[Honest Jon’s Records]

It’s no secret that South Africa’s Shangaan Electro scene has one of the most fertile sound palettes in the world right now. Honest Jon’s is constantly releasing the stuff in its original form, and the label recently launched a series of remix 12″s (some of which are simply inspired by the scene, or use bits and pieces of various tracks rather than properly remixing) in accompaniment. On the heels of Mark Ernestus’ kwaito-esque Meets BBC comes Meets BBC and Shangaan Electro, which pairs Detroit legend Anthony “Shake” Shakir and Swedish eccentric Oni Ayhun.

Shake’s version is a remix of BBC’s “Ngunyuta Dance,” which originally appeared on last year’s New Wave Dance Music From South Africa compilation. He removes much of the source’s glassy jangle and slows things down to an uptempo house groove, augmented by rolling organic percussion. To be fair, though, it’s only a reduction in speed, not in energy. The call-and-response vocals and organ melody are intact, ramped up by a rigidly funky bass line that pokes and jabs. It isn’t as clear which track Oni Ayhun is working with. I’ve seen a few shops comparing “Meets Shangaan Electro” to Shed, which makes sense, especially in its stop-start rhythm, centered around a gruff, thunderous bass drum. Apart from this, the track seems to draw a line directly from Shangaan Electro to the producer’s own work. It’s entirely unclear who created its suffusion of chirping alien tones, which would probably sound as at home on last year’s OAR004 as they would over hyperspeed South African toms. They find a happy medium here in Oni Ayhun’s spacious production. “Meets Shangaan Electro” is less party-ready than Shake’s version, but successfully bridges continents and styles just the same.