Abantu / Before Humans

The veteran Zulu guitarist Madala Kunene plays a rock solo on ‘iQ(w)ira – Machine Learning Vol 1’, which ends up sounding like an African take on The Doors. Vieux Farka Touré and Money Mark of... — Songlines, October 2021, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 28th May 2021
Catalogue No: GBCD108
Label: Glitterbeat

Abantu / Before Humans

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Glitterbeat presents: BLK JKS - Abantu / Before Humans

BLK JKS are a seminal force in the South African underground.

After an extended hiatus the Johannesburg foursome, championed by The Mars Volta and TV On The Radio (amongst many others), return with a groundbreaking new album.

Monster grooves meet guitar and brass driven afro-rock.

Echoes of spiritual jazz, post-apocalyptic funk, renegade dub and kwaito.

Features Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Tour and Beastie Boys accomplice Money Mark on the track "Maiga.

This South African art-rock band traffics in complexity, cross-hatching not only rhythms and textures but also the signifiers of genre - The New York Times

Reviews

October 2021

The veteran Zulu guitarist Madala Kunene plays a rock solo on ‘iQ(w)ira – Machine Learning Vol 1’, which ends up sounding like an African take on The Doors. Vieux Farka Touré and Money Mark of Beastie Boys fame join the party on ‘Maiga Mali Mansa Musa’, which, as its title suggests, is a deep dive into West African desert blues. Elsewhere dub basslines, Afrobeat horns, spiritual jazz, 21st-century funk and kwaito collide gloriously in a highly welcome return.

Abantu / Before Humans

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