Best New Band In The World Live Stream 2011

What’s Now in South Africa

What’s Now in South Africa

Still Fractured, Still Fascinating

Apartheid may be officially over, but South Africa is far from seamless unity. In the space created by the Black/White divide, however, in the frisson of classes and cultures grating against each other, young Zulu and Afrikaaner (and Sotho and Xhosa) kids are making music. From Township Tech to Zef and more, here's a quick overview of what you shouldn't be missing.
Seventeen years after the end of apartheid and South Africa is a wild place to be. It has modern booming cities and endless shantytowns. It has strong traditional cultures, and jet-setting generation of tech-savvy, fashion-forward young people making strides towards the future. It has a huge diversity of people – white, black and brown, Zulu, Sotho and Xhosa –...
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VIDEOS

Taxi Violence — “The Turn”
At a time when just about every new band dabbles in electro-this or synth-that, Taxi Violence is a blast of pure classic rock from Cape Town, South Africa. Muscular guitars, plaintive-yet-growling vocals, drumstick-splintering backbeat -- what you...
aKING — “The Runaround”
aKING knows where the wild things are. In “The Runaround,” the South African melodic rock band stimulates our imagination with dreamy animated images and an even dreamier sound.
Jack Parow — “Byellville”
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Jack Parow — “Cooler As Ekke’
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Jack Parow — “Tussen Stasies”
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Jack Parow — “Dans Dans Dans”
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Die Heuwels Fantasties — “Hyg Duiwel f/ Mr. X”
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Die Heuwels Fantasties — “Noorderlig”
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Goldfish — “We Come Together”
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MORE ON What’s Now in South Africa

Township Tech: House Music’s Dense, Dark, and Weird African Cousin
For those who imagine South Africa’s music scene to be all tinkly guitar pop and Ladysmith Black Mambazzo: guess again. In South Africa, there’s one sound that blasts loudest from township stereo systems and taxi radios, and it’s House music....
Who Is Cooler than Jack Parow?
In his long bill snapback and porno moustache, “The Pirate of the Caravan Park” is getting ready for big things. Jack Parow is a Cape Town rapper who, along with frequent collaborators Die Antwoord, is shaking up the South African internet with the...
That’s Zef: The True Story Behind Die Antwoord’s Mysterious Style
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South African Indie Rock: A Scene In Isolation
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Spoek Mathambo Is Not Exotic
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