dameeeela - The Shake Up feat. Tjaka

  • The First Nations Australian producer shows how it's really done with a digeridoo.
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  • From Aphex Twin to any number of generic trance records, the digeridoo has long been one of dance music's most familiar clichés, used out of context and often without respect for its origins. First Nations Austalian artist dameeeela's new single, "The Shake Up," feels like a purposeful send-up, incorporating the instrument (played live by Djabera Djabera duo Tjaka) into a mean, funky rave track that references about five different eras at once. The jittery synth stabs are pure UK hardcore, but the wobbly, boingy bass hints at everything from psytrance bush doofs to UK leftfield techno producers. And you've never heard the dance music digeridoo sound as ominous, distinct or intriguing as it does here, for once played by the people whose culture gave birth to its unmistakable sound. "The Shake Up" is good enough on its own that you don't need all that context, but it lends the track even more power once you know where it's coming from.
RA