Most people like new music to sound as much as possible like music they’ve heard before. At the very least it should adhere to core genre tenets that don’t force listeners from their comfort zone. Music that’s regarded as brave by a conservative music media usually has the tiniest hint of something fresh, resulting in self-satisfied hurrahs for the excitements of Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire and the like. A label such as Belgium’s Crammed Discs, then, which consistently backs artists unbound by genre or even locality, never receives the mainstream attention it deserves as one of the world’s most innovative and fascinating.
Skip&Die are a good example of the sort of thing Crammed Discs invest in. A four-piece fronted by female South African polymath Cata Pirata, they attack global roots music, primarily African in tone, from Cumbia to Kwaito and beyond, with devil-may-care relish. They slam these Afro flavours into a variety of bass music styles, indie pop and more, all topped with psychedelic electronic flourishes, and end up with a sonic gumbo which, even when the tunes fall short, is rich and intriguing.
This is not to say Skip&Die lack decent songs. Their second album ranges from the sweet Hindi-tinted “Sunshine Rebellion Gang” to the magnificent Transglobal Undergound-ish throb of “Mami Wati” to tight electro-pop numbers that recall Brazilian nu-rave invaders CSS. They’re invigorating and tuneful and, as on “Burning Bridges”, they rock out where necessary. Other reference points might include The Very Best, Friends, Ozric Tentacles, The Slits and Sunscreem, which just shows how difficult to pigeonhole they are. Skip&Die have a curious name, and look like 1990s gap year global travellers, but put cynicism aside because they rampage round music with gleeful purpose and disregard. This is pop as it could be, unfettered.
Overleaf: Watch the video for the song "Cosmic Serpents"
