The return of Okzharp

Two years ago Okzharp aka Gerv from LV returned to his native South Africa. The people he met and the music that soundtracked it became the Okzharp mix - one of the best received mixes I've ever posted. 

Well recently he went to South Africa again, so with his Okzharp party at the Last Refuge in Peckham Rye tonight ft Errol Bellot, Will LV and more, and with a SA-tinged LV album "Sebenza" due on Hyperdub this year, the time was right for a new mix.

Okzharp's Night Drive After-Party Bumble Taxi mix in Gerv from LV's own words...

"I was thinking back to this night drive I did with a friend years ago, returning to Cape Town from a town a few hours away. I was remembering how the landscape disappeared under cover of darkness and we were left with a road and occasional landmarks. I remember how different it felt from the outward journey. The feeling of not being 100% certain we had taken the right turn back there. I remember the roar of the car as the tarmac turned to gravel at points, shocking us out of our road trance."

"I remember going round a bend in the middle of nowhere and suddenly seeing flashes of purple light to our left and realising it was the Indian Ocean. For some reason I also remember we only had three CDs with us. 'The Beginning' by The Infinite Boys, an Afrotainment compilation CD mixed by DJ Tira and a Patsy Cline best-of. I remember we played the Tira CD twice and then the Infinite Boys cd twice."

"I still don't really have that clear an idea of what 'taxi music' is but I've heard people use it quite alot and they seem to know what they mean by it. I think I just like the idea of it. My mate Smiso aka Okmalumkoolkat aka Sjambok aka The Zulu Compurar aka DJ Partytime always tells me about this underground bumble rave scene in the areas around Durban. People don't need to ride the taxis into the city any more, they just go bumble raving nearer to where they live. And now people leave the city to go to the bumble raves."

"I like the idea of a night drive back to reality after one of these parties. I think that was what I started out trying to soundtrack with this mix. There are bits of what i think of as taxi music and bumble kwairave house type music in there but but I'm not a house DJ so inevitably other stuff crept in via reedits and blends, glossy wav and dutty MP3. It arrives at the LV remix of the new song by Benin City, Josh Idehen's group."

"It's just over an hour. It's full of tunes I love and it is what it is and I hope people like it." 

Okzharp's Night Drive After-Party Bumble Taxi mix

DOWNLOAD HERE.

Professor - Imoto
Mogrigo (Okzharp reedit) - Heavyweight
Lepyata - DJ Killer
Track 7 - ?
Ses Khatele - T'zozo
Device - LR Groove
Baby Jelly - DJ Killer
Tribal Seagulls (Radio Slave reedit) - Kenny Dope
Childs Play - LR Groove
Jana - DJ Killer
Murder (Okzharp reedit) - Minister
Antural - My Aim
Sorry - Sgicha
Zimba (Okzharp reedit)- Shifty
Warrior - Funkstepz
Imoto (dub) - Professor
Dirty Paraffin - Primustof
Ukuta (Nompumelelo Groova mix) - Sdunkero
Only - Jumping Back Slash
In Da Market (Okzharp everlasting dub) - Wiley
Ngomso (Das Kapital reedit) - DJ Clock
Ngitsandza Wena (Okzharp reedit) - DJ Steavy & Mr Edu
Track 6 - ?
Ama Lights (Okzharp edit) - Big Nuz
Im So Confused - Jumping Back Slash
Just Be Yourself - DJ Steavy
Off The Wall (Tshwara Lebota) - DJ Mphulo
Feel (Vocal Mix) - Trackheads
Owethu Wena (Okzharp reedit) - DJ Fisherman
Daka - Jook 10
Bad Gyall Fi Dem - Maxwell D & Badness
Long Wait - Mapeps
Get Low - Jook 10
Mallet - Walton
Output Stereo Out  - Cat's Eyes
Watch This - Kenny Dope
Calango version - XXXY & Samrai
Sankaa - Walton
Nomhle (Okzharp reedit) - DJ Killer
Swagger (Dub Mix) - DJ Naughty
Totem - Output Stereo Out
King Of The Dancehall (DVA rmx) - Rudi Lina
Baby (LV rmx) - Benin City

• Okzharp & Errol Bellot, Will LV, Micachu, D££monds and Mothy appear tonight at The Last Refuge, Peckham Rye.