Black, Strong...

I’ve been fortunate enough to chat to a few of the planet's most influential house music practitioners in the past couple of days - Abicah Soul, Quentin Harris, Ralf Gum - and when I ask them about South African music, the first name on every one's lips is Black Coffee...

More on Coffee in my latest (and possibly last, for a while) post for Generation Bass.

Afro Beats From Outer Space

The Pan African Space Station is a fascinating project currently happening in Cape Town. Inspired by Sun Ra’s aphorism, “There are other worlds out there they never told you about,” PASS is “a cross-cultural and cyber-spatial exploration bringing together diverse pan-African sounds, from ancient techno to future roots.”

This year’s programme includes amazing musos like Dr. Philip ‘Malombo’ Tabane, Thandiswa Mazwai and Camerounian drummer Brice Wassy, and a back-to-back DJ master class featuring Theo Parrish and Sowetan cutmaster Mbuso T.

Also emanating into the ethernet as part of the festival is an amazingly eclectic radio stream broadcast from Long Street. Get more info on the Shook site.

South African Music Goes "Boom"!

From Shangaan Electro and Spoek Mathambo (that's him above on the cover of the latest Fader mag) through to DJs Mujava and Cleo being spun by UK bass heavyweights like Kode9, South African music is invading planet earth's dancefloors. Check my recent round-up on Generation Bass, and enjoy the below, out now on Kode9's Hyperdub label: a collaboration between the UK's LV and SA's Okmalumkoolkat (who looks suspiciously like Spoek Mathambo):

20 For The 2000s

Up now on the Red Bull Studio ZA blog and SoundCloud, a mix put together with my mate and partner-in-rhythm, Offbeat under our Unsound System moniker, entitled '20 For The 2000s'. It features twenty of our fave, for-the-floor tunes from the first decade of the 21st Century. Here's the tracklist:

01. Junior Boys – Like A Child (Carl Craig Remix)

02. Justin Martin – The Sad Piano (Charles Webster Remix)

03. Metro Area – Miura

04. Loco Dice – El Gallo Negro

05. Justus Köhncke – Timecode

06. Kerrier District – Let's Dance And Freak

07. Akufen – Deck The House

08. Recloose – Cardiology (Isolée Mix)

09. The Juan MacLean – Happy House

10. Rodamaal – Insomnia (Âme Remix)

11. Luciano And Quenum – Orange Mistake

12. Matthew Dear – Dog Days

13. Radical Majik – Dub Rider

14. Laven And MSO (Featuring Malte) – Reach

15. Hot Chip – And I Was A Boy From School (Erol Alkan's Extended Re-Work)

16. Björk – Pagan Poetry (Ripperton Remix)

17. Metro Area – Orange Alert (DFA Remix)

18. Cobblestone Jazz – Dump Truck

19. Hercules And Love Affair – Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix)

20. Baxendale – I Built This City (Michael Mayer Mix)

Also check out my weekly submissions to Generation Bass, including a recent post on the wildly-talented Mr Sakitumi here.

New Generation...

This blog may end up on ice for a time while its author a) works to pay the bills and b) lends some insight on (and supplies free samples of) the most happening music in South Africa for brilliant Berlin-based blog Generation Bass. So look out for the best in local electronica, dagga-infused dubstep and deep house and miscellaneous grooves of every variety every Wednesday.

You can also read my bimonthly reviews of all sorts of interesting new sonics in online mag Chew - forthcoming are appraisals of new albums from LCD Soundsystem, Matthew Herbert, Caribou, Nosaj Thing and Erykah Badu.

See you on the other side...

Braamfontein Beat Pharmacy

An event worthy of being the subject of this year's first post: presented by Kitchener's (Juta St. Braamfontein) and Broaden A New Sound, Brendon Moeller is a South African who's been making waves internationally with his dubby techno trips since the mid-90's, and he spins at Kitchener's this Saturday night (20 March) - get all the event details on Facebook here.

Recording using his own name and under the aliases Beat Pharmacy and Echologist, New York-based Moeller has released records on esteemed imprints like Francois K's Deep Space Media, Japan's Mule Musiq, Third Ear, Rekids, Eskimo and more, and has garnered support from underground icons like Hawtin and Garnier.

Employing a minimal sub-bass thump as a canvas, Moeller dabbles in - and daubs magically with - dub, jazz, Afrobeat and psychedelia, and has collaborated with a raft of great reggae vocalists to concoct singular sound pictures that echo in the mind and excite the muscles.

Make sure you catch a dub-wise DJ set from the first local lad to really make good in international dance music circles this Saturday, and check out an interview and DJ set from our man Moeller here.