South Africa has a well developed indie scene, but even so Johannesburg-based The Brother Moves On are especially intriguing. An experimental performance art/music/storytelling collective in which members come and go – or "move on" – so that their sound evolves with the changing personnel, and so the energy and momentum of the collective isn't dependent on any member, as they explain below.
You're as likely to find them performing in a museum or church as in a regular music venue, and what they play defies easy categorisation: a lively and highly expressive hybrid that spans rock, Xhosa funk, jazz, folk, electronic, dance, spoken word – all labels they hate, by the way, as labels restrict – they prefer to think of themselves as post-genre. Their music is neither black nor white, but clearly rooted in South Africa, feeding off the country's unique political history – something that becomes apparent when you listen to their social commentary. They are creating, in their own words, "transitional music for a transitional generation", in other words, music for and about where the generation of South Africans born after apartheid find themselves, which is free and hopeful, but also disappointed in and disillusioned with a system hasn't delivered much to support the hopes of this generation, particularly the the hopes of its underprivileged members.
We came across them thanks to the Africa In Your Earbuds mixtape they put together for Okay Africa last month (download it here), and were immediately hooked by the intro in which they layer the recording of Neil Armstrong Landing on The Moon with HF Verwoed explaining apartheid (he was SA's Prime Minister from 1958 till 1966 and the man behind the conception and implementation of apartheid) and one of their own songs Sikelela.
That was enough to get us searching for everything they've recorded to date. Turns out this incarnation of the group is fairly new, but they're not hanging about. In March they generated much critical buzz with the six-track concept EP The Golden Wake, a live recording and oral history masterclass narrating the journey of Mr Gold WaseGoli, who travels from the hinterland to Johannesburg in search of a better life.
It's powerful and captivating stuff (and free, so grab it here) - hard to pick out high points, but pay particular attention to Agbal meditation, Black Diamond Butterfly ("Black Diamonds" is a collective term that is used pejoratively to refer to members of SA's new black middle class) and the riveting 16-minute long Wenu Wetla - but listening to their most recent release, the 6-track EP ETA (Expected Time of Arrival) it is clear the brothers have already moved on.
Where to next? Who knows, but wherever it is, we're coming along for the ride.
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