This first series of remixes from the Tsonga Tremors compilation is spearheaded by three acclaimed producers.
Paris based M. Baba opens the series with his remix of Magayisa C. Khosa’s Xigwili. The textures here are dazzling; bells, beats and bass giving a polyrhythmic complexity. The rhythmic programming is a disorientating avalanche of electronic drum fills and cascading percussion that foreshadows the evolution of neo-traditional Tsonga styles into South Africa’s frenetic Afro-futurist dance music.
If Xigwili’s giddy production feels like running down a hill too fast, fellow Parisian DJ Turbo Boom-Boom slams the brakes on, prying Kaya’s Namina Nayilva apart to build an off-kilter rhythm from a toolkit of weird percussion. A satisfyingly lo-fi juxtaposition with Shangaan’s plasticky sheen - another experiment in contrasting analogue and digital textures showcasing four to the floor amplified minimalism.
chOOn!! comes in rougher and funkier with his spartan re-work of the club bruiser Zone Five by J Hlungwane and Bombo Girls. Tiny bubbles of sound pop like soap bubbles in the background amidst monstrous drums and harmonic call and response vocals wrapping around an ever-shifting spinal column of totemic bass. It creates a robotic energy of Shangaan Booty-pop.
Melbourne’s Hysteric plays down the synth whistles in favour of earthy choral vocals on his glorious edit of Ta-Fisto’s I Want To Be re-titled Don’t Want To Be for this dance-friendly detour. There’s a touch of Bubblegum’s high energy impact but seemingly none of its romantic thirst – the lyrical thrust is conscious, polemical about Africa and celebratory of its own joyous energy. In the extended finale, there’s a thrilling sense that it’s not just the Afro-step of the beat that seems unique in this electronic banger, it’s the wider political resonance of creating new South African music, heralding a return to tradition through electronic dance music that creates a beguiling mix of militancy and hope.
M. BABA
soundcloud.com/monsieurbaba
DJ TURBO BOOM-BOOM
soundcloud.com/djturboboomboom
HYSTERIC
soundcloud.com/hysteric 
