Kalibre by Mbulelo

Mbulelo - Kalibre EP

Twenty-six year old South African producer Mbulelo Mehlomakhulu grew up with a passion for house music. He began releasing music early at only 18, working with Blaque Core's Profound Nation and issuing a slew of records under the Xerophytic Soul moniker. Achieving local and global success with tracks like 'Ancient Cultures', he began to pioneer a more experimental sound - a cross between Durban's dark, propulsive gqom sound and vintage Detroit techno. This forward-thinking composite didn't go unnoticed, and Mehlomakhulu was tapped by Derrick May to release "The Robotics People" EP on Transmat in 2018.

Now Mehlomakhulu returns with four stargazing hybrid compositions that again dance in the shared sonic space between Detroit and Durban. Gqom's slow, sensual pulse carries 'Play the Beat' with chants and echoing cowbell smacks swallowed into a wormhole of squashed analog bass and reverberating Underground Resistance stabs. Title track 'Kalibre' is less florid, but commands the dancefloor with clattering South African drums, ballroom slams and the ticking urgency of Chicago's DJ Sneak.

'Uranus' and 'God's Groove' lift the dancefloor to a higher plain, spiritually connecting with Carl Craig's historic early run and layering synthetic neon pads and cinematic shimmering effects. Mbulelo's sound is smart and poignant, and completely his own. By linking contemporary South African dance music to Detroit's pioneering 1980s techno vision, he makes a connection that's never felt more current.

Boomkat Product Review:

Highest grade club moves from SA’s Mbulelo, chasing a sorely slept-on 12” for Transmat with four unmissable, deep house and gqom-adjacent bullets for Hakuna Kulala,

First spotted by keener heads on a stunning 12”, ‘Robotic People’ for Detroit’s legendary Transmat in 2018, Mbulelo has been cutting rug since at least 2013 under the Xerophytic Soul alias, responsible for some of the decade’s best broken beat/gqom/deep techno mutants you’ve never heard. In 2022 Mbulelo puts his bad foot fwd again for NNT’s Hakuna Kulala sibling, working up a slick sweat with masterful body control in each part thru swingeing, propulsive, encrypted African rhythms galvanised by cutting edge electronics.

A wee story for ya: this writer was spinning an Mbulelo track at 7am at Nyege Nyege Festival, 2018 when the Nile rain gods arrived after 3 days without. Hakuna Kulala however took a track ID and reached out to Mbulelo, hence this release. And it’s a fucking pearler! ‘Play The Beat’ set the tone with a killer cowbell and neuro synth-driven zinger gwan like Leonce’s brother from a different mother, before ‘Kalibre’ comes thrillingly harder with militant, gqom-like log drums and biting-point synths that slay the floor. The Detroit-toned pads and slinkier gait of ‘Uranus’ are perhaps closest to the deep technoid sensuality and proggier house traction of his Transmat 12” - a super classy antidote to gqom’s brutalism - and ultimately leads to the suspenseful depths of ‘God’s Groove’, with trancey pads and weightless rhythm precipitating a masterfully refined permutation of South African deep tech futurism.

TIIIIIP!

Club explorations from the East African and Congolese Electronic Underground and beyond.

We fulfill orders twice weekly, so most items will be shipped out within 3-5 days of your order being placed, with tracking provided automatically. We ship all records in whiplash mailers with extra cardboard protection.

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