Snake: Ribva Venda (1992)

Staying in a 90s upbeat groove, this slickly-produced surprise takes us just over the Limpopo into Venda, South Africa. Loopy, electric, happy, complex call-and-response harmonies,

Produced, arranged and engineered by the Godfather of Kwaito, M'du Masilela, you just know before hearing it that this recording is going to be something interesting.

M'du and Mandla 'Spikiri' Mofokeng are pioneering township music icons, having had the ears of masses of urban youth during that 1990s "opening up" era, they  re-invented and connected various musics, local folk and sometimes rural with global beats.

Coming three years before South Africa's  first Kwaito hit from Arthur, this 1992 recording stands  out for its adept mining and melding of various globally trending sounds of the time, along with strands of traditional Venda grooves . If you listen with my ear to some of the great vocal harmonies, sometime you might even catch a glimmer of an echo of Enya.

All the tracks are credited to "Snake". No further information could be found on who the band members were.

Electric.  "Snake" certainly is - Jive, is quite likely the effect on many who hear it. Amongst others, I can imagine  a growing troupe of retro disco-files latching onto this one. Enjoy.

Link here