Philaflava.com ::

This meeting in Cape Town of a white South African and a Rwandan refugee is predictably cosmopolitan, with elements joyfully colliding in a messy group high-five. The gambolling guitar lines of highlife are here, as are the relentless electro rhythms of the Shangaan tribe, the pinball sound signatures of pirate radio broadcasts, and even a delicate, kora-like plucking reminiscent of Malian griots. But just as mid-century African bands were in thrall to James Brown and boogaloo from across the Atlantic, John Wizards use a loping Caribbean skank on Maria and I'm Still a Serious Guy; and their delay effects, reminiscent of the wah-wah guitars on psych-funk from 1970s Lagos, are given a Brooklynite chillwave tinge. It's guileless, naive music, with melodies that shyly curl up to you, or, as on glorious earworm iYoungwe, strut with the adorably ungainly confidence of juvenile mammals.