The writer Grafton Tanner argues that as the culture industry voraciously strip-mines ideas from the past, musicians respond by creating even weirder versions of earlier styles. Artists wildly mix genres and musical eras, expressing the social dislocation of living in a society where the line between the real and the online seems to grow hazier…
A collaboration between two pioneering members of Cape Town’s hip-hop scene, Shadowgodz sees Abadon Horseman and Fungus (a.k.a Sammy Sparks) reunite on a project that was birthed out of their previous crew, League of Shadows. Beginning his career as Garlic Brown as part of Brasse Vannie Kaap, Abadon has since rapped alongside some of the country’s…
Joburg-based M(x) Blouse might rap, but they don’t consider themselves a hip-hop artist. Born at the end of 2016 as a creative outlet for KZN-born Sandiso Ngubane, M(x) Blouse’s first release was “WTF(SQUARED)” in collaboration with Joni Blud. The release made an impact and led to a performance at Braam’s Pussy Party and which was…
The occult has a long standing overlap with popular music. The notorious and influential magician Aleister Crowley appeared on Beatle’s album covers, while esoteric beliefs fueled the work of Led Zeppelin and David Bowie. The convergence is not surprising – magicians and musicians both mine the subconscious for blazing inspiration, creating art and rituals to…
Do you ever worry that there’s so much dope shit out there in the world, that you’ll never get to experience it all? I do. We are in a golden age where art is more accessible than ever, but due to sheer volume of what’s created, I feel like I’m always playing catch-up. Like, how…
Black Major Selects is partnering with the 20th Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival to bring M.I.A to South Africa for the first time this June. M.I.A fans will be happy to know that the visit includes the screenings of the critically acclaimed documentary MATANGI/MAYA/M.I.A. Following its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival in January, South African…
‘Wiretribe’ is Joburg-based leftfield electronica label Subterranean Wavelength’s (SubWav) debut label compilation. Featuring exclusive unreleased contributions from the label’s roster, the compilation is an introduction to the artists and their unique sounds, and captures the colourful variety of electronica emerging from the Joburg scene at the moment. Founded by Micr.Pluto, Edward Kgosidintsi and Tribal Rebul Ludi,…
Jlin‘s Black Origami was widely hailed as the one of the albums of 2017, with publications from Pitchfork to Mixmag featuring it high on their year-end lists. The second album from the US producer is a blend of visceral thrills and cerebral discipline, with pounding beats running into stretches of beautiful ambience. The album manages to…
My first experience of Diamond Thug was when I booked them for a gig at Cool Runnings in Durban along with Thor Rixon as part of their first nationwide tour about 4 or 5 years ago now. If you’ve been to Cool Runnings, you wouldn’t expect the 2 acts to sell out the place, but we had…
Detroit-based artist Marcus Marcus doesn’t describe himself as a rapper. “I’d describe myself as a poet who has a fairly good ear for music,” he states simplistically. While the earliest Marcus Marcus releases can be traced back about 7 years ago, he struggles to pin down when the artist was born, as Marcus Marcus is a…
The critical consensus on guitar rock in thelate-90s is that sensitive indie bands were overshadowed by bombastic nu-metal. Music writers love the idea that the slack jawed masses were too busy headbanging to appreciate sophisticated slackers like Built to Spill or Elliot Smith. But since 2013, the infectious British rock group Puppy has gleefully subverted this…
Uncle Partytime is a kid whose dj persona was born out of the scene in Braamfontein, allowing him to be plugged into the sonic shifts that his audience craves. Starting off with gigs at Kitcheners and Great Dane, and the Onyx rage parties, he continues to carry with him an ability to fuel the energy…
