GoldFish

South African dance duo Goldfish merge their jazz pedigrees with upbeat electronic production that includes touches of acid jazz and trip-hop. Hailing from Cape Town, Goldfish were created by Dominic Peters (keyboards, bass, production) and David Poole (sax, flute, production). The pair met in college, where they studied as jazz musicians. Inspired by their training and by the flavor of the local African beats, they blended upbeat party music with live instrumentation in a way that recalled the spirits of Fatboy Slim, Hot Chip, Morcheeba, and Us3. Their 2006 debut, Caught in the Loop, captured a smoky lounge vibe on par with a Buddha Bar compilation. They followed with 2008′s Perceptions of Pacha, inspired by their coveted residency at the Ibiza club. Pacha included the hit “Fort Knox” and garnered them a record number of nominations for the South African Music Awards (SAMAs) in 2009. Get Busy Living arrived in 2010 and featured the vocal talents of Sakhile Moleshe, Emily Bruce, and Monique Hellenberg. More propulsive than its predecessors, Get Busy Living nabbed Best Global Dance Album at the 2011 SAMAs. They scored a South African number one in 2012 with the Morning Parade collaboration “Washing Over Me.” The next year they released their fourth LP, Three Second Memory, which reunited the duo with Hellenberg and Bruce and also featured singer John Mani. Late Night People, the duo’s hotly anticipated fifth full-length outing, arrived in October 2017. ~ Neil Z. Yeung