Also, anyone interested in house music
Durban-style should check out the still
going strong gqom music scene there.

.

.

The album before Work for All, which was called Scatterlings,
was so incredibly overplayed in the States that there was a
palpable hatred for this band (and, later, Savuca) that I think
caused them to fall off the radar soon afterwards and
people I knew who had a scattering of interest in
mbaqanga were glad to see Clegg and Co. gone.
They gravitated more towards Hugh Masekela,
Lizzy Mercier Descloux, and the Mahotella Queens.

.

I was trying to think of who for a while, but I'm drawing a blank. It might be someone I never even knew was South African.

.

^ That's a nice clip, Gunmouth. Strange that the poor guy should die right after we'd been talking about him. :(

On a different note, haha, Amampondo is a band who mix a bit of jazz with a traditional sound. Their trademark is a steady marimba percussive groove. Whether you find it hypnotic or a little long-drawn out depends a lot on your mood I think. Anyway, this is one of their better tracks, imo:-



BTW, Amampondo means "people of Mpondo" so it's a word for a particular social group, as well as a guy's name and a song - so no one should feel bad if they get confused. I haven't checked, but if it's a city, a style of music and a brand of jeans too, I won't be surprised.

I'm looking forward to checking out the tracks in this thread when I finally get in front of a computer. I like quite a bit of South African music myself.

^ That'd be good, Janszoon - if you are true to form, I bet you'll be pointing us to some obscure artist in a sub-genre we've never heard of ;)