Praha Paradise – Ernie (Ernestine Deane)
African Dope Vol 1
Praha, for those of you who don’t know is the local name for Prague, the Capital of the Czech Republic. Anyone who has visited this beautiful city with its magnificent cathedral and the stunning Charles Bridge across the Vltava River would immediately understand someone referring to a Praha paradise. Ernie’s (Ernestine Deane from Moodphase 5ive) idea of this paradise is a slightly seedy sounding dub laden tune which is coated by her breathy vocal in a layer of silk.
The song falls neatly into the trip-hop genre that acts such as Massive Attack and Tricky were the exponents of and there is no reason why this song could not sit comfortably at the table with anything offered by the aforementioned. It has tight production and great vocal performance and is a bubbling cauldron of bass and voice. Put simply this is the best trip-hop song to come from South of the equator.
‘Praha Paradise’ spent 15 weeks on the SA Rockdigest top 20 of which 1 was spent at the number 1 spot.
Where to find it:
African Dope Vol 1 – Various (2001), Sony Music, CDEPC 8193
Video:
1001 South African Songs You Must Hear Before You Go Deaf 