South Africa pulses with electronic music. From the slow-bubbling feel of amapiano to the frenetic pace of Durban’s gqom, Soweto’s marimba-heavy shangaan electro and the sample-heavy 90s house of kwaito, each region seemingly lays claim to its own sound. The latest subgenre to reach international ears is mapanta. Originating in villages of the Marota people in Limpopo, this intensely fast and highly compressed music was originally an adrenaline shot for the early hours of 1980s wedding parties. It faded at the turn of the century, but mapanta has recently been updated by 27-year-old self-taught producer and sound system operator Serokolo 7.
On his debut album, Serokolo presents a masterclass in mapanta’s rural celebratory sound. Splicing together samples of animal howls with hammering marimba rhythm, scatter-gun electronic percussion and snatches of vocals, the initial impression is of relentless cacophony. Opener Naba Ba Papedi sets the tone, its folk vocal melodies blended with a cranked-up drum’n’bass beat that fizzes without reaching a cathartic crescendo or drop. That sense of seething tension continues on the breakbeat cymbal splashes and chopped vocals of Zoro and the glittering video-game melodics of Dinaka.
While less heavily rhythmic numbers such as Bonkoko Bagana allow keening synth lines to take the lead and bestow a calmer feel, most tracks on the record run at 180bpm or quicker, meaning production elements arrive so thick and fast it’s almost impossible to distinguish them from each other. But Serokolo excels in this barrage. Rather than creating nuanced arrangements with emotional arcs, his tracks are charged up by mind-clearing loudness itself; to succumb to these consistently breakneck rhythms is strangely freeing.
Also out this month
Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and the Rajasthan Express release their second album, Ranjha (World Circuit). Updating the ancient sound of Sufi qawwali song, the group produce a rollicking, funk-inflected backing for powerful group vocals, finding the perfect blend of the Smile-style guitar and tabla rhythm on the title track. Korean producer Hwxxng’s K-Core (Chinabot) stitches ancient ceremonial music into the unrelenting rhythms of hardstyle and techno. Jing gongs and janggu drums add an eerie organic texture to the otherwise cold electronics. The self-titled debut record from Iranian duo From the Lips to the Moon (Akazib Records) is a beguiling combination of spoken word and ambient electronic improvisations, as producer Pouya Ehsaei atmospherically backs Tara Fatehi’s impassioned lyrics on politics and postcolonialism.
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