As a general rule Cape Town is a terrible place. The entire city is covered in a thick blanket of smug that emanates from their silly mountain, and its inhabitants have no sense of urgency. But the one thing the city does manage to get right is electronic music.Due most likely to colonial witchcraft, the Mother City has managed to become a hotbed of fist-pumpy, grimy dance-like-a-white-boy weirdness. They will demonstrate this at the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival this weekend.Now in its fourth year, the festival is a celebration of all the synthesised strangeness that seems to course through Cape Town's veins.One of this year's headline acts is Petite Noire, a Mother City native who dresses like a goth Darth Vader.Noire, whose parents named him Yannick Illunga, was picked as one of Apple Music's artists of the year last year and is set to continue performing across the globe.His sound is an eerie futuristic blend of Fela Kuti, Joy Division and that empty feeling that follows heartbreak.Unlike most, the get-together is not just about music and debauchery. In the week leading up to the party, the festival hosts workshops throughout Cape Town.The workshops feature the headline acts and cover a variety of electronic music-related subjects. This year some of the workshops were hosted in Langa.The value of this is incalculable. One of the reasons electronic music, especially on the deep house side of the spectrum, has taken root in South Africa is due to its relatively low production expenses.Electronic music only requires the right software. Mastering a program means you can begin making tracks. T hey may not be brilliant at first but the time between knowing the basics and being proficient is much shorter.Aero Manyelo, who'll be performing at the festival, is a living example of this. Having grown up in the streets of Mamelodi, the accessibility of the production of electronic music has taken him across the globe, including a stint touring in France.According to the press release, 39 acts will compete for the attention of electroheads on a number of stages over three days this weekend.They will include Detroit techno stalwart Rolando French, DJ/producer Chloé, lauded for melding art and music, Berlin's Ralf Kollmann, and the head honcho of powerhouse imprint Mobilee.Manyelo will administer a potentially lethal dose of house along with Petite Noir and a large contingent of Cape Town artists."Sibot & Toyota will present their deft amalgam of bass, beats and attitude with hip-hop quartet Driemanskap, who've taken their self-crafted 'spaza' sound around the globe," say the organisers.The Cape Town Electronic Music Festival ends on Sunday. For more information visit www.ctemf.com..