain RubyGold. After listening to the song in loops, I had to start my online investigation, only to come across another incredibly catchy house song, “Teka Munike,” by Revolution and again featuring RubyGold.
Not only can RubyGold sing: as I watched the video for Teka Munike, I discovered she can move. And has mad swag. In a video flooded with different flavors of babes, Ruby shines through effortlessly. And did I mention she sings in both English and Portuguese? Enough said. I had to reach out.
The first thing RubyGold tells me is that she doesn’t do house music. She sings trance jazz—”Not music to gyrate to,” as RubyGold puts it. After telling me this initial bit, I was left hanging for a couple of weeks before masters on her new project were ready. When the songs were done, RubyGold was kind enough to let me hack into her Soundcloud to grab them, and what a treat that was. Even though her presence in the video hinted to a lot more substance than a house song might suggest, her new songs still surprise me; they’re way deeper than what I expected.
Within minutes on the phone, I understand RubyGold herself has a lot of depth. “Invitation to Dance” and “Teka Munike” are massive hits in South Africa, but RubyGold is not faded by her recent notoriety. Not only that: RubyGold is in fact quite far removed from any kind of club scene. As she tells me how she started with the acid jazz band Meat the Veggies, I realize her new-found house diva status is not all that representative of RubyGold’s own music. With Meat the Veggies she explored numerous musical directions and performed countless small gigs in Jozi, helping her define her own style through performance. I suppose this is how it used to be for all artists: you played real audiences, you built your musicianship and learned from the public’s reactions, crafting your sound night after night. It’s so refreshing to hear it still happens this way, as it seems that most musicians nowadays rush to the studio, often generating a buzz without having ever confronted themselves to a live audience.
Her experience playing live has also enabled her to build a solid network of industry connections, which in turn have made it possible to piece together her upcoming release on her own. No executive producer, no label behind her; she funded the project herself. Beats were provided by producers she already knew, in particular Earth, also from Meat the Veggies, who is behind a large portion of the album. Earth did the beat and plays the percussion on “Feeling Stealer,” the song featured here.
RubyGold feels that people in South Africa, or at least Johannesburg, don’t want music with a conscience. She finds that they prefer to be nonchalant about life, hence the enormous appetite there for party music. This is not what she’s after. With influences as diverse as Fela Kuti, Marie Daulne and Zap Mama and even The Cinematic Orchestra, RubyGold is looking for her own global niche. Add to her diverse musical tendencies hints of her Mozambican background: she grew up in Johannesburg among her mother’s family—”lots of people,” as RubyGold notes—who escaped the war in Mozambique. Deep music with diverse roots, and the wisdom to bring it all together: RubyGold is the real deal.
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...
RubyGold: Trance Jazz from South Africa
Originally posted in the Lungu Lungu column at Fader.
Once in a while, I’ll stumble upon a voice I immediately must track down. I get this urge to listen to anything I can find with that same voice. This happened to me a couple of months ago, right when I got back from Angola. DJ Satellite sent me his Luanda no Horizonte mixtape, which starts with a track I could not get enough of: “Invitation to Dance,” by Monotone, featuring a certain RubyGold. After listening to the song in loops, I had to start my online investigation, only to come across another incredibly catchy house song, “Teka Munike,” by Revolution and again featuring RubyGold.
Not only can RubyGold sing: as I watched the video for Teka Munike, I discovered she can move. And has mad swag. In a video flooded with different flavors of babes, Ruby shines through effortlessly. And did I mention she sings in both English and Portuguese? Enough said. I had to reach out.
The first thing RubyGold tells me is that she doesn’t do house music. She sings trance jazz—”Not music to gyrate to,” as RubyGold puts it. After telling me this initial bit, I was left hanging for a couple of weeks before masters on her new project were ready. When the songs were done, RubyGold was kind enough to let me hack into her Soundcloud to grab them, and what a treat that was. Even though her presence in the video hinted to a lot more substance than a house song might suggest, her new songs still surprise me; they’re way deeper than what I expected.
Within minutes on the phone, I understand RubyGold herself has a lot of depth. “Invitation to Dance” and “Teka Munike” are massive hits in South Africa, but RubyGold is not faded by her recent notoriety. Not only that: RubyGold is in fact quite far removed from any kind of club scene. As she tells me how she started with the acid jazz band Meat the Veggies, I realize her new-found house diva status is not all that representative of RubyGold’s own music. With Meat the Veggies she explored numerous musical directions and performed countless small gigs in Jozi, helping her define her own style through performance. I suppose this is how it used to be for all artists: you played real audiences, you built your musicianship and learned from the public’s reactions, crafting your sound night after night. It’s so refreshing to hear it still happens this way, as it seems that most musicians nowadays rush to the studio, often generating a buzz without having ever confronted themselves to a live audience.
Her experience playing live has also enabled her to build a solid network of industry connections, which in turn have made it possible to piece together her upcoming release on her own. No executive producer, no label behind her; she funded the project herself. Beats were provided by producers she already knew, in particular Earth, also from Meat the Veggies, who is behind a large portion of the album. Earth did the beat and plays the percussion on “Feeling Stealer,” the song featured here.
RubyGold feels that people in South Africa, or at least Johannesburg, don’t want music with a conscience. She finds that they prefer to be nonchalant about life, hence the enormous appetite there for party music. This is not what she’s after. With influences as diverse as Fela Kuti, Marie Daulne and Zap Mama and even The Cinematic Orchestra, RubyGold is looking for her own global niche. Add to her diverse musical tendencies hints of her Mozambican background: she grew up in Johannesburg among her mother’s family—”lots of people,” as RubyGold notes—who escaped the war in Mozambique. Deep music with diverse roots, and the wisdom to bring it all together: RubyGold is the real deal.
in and out is about all those times of finding yourself in between the 'here', the 'there' and the 'nowhere' while trusting you will eventually find your way and the peace within. The visuals depict that very state of mind and lure you into that special space. Take a...
Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and creative director Jeune Lio, here's the lyrics video to his debut single My Love featuring Magasco. Video animation was done by Ozaki & Tiemo. RELATED Follow up to Abidjan-based Cameroonian DJ and...
Music on the Road was shot by Daniel Kwabena Marmo of The 3 Suns. According to Solid K, " The video tries to capture how I feel about music, it depicts how hard it is to explain with words. It shows what a surreal feeling it brings to me. As can be seen, I walk...