Spoek Mathambo is one of South Africa’s funkiest faces behind original, head-bopping musical collaborations. His latest project Mshini Wam is no exception. We recently profiled this new Afro-futurist supergroup in issue 21 of one small seed, and now Spoek’s latest music video has just premiered on Dazed & Confused‘s online platform, Dazed Digital.
Here’s what Dazed has to say:
‘Control’, the fourth single from Spoek Mathambo’s debut album Mshini Wam, is a ‘darkwave township house’ cover of the Joy Division classic ‘She’s Lost Control’. In collaboration with one of South Africa’s most influential photographers Pieter Hugo, and cinematographer Michael Cleary, the new video explores township cults and teen gangs. Shot on location in a squatted train boarding house in Langa, Cape Town, the video features a cast mostly made up of local neighbourhood kids who run their own dance troop, Happy Feet. Spoek Mathambo has been pioneering a progressive take on African music for the last few years via his DJing (as HIVIP), solo and live band projects, having featured on Boysnoize Records and Top Billin.
In one small seed‘s interview with Spoek Mathambo and his new partners in sound Richard Rumney (Richard the Third, Twelv), JakobSnake (BTEAM, Voicetag) and Nicolaas van Reenen (Bateleur), we were told that the motivation for his new musical mix arose from Spoek’s desire “to make an album that sounds like South Africa in 2010”, calling the genre they’re working with ‘New Music':
‘According to Spoek, the synergy among his crew allows them to find “an organic way to create New Music all the time”, and the guys are persistently pushing themselves into unexplored territories. Spoek is playing with his vocals using an electronic filter. JakobSnake is drumming for the first time in years. Nic is collaborating with electronic musicians. But the most fascinating is the stride being taking by Richard, whom JakobSnake describes as “playing machines with Mshini Wam, but playing them like an instrument”.’
- Batandwa Alperstein in one small seed issue 21
To read more about Spoek Mathambo & Mshini Wam, check out issue 21 of one small seed (The Future / Retro Edition).
