Written on 07/20/2010 at 4:03 PM by Red Cell

GAZELLE – Afro-Future Electro “Lim Pop” From South Africa

Filed under MUSIC, MYSTICISM, PEOPLE one comment

Gazelle is an Afro-Future thinking electro-roots “Lim Pop” group from Cape Town, South Africa, headed by Xander Ferreira and DJ Nick Matthews with various others guests. They have been gaining some notoriety lately, not only for their outspoken stances on politics in Africa, but also for their recent appearances in Vogue and W magazine as models for the new Ubuntu 2010 fashion collection. Below we have included a couple of videos showing the strange mix between modern, western culture, electo-pop style and the roots oriented, African culture that the band weaves between effortlessly. There is also an interesting interview video below done by Organic B.

Excerpts from Gazelle’s Website Bio:

From the southern tip of Africa comes a new sound, moving and shaking the earth as it crosses distant lands. An eclectic mix of mysticism from the dark continent, psychedelic visions of Afro-futurism, theatre and music. Gazelle is colorful part of the African Renaissance promoting the growth and worldview of any African born art. Apart from a fresh mixture of sound, a strong visual performance involving various artists and dancers makes it a very entertaining theatrical show. Combining influences from funk, reggae, disco, 80’s electropop and traditional African melody, the sound comes alive in a fresh genre. (Their) focus has been to blend and create diverse sonic mixtures using the latest in modern DJ techniques, creating authentic Afrikan Elektronik Dance Musik. Called LIMPOP, a genre derived from the province Limpopo.

The group has also been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine Italy on an event in Rome that Gazelle performed for Rome Fashion Week. Where they got multiple-publicity with MTV, Died Last Night and World Fashion TV. Over the last year the group have performed in multiple cities across Europe and Africa comvering places such as Zurich, Basel, Bern, Milano, Bacelona, Berlin, Oslo, Warsaw, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Kiel, Munich, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

The manifesto that the group promotes internationally for a positive outlook of Africa: “Aid is a selfish temporary solution fuelled by pity and greed, Help is an unselfish permanent solution driven by respect and passion.”