It took me awhile but Simmy's Tugela Fairy LP COMPLETELY got its hooks in me over the past two weeks, making it hard to listen to anything else. There are a few clunkers ('We Were Here' and 'Time After Time') but it's pretty unassailable as a complete album. Much the same as the first one though, it required regular repeat plays to fully sink in... songs like 'Wamuhle' and 'Mabhungu,' which now feel indispensable, were kinda blah on first listen.
― Four Seasons Total Manscaping (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 18 November 2020 19:45 (three years ago) link
That said, I would still say 'Emakhaya' is the best of the bunch. And I'm still loving 'Yaz Abantu'! I feel like both are legit worth pushing as best of the year songs.
― Four Seasons Total Manscaping (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 18 November 2020 19:55 (three years ago) link
ladies x gentlemen, Claudio x Kenza:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcKHw0rtWssClaudio x Kenza ft. Omi Kobi • Pot of Goldsee them perform ithttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMWGGKsfntYQ Twins ft. Claudio x Kenza • Vumahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tz7ngRcC9wNobuhle ft. Claudio x Kenza • Phezulu (not yet released, live performance)
― kiss some penis reference (breastcrawl), Friday, 20 November 2020 01:25 (three years ago) link
...and oh hey, I got a little samthing for ya:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhVc2wq5JAsSamthing Soweto ft. De Mthuda • Weekend
― kiss some penis reference (breastcrawl), Friday, 20 November 2020 01:36 (three years ago) link
this new Simmy record 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
― winters (josh), Saturday, 28 November 2020 09:04 (three years ago) link
I think “Imihla Nezolo” is my favourite track - that bass, those “hey, hey”s.Also, Sun-El & Ami Faku’s “Mandinaye” keeps growing and growing on me. It’s so beautiful.
― Running up that hill but fleeting (a deal with Gop) (breastcrawl), Saturday, 28 November 2020 16:28 (three years ago) link
yes the simmy album is really good, shame on me for taking so long to get to it
― dyl, Saturday, 28 November 2020 21:24 (three years ago) link
I went to listen to the Simmy on hike today, typed in Simi by accident and lo and behold I like her too! (Updated highlife from what I've gathered so far)
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Sunday, 29 November 2020 01:29 (three years ago) link
just leaving this here: an online launch event for the Sun-El album that starts in 10 hours (23h15 until midnight SA time). it’s free, but you have to register your info at some event ticketing/payment company platform in order to validate your ticket, which made me decide to pass on this opportunity, but ymmv:
#ToTheWorldAndBeyon #ttwab Don’t miss out the virtual concert tonight 03/12/2020 (23:15).Register for free at: https://t.co/QsLuV7lQ3oFollow the commander @sunelmusicianza for more info.— Sphiwe Aaron Zwane (@Sphiwe_Zwane) December 3, 2020
― fat ass deep state operative (breastcrawl), Thursday, 3 December 2020 11:06 (three years ago) link
btw Sun-El has dropped four more new tracks in the past four days. I now feel confident enough to make the following predictions for the album:• there will be loads of great music on it• and plenty of less than great music as well• 1+1=2: it will be much too long
― fat ass deep state operative (breastcrawl), Thursday, 3 December 2020 12:27 (three years ago) link
i expect that at the very least it'll be possible to carve an excellent ~hour of music out of it
― ufo, Thursday, 3 December 2020 12:41 (three years ago) link
oh for surealso: it's unlikely i'll be able to sufficiently listen to it before the end of January
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 3 December 2020 20:35 (three years ago) link
i will not have enough time to listen to the whole thing before i should sleep so i think i'll just start w/ vol. 1 tonight
opener is v epic... i think that's a "nature boy" interpolation for a few seconds?... despite being relatively unmoved by some of the preview tracks i'm not especially confident in that prediction breastcrawl. but we shall see!
― dyl, Friday, 4 December 2020 05:28 (three years ago) link
have only listened to the first disc so far but it's all gorgeous. only issue is when the album is 80 minutes long, the songs do blend together a bit, so it'll take a while to really wrap my head around it.
he's said the first disc is supposed to be his classic sound (he certainly succeeded there!) and the second disc is him experimenting and broadening his sound so i'm curious how different it will be. i didn't like "chasing the summer" much when i listened to it yesterday though.
― ufo, Friday, 4 December 2020 09:33 (three years ago) link
that virtual concert I mentioned the other day is now on YouTube, and serves as a wonderful good-old-fashioned-album-length introduction to this ambitious endeavour - 46 minutes to the album’s 156:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5aPZ6-I71Yvery nice visuals too, and Tout EL World shows up - with the exception of Claudio x Kenza
― fat ass deep state operative (breastcrawl), Saturday, 5 December 2020 20:23 (three years ago) link
listened to the whole thing yesterday, sorta let it wash over me in the semi-background. most everything sounded good at the very least. hope to discover some stunners when I’ll be playing it loud. (“Lengane” with Simmy is probably one, it’s been around for a while).there was one immediate lovely surprise for me tho, the track I happened to play last of all: the very un-Sun-El-like “No Drama” which has an amapiano-by-way-of-West-Africa feel.
― fat ass deep state operative (breastcrawl), Saturday, 5 December 2020 20:53 (three years ago) link
Listened to the first disc yesterday and the 2nd today. It's a lot more consistent than his last one overall, but the peaks are not nearly as high. There's no Akanamali or Sonini on this, despite the latter's vocalist Simmy guesting on 4(!) tracks. He's digging into a formula more, and while there's some interesting genre dabbling on the 2nd disc and the production remains quite impeccable, a part of me is worried he'll never touch the transcendence of those early singles again.
― octobeard, Saturday, 5 December 2020 22:29 (three years ago) link
Despite the criticisms, there's a pretty amazing record here, especially if you edit it down to one disc, which I might end up doing at some point. Hard not to expect quite a bit of filler on an album 2 hours and 40 minutes long.
― octobeard, Saturday, 5 December 2020 22:30 (three years ago) link
agree that those highest Himalaya highs are not there, but the four lead singles (“Uhuru”, “Ubomi Abumanga”, “Never Never” and “Mandinaya”) have all been amazing, and he could (should) have included “Into Ingawe” as well. if you add the next-best gorgeous new tracks and one or two of those Sun-El instrumentals, plus the Niniola and “No Drama” as bonuses you’d have a magnificent set. it becomes a lot less interesting when he features Sauti Sol, and “Garden”-variety Sun-El is not where it’s at. a Chris Martin collab is probably inevitable tho.
― fat ass deep state operative (breastcrawl), Saturday, 5 December 2020 22:57 (three years ago) link
I feel the second album blues more with the new Simmy. it’s very good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just a folder with a lot of tracks to me, whereas the first Tugela Fairy was a relatively concise and perfectly balanced out album.
― fat ass deep state operative (breastcrawl), Saturday, 5 December 2020 23:03 (three years ago) link
oh btw, if you came here for the first new Sha Sha song in over a year, you can find it over here on the “eMcimbini”/Kabza & Maphorisa thread.it’s very dreamy.
― fat ass deep state operative (breastcrawl), Saturday, 5 December 2020 23:24 (three years ago) link
I feel the second album blues more with the new Simmy. it’s very good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just a folder with a lot of tracks to me
I need to revisit it again, but I feel similarly about hers as I do with Sun-El's - quantity over quality, but with a baseline of quality still present. If you edit it down it's great, but still a step down from her debut. I'm not feeling "blues" per se with these records, they're both still great. I suppose that sentiment only comes off due to the relative comparisons. It's hard for any artist to pull off that untouchable magic they both had a couple years ago a 2nd time in a row, let alone the rest of their careers. I would love to be able to see them perform at some point post-pandemic. I hope they can find broader success outside of Africa/S.A. and that in turn might evolve their sound.
― octobeard, Sunday, 6 December 2020 00:19 (three years ago) link
with the sun-el album i largely agree that while it doesn't quite reach the incredible highs of "akanamali" and "sonini", it's still stronger than i expected for a 160 minute album and even when he's at his most formulaic it's still quite enjoyable because his formula is that good. as breastcrawl mentioned, the strongest tracks are still fantastic. he's kinda the ideal artist to make something this long because it's such pleasant music to have in the background all day. the second disc doesn't really expand his sound as much as i was expecting from his stated intention though.
the simmy album is a little more sprawling than her debut too but it's still quite strong. i still need to spend more time with it but it's not an obvious step down or anything
― ufo, Sunday, 6 December 2020 01:03 (three years ago) link
ymmv but i thought the new simmy album requires LOTS of repeat time to open properly. i wrote it off after three listens then gave it one more go and it just started catching fire.
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 02:59 (three years ago) link
Most of the English language tracks are very cringey for me. Couldn't get through them.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 03:47 (three years ago) link
Agreed! Skip them!
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 04:42 (three years ago) link
New Samthing Soweto EP! Not yet cracked but I have a lotta faith in this guy.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHbRGDXHP5w
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 11 December 2020 05:58 (three years ago) link
The Samthing EP is glorious!Upbeat, uptempo amapiano with producer De Mthuda at the helm for most of the tracks. I love Aymos and Daliwonga, but it’s a real treat to hear The Original Vocalist flexing again. Opener “Chomi” had me jumping around in the early morning, “Tilili” is one for the ages (love the interplay with his own voice and co-vocalist MalumNator), first single “Weekend”, which I liked not loved, falls perfectly into place here, and the live medley of previous hits with the Mzansi Youth Choir brings joy to the world.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dox4zTHHoHQSamthing Soweto ft. De Mthuda, Da Muziqal Chef & MalumNator • Tililihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovdsp286_B8Samthing Soweto ft. Mzansi Youth Choir • The Danko! Medley
― im-polite-post-post-post-pomo (breastcrawl), Friday, 11 December 2020 22:03 (three years ago) link
New Mlindo song as well!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtC3I9k1AzIMlindo The Vocalist ft. Nathi • Mali
― im-polite-post-post-post-pomo (breastcrawl), Saturday, 12 December 2020 01:40 (three years ago) link
I'm 3/4 into the Sun-El and I find it ridiculously consistent and pleasant. I guess it's the kind of fuck you artists can give to music nerds obsessed about quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks that can go into ILM polls. South Africa's obsession with Aaliyah's "Try Again" is funny.
― Nabozo, Monday, 14 December 2020 17:06 (three years ago) link
🤔
― obsessed about quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Monday, 14 December 2020 18:51 (three years ago) link
So is no one listening to the new Samthing? Try “Tilili” at least, folx!(please don’t tell me y’all are too wrapped up in the noms bizz. December is part of 2020 too, the busiest part in SA in fact when it comes to new releases)
― obsessed with quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Tuesday, 15 December 2020 12:25 (three years ago) link
The songs are a little bit too squarely in the amapiano norm: not a problem as background to his fantastic voice but lacking the dynamics of his hits. Tilili is the best but the track still moves like a slug you could find at the end of any KDS album.
Yesterday I listened to every Dj Manzo SA / Comado / Mthandazo Gyata song and these guys have true potential.
― Nabozo, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 19:57 (three years ago) link
yeah the samthing EP (lol that 36 minutes is now an EP with amapiano track lengths) is decent but sometimes feels a little too amapiano-by-numbers and isn't as strong as last year's album. still pleasant though
― ufo, Wednesday, 16 December 2020 09:58 (three years ago) link
The Danko! Medley is amazing! Highlight for me
― octobeard, Thursday, 17 December 2020 02:43 (three years ago) link
im v late to this party but this is some of my favorite music ever rn
― discourse stu (m bison), Saturday, 19 December 2020 18:46 (three years ago) link
Uwrongo is on Obama’s EOY list lol
― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Saturday, 19 December 2020 20:43 (three years ago) link
herighto
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 19 December 2020 20:52 (three years ago) link
he went with the edited version, very unpresidential imo
― obsessed with quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Sunday, 20 December 2020 13:19 (three years ago) link
it’s summer in Mzansi:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AagjAUE8U8sBlaq Diamond • SummerYoMuthi
― obsessed with quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Sunday, 20 December 2020 13:22 (three years ago) link
Love Mlindo's loopy vocal on this album cut:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gSrvQZUyTMSenzo Afrika ft. Mlindo The Vocalist & Alie Keys • Ngiyajola
― obsessed with quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Sunday, 20 December 2020 22:42 (three years ago) link
The Danko! Medley is amazing! Highlight for me― octobeard, donderdag 17 december 2020 3:43
― octobeard, donderdag 17 december 2020 3:43
there's a video now, just in time for Xmas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdJ0FcjMGD8Samthing Soweto ft. Mzansi Youth Choir • The Danko! Medley
#joytotheworld
― obsessed with quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Sunday, 20 December 2020 23:06 (three years ago) link
This is an amazing uplifting clip. Love this new blue lipstick trend.
― Nabozo, Sunday, 20 December 2020 23:42 (three years ago) link
Watched it 10 times already. Now want them to cover every Amapiano song in existence.
― Nabozo, Monday, 21 December 2020 01:06 (three years ago) link
more beauty:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdj7a221c0UFka Mash ft. Just Bheki & Da Muziqal Chef • Zamalobolo
― obsessed with quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 15:00 (three years ago) link
happy new year!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FFDwGxQtB4Black Coffee ft. Maxine Ashley & Sun-El Musician • You Need Me
― obsessed with quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Thursday, 31 December 2020 19:56 (three years ago) link
finally got around to the Claudio x Kenza album and I think it's maybe better than both Simmy's and Sun-El's albums this year
― ufo, Friday, 1 January 2021 11:43 (three years ago) link
new Mthunzi track - with Sun-El:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctin-RLO91oMthunzi • Elentulo
― Long Tall Arsetee & the Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Sunday, 28 February 2021 15:13 (three years ago) link
reminder that most of the current South African musical action is now taking place here:MZANSI MUZIQ 2021 🇿🇦 Rolling South Africa thread
― Long Tall Arsetee & the Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Sunday, 28 February 2021 15:19 (three years ago) link
Nobuhle, best known for her feature on Sun-El’s “Never Never”, has a new song out, “Phezulu”, produced by Kenza (no Claudio):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUSpgPm9OUE
This is how she sung it live back in June:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tz7ngRcC9w
(I can't help but miss this thread, but see the post above - the beauty is still on duty, it just moved to a different location!)
― Blick, Bils & Blinky • Let's Skip The Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Sunday, 21 March 2021 16:42 (three years ago) link