Sounds of Mmabolela is a set of three soundscape compositions that use field recordings from a residency at Mmabolela Estates, South Africa in 2017. Paddabolela takes the listener on an immersive journey through the different sound worlds of the South African terrain that transports the listener to an alternative sonic reality created using abstracted field recordings. Limpopo attempts to create a hyper-reality of the natural rhythmical soundscapes heard during our time at the Mmabolela Estate. From the palm-strewn banks of the Limpopo River to the dark depths of the Hippo Pool, Mmabolela transports the listener through a series of interweaving snap-shots and constructed realities transporting the listener to this time and place.
credits
released October 22, 2020
recording, production - Nikki Sheth
with thanks to everyone who inspired me on this journey, my family and my Mmabolela family.
recording, production - Nikki Sheth
with thanks to everyone who inspired me on this journey, my family and my Mmabolela family.
"The formal debut from this Birmingham, UK artist captures and cajoles aural corings from the South African wilderness — bugs, birds, larger mammals, nature’s sundry sighs. Superficial spins, blessedly, permit one to tour without a travel visa, a sun visor, or repellant-infused SPF-50, awash in weather patterns and ecosystem flirts. Yet Sounds Of Mmabolela truly comes to life when it artificially snaps into focus. The edges of animal sounds are ground together like flints in service of subtle sparks. This happens when you aren't quite listening closely enough. As “Paddabolela” concludes with chirps and cries massing in a waveform tempest, the outdoors ambience marvellously initiates a tangled staccato on “Limpopo”. - Review in The Wire Magazine, January 2021, Issue 443