Various Artists – Tsapiky! Modern Music from Southwest Madagascar (Sublime Frequencies, 2025)
This compilation introduces a raw and electrifying portrait of tsapiky, the high-energy music of Southwest Madagascar. It captures the frenetic pulse of a genre shaped by ritual, competition, and sheer sound force. Tsapiky thrives in ceremonies, funerals, weddings, and coming-of-age rites, where musicians perform for days on end, fueling ecstatic dances and communal revelry.
In Toliara and surrounding regions, tsapiky is performed by electric orchestras on dirt floors, their frenzied distorted guitars, pulsating bass lines, and relentless rhythms projecting through makeshift sound systems hung in tamarind trees. The bands are led by wild lead guitarists and emotive, charismatic female vocalists who sing originals as well as renditions of local hits.
This compilation highlights the dynamic tension at the heart of tsapiky: the interplay between tradition and innovation, rural and urban influences, acoustic roots and electric reinvention. The musicians, many locally or nationally renowned, push the genre’s boundaries while staying firmly anchored in its communal spirit.
Recorded live on location by Maxime Bobo, this release offers an unfiltered glimpse into a music scene untouched by external industry norms. The vinyl LP version includes a four-page full-color insert with detailed liner notes and photographs of the artists and their surroundings.
The artists featured include Mamehy, Drick, Befila, Behaja, Mahafaly Mihisa, Meny & Ando, Rebona, and Mirasoa & Mahapoteke.
Release Date: May 9, 2025.
- Mamehy – Je mitsiko ro mokotse (“Those who talk dirty behind your back tire themselves out for nothing”)
- Drick – Sinjake Panambola (“Dance of the rich”)
- Befila – Eka ndao (“Let’s go”)
- Behaja – Marolinta (Name of a village on the south-western tip of Madagascar)
- Mahafaly Mihisa – Fanoigna (“Heated debate”)
- Meny & Ando – Ka tseriky iha (“Don’t be surprised”)
- Rebona – Zana-Konko
- Mirasoa & Mahapoteke – Bleu bleu (“Blue blue”)
Buy Tsapiky! Modern Music from Southwest Madagascar .
Author: Madison Quinn
