Tag: cape town

Unpacking feelings of displacement

I interviewed photographers Nobukho Nqaba, Thandiwe Msebenzi and Sitaara Stodel about their upcoming exhibition, Displacement.

Having met while studying at Michaelis School of Fine Art at UCT and being exposed to each other’s individual creative practices, being awarded the Tierney fellowship solidified their desire to thread together the similarities in their work.

They each create work based on their own experiences, with their art practices providing an avenue for reflection, questioning and unraveling. Sitaara’s current work revolves around the themes of home, identity, memory and exploring the subconscious. Nobukho prefers not to box her work into fixed themes, but has created work that focuses on migrant life, movement and otherness, and has recently made a body of work about mourning, letting go and “finding my own self”. Thandiwe’s recent work addresses rape culture and the silencing of womxn in places of comfort.

The title of their exhibition refers to displacement both figuratively and literally, and the impact that comes from feeling out of place. “We talk about issues of being lost and this loss comes from being in spaces that are not permanently ours. These are often spaces that are supposed to provide comfort and those spaces include the home,” Nobukho explained. Their work addresses how in these places of comfort issues of power arise and manifested through enactments of particular understandings of masculinity in relation to the female presence. “We felt that we need to have this collective voice and bring about this educational exhibition to bring issues around movement, otherness and displacement to the fore,” Nobukho explained.

A House is Not a Home, 1 – Sitaara Stodel

In Sitaara’s series of works titled Suburban Dream she uses photography as a “tool for suspension of belief”. In her work A House Not A Home, 1 Sitaara uses collage and photography to create the illusion of looking at a landscape of houses. However upon closer inspection the viewer notices that it is in fact a small set with cut outs of images of different houses, lit up to look like middle class suburbia at night. This brings into question the understanding of photography as a form of documentation that reveals ‘the truth’. Sitaara also explains that this work is part of her exploration of her memories of constantly having to move with her mother and sisters as a result of being evicted from middle class houses they could not afford. “This photographic series is almost like looking at all of the homes I lived in and the cross-over of memories that I have with these houses,” she explains. The theme ‘eviction’ is used in her work as an “echo” to her own experiences of growing up but also speaks to South Africa’s history of evictions, which has a large influence on her feelings around the importance of unpacking feelings of displacement. “All of us being woman of colour, I feel that we have an understanding of how people treat us differently, struggling to feel like we have a ‘place’ – a place in South Africa, a place in the art world, a place to exist safely etc.”.

Ndiyayekelela Undibizela kuwe IV – Nobukho Nqaba

Nobukho uses photography to document her performativity. “I perform and document what I do and the final work becomes the photograph of the actual performance,” she explains further. In her current body of work displacement happens as the result of a state of mind because of longing for her father who has passed on. “At the same time I am fighting certain emotions that hold me back and I use material that is reminiscent of a migrant and a miner which speaks a lot about the history of [migrant life] in South Africa. I use my own female body to fight a male presence that is haunting me both in a good way and in a bad way”. The materials that she uses contain the narrative of being displaced from a place of familiarity for her father who worked on the mines. Nobukho wraps herself with these materials, “often burdening myself with an absence that is continuously present in my mind and also trying to let go but finding it difficult because I am my father’s child.”.

“indawo yam”- my place – Thandiwe Msebenzi

Thandiwe has two works on show that dissect displacement. A photograph of her standing on a ladder carrying a man’s blazer in her hand titled “kwawze kubenini”- for how long reflects on the question “how long will I have to climb ladders as a woman to be seen?”. This works unpacks the sense of displacement womxn feel when trying to exist in anti-feminine spaces. In the work “indawo yam”- my place Thandiwe is photographed sitting on a small hill covering herself with a lace curtain, creating her own place of safety.

Thandiwe expressed the importance of this exhibition outside of the themes that they unpack. She highlighted the difficulty in finding womxn photographers of colour as references or sources of inspiration in the library besides the work of Zanele Muholi. “It becomes important to have this exhibition because we are all individual photographers working in a variety of creative and exciting ways,” she expressed. Thandiwe added that they thinking about working on an idea after the exhibition in the spirit of opening up a space for womxn photographers of colour, and creating an archive. So watch this space!

Displacement will open on the 4th of May at 99 Loop Gallery in Cape Town.

Dreamscape – Sitaara Stodel

“kwawze kubenini”- for how long – Thandiwe Msebenzi

26 April 2017
Not Seen Store – where functionality and style meet

Luke Maritz is the creator of Not Seen Store, the Cape Town based brand, locally hand crafted and inspired by counter culture, youth culture, streetwear and graffiti. On edge and not on hype.

Not Seen has recently launched its online store that is designed exceedingly well. Navigation is easy, the typography selected for the overall feel is wonderful and so is the logo design. Of course what mostly drew my attention was the actual design of the products and their superb lookbooks.

In conversation I had with the creator and owner of the brand he mentioned that his branding concept was created initially as an idea to provide an online platform to buy and resell products like analogue cameras. Maritz continues by saying that due to continuous positive reaction his brand quickly developed into what it is today.

What I find so undeniably intriguing about Not Seen is the fact that Maritz not only designs the products which consists of roadmap bags, fanny packs and rain ponchos, he also does all the styling and photography of the lookbooks himself. His label is a personally directed branding concept. Maritz is an incredibly talented individual with not only the gift of a photographer’s eye but a key sense of design and color combinations. He is bringing out an extremely vivid edginess in his brand that has become his signature. Maritz is not just an entrepreneur. He is an artist.

Not Seen focuses predominantly on the roadmap bag and fanny pack, which has been making its way back onto the streets and the runways of the fashion world since 2015 as a unique way of carrying essentials.

What all Not Seen’s products have in common is their minimalist design using primary colors and black. The products are durable and well constructed. These designs can be used to customize quite a number of different ensembles as can be seen when looking at how Maritz styles his lookbooks. What is striking about this branding concept is how Maritz keeps it proudly South African by using Cape Town’s natural environments as well as cityscape as the backdrop for his lookbooks.

His choice of models subtly reminds me of the type of models American Apparel often steered towards; they fit the “street brand” image incredibly well and have an edgy, rebel teen look to them that is setting the tone for this off beat brand.

The most important thing to recognize about Maritz’ brainchild is that it is intended to add value to the consumers daily experience. In Luke’s own words, his brand is not hype and is here to stay. Not Seen Store is already making waves and I look forward to seeing the vision grow.

17 April 2017
Sibot dishes out an “L”

L is for love, or in the Facebook era, a like. If you’re a Scott Pilgrim fan, L is for lesbians. L is for lush or libations if you’re a bit of a drinker. To a cartographer, L is for latitude and longitude. For social media managers looking to hit that millennial market, L is for lit. L is for the lavish lifestyles presented to us by pop stars. L is whatever you make it, but in Sibot’s case, I think it probably stands for legend.

I remember the first time I heard a Sibot track. It was on one of the old SL compilation CDs from back when print wasn’t dead. Those CDs held a lot of gems back in the day, even if they did put out Candice Hillebrand’s first single they also put out a version of Sibot and Watkin Tudor Jones’ ‘Super Evil’ that, to my knowledge, was never officially released. I’d never heard anything so fresh. While Waddy’s “kreepy-krawly” line still cracks me to this day, that beat is infectious and experimental as fuck. This was like 12/14 years ago. A year or so later, after a late night LAN party, I found myself with a folder labeled “the fantastic kill” with no track titles, but after clicking play, I immediately knew who I was dealing with. It was on that album I was introduced to Spoek Mathambo and it was from there that I’d follow everything Sibot, Watkin Tudor Jones and Spoek Mathambo did.

Sibot has continued to grow as a producer, putting out an impressive body of work and developing one of the best live shows in the country. With Toyota on visuals, it’s an unrivaled onslaught of sight and sound. Mswenkofontein was probably his biggest track in recent years but he’s put out a few noteworthy releases, 2013’s “Magnetic Jam” was put out by Mad Decent, Red Bull Music picked up “Arc-Eyes” and last year he dropped “new age kwaito 2010” on his ace. Each release unique in sound and direction, each still coated with Sibot’s signature bass tones.

His latest project is an album he’s releasing as four EPs called “V.L.D.T”. The tracks on the EPs are numbered where they are on the album and once all four are out, you can piece them together as one body of work. It’s a unique way to put out a project and gives Sibot an opportunity to highlight the different aspects of the album before people get to hear it as a whole. The first was put out a few months ago, It’s called “V” and it’s mostly in the Arc-Eyes/Magnetic Jam sphere, we’re talking heavy beats broken up and smashed together, but his upcoming EP, “L”, is closer to “new age kwaito” and sees Sibot playing in the 4/4 realm as he flexes his techno and house skills.

The new EP, or the second part of the album, is notably different from what we’re used to from Sibot. Instead of flinging my body around the room and getting whiplash from whipping my hair back and forth, I find myself swaying from side to side, head bopping and shoulders shrugging to the hypnotic beats. “L” feels like a futuristic throwback that reminds me of sliding around club dancefloors in the mid-2000s. I’ve often prefered the heaviness and discombobulating beats behind Sibot’s music, but “L” is welcome relief to the usual chaos and an expertly crafted release that shows the production range the pioneer is capable of.

“L” comes out on the 11th of April and adds 3 dynamic tracks to any adventurous house/techno DJ’s arsenal. It’s certainly not what you’d expect, or at least, not what I expected, but by now we should know to expect the unexpected from the local legend. I’m intrigued to hear the next 2 releases after “L” and see how the whole album fits together once it’s all out there. We’re only half-way through it’s release but V.L.D.T is shaping up to be Sibot’s most dynamic and diverse project to date. If you’re looking for something different from one of SA’s stalwarts of electronic music, check out Sibot’s soundcloud on the 11th of April.

10 April 2017
From the Bath to Inner and Outer Space

I’ll tell you one thing, Song’s From The Bath is a fucking trip. I’ll tell you some more things, I just felt like that was a good way to start. What else do you want to know? Is it a homage to Max Normal’s Songs From The Mall? No, no it is not. Did Thor Rixon actually write it from a bath? Nope, I asked him. He said “The bath is a metaphor.” “Like”, “as”, that sort of thing. Oh, you want to know how the album sounds? I just told you, it’s a fucking trip. Have you ever done psychedelics? Yes? Well there you go. No? Then listen to the album. These songs may not actually be from the bath but they’ll take you to inner and outer space my dudes and dudettes. An adventure of magical musical discovery awaits.

First though, a warning before you go adventuring: If you just fully don’t like experimental music, then maybe this isn’t the journey for you. Don’t listen to the album and then be like, “Why are there birds chirping? That’s so lame.” This is the type of album that has birds chirping follow hectic rave parts. But also, gentle, ethereal chords that linger and stick with you after being washed out by reverb and literal water as the next song kicks in. So yeah, it’s experimental, and emotional, and eclectic. It’s chaos intricately woven with order. There are layers to this shit. Deep, deep layers.

If those sound like qualities you like in an album, you still might not be emotionally ready for it. I don’t know where you are in your life. I don’t know how this is going to make you feel. That said, you should listen to it anyway because trying new and experimental things is good for your personal development. Personally, I feel weird. I feel overwhelmed. I feel like I’m staring at the space between stars, contemplating my existence whilst my body slowly floats down through my chair. I feel like that’s a cheesy line, and I’m not even sure what the logistics of ethereal form would be, but bare with me. I’m trying to tell you that Songs From The Bath makes me feel, and it’s going to make you feel too. What will you feel? Well, that’s up to you.

‘Songs From The Bath’ contains 7 tracks with featured artists such as; Alice Phoebe Lou, Hlasko, Itai Hakim, Olmo, among many more. The album marks Rixon’s 3rd full body of work after 2014’s ‘Tea Time Favorites’ and 2013’s ‘Shared Folder’. ‘Songs From The Bath’ has also been pressed to vinyl and is available in limited edition blue or standard edition black vinyl, available from Roastin’ Records.

Rixon will be hosting 2 live and improvised performances of the album which will be held in Cape Town at The Centre For The Book in Gardens on Wednesday the 1st of February and in Johannesburg at The Bioscope Theatre in Maboneng on Saturday the 4th of February. Each showcase will feature; Alice Phoebe Lou, Hlasko, Olmo, Pavlov and more. For more details regarding these events please visit;

CT – https://www.facebook.com/events/1835599113395368/

JHB – https://www.facebook.com/events/1785322511793234/

Tickets will be limited and only available online via Quicket.

31 January 2017
Jakinda – Storming Heaven

The first time I opened the Soundcloud link to Jakinda’s Afrika 3000, I felt a powerful surge of the uncanny. And by uncanny, I don’t just mean mysterious. Rather it was the sense of what Freud famously called ‘ the unheimliche’. That is the sensation of a strange familiarity, the jolt of déjà vu. Or, as Jack Nicolson put it before the Overlook Hotel drives him insane in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining ‘When I came up here for my interview it was as though I’d been here before. I mean … It was almost as though I knew what was going to be around every corner’.

Indeed, the epic Intro reminded me of the cosmic soundtrack of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey– both disconcerting and awe-inspiring. After bursts of ambient noise the track naturally takes a turn into driving gqom and trap inspired beats. The following three songs deepen this epic vision. As with Dokta Spizee’s Gemeni mixtape, it’s as if the grimy intensity of SA electronic music is being broadcast out to some alien civilization.

The artwork for the EP highlights the Pyramids against a sea of stars, against people in majestic robes and face paint. A pure distillation of the aesthetics of Afrofuturism. The vast body of Afrofuturist literature, music and visual art mixes Science Fiction with historical reality to explore the experience of the African diaspora, through metaphors of alien invasion and technological shock. The mixing of the ancient and the futuristic has an important utopian component, a yearning to both redeem and escape from the horrors of history. As jazz great Sun Ra once put it ` I`m playing dark history. It`s beyond black. I`m dealing with the dark things of the cosmos’.

Afrika 3000 cosmic focus speaks to a broader futurism within contemporary dance music. Artists like Gaika and Fatima Al Qadiri have focused on the dystopian sounds of today, making beats out of bullets and broken glass. Jakinda holds things down for the utopian end, using the cosmos as symbol of future freedom and possibility. His music hums with a palpable yearning to storm the heavens.

26 January 2017
Maramza: Low-key but Kwaai-fi

“Low-key” is a phrase Maramza uses multiple times in our half-hour phone call interview and it’s an apt way to describe the ever-evolving producer. I’ve met Maramza, real name Richard Rumney, a few times and he’s always struck me as the quiet, reserved and observant type – someone who would rather listen than talk. When he does talk, it’s usually to ask a question so he can get some insight to process whatever it is he’s already thinking. So that I managed to get half an hour of conversation out of him is quite something. “I’m very introverted, I guess I’m shy, you know?” He explains when I ask him if he considers himself an introspective cat. “I don’t drink, I used to but I don’t anymore. I’ve been partying for over 20 years so when I’m out now, I’m just there and observing, listening to the music and chat to a few people, but I’m not like “Yo, this is my best life, I’m outchea.” That ended a long time ago. Since I’ve been doing Maramza, it’s been like that. The thing with Maramza, the whole idea was to be low-key. When I first started it was this incognito, low-key thing. I was just kinda not feeling Richard The Third and wanted to release a very different style of music. Originally, no-one knew who I was. But then people showed interest and I was like “Now I want the gigs and I want to be known.” If anything, now I want to go back to being low-key again. Which is kinda weird now that I’m on the Bubblegum Club cover.”

Originally from Joburg, Maramza, then known as Richard The Third, moved to Cape Town in the early 2000s to be part of the fresh wave of electronic music in South Africa. “In the 2000s, I was very inspired by Cape Town electronic music and I think that was a general feeling in Joburg, that Cape Town were the guys who were doing the most forward thinking shit at that time.” He tells me. “African Dope, Real Estate Agents, Felix Laband, Lark and even Goldfish, they were just doing the coolest shit, you know? and I was very inspired by that and that’s essentially why I moved to Cape Town, I wanted to be a part of that. When I got there that was probably the tail end of that era, moving into the kind of Discoteque, electro era and the dubstep era.”

The move did Maramza well and he soon found himself deep in a flourishing Cape Town scene he’d admired from afar, “For me, it felt like there were days when all of us in that scene were lucky. Discoteque was a weekly event, the dubstep parties were quite regular, it felt like there were quite a lot of venues, for a whole lot of us it just felt like a lot was going on club wise, event wise there was a very enthusiastic vibe happening, and there was just a lot to do.”

Since then, things have changed a lot in Cape Town. On a commercial level, people are following the global 4/4 to the floor resurgence, and in the underground, young folks are more politically conscious, and aware of identity, privilege, and power. Maramza makes note of this, “I feel that in Cape Town a lot of young people are woke now, you know? They’ve awoken and are looking at things, and a lot of young people are angry and they see things differently. I think similar groups of people hanging out in the 2000s weren’t so concerned or conscious of it, now they are. Especially around race, gender and sexuality. Not being okay with the way things are, justifiably, and not wanting to support things that aren’t willing to change in that way. As a result, I think there’s a transition, I’m hoping that we see the change now. There’s a crew called 021 Lit, there’re Uppercut parties on a Friday, and when you look at those, at the audience there and actually the DJs themselves, and you feel like, now I’m older now- I’m a guy who has been doing this for a long time- I look at that and think “This is what younger people wanna see. These are the DJs they want to see get put on and who they want to see become successful, who they want to hear making music.””

Adjusting to a scene whose identity is shifting away from your demographic can often be met with resistance. When asked how he’s adapted to the change in culture over the years, Maramza answered thoughtfully, “I think the simple answer is that you just need to be low-key, as low-key as possible. If you’re an older white guy, pull yourself away from any feeling of being offended, or wanting to see things in a certain way, or feeling miffed because things aren’t a certain way. Invariably, that’s going to be your privileged, old-school perspective coming through and that’s just not going to help. You’ve gotta lose that shit, just drop it, it’s gonna cause problems.”

It seems Maramza has learned a lot since being called out for culturally appropriating gqom, “I had this thing when gqom started blowing up, I was like “This is so dope, I want to do my own version of this” and I was actually called out on it online in an article. It really got me thinking, “Fuck, well, that’s true. I can’t do that.”” Maramza has since moved away from the sound and is more aware of his place in the world. “I’ve been very lucky, I am privileged, I’ve had a lot of things work out the way I’ve wanted. I just need to listen to other people and connect with the right people, that’s very important. It’s about proximity. Who do you spend your time with? Who are you listening to? You can’t force that but I think if your intention is out there to be like “I don’t want to be in a world that’s a white privilege bubble”, as much as that’s automatically where I fit in, especially in Cape Town, but if you put the intention out there, you’re more likely to be opening up and connecting with people that aren’t a part of that bubble and they will make you think differently.”

Maramza’s low-key vibe is also about putting others on. When asked what he’s currently working on, he casually replied with “Not much”, and proceeded to tell me more about other artists than his own music. “I started a kinda label project towards the end of last year called “Kwaai-fi”, and I want to do that which really looks to highlight corners of scenes in Cape Town that I think could do with a bit more love and I also would personally think would be nice to connect together. Like the bass music scene, the house music scene, the sjoko joko scene. The guys who I’ve already worked with for “Kwaai-fi”, Terrasoul, DJ Fosta, they all just have a fresh Capetonian, South African take on things. I wanna pursue encouraging those kinds of artists to put out music and remix each other and do it through that platform as “Kwaai-fi”.”

Maramza has already been such a crucial part of the SA music scene, but this next era might be where he has the most impact. Not just as a producer but as someone dedicated to continually pushing the culture of electronic music in South Africa. It’s important for the old guard to use their knowledge, experience, and connections to help the new wave successfully take over, and through “Kwaai-fi” and keeping it low-key, that’s exactly what Maramza is doing.

Photography by Luke Maritz

Styling by Luke Bell Doman

26 January 2017
Tackling the Tracksuit: Youth95’s New Capsule Collection

In the context of local streetwear, Youth95 is somewhat of an anomaly. With the rise of the local fashion celeb, having ‘brand owner’, ‘designer’ or ‘creative director’ in one’s insta bio became all the more popular. If used correctly, this became a viable way of gaining attention or recognition from peers, as well as a younger gen of would-be clothes kops looking for something close to home; a tangible entry point into a magical world.

No disrespect to those who have managed to create something special through an identity they initially projected through social media. Definitely not. It’s just to say that very many of those who make the initial step do very little to build on it. This prediction without actualization is 100% not the case with Reagan Paulsen and Seraaj Semaar, both 21, whose Insta bios read ‘Co-owner of Youth95.21.Student’ and ‘Co-owner of Youth95’ respectively. Having started Youth95 in 2014 on the tail end of the initial boom that came with the resurgence of streetwear on an international level, the pair have done what many of their contemporaries have failed to do. That is working hard enough at a high enough standard to exist for long enough for their story to unfold, for their idea to form into a body of work; the only thing that truly qualifies one’s claim to own a ‘brand’.

Having previously released small, well received t-shirt capsules since their inception, including collaborations with local entities such as Basic, the boys have jumped into technical wear. Having produced a collection that included various incarnations of the classic cuffed sweat pant in early 2016, Youth95’s latest offering sees their first two piece tracksuit hit the market. The pair were inspired by the ideas they encountered that surrounded tracksuits as they grew up. Although worn as something of a uniform, the tracksuit was never considered something you would wear when trying to look your best. Inspired by the subversion of the common tracksuit currently happening through grime and the rise of the road man, the two set out to add their voice to the story. They have created a non-seasonal uniform constructed out of lightweight waterproof material and fitted with breathable mesh lining to keep you cool in the warmer days and cozy during colder months. The centre piece of their collection is their luxury tracksuit, a nod to brands like Juicy and Sean John who ensured the ‘tacky’ garment was raised to near couture levels, their answer to the luxury sweat suit is constructed out of towling.

The new collection, set to drop at the end of January, is presented in an amazing lookbook shot by photographer Luke Maritz, who has himself staked a claim for a portion of the local streetwear pie through his utility brand NOT SEEN. The lookbook was also styled by Reagan and Seraaj. The images contrast the sleek simplicity of the Youth95 Track Suits with the industrial feel of one of Cape Town’s many fringe areas. The contrast tells a story of evolution in that both the tracksuit and the raw urban texture would once have been labelled ugly, but by contemporary standards have come to represent a raw beauty that is dominating current streetwear culture, both locally and internationally. Couple that with Nikey bubbles and the car motif and we see a snapshot that represents the various visual influences that would have sprinkled themselves throughout the designers’ consciousness, growing up in Cape Town. That moment, much like the moment Cape Town Streetwear is currently experiencing, will live long in many of our memories, so long as passionate young people continue the push to document our story so as to crystallise our moment.

17 January 2017
Forlee Bean gets some So(u)l: Sol-Sol Menswear’s new collaboration

Sol-Sol Menswear, known for their quality men’s basics, has welcomed 2017 with its capsule collection created in collaboration with Hong Kong-based artist and illustrator Forlee Bean aka BAD IDEA.

Started by Durban-born, skateboarding veteran Mathew Kieser three years ago, Sol-Sol has heavy skate and street influences. Focusing on fit as well as design, Mathew wanted to create a brand that he felt he could wear. Complemented by 2Bop and Young and Lazy who share Corner Store CPT with Sol-Sol, it is clear that all three labels share a vision when it comes to streetwear but have different ways of materializing that vision.

Mathew has been a fan of Forlee Bean’s work for a while, including his recent work with Paris store Colette. During his last trip to Hong Kong a coffee meet up planted the seed for the Sol-Sol and BAD IDEA collab. “Later that day he [Forlee Bean] texted me with some artwork and was like ‘yo lets do something’,” explained Mathew, “It was extremely easy and I think that is the way things should happen”. Already a fan of Forlee Bean’s style, Mathew chose designs he felt represented both his art and the Sol-Sol brand. “He has this 90s skate vibe [with] all these cats on skateboards,” Matt explained. This resonates with Mathew’s skating influence for Sol-Sol. “He didn’t want to hear from me until the tees were printed…He wanted a surprise and yeah that’s how it went.”.

Bearing resemblance to graffiti images spray painted over text, elements of Sol-Sol’s clean, simplistic logo share space with Forlee Bean’s illustrations of cats, birds and dollar signs. The collection sees Forlee Bean’s illustrations incorporated with the Sol Sol signature logo in cheeky ways, such as the ‘S’s for Sol-Sol presented as painted dollar signs. A second design sees the ‘S’ in Sol-Sol replaced by the curved tale of a mean-mugging cat biting a mouse with a skateboard in its hand. This adds a playful character to the collection as well as merges both Forlee Bean’s drawing style and the minimalist look of Sol-Sol in a seamless manner. The collection includes three different black and white cotton tees, rugby jerseys and a nylon coach jacket with metal coated press studs.

The new range is available at Corner Store or online

Excited about the local support SA streetwear has been receiving and the direction that it is going in, Mathew also let us in on a plans for a second collection with BAD IDEA for later this year. Keep checking out Sol-Sol’s Instagram and Twitter to make sure you get on it as soon as it drops.

10 January 2017
Bateleur- First And Final

The Bateleur eagle is a ubiquitous traveler above African skies. Its name is French for street performer, referring to how its wings bob and glide like a tight-rope walker as it stalks its prey. Like their animal namesake, Cape Town experimental collective enjoy the high places. Their newly released “first and final” full length self-titled album was both recorded in “mountainous hideouts’ and was initially made available via an installation placed on Table Mountain! Dubbed ‘The Nest’, it allowed intrepid fans to download the album for free by following directions to a USB port buried into a rock on one of the mountain’s lookouts. It included the unusual instructions of reminding potential listeners to not overstep the ledge.

Unfortunately, the project was mysteriously vandalized, but the full release is now available for less physically adventurous listeners. Titles like ‘Mendota Sky’, ‘Blossom/Unfold’ and ‘Seaverb’ hint at the pleasantly elegiac sensation created throughout. The group’s six members function work as a pocket orchestra, bridging post-rock, math sharpness and jazz together. The eight compositions cast their spell like watching a warm summer sunset hazily settling in over a mountain.

Promoted as their final album, the release and its promotion bring things full circle for the band. Their debut 2010 EP was called Mountain, establishing their naturally focused and experimental project. They subsequently dropped Cargo Cults, which included the addictive ‘I’m Further Away Than I Usually Am’. This was paralleled with a remix EP, with artists like Christian Tiger School reinterpreting their songs. The latest album is the product of three years of recording, and honing their stagecraft on tours around Southern Africa. It’s also accompanied by a short film for ‘Mendota Sky’, a work which suggests at darker themes in their work . But for the most part, Bateleur has built up a sonic collage to get happily lost in.

19 December 2016
The Olugbenga Experience – YOH House Party

I’m standing in the garden area of an undisclosed town house in Vredehoek, Cape Town, with a sticker of a crude but charmingly-drawn house on my shoulder. The picture of the house had been fashioned out of three letters that Cape Town nightlife had come to know well over the years: YOH.

If this sticker was stuck somewhere on your body, that meant that you were allowed to walk through the front door of the first instalment of YOH Experiences – “a series of irregular, curated sonic and visual experiences at different, unusual venues to broaden your horizons – brought to you by YOH”. For one night, Patrick Visser’s team and their arsenal of glitter, balloons and other novelty party-store supplies had taken over someone’s home (assumedly with their consent) to throw the YOH House Party.

Dangerously-mixed drinks, damaged property and potentially bruised reputations are some of the typical tropes of a house party that have been established by numerous American teen movies. But this house party had something that set it apart from all the others that had attempted to replicate that same debauched formula: a killer lineup of DJs that included newcomers yoyo and Jakinda; veteran disk jockey and record collector Pierre-Estienne; and the headliner of the evening: Olugbenga.

In the garden where I had stepped out to cool off from an exceptionally burning set executed by Pierre-Estienne, Olugbenga is hanging out and getting acquainted with some of the characters of the Cape Town club scene. I didn’t see a sticker anywhere on him, but (as the bass player for the Mercury Award-nominated electronic indie giants Metronomy and an acclaimed songwriter/producer in his own right who assisted with some of the writing on Solange’s recent Billboard chart-topping album A Seat At The Table) he certainly has enough credentials to allow him to saunter into any house party without any questions being asked.

However, I did have a few questions that I wanted to ask him. I wanted to know when the last time he played at a house party was. I also wanted to know if his return to his home in Lagos, Nigeria, to shoot the video for his single “Silver Pixie, Iyawo Mi” in 2013 (the first time he had visited Lagos since he moved to the UK when he was 16, which was about 15 years prior to shooting of the video) had sparked his intrigue to visit other African countries such as South Africa. I also wondered if there were any plans to incorporate any more indigenous sounds that he might pick up for any future projects – similar to his work with Africa Express, for which he had produced a track entitled “Wade In The Water” that featured backing vocals from Brian Eno and Damon Albarn.

However, as I finally get a chance to speak with Olugbenga, the conversation instead veers into talking about all of the touristy stuff that he’s done upon first arriving in Cape Town earlier that day and the barber shop that he had visited to freshen up before the gig. Before I can subtly try to slip a few of my prepped questions into the conversation, Olugbenga is quickly whisked away to begin preparing for his set.

As Olugbenga leaves the garden, a guy who had been smelling the palms of his hands for a suspiciously long time approaches me and hands me a piece of lavender that he had picked from a bush that had been growing nearby. Noticing my disappointment in my failed interview attempt, he gives me a set of instructions before departing to the dance floor:

“Rub this in your hands – it will help you.”

I’m not entirely sure how this will help me come up with content for the article that I’m supposed to write but I oblige my new friend by lathering the lavender into my palms and giving them a good sniff. It didn’t really change anything, but my hands did smell almost as fresh as Olugbenga’s haircut. However, the absurdity of this interaction did make me realise that no one comes to a house party to focus on work – they come to just have fun, meet new people and sniff the miscellaneous substances that they are kindly willing to share with you. By which, of course, I mean lavender from the garden.

With my freshly perfumed palms, I set off to the dance floor to check out Olugbenga’s set that had just started. The lights had dimmed, the speakers were throbbing with ‘Gbenga’s set – ranging from Beyonce anthems to obscure Tame Impala remixes – and all of the YOH decorations were being euphorically trampled on by destructive dancing feet. And that’s all the analysis that I need to do. I decide to just enjoy the rest of Olugbenga’s set for the remainder of the evening and fully immerse myself in the YOH experience.

At around 02:00 AM, when the everyone was being ushered out of the party so that the inevitable post-house party cleanup can begin, I see Olugbenga again and make no mention of the questions that I had prepared. Instead, I congratulate him on a tremendous set and wish him the best for his next two shows tomorrow. I then make my way out of the house to find the Uber that I had ordered – my palms still smelling of lavender and my sticker still on my shoulder.

13 December 2016
Muse Festival: Crossing the Great Divides of Cape Town’s Fractured Underground

Cape Town has hope on the horizon. A city well known for its social segregation and physically apparent apartheid-born economic divides has a new underground-ish musical savior being birthed. A brand new festival, put on by Nomadiq Music, Black Major, We House Sundays and Wax On aims to create a space of exchange for the like-minded musically-inclined populace of the city and beyond.

At this point, most of us are aware of the levels of race-based subcultural segregation in The Colony (Cape Town). We’ve seen the diagrams of the persistently insular race distribution across the peninsula. We’ve read the stories of POCs putting on ‘white’ voices and using ‘white’ names to gain access to anything from basic housing to restaurants and hotels. We’ve been to events where the ethos is good, but the crowds are lilly-white and kept that way by door policy and choice of marketing channels and locations.

Added to that, we should also all, by now, be aware of the exclusion of queer, otherwise-abled and womxn’s bodies from so many positions of power, influence and entertainment in Cape Town’s social spaces.

Many promoters who are not hetero, men or white have struggled to make in-roads into the moneyed social spaces in CT, which exist almost exclusively in the city bowl and along the Atlantic Seaboard (with some exceptions). The spaces situated outside of those areas either struggle to gain momentum or suffer the fate of many popular opinions of both audiences and corporate sponsors. We think that anything outside of the City Bowl is too far away (*rolls eyes*) or that things ‘there’ will be under-attended and therefore not worth going to, OR, most sinister of them all, that they will be ‘hectic’ (read: brown).

Added to that, there are disparate communities of music-lovers – with the same outlook on music and its enjoyment – that exist separately due to inherited subcultural boundaries and who gravitate towards spaces with some comfortable cultural ‘baggage’. The baggage manifests as ‘Cape Flats events are dangerous/just deep house and kwaito’, ‘city bowl events are whites-only’ (kinda true), ‘Obs is for ska, drug-dealing and hippies’.
Spaces like the now-defunct Cold Turkey, Ikasi Experience, now-closed Bang Bar (with a new spot opening up to replace it in Ottery), LIT collective events in the CBD, The Work Hub in Woodstock, and so many more are easy examples of how those sentiments are just not accurate.

If you can’t see past the ingrained social and physical segregations, a solution beyond engaging in existing transformative spaces, is to build something outside of it all. Enter Colorbox Studios, their regular events like the Nomadiq Music Block Party, We House Sundays and the vast spectrum of events at the venue that seek to escape the connotations of most of Cape Town’s nightlife and musiclife.

Situated in a predominantly industrial area in Paarden Eiland – literally seven minutes from the city bowl, and pretty easily accessible from the suburbs to the South, North and East of the city centre – Colorbox manages to build on an ethos of warmth, openness and intentional integration of those same-mindset-but-insulated subcultures that exist across the peninsula. By building landmark events like the Nomadiq Block Party and We House Sundays, for example, that actively bring together a culturally diverse set of promoters to access a collective audience, they both flourish in terms of numbers and importantly also achieve a human-centred safe space of exchange that allows people to connect in ways they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to. And not in a saccharine ‘rainbow nation’ kind of way.

As a culmination of these efforts to break down sub-culturally insular experiences, they have embarked on an ambitious expansion on this philosophy, by working together with Black Major Selects – the programming arm of the hugely successful management agency – and Wax On – Paul Waxon’s ever-popular vinyl-only monthly club night at Waiting Room. Along with the Dope Goods Market, these 4 promoters have divvied up this coming weekend’s days and nights to program their inaugural ‘All Weekend Music Festival’, called Muse.

Headlined by Joburg’s Kenzhero, Durban’s DJ Lag (as part of his nationwide EP release tour), CT’s very own Card On Spokes and NYC’s iconic house royalty, Monique Bingham, the weekend promises to be a ‘space of musical exchange’ and an opportunity to flourish, enjoy what/who they know and discover so much that they don’t.

All info is available on the Facebook event page and tickets are available here

Listen to the Muse mixtape below:

8 December 2016
Angel Ho- Energy Without Restraint

In the comic book series The Wicked + The Divine (written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Jamie McKelvie) ancient gods return to Earth in the form of modern pop stars. The series wittily bases its super beings on real life icons. Lucifer is a riff on David Bowie, Odin is essentially a member of Daft Punk and so on. The story shows the extent to which the contemporary consciousness is stalked by the fame machine. In the same way that our ancestors projected their hopes, desires and fears onto mythological beings, we worship at the altar of sound and vision. Look at how Michael Jackson and Prince have effectively being deified in death. Under the screens of daily life lies a harsher and brighter world of wild emotion and uncontrollable dreams.

South African musician Angel-Ho is an artist who profoundly understands this collective cultural unconscious, and how to manipulate it for their own ends. Through their recordings, image and performances they conduct the iconography of pop into transgressive realms. A key example is the blistering ‘ I Don’t Want Your Man’, a mutation of a Keyisha Cole sample into the national anthem of dread post-human robot empire.

The Cape Town based producer has become an acclaimed global underground figure over the last year. With their brutal music and assertive non-binary queer image, Angelo Valerio was identified by many publications as making the perfect soundtrack to the tumult of Rhodes and Fees Must Fall. Their musical output is combined with intense live performances. Dancing on glass and a carefree attitude toward pyrotechnics. They is also a founder of the NON Collective, one of most visionary, intense electronic labels out there. NON has also been blowing up this year, with one of their most recent releases being his spiritual allies FAKA’s mind expanding Bottoms Revenge. They share personal visions of glamorous extremism- glitter and tinnitus, gold paint and bloody wounds.

Angelo’s first brush with musical glory occurred at the Manenburg Jazz Club when they was a little kid- ” little did I know the song I loved the most ‘ I love you Daddy’ was going to be performed live by Ricardo Gronewald himself. So he called me on stage, and I had stage fright throughout the whole performance, omg! All I do now is laugh because it was embarrassing, but it was funny because it happened at his gig!” The former child star sadly passed away last year, but as Angel-Ho notes ” he lives on”.

This charming anecdote may almost seem out of place with Angel-Ho’s dystopian and sexualized work. But while they deals with intense subject matter they sees their work as embodying a hard-won optimism. In response to a question about how politics impacts on his practise, they suggested that it’s about keeping positive in dark times. ” There’s no escaping reality and fantasy, they are the same. Of course, what happens around you affects you, and people collectively. With every event that happens globally, we see the repeating of white supremacy and collateral violence which comes out of a desire to maintain power. You see it in South Africa, you see it everywhere in scales. It makes me want to spread good energy and make tracks which counter negativity. What better way to step away from negativity then to let it thrive in itself, like a parasite with no wound to feed on?”

To this end, 2016 has seen them spreading good energy around the world. They recently took on the Performa Biennale in New York, in collaboration with Dope Saint Jude, Vuyo Sotashe, Jackie Manyaapelo and Athi-Patra Ruga. Their forays into the world of High Art also saw them unleash the firestorm of his Red Devil performance on the Berlin Biennale. This performance was inspired by the Kaapse Kloopse festivals- ” Red Devil was a desire to be your complete diva self, in my drag. It had a lot to do with the Red Devil performer who traditionally lead the atjas in procession, and would scare the kids away alongside moffies. Red Devil, in my case, was chasing away fears, in celebration of the things which make people separate from each other. It became an intervention where I performed a re-birth of my feme energy, without restraint, using fire to light the way.”

The performance has the Devil transformed into a character called Gia. The theme of transformation is central to his work more generally “our generation leads by not conforming to gender, race, sexuality… As a performer it became important to tell the narratives which I live day by day, to be fearless”. And with their track record, the secret projects they has lined up for 2017 are bound to be as fearless.

2 December 2016