- Sydney producer Ribongia has been kicking it for years. I first became aware of him through a remix of Brisbane's Laneous And The Family Yah circa 2011. Since then I’ve been intrigued by his often leftfield productions and their African and world influences. His debut album, MAAT, is about to be released via October Records and is his best production to date.
One thing must be said: many of the songs are fast. After the intro he really kicks off proceedings with all manner of auxiliary percussion, the amen break and drops. Ohhh the drops. This is applicable for many of the songs that have features, like King Kong and We Run Tings. Conversely, there are more downtempo songs like Dreams, Floating On Sorrow and Golden, that fill the slowness with lush production, balancing the album out.
Shakti is an amazing track and a personal highlight. It starts with his customary percussion and gated vocal chants, before launching into a lumbering instrumental groove. The bass and chords pull you along while the lead synth swings around.
Sonder is another standout for me, starting off with a birdscape (or just pitched up synth, who can tell these days), before a chugging bass comes in, lending momentum. The live drums are a nice touch, as well as the flute and chanting; and all this before the bass really drops. It has a really pleasant ambient outro too. (As always, extra points for bird sounds, which this album has is spades).
Ribongia always exhibits a wide array of sounds and influences. MAAT is testament to this. It a beautiful amalgam of dance music, calypso, hip-hop, and everything in between. This all adds up to an intriguing and engaging work. It’s as if someone took the psychedelic sanza of Francis Bebey and thrust it into the 21st century. Or we could more simply say, this is Ribongia.
- Hillfolk.