Ayobaness! - The Sound of South African House

Claire Allfree reviews Ayobaness! - The Sound of South African House

This is neither a conventional ‘world music’ release nor a standard dance music compilation and that’s what makes it so special. It offers a welcome blast of inspiration for the four-to-the-floor formula of British and American house music. It’s also another fine release from independent label Out Here Records (forthcoming compilation Yes We Can: Songs About Leaving Africa is also worth checking) and it introduces plenty of big characters – not least Pastor Mbhobho on the title track. Perhaps the most fabulous offering comes from DJ Sumthyn Black featuring poet Ntsiki Mazwai; their fierce, soulful dance/spoken word collaboration Wena is levelled at a disloyal lover or a more sinister foe. Mazwai argues that ‘house is the language of the people’. On Ayobaness! that language translates as a call to party on a triumphant, transcontinental scale.

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