Forests of Sound

From complex, sophisticated musical patterns to abstract, precisely minimalist compositions,Forests of Sound celebrates music for thought–here be raucous post-punk interrogations of linearity, deep funk epiphanies, cranium bewitching ambiences and multi-layered Pop. The term 'Umlilo' is isiZulu and Setswana (South African, unrelated languages) for fire, in Shona (Zimbabwean) it means fire also. Forests of Sound is about fire music, in all her guises.

Jonathan Crossley And The Chase Of Sound

by Mick Raubenheimer
January 11, 2023

South African-born, UK-based guitarist Jonathan Crossley's 2022 release Inhale is an amalgam of influences, from post-rock to jazz to math rock to electronica, all woven into a genre unto itself. Time signatures shift effortlessly and, indeed, any one time signature is played around with, Crossley's guitar and Jonno Sweetman's drums hopping from just behind to just ahead of the pulse in a kind of playful interrogation (and celebration of the limits) of rhythm and metre. Opening track “Bounce" ...

Guy Buttery: A Trio Of Heart

by Mick Raubenheimer
July 1, 2022

Renowned for his--by all accounts--wondrous musicianship, expressed predominantly on guitar, Buttery is admired not only for virtuosic technique, but a subtle and highly emotive melodic sensibility, which often evokes an air of spirituality. Following his multi-award winning seventh album, aptly entitled Guy Buttery--as, at the time, it felt like his most personal to date (see the aforementioned spiritual quality of track 'The upper reaches')--Buttery was struck down by an undiagnosable malady which had him practically bedridden for several months. Towards ...

Givan Lotz and the phenomenal psyche

by Mick Raubenheimer
February 5, 2018

Givan Lotz is mysterioso. During the course of eight years as a recording and performing artist he has evaded any kind of viable categorization, each new release effortlessly slips free of perceived prior apprehensions. His most recent release, YaW, is the sonic sibling of 2016's MAW, both released through Miami's Other Electricities label. When I first encountered Lotz' music, I was transfixed. Touring with the South African collective Jaunted Haunts press, he performed mesmerizing, cyclical pieces ...

Benguela: Cape Town Improv Trio

by Mick Raubenheimer
November 28, 2017

The ambient, chugging drone becomes slow frothing waves on which a misty guitar loop bobs. The ocean scape is cloudy--blurred browns and deep, shifting blues. The droning bass strings become clear as they pluck into focus, percussion slipping in like sudden, calculated sprays of foam. Alex Bozas' guitar introduces matt flashes, like sampled photographs of urban scenes--everyday transactions between people and streets; automobiles carrying mystery packages; sun dried smiles. Ross Campbell's drums conduct the flow of energy between bass and ...