Hailed as South Africa's Afropunk pioneers by writer Neil Kulkarni in The Wire 447, Johannesburg based group BLK JKS are about to release their second full length album Abantu/Before Humans. Kulkarni describes the album as “an Old Testament support to [BLK JKS' previous album] After Robots – where that album prophesied Afropunk, this album suggests the roots to that moment”.

To mark the release, BLK JKS guitarist and DJ Mpumi has recorded a mix for The Wire. “This is music that in various obvious and sometimes unexpected ways speaks to the music we make,” says Mpumi. “This playlist could have gone on forever, but, we decided to just kind of do it blindly, on the fly, on a mini tour mid-epidemic in The Cape, believe it or not… Covid-19 protocols observed… social distancing… sourcing some tunes from friends along the way. An improv in no time if you will… our take on Avant Rock.”

Tracklist:

The Jacks “Marianne マリアンヌ”
Healer Oran “Tap”
Altan Urag “Native Mongolia”
Ippy Fuze “Ungazilibali”
TCIYF “Gubha (Dig)”
Editrix “Torture”
MANGELWURZEL “My House”
Lucidvox “Runaway (Беглец)”
New Age Doom “Acoustolectric Invocation”
Laddio Bollocko “Nurser”
Joao Orecchia “The Wound (Motèl Mari Remix)”
Achille Johnny Et Son Ensemble “Mede Woui”
Yndian Mynah “Raok”

Abantu/Before Humans is reviewed in The Wire 447. It is released by Glitterbeat on 21 May.