- Pantsula usually refers to a type of street dance with origins in the townships of South Africa. It's a tightly choreographed and energetic style with roots that go as far back as the '40s, but it saw an upswing in national popularity in the late '80s and early '90s. The dance, which goes hand-in-hand with sharp fashion, represents a defiant statement: "We can outlive poverty," as Bongani Linda, the late pantsula choreographer, once put it. As the grip of apartheid weakened, it doubled as a form of social expression that chimed with a positive national awakening. The music that went with it—highlights of which are collected here by Rush Hour's Antal and Afrosynth's DJ Okapi—does a great job of translating that mood.
The 12 tracks on Pantsula! The Rise Of Electronic Dance Music In South Africa, 1988-1990 are taken from the South African labels Super Beat and Music Team (the former released V.O.'s "Mashisa"'s in 1990). The contents bridge the funky pep of bubblegum and Shangaan disco—popular sellers during the '80s—and the more low-slung, celebratory kwaito that emerged in the following decade. As such, the compilation charts a mutation from one style to the other, with all the freedoms and clumsiness that can entail. The artists that had taken cues from American imports began to localise the sound by slowing down the beats, detaching from conventional pop structures and integrating new and cheap electronic instruments. In 1989, when Jivaro asked, "What next is coming?," the answer was being mapped out in real time.
The music was commonly played in shebeens––informal meeting houses that were especially numerous in Johannesburg's Soweto district––whose atmospheres can be heard on excitable tunes like Scotch Band's "Watsotasama" and Ayobayo Band's "Sorry Bra." (The latter features some boisterous tavern chatter.) S.Y.B.'s "Jika Magogo," an earworm emblematic of this era's rounded bass leads and whistling synths, is so jovial and bright it could pass for a children's TV theme tune. The cheery and coquettish "New Lover," by The Equals, is another standout. These songs feel synthetic and chintzy, containing some unloved '80s signifiers—booming gated drums, wet bass slaps, flute interludes—that may raise an eyebrow, but burst with undeniable character.
That buoyant spirit never dips, but the compilation does run out of surprises after the halfway mark. Yet it continues a recent hot streak of reissued records from this period of South African music, which will include an imminent Soundway compilation as well as other Afrosynth reissues in the pipeline. Pantsula! makes clear why such colourful tunes are so prominent in the record bags of festival favourites like Antal and Hunee. They make for great party jams today, just as they did nearly 30 years ago.
Tracklist01. The Equals - New Lover
02. Jazino - Ushelakanjani
03. Jivaro - What Next (Dub Mix)
04. S.Y.B. - Jika Magogo
05. Scotch Band - Watsotasama
06. Kakappa - Sisonke
07. Spirro - Ma Hero (Dub Mix)
08. The Hard Workers - Ayoba-yo
09. Ayobayo Band - Sorry Bra
10. Rush - Sobohla Manyosi
11. Chaka - Via Tembisa
12. La Viva - Go Siami