November update

There is a lot going on these days that is exciting in terms of music releases.

Digital remastering

In terms of digital remastering, there has been a tremendous amount of activity. The Beatles back catalogue has been released. I bought Abbey Road and love it. Black Sabbath are systematically releasing their old albums and I can't wait to get my hands on them.

I have read that Fleetwood Mac are also looking at some remastering. My guilty pleasure album of all time is Tusk, and I would love to hear a digitally remastered version.

Listening list

As previously commented, I have been listening to The Fray - The Fray. This is a great album. The sound is that of somewhere between Coldplay and Snow Patrol, but with a bit of a better edge to it.

I have also heard the Muse album The Resistance and really love it. This band is one incredible, bombastic and creative unit! The album is a frenzy of creative work, with lots of nods in the direction of Queen and our old classical composers. I would love to see Muse live again.

An old album that I have just discovered is that of the Eels - Souljacker. It is full of really great material. I am definitely going to have to catch up on their back catalogue.

The new Arctic Monkeys album - Humbug, has always appealed to me considering the link to Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal - two of my favourite bands). I can report that it is a real gem.

Coming up

I have read that there is a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers release called The Live Anthology. I can't wait to get my hands on this. I have always enjoyed the 'Pack up the Plantations' live album, and have heard that this is way better.

September update

OK, I have been guilty of not blogging for a quite a while now, and I do apologise. The reasons are many, from losing my broadband connection, to being pre-occupied with all the new developments in my life, to hearing that Noel Gallagher's blog (oasisinet) was voted the best celebrity blog recently.

The last point has had me re-assessing my blog after examing that of Gallagher. It has been hard for me to decide how best to format my blog. I am still pondering this, but in the meantime the music news that has me talking has been that Noel Gallagher has officially left Oasis. Also the new Muse album is out this month as well the new one from the Arctic Monkeys. This is all pretty exciting stuff in my view.

My only recent music purchase has been that of the new The Fray album, called The Fray. I like it a lot and hope to provide more on why I do soon.

Please keep checking and I should have a few more updates coming.

Album Review: Fall Out Boy - Folie a deux

I can understand that there may be a lot of reasons why people do not like Fall Out Boy:

Patrick Stump’s nasally whine of a voice.

Pete Wentz’s manic midgetness.

The woah oah oah oah’s that haunt every second song as either a bridge or a chorus (or is that actually every song?).

Their habit of giving their songs long and meaningless names.

The fact that this band, who named themselves after a sub-character in the Simpson’s TV series now have a member who has actually married a real life Simpson.

Moving onto this album and still considering things not to like:

No lyric sheets for those non woah oah oah oah moments.

The song names are all written in their mirror images on the back of the cd. i.e. you need a mirror to read them (coupled with the fact that they are still as irritatingly named as above).

The fact that the band seem so successful when you just know that there are many, many better bands out there who are not as successful.

So then what about the album, all things considered being equal?

Stump is actually not whiny all the time this time. The music is rather good. The songs are strong. They only use woah oah oah oah in three songs.

Surprisingly this album is actually quite good. The songs work and Stump sings really well with the band picking up some likable grooves that have started to showcase some of their influences too. It is almost as if this is the first time they are revealing something of their true identity through their songs.

My conclusion: if you have always liked FOB, you will love this. If you have never heard FOB before, listen to only this album, you make like it. If you have heard FOB before and hated them, give this one a try it’s actually quite good.

Festival Review: Coke Zero Fest 09 in Johannesburg 10 April 2009

The Coke Zero Fest '09 has finally come and gone. This time it was a real roller-coaster all along the way for me. It seems that it probably was for the organisers too.

I blogged previously on my battle to actually get tickets, and then still missing out on a belatedly introduced bulk ticket discount. At the time, the international bands announced had not really convinced me that I was doing the right thing, but I was hoping for some exciting last minute additions - little did I know.

Closer to the time the venue changed: this worried me a lot (I was at the Metallica Coke Fest where it all went horribly wrong with the Venue and related logistics). Regardless I remained committed to go. Then the big news - two of the international bands had cancelled: Bullet for my Valentine and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I suppose most ticket-holders were pretty panicked after this, and this with only two days to go!

What kept me committed to going was Oasis and Foto Na Dans.

The Venue

The day arrived and we hit the road. Surprisingly 15 minutes from my house! Parking was laid out in amongst a bunch of non-indigenous Seringa trees, not a good sign in my view, but I resolutely put my plant snobbery aside and headed for the entrance.

The next surprise came in the form of the size of the 'Golden Circle'. It was huge. This meant that someone without a Golden Circle ticket was not going to get anywhere near the stage - like me.

The rest of the layout looked pretty good. Food stalls, beer and drink tents and various other places were pretty well laid out and there were strategically placed boards giving directions too. There were plenty of mobile vendors wandering around with various offerings too. There were even some attractively dressed 'cancer girls' strolling around enticing people to try starting a new habit - smoking.

I found a spot to set up, and just then the first band started up. This was it, great weather the whole day and night ahead of me and nine bands to go.

The Performances

Up first were One Day Remains.

These guys had it all when it came to doling out some ripping and shredding hard rock. The sound was great, and the songs were good. They put on a good show with the lead singer every now and then letting rip with some vocal effects sounding like a distraught Uru'khai who had just discovered that the rest of his horde had abandoned him in the mountains. I liked it.

Next came Foto Na Dans.

The first song did not sound too good, I think due to maybe the sound mix. But from the second song in these young Afrikaners with big hair rocked out fantastically. This really is a band to get to know if you haven't bothered yet. Their songs are carefully crafted and brilliant. At times they came close to sounding like Muse, with a trumpet. The trumpet playing was excellent and at this stage the sound mix was spot on. The lead singer - Le-Roi Nel also came close to matching Jared Leto from last year's Fest with his swearing, and this mostly in Afrikaans! A brilliant stunning performance!

A surprise to me was the next band: Evolver.

I was not aware that they were going to be playing. Thank goodness that they did, they put on a great show. Every song was well executed and most of them a lot of fun. There was one really bad song right in the middle there somewhere, but when they got around to punching a hole in Saturday night they could do no wrong.

Dirty Skirts followed Evolver and were probably, on the day, the weakest of the local bands. They are probably not the best suited band for big venues. I am not sure what exactly was wrong, but to me they did not come across very well. However, I did notice a lot of people in the distant outside zone from the Golden Circle really enjoying their show - especially when it came to their more well known songs.

While roadies prepared the stage for the next band I took a stroll around. The venue had really filled up. One of the good things about the venue was the previously maligned Seringa trees. These were not only in the parking area, but also inside the venue. People were showing great appreciation for the shade that they offered. It looked like a great crowd, with not as much black being worn as in previous years.

I headed back in time to take in Cassette.

These guys, and a girl, were definitely the most engaging with the audience, even stopping their show to record a video of the audience voicing their disapproval of the last minute cancellations. Apparently you can find a link to it on their web-site. Their entire show was terrific. They have the songs, a lead singer who knows how to work the crowd and the musicianship to bring it all together. I looked around during some of the songs and the audience were jumping up and down and singing along with abandon - just what you expect at a rock festival!

Next up were the local head-liners Zebra and Giraffe.

After the performances from Foto Na Dans, Evolver and Cassette these guys had a tough job. They definitely had the best sound thus far. Louder and cleaner, the music came across very well. Like a well-oiled machine the band hit the audience with one perfectly executed song after another. Their music was really good. The only problem was the lack of a 'performance'. To me at least, it seemed that they were just standing there playing song after song as well as they could. They could have been doing it in their bedrooms. A great band with great songs, but not much of a stage show unfortunately.

As I reflected after Zebra and Giraffe, I felt really excited by the standard of the local bands. If the festival had ended here, I would have felt like this had been close to value for money already. That's how strong our local bands are these days. You have got to go and check them out!

Next came the International Acts, with Panic at the Disco kicking things off.

I was probably the least excited about hearing this band of all the acts, local and international, on the line-up. This opinion was based on what I had heard of their music over the years on the radio. However, this is definitely a band that comes across really well Live. They are all very proficient musicians, and also have the looks to get the younger girls going completely crazy. Much has been said about the recent change of direction, but as a live set-list their songs formed a cohesive high impact set of fun songs. They really got the party going as the first group to play after the sun had set finishing of with a cover of the classic 'Shout' also covered by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on one of my favourite Live albums 'Pack up the Plantations'.

Now the time had come for the biggest bands and first up was Snow Patrol.

I have always considered them as a little boring, although I never denied the power of 'Chasing Cars'. They kicked off with sheer power. They were definitely the loudest band of the night, and the sound was incredible. Unassuming and direct, the band gave us hit after hit. Songs that had struck me as boring before came to life in the live show context. Again I looked around, the entire audience were grooving along to their show with absolute joy. They brought a mellowish but still joyous groove to the day that was thoroughly enjoyable. Gary Lightbody has a very cool way with the crowd and the sea of people jumping up and down to their songs were in the palm of his hand. At the end of their show, I for one, was elated.

Finally the waiting was over, it was time for Oasis.

They were exactly what they are - a world famous rock band with  a solid set of  songs and a surly reputation to go with it. Their stage show was similar to that of Zebra and Giraffe, but somehow in their case it worked. As we all know, Liam hardly ever talks, and Noel sings better than him. Every now and then Noel would say something that is probably humorous in Manchester and then gaze at the crowd as if scientifically measuring the comment's impact.

A lot of their set was made up of songs from their new album. My guess is that its not been a best-seller in South Africa, but the songs were in fact really good - I may go out and buy it now. Plenty of the older songs were also played and it was at this staged when I secretly thanked Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Bullet for my Valentine for not turning up. Oasis played a really long set, and it was great.

I think that they had some concerns about how well they were coming across since when the first chords of 'Wonderwall' came out and the crowd exploded with joy Liam commented 'Oh there you are'. Nothing like a bit of the Gallagher sarcasm coming through. They also took stabs at Bafana Bafana and our accents, but who's keeping track.

'Don't look back in Anger', and their traditional sign off of 'I am the Walrus' came too quickly.

Going home

Tired but happy I wandered though the parking field searching for my car. Each clump of Seringa's looked very much like every other clump. Eventually I found it, and then had flashbacks to the Metallica Coke Fest where the traffic organisation was so bad it took and hour and a half just to get out of the venue. This was the same - shocking.

I got home only to discover that something in the the field had punctured one of my tyres. A small price to pay I suppose even if it was a side wall puncture that could not be repaired.

Concert Review: Old Mutual Bassline Jazz Club Revisited Emmerentia Dam 01/03/09

Through word of mouth, we had heard that there was going to be some Jazz at Emmerentia on Sunday 01/03/09 starting at noon. So we got all our stuff together and headed out not really knowing what to expect.

 

Upon arrival it started looking a bit worrying. There were no crowds, parking was easy to find and tickets were suspiciously cheap. We found a comfortable spot under some trees and settled down to wait. There was a nice area for the kids to mess around, the sound from the stage (recorded music) sounded good and the weather was looking great (bright sunny skies as only Johannesburg can deliver).

 

Some digging around revealed the setlist (the only copy available taped to an officials desk):

Sam Mtukudzi

Sandile Ziqubu

Paul Hanmer

Oliver Mtukudzi

Vusi Mahlasela.

 

Sam Mtukudzi came on and played a short and enjoyable set as a one man act (voice and guitar). Carrying on the tradition from his dad Oliver, he accompanied himself on guitar singing soulful, beautiful songs. It was apparent at this stage that the sound system made available for this gig was awesome. Lots of people were also starting to arrive.

 

Sandile Ziqubu came on with his tenor saxophone and laid down some great grooves. The mix was, in my opinion, not the greatest, but he got a nice African fusion type of sound going and set the stage for the heavy-weights.

 

Next up was Paul Hanmer the pianist/keyboardist. In his band were the living legends Barry van Zyl, McCoy Mrubata, and Andre Abrahamse. They got straight into two numbers the second of which was ‘Strandloper’, with McCoy stepping in with some of the smoothest and most soulful sax that I have ever heard. For the next few numbers the audience were completely mesmerised by the virtuosity they were experiencing. The band finished off their all too short set with ‘The Life’ which was another revelation. The rhythm section set into a ruthless groove that was taking no prisoners. We saw Mrubata stepping up to the mike to hypnotise the audience and convince them that there was no better place in the world to be at that moment. Paul Hanmer suddenly seemed trapped too, his right hand tapping out what seemed like a frantic morse-code probably begging to be released from the awesome groove being laid down by van Zyl and Abrahamse, while his left hand danced on the keyboard like a dervish. It was over all too soon. By now the venue was pretty full.

 

Following Paul Hanmer was Oliver Mtukudzi, another living legend. He came on with a full band and his usual, strong repertoire. They delivered another fantastic set- what an incredible band! The music was bright and cheery and had the crowd dancing at the front of the stage. To close his set, his son Sam (no not son of Sam) took his guitar mid-song releasing the aging Oliver to bust some moves. One moment he writhed like a cobra as it hypnotises its prey, and the next made  some of the most agile limbed moves that I have seen from a man that age, in celebration of the music they could share across the generation.

 

Last up was Vusi Mahlasela. Mahlasela’s songs are the most recognisable due to generous radio play. This set had the crowd singing along all the way. Some issues came up in terms of the sound in this session, including a complete cut in sound mid-song in the beginning and some mixing problems later on, but it was still an enjoyable set.

 

So, not a bad day out for a sunny Sunday afternoon. The crowd was great. Strictly speaking only Sandile Ziqubu and Paul Hanmer are what I would call jazz, but the rest of the performers were still extremely enjoyable.

It was a true ‘rainbow-nation’ type of audience, and a line-up of musicians that should have every South African and Zimbabwean (for the Mtukudzis) proud of the musical talents that exist in their countries.

 

Great Venue, great organisation, great PA, great weather, great musicians and great performances, what more could one ask for?

February update

Well February has come and gone. It was a busy month for me, and in fact an inordinate amount of time was spent trying to buy tickets for the CokeZero Festival scheduled in Johannesburg for the 10^th of April.

 

In all honesty, I am not that enthused by the line-up, but generally this is the only chance that I get to see some international acts, so what can I do but go?

 

This time the international acts are Bullet for my Valentine, Panic at the Disco, Snow Patrol and, as head-liners, Oasis. Pretty slim pickings in my view, with only Oasis being of any real interest to me. Even then, I must admit that I have never really ‘got’ the hype around Oasis. I don’t own a single CD of theirs, and have listened to their singles on the radio with only a passing interest. My hope is that you have to see them ‘Live’ to really get them, therefore I am going along to the concert with an open mind.

 

As for the other international bands? Let’s wait and see on the day.

 

Why, though, did I spend an inordinately long time in buying tickets? Firstly, the ticket vendor’s (computicket) web-site refused to accept my credit card (I don’t have a problem like this on most other web-sites). That meant that I had to go to a Computicket to buy a ticket. Finding one proved difficult, apparently they are all hosted inside Checkers super-markets now. Therefore I had to find a Checkers that I felt safe going to. This was easier said than done. Eventually I found one less sleazy than all the rest and went inside. The ticket vending part triples up as the cigarette booth and also something to do with paying utility bills as well as something about Telkom. The one I went to had three unmarked queues and of course I stood in the wrong two first. But now I have the tickets and I am ready for the festival. To add insult to injury, I found out this week that they are now offering discounts on tickets based on volume. I bought three at the time and paid the full price…..

 

What seem most attractive to me are the local acts. There the line-up is looking strong. We will be treated to Dirty Skirts, Foto na Dans and Zebra & Giraffe among others. These are bands that I truly want to see. I can’t wait.

Classic Albums Revisited 4: Talking Heads - Remain in Light

I am not the world’s biggest Talking Heads fan, although listening to this album recently has made me question why not.

 

I have owned and listened to ‘Fear Of Music’, ‘Remain in Light’, ‘Speaking in Tongues’, ‘Stop Making Sense’ and ‘Naked’ for decades, and anyone who knows me will know that I cite ‘Naked’ as one of my favourite albums ever. Before getting into this review, I can strongly recommend ‘Naked’ as an album that always cheers me up and gets the legs jiggling due to the infectious vibe. The guitar on ‘Naked’ is nothing short of awesome, and part of this is due to contributions from Johnny Marr on a lot of the songs – sublime.

 

But not to get side-tracked too much let’s get back to ‘Remain in Light’. This album came out in 1980 and I first heard it in 1986. I was actually exposed to both ‘Remain in Light’ and ‘Fear of Music’ at the same time, and my preference in those days was for ‘Fear of Music’ due the really funny lyrics (in a dark and paranoid kind of way). Now in the 2000’s, my preference has moved to ‘Remain in Light’. As we go through it song-by-song I hope to clarify why.

 

Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)

This song launches the album like a statement of intent. It explodes out of your loudspeakers, immediately demanding attention and then settles into the polyrythmic groove that pervades throughout this album. Driving and intense, it seems to say – ‘You will party hard here’. A strong hint of the truly demented guitar theme that carries through most of this album is given here.

Crosseyed and Painless

This is another epic groove that won’t let go. Both this and the first song are intense deliveries from Talking Heads and Eno high-tech (in those days) groove machine. West meets Africa, with a bit of the East thrown in too and it just sounds so great.

The Great Curve

To me this is the very best song on this album. If I had to pick a song that should be included in the space capsule that is sent off into space with the hope that some alien race would find it and listen to it, I think that this is as good a representation of the human race as you are going to get. Again West meets Africa meets East, and thrown in for good measure is the best example of demented electric guitar that you are ever going to get (stating to the aliens that we are cool and funky, but don’t think that you can mess with us). Byrne explains what the world is about in the lyrics- ‘the world moves on a woman’s hips’ providing the aliens with some clues to understanding human procreation. There are two guitar solos that really rock out in this song (the song clocks in at six minutes and twenty six seconds – the longest on this album).

 When I get around to completing my application to join the Sith (as Darth Kraken of course), my Light Sabre will sound like this electric guitar. The guest guitarist on this album is the famous Adrian Belew.

Influences from all over the world are encapsulated in this songs except for maybe those nasal resonators from the Mongolian Steppes.

Once in a Lifetime

Most people should recognise this one. This was the single I think, and also appears on ‘Stop Making Sense’ the live album that most people with a vague interest in Talking Heads seem to have. Great lyrics – ‘Well, how did I get here?’.

Houses in Motion

Aha – this is where the Mongolian Nasal Resonators kick in (more than likely actually Belew in another manifestation of demented guitar). Byrne (or his protagonist), I think is looking for a new place to stay, while the musical accompaniment suggests a swamp somewhere in a hot sweaty equatorial region. Great call and response from Byrne too.

Seen and Not Seen

There is some weird stuff going on here. Mainly to do with the lyrics, I still don’t get them but apparently you can change your face if you try hard enough. In the days of vinyl, the second side of this album contrasted a lot with the first side in terms of pace. The first side is fast, funky and somewhat frenetic. The second side slowing down a lot. This makes way for time to reflect on the lyrics and wander at all the wrongs in this world.

Listening Wind

A sinister offering with a slowed down pace, but actually welcome at this stage due to the intensity of the previous songs on this album. This is a beautiful song with a threatening undercurrent via the lyrics.

The Overload

At six minutes The Overload can seem to go on for too long. That was always my impression in my youth. Now, however, I marvel at it’s mind-altering capabilities. This is a song capable of picking up your thoughts and carrying them all over the place, usually leaving me in reverie so deep I often fail to notice that the album has ended.

In conclusion, to me, the relevance of this album has grown phenomenally over time. The soundscape is fantastic and it could only sound better if someone picked up the masters and brought out a re-mastered CD version (I have that for ‘Naked’ and it sounds brilliant). The band with Brian Eno were onto some cutting edge stuff in the studio that probably needed 2000’s type technology to be fully realised. It’s not Rock in the face of distinct categorisation, but listen to ’The Great Curve’ and you will realise that there are legions of so-called rock guitarists who will never be able to solo like that! I love this album!