When label director Rashid Vally first began pondering an As-Shams archival series to ensure that unreleased works were properly documented and made available publicly, there was one particular project at the front of his mind - a collaboration with two young musicians who left a strong impression and an incomplete project that continued to itch despite the decades that had past.
Channeling Malombo by way of Sun Ra, Balumbi was an avant-garde percussion duo made up of Levitt Mokgale and Panic Ike Maphisa and their enchanting minimal sound was transcendental yet hewn from the rough textures of rural Africa. They had a compelling mindset and backstory to boot, being proficiently trained in judo and busy pioneering an Africanised style of the Japanese martial art. Vally was smitten.
Driven by the gut rather than the bottom line, Balumbi's Talkative Drums LP was recorded, sequenced and mastered in 1976 but ultimately never manufactured. As-Shams/The Sun had overextended itself during the creative outpouring of that immensely productive year and the album was sidelined but never completely forgotten. After 45 years of gestation, As-Shams Archive proudly presents Talkative Drums with label catalogue number SRK 897247 as a digital album exclusive to our Bandcamp platform. Mastered from the original archival tape, the release is accompanied by the original photo and unedited notes submitted by the band.
Composed by Panic Ike Maphisa
Performed by Panic Ike Maphisa & Eric Miya
Recorded at Gallo Studios, Johannesburg
Produced by Rashid Vally
Cat. No. SRK 897247
℗ 1976 © 2021 As-Shams/The Sun
