TWO MUST-HAVE LOCALLY BREWED ALBUMS

Are you tired of the same ol’ ringtone music that fails to nourish your soul? We present to you two home-brewed albums by forward-thinking fellas who thrive on pushing boundaries. Read on, and be sure to cop these albums.



MXO
MX FUNK

MXO, the Eastern Cape-born soul singer is back after a 4 year hiatus with a brand new album titled “MX Funk”. 2004’s “Piece of Mind” cemented the singer’s status as a soul brother of note. With the backing of big corporates such as Levi’s, MXO was able to take his music on the road where he successfully turned non-believers into followers with his eclectic and energetic performances.

With “MX Funk”, he firstly gives his unique sound an official name; he then proceeds to illustrate his musical prowess with stirring songs such as “Push on Me” and “Ndizo Ndiza”. “Push on Me” features another soulful brother, RJ Benjamin; their combination on wax is as deadly as Ronaldinho and Kaka’s on the football pitch.

Forever the experimental type, MXO samples and incorporates elements of rock and kwaito in his music, thus giving his sound a peerless worldly feel. This easily goes down as one of the best locally produced albums of the year.



MPHUMI DLAMINI
COMBINED ELEMENTS

South Africa has produced quite a number of supremely talented saxophonists. McCoy Mrubata and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse are just but a few of the legends that have moved mountains and redirected rivers by blowing warm air into their gold pipes.

Now of late, guys like Moreira Chonguica are also stirring things up with inspired collaborations and musical concepts that aim to bring tha cool factor back to jazz.

Dave Thompson, the SonyBMG visionary that brought Zamajobe and Judith Sephuma to the world has just unearthed another gem in the form of Mphumi Dlamini. The rising star has produced a compelling piece of work in the form of his debut album “Combined Elements”.

With the help of musicians such as Fana Zulu, Vusi Khumalo and Justin Holcroft, Dlamini combines old-school jazz elements with new school flavours with aplomb. On a couple of tracks, he even mixes in some fast-paced Cuban rhythms to create tunes worth dancing to till the break of dawn.

An impressive debut indeed!