Kwelagobe and The Po Box Project

Album: Music With No Name Vol.3
Title: Vibrations from the Motherland
Record Label: Melt 2000/Electric Melt
Reviewed by: Kwelagobe Sekele

Music With Name was the first remix album to have Drum & Bass remixes of South African songs. That was in 1998, just a few years after the genre emerged from the U.K. underground scenes. One of the tightest tracks from that album was the Drum & Bass remix of Kwazulu’s profound veteran guitarist Madala Kunene’s ‘Ubombo’, which is a hit in the alternative scenes even here in South Africa, where Drum & Bass still appeals to a very small niche. That was then and this is now. 2008 brings you Music With No Name Volume 3, 8 years after the second volume and ten years after the first volume and it is far from the first two. Not far from the quality of sound and the overall repertoire, which is what Melt2000 has prided itself in from day one, but in a good way. This album is sticking to the times just like it’s predecessors. But it’s not the poppy Pop and latest inaccessible, high school rebellion genres you can expect from this album. And you are more than welcome to give this music whatever name you can think of.

Titled ‘Vibrations from the Motherland’ this album features remixes by some of Europe’s renowned producers of Dance, Electro and Funk to reverberating some stand out recordings that have come out of Melt. The album opens with Cape Town based toaster/rapper Teba Shumba, former member of Skeem and one of South Africa’s heavy weight artists. He opens the album as if opening ways to the world of Music with No Name with ‘Abaphantsi’, a fiery political rap for change done over Sangomas chanting, now this has never been done before and Teba was definitely the best man for the job. The Sangomas recording ‘Siya Dengelela Ngonyama’ is itself a plus decade old recording and was also featured in Volume 1 and is here remixed by Maga Bo, straight out of U.K. German Dance producer Henrik Schwarz, who is big in the house scene is also on this album with a remix of the Langa township international world traditional group Amampondo. There’s actually more than one Amampondo remix on this album and Amapondo’s Mother Mantombi Matotiyana also celebrated. The old Uhadi and Xhosa mother of music Madosini is also honored with a remix.

Other artists such as Mabi Thobejane, Bernard Mndaweni and Comoros Mayito are also celebrated. This album is the new day for the dance scene and a freshly polished dance floor. Be sure to catch one stand out Deep House track on this album, number 11 ‘Distant Djembe’, also an Amampondo remix and is slowly becoming a hit amongst local house deejays. This album is clearly a tribute to our greats and also features other U.K based producers such as Adam Hurst, John Kennedy.

It’s a pity that our local radio doesn’t play good music, listeners will miss out on this baby. But if you buy music then make sure you get this Music With No Name.

Check this link: http://www.melt.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&products_id=392