“Where’s Spoek?”, my cousin Alap asked.  Nobody knew.  We’ve tracked back a few years to when Spoek’s band Playdoe was providing tour-support for Dalek in Europe.  It was Playdoe’s first European tour, and apparently the boys had gone a bit wild!  “We’d almost considered asking the tour manager to replace them!” Alap joked outside Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Indeed, since then, Spoek Mathambo has come into his own, at the age of 25, having crafted a masterpiece of a record, Mshini Wam (2010), and has also just recently signed with SubPop Records.  I’d also heard his amazing collaboration with Gnucci Banana (his wife) on Turbo Tim’s debut (Hush (Iggy, Iggy)/Linyora EP, 2010), and was completely blown away by the genre-busting beats and production.

We’d come to Lincoln Center Outdoors that evening expecting a good taste of those records and his famed histrionic dancing.  We’d gotten word that he’d added musicians on sax and live-drums, and were a bit nervous about that aspect already. The presence of live instruments is already looked upon with apprehension in the DJ culture, simply because the two elements are normally approaching the music from very different angles.  The live instrumentalists are typically concerned with technique and song-based arrangements, whereas the DJs are more attuned to special frequencies and tones that resonate on a visceral level on the dance-floor.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naturally, Spoek had his work cut out for him from the outset to try and recreate the deep frequencies, subs and energy of a club onto an outdoor stage.  It certainly didn’t help that the sound/tech crew didn’t understand the needs of the live-DJ set hybrid, and gave him a mix that was more befitting a rock-band.

Spoek is an amazing performer, and most certainly brought all of his energy to his songs, which did showcase his unique genre-busting mix of hip-hop, dubstep, rap, house, dancehall, trance, forward-thinking electronica, and South-African inflected rhymes. However, after having heard the amazing production on the recordings, it was disappointing, as if the music had lost its bite somehow.  I suppose one might think that I’m nit-picking, but in all honesty, once you’ve felt the power and intensity of those same beats and tones in a club-setting, it’s difficult to listen to a watered down version of the same songs.  I still remain a staunch supporter of Spoek’s music, and do firmly believe this young man is going to lead the way forward for a while to come.  I can only hope that he returns to perform at a venue like LPR or Santos Party House!