Bubblegum Club

Tag: best alternative

  • Petite Noir – Future Wave

    The media coverage of last weekend’s South African Music Awards has been dominated by Riky Rick and AKA’s petulant responses to not winning any awards. Basically, they feel that they were snubbed. Shame.  Unfortunately this has overshadowed how another  of the night’s winners- Petite Noir’s La Vie Est Belle/Life is Beautiful (which won in the best alternative category) is one of the most innovative and sophisticated albums to have come out of South Africa in years.  Released through UK label Domino , Petite Noir (aka Yannick Ilunga) has been touring the world and winning critical acclaim for his pioneering ‘Noirwave’ style.

    On Life is Beautiful the ghosts of 80’s new wave artists like Depeche Mode and The Cure are mixed with contemporary SA electronic production and Afrobeat drums to produce elegant songs of romantic regret and personal disillusionment. ‘Freedom’  stabs like ice shards to the heart, while ‘Just Breathe’ is warm and elegiac.  The wildly infectious ‘Down’ sounds like a lost collaboration between Fela Kuti and The Talking Heads.

    Petite Noir’s closet contemporaries are bands like TV on The Radio and Wild Beasts, who trawl the sounds of Europe, America and Africa’s recent past to make cosmopolitan rock for the present. But the ‘Noirwave’ tag goes beyond just a sound- Ilunga sees it as complete aesthetic.  Defying backward or rustic sterotypes, Petite Noir creates a kind of retro Afrofuturism. This is showcased on the music video for ‘Best’, in which mythological imagery runs riot. As the notes for the video describe it  ‘ Best’  ‘’ looks at how only through visiting the continent can anyone gain a sense of one of its most fascinating features, that of its split identity; how incredibly and indescribably beautiful it is on the one hand, yet on the other hand, how raw and unforgiving it can be.’’  And aided by the imagery created by his collaborator and partner Rharha Nembhard, Petite Noir is taking Noirwave to the world- a style with no boundaries, at home everywhere.

  • The rise and rise of Moonchild Sanelly

    My first meeting with Moonchild was in Cape Town, she performed at the legendary Cold Turkey and won me over with her energy and openness. Her performance was electrifying and I’ve watched her grow from strength to strength in every facet of her creative output. Now some four years later I sit opposite a SAMA nominated artist, an established fashion designer and the person responsible for the proliferation of coloured woollen hairstyles. The opportunity to connect with someone at such an critical moment in their career is beautiful, Moonchild’s energy and love for her work is palpable, her ambition supported by a steel will and drive to make people dance and sing and celebrate. She’s on the road at the moment, about to perform at Zafiko festival in Durban and Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona.

    Moonchild is on a roll; The New York Times featured her in a photo diary by Chris Saunders that revealed her perspective and hustle in GoliWood, she’s going on a national tour with Red Bull soon and she is currently nominated for one of the nation’s highest musical honours. The SAMA nomination is a nod from people within the music industry, people who run record companies and make it their business to invest in new talent and artistry. “The nomination has opened a lot of doors for me, people actually respond to me emails now ” she says with the sweetest smile.   ” I don’t know if it’s hit me yet, and I’ll be travelling when the ceremony is on but I do hope I win “.  Her competition is stiff but anything is possible, so we await June 4th with bated breath.  This nomination reflects the establishment taking note of alternative and independent artists, the people who run the streets and contribute to urban culture are finally being recognized in the upper echelons of the creative industries.

    Creativity is a beautiful gift and meeting it with professionalism and productivity makes it powerful. This is the power Moonchild exudes, ‘I want to be exhausted, I’m just tired now’ she says in reference to her touring schedule for the coming months. Her dreams are big and her passion spills out in the conversation about recording and singing. And after 7 years in this city, these accolades and opportunities are well deserved, it really is inspiring to see things come together for such a talented, ambitious human, I tell her this, she smiles that same sweet smile and says, ‘I want a lot, I’m on my way to getting it’.

    Moonchild’s latest single Fox With That, produced by her long time collaborator Maramza is available on iTunes and currently rising up local charts. Follow her @Moonchild_SA and watch out for her performing somewhere near you, soon.

    Words by Oratile Mashazi @Oracle254