Sunrise set @ The Annual Imbizo, Newcastle, SA

There is maybe no better illustration of Black South Africa’s enduring love of H-O-U-S-E house – not kwaito, not amapiano, not gqom, but HOUSE – than this recording of a set by foundational S.A. DJ Vinny Da Vinci at sunrise after an all night party from 2018. There is plenty of South African music in the set, it’s played at a verrrry laid back tempo, and it even has some of the “log drum” synths that would come to define amapiano. But it is HOUSE. House that has been grooving along in this perfected form since it fell together in Chicago and New York in the mid 80s, and which continues to be the pulse of London, Paris, Brussels and wherever else. The blending, the pacing, the sheer love of sound are all impeccable, and in the video the contentment of the crowd is palpable. This is a demonstration of perfection of form.