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Out of Place #2 – At The Exchange and in pop up locations. Hop on the South African music/dance juggernaut as it speeds through Bristol for a two-day energy flash of turbo-charged rhythms, mind-boggling legwork and rainbow colours.

The 180 BPM thrill ride that is Shangaan Electro boom boom boom into Bristol for their first full live performance in the city, intoxicating all they pass on their high-velocity path. led by South African Shangaan ambassador and animateur Nozinja, their hyper futuristic energy flash of turbo-charged rhythms, mind-boggling legwork and rainbow colours was given a teaser at their sold-out dance workshop in July, but can now be witnessed in its full, frenetic glory. The one-of-a-kind live dance show hits The Exchange on Wednesday night.

Very special guest Heatsick (PAN) makes it a double bill of dreams with his own shaking of the dancefloor kaleidoscope, following up his legendary “Extended Play…” takeover of The Cube Cinema earlier this year with a straight-up shot of his irresistible Casio disco hypnotherapy, the perfect counterpoint before the beat count steps up…

 Shangaan Electro is the street dance phenomenon from South Africa that has become a global phenomenon on the back of a series of viral youtube films, an acclaimed compilation on Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s label, and a remix series featuring some of the world’s most renowned electronic music producers. The creation of charismatic producer/mastermind and vocalist Nozinja, Shangaan Electro is a very contemporary product of Africa, juxtaposing the traditional chants and vocal harmonies of the Shangaan tribe with high-octane electronic backing tracks. This is hyper-kinetic digital dance music custom made for weekly dance-offs in Soweto which can reach dizzying speeds of up to 188 beats per minute. Shangaan Electro has travelled the world, performing scene-stealing turns at Sydney Festival, Roskilde, London’s Blaze Festival and as part of Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s Chop Up. Caribou’s Jiaolong label is releasing a a 12” series throughout 2013.

Read The Guardian’s feature.

Heatsick batters a solitary Casio through a myriad of effects, looping up a coarse, crisp and twinkling out-house music into a wonderfully queasy eternity, teasing out melodic and rhythmic mantras to an off-kilter, Burroughsian effect that WINS on the floor and never forgets to be lo-fi fun(k). Combining a palette of sources from early Chicago house mixtapes (in sound, texture AND mixing technique) through to musique concrète and psychedelia, Heatsick proposes a live dance music that expands and unlocks the senses. Give him time and his set can unfurl over several hours, straight busting the space/time continuum and spiralling off-grid into a Dionysian pleasure vortex, the whole club lost in the funky wormhole. Smitten outer limits noise boys and girls will know the man behind Heatsick from Birds Of Delay, but this is a unique dancefloor detour that finds its edifying drones in the twirl of a glitterball. A fresh EP is out now on Soul Jazz, and new album “Re-engineering” will follow on PAN in November.

Watch the new video for Snakes & Ladders


Two special pop-up appearances take place the day before the show, Tues 22nd October:

Tuesday 22nd October, 6pm, Free

NOZINJA (DJ set)

+ Chris Farrell (Idle Hands) Shangaan main man Nozinja will step behind the counter at Idle Hands record shop on Stokes Croft for an in-store DJ set, an intimate chance to witness the Shangaan sound hitting club culture head-on, in the kind of dizzily mixed-up fashion that sent a packed Dalston dancefloor into a frenzy at his Nozinja Lodge club night with Daphni in June.

At Idle Hands

Earlier in the day

Schoolchildren at Summerhill Academy in St George will be treated to another side of Shangaan, as Nozinja and his dancer/vocalist crew lead 30 pupils in a dance workshop.

Listen to the recording of that workshop.


See more on the OOP blog.

Out Of Place is a roaming series of events that explores non-standard performance spaces in and around the Bristol area. A diverse line-up of international music makers and solo audio adventurers will respond to specially selected contexts including an abandoned farm, a shopping centre and a swimming pool…stirring up a sense of off-the-grid discovery for audience and performers alike. A succession of unmissable stereo field trips taking live music out of its comfort zone.

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Out of Place is a co-production between Arnolfini and Qu Junktions. It is supported by PRS for Music Foundation’s New Music Plus…UK an initiative developed in association with the hub, with funding from Arts Council England, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Arts Council Wales, Creative Scotland, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation