Spoek Mathambo, South Africa’s postmodern child whose music is an alloy of funk, hip-hop, kwaito, electro and dub-step, will finally tour the country.
Mathambo (born Nthato Mokgata) is something of a fixture on the world touring circuit and he and his band are celebrating the release of their album, Father Creeper. They will take part in the Adidas Originals Live Performances in Cape Town, Jo’burg, Durban and Pretoria. Mathambo, who divides his time between Sweden and Jo’burg, now has two albums. The first was Mshini Wam. Last year in the Mail & Guardian his sound was described as “spacey; the ambience it creates is striated, its sensibility offbeat and its import is that it is the sound of the future and a cheeky comment on the present”. Other groups slated to perform include American indie group Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and local rock band Beach Party.
Town Hall, 66 Carr Street, Newtown, Johannesburg. Tickets, which start at R275, are available from webtickets.co.za.
■ Ten years after Fetish played its last South African shows, the band regrouped in Cape Town in March to record a full-length album. To celebrate, the band will perform live shows in Cape Town and Jo’burg this weekend. The recording was done at Digital Forest Studios in Constantia and produced by the band’s long-time creative partner, Chris Tuck. Formed in Cape Town in 1996 by Dominic Forrest and Jeremy Daniel, Fetish was one of the forerunners of the post-apartheid rock explosion. After the successful release of their debut album, the band signed with Virgin Records and began work on a series of high-profile recordings, including So Many Prophets, which produced three top 10 hits and three South African Music Award nominations. Fetish called it quits in 2004. Apparently some musical reconnection happened in London last year and fans will get a chance to see what that amounts to. They will be joined by singer Michelle Breeze.
Tanz Café, Buzz Shopping Centre, Witkoppen Road, Fourways, on April 14 at 7pm. Website: tanzcafe.co.za.
■ The exotic strains of Indian classical music will waft through the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City Casino, which will no doubt be more soothing than the noise of ringing slot machines. Sitar maestro Ustad Shujaat Khan takes to the stage for a double-bill concert, Celebration of Sitar. Shujaat will first render traditional classical ragas accompanied by tabla wizard Yogesh Samsi. The second part features folk, Sufi and light classical compositions on the sitar, accompanied by Ajay Prasanna on the bansuri (bamboo flute). They will be joined by tabla players Amit Choubey and Arunangshu Chowdhury. Shujaat Khan is the son of a legendary sitar maestro, the late Ustad Vilayat Khan, and represents the seventh generation in an unbroken line of musicians.
Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City, Ormonde, on April 15 at 4pm. Book at Computicket.