Tsonga Tremors: Explorations in Tradition, Technology & South African Dance Music (1983-1991), by Various Artists

Tsonga Tremors: Explorations in Tradition, Technology & South African Dance Music (1983-1991)

by Various Artists

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180g heavyweight vinyl (2LP) remastered at Bonati Mastering in Brooklyn and flanked with sleeve artwork by the internationally acclaimed book designer Luke Bird. 18 rare cuts compiled by chOOn!! featuring Shangaan-influenced dance music, Tsonga Disco & neo-traditional releases from South Africa (1983-1991).

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1.	Thomas Chauke and the Shinyori Sisters - U Ngakwati Ngwananga 03:34	buy track
2.	Jackson Maximbyi and the Mpfumarhi Sisters - Hosimuyexe 03:19	buy track
3.	Julius Mdaka and the Manyuyu J. Sisters - Xiphayu Xamhunhu 03:19	buy track
4.	J. Hlungwane and Bombo Girls - Tinqana 03:04	buy track
5.	Magayisa C. Khosa - Xigwili 03:59	buy track
6.	Charlies - Mabodongo 03:37	buy track
7.	Mordillo - Mapantsula 05:51	buy track
8.	Kaya - Xigangu Xaphorisa 07:01	buy track
9.	Ta-Fisto - Niyambona Na? 04:25	buy track
10.	Jackson Maximbyi and the Mpfumarhi Sisters - Vafunshisi 03:19	buy track
11.	Charlies - Tsingandedede 03:52	buy track
12.	Kaya - Namina Nayilava 04:39	buy track
13.	Mordillo - Hold The Line 05:51	buy track
14.	J. Hlungwane and Bombo Girls - Zone Five 03:08	buy track
15.	Julius Mdaka and the Manyuyu J. Sisters - Wadyiwa Wanuna 03:12	buy track
16.	Magayisa C. Khosa - N'Walayeni 04:03	buy track
17.	Ta-Fisto - I Want To Be 06:17	buy track
18.	Thomas Chauke and the Shinyori Sisters - Miyela Ngwambilu 03:30	buy track

about

In the last decade, the breadth of plugged-in African music has become increasingly apparent. Samplers and synths have spread across the continent; nowhere is this more striking than in South Africa, where the end of apartheid coincided with the gradual move away from funk and soul-based township sounds and the emergence of electronic styles.

Enter Shangaan Electro, a seminal compilation released in 2010 of 180-plus bpm South African dance tracks; its rapid dispersal through global dance channels introduced ecstatic audiences to a previously marginal scene.

Shangaan Electro has its own prehistory in electronic variations of neo-traditional Tsonga music (Tsonga has replaced Shangaan as the favoured designation since the 1994 national elections). A new style materialised, pioneered in the early 1980s, integrating Western elements with electrified neo-traditional sounds, known as Tsonga Disco.

Tsonga Disco emerged at a time when apartheid-dictated radio censorship laws exerted near-impenetrable control over radio airwave access. Despite the restrictions, a raft of Tsonga musicians rose to national prominence.

Tsonga Tremors highlights a small but necessary sign of an emerging future. A stunning example of home-grown magic; something both organically arrived at and politically expediated through a cross-wiring of local rhythms, imported dance-pop, cultural censorship, emerging technology and limited means that became the catalyst in shaping the future of South African dance music, paving the way for Shangaan Electro’s international emergence nearly two decades later.

This compilation seeks to revive an important moment in Tsonga music history. These 18 tracks compiled by chOOn!!, a label specialising in obscure, archival and forgotten releases, should serve as a necessary starting point. Featuring early Shangaan-influenced dance music from legendary producers Paul Ndlovu and Richard Siluma alongside lesser-known Tsonga Disco and neo-traditional rarities from South Africa (1983-1991), they offer a disorientating and frenetically accelerated rhythmic bricolage of programmed drum patterns, cascading percussion, squeezebox keyboard lines and truncated vocal interjections sung in rich harmony. Infinitely absorbing and tangled with rhythm in a knotty osmosis between beat and pitch. The effect is both ecstatic and unusually elegiac, a DIY brand of pastoral neo-traditional soul, amplified minimalism and infectious body music.

Mastered for vinyl (2LP) and digital by Josh Bonati. Artwork by the acclaimed book designer Luke Bird.

The companion EP, Tsonga Tremors: Remixes, features four exclusive edit/remixes by Hysteric, M. Baba and DJ Turbo Boom-Boom - available from tsongatremors.bandcamp.com/album/tsonga-tremors-remixes

credits

released July 2, 2021

CHN004
Tracks 1; 18:
Published by Mpumelelo Music
Tracks 3; 15:
Published by Jumbo Music
Tracks 6-9; 11-13; 17:
Published by Gallo Music Publishers
Licensed under permission from Gallo Record Company
Tracks 2; 10:
Published by Music Team
Licensed under permission from Music Team Ltd.
Tracks 4; 14:
Published by Annic Music Productions
Licensed under permission from Enoch Nondale
Tracks 5; 16:
Published by David Gresham Music
Licensed under permission from The David Gresham Record Company (Pty) Ltd.
Mastered by Josh Bonati at Bonati Mastering (Brooklyn, NY, USA)
Design by Luke Bird

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