/ 5 April 2012

Cape music picks: April 9 2012

Blaq Pearl is one of Cape Town’s most versatile artists.

Born and raised on the Cape Flats, she is a poet, activist, fierce rapper and soul sister who shifts quickly from the ­elegiac into the burlesque, from jazzed-down R&B phraseology to exuberant and passionate hip-hop outpourings. Fresh from critically acclaimed performances as part of the Afrikaaps cast, she sings songs from her new album, Against All Odds, this weekend. It is an unflinching love letter as well as a fierce indictment of ­racism, sexism, violence, gentrification, celebrity and politics in South Africa. Weaving the personal with the political in ways both ruthless and tender, it is a deeply intimate release. Love and pain, the ugly and the fraught, things of childhood and womanhood — all pour out in profusion.

The Melting Pot and Bluebird Garage, 15 Church Street, Muizenberg, on April 6 at 9pm. Entrance is R50 at the door. Tel: 021 788 9791.

■ Gloomcore, darksynth, wonky, fidget house, witch house, grime, ­glo-fi and brostep, not dubstep. The suburbanisation of electronic music, rise of the bedroom producer and then ease of access to technology has led to a proliferation of different niche micro-genres in electronic music.

These days it seems it is not enough to have your own sound — you also need your own personal genres. Cult producer G-Tronic is a case in point. Hailing from Antwerp, G-Tronic has a reputation as the leading (and, in all likelihood, only) proponent of heavy bass trash. His hit single Sucker Punch, out on Dim Mak Records, has become an anthem to the scene and his bass-heavy, crunching electronic sound can be heard in movies such as Iron Man and Sucker Punch. Catch him when he performs with trash-electro superstars Haezer and Double Adapter, turntablist Sibot, Dubstep, crack house-head Hyphen and post-punk deck mistress DJ Sideshow.

The Assembly, 61 Harrington Street, Cape Town, on April 6 at 9pm. Entrance is R60 to R80. Book at webtickets.co.za.