August 2015 update

Recently I have been enjoying:

Robert Plant - Lullabies and the ceaseless roar. Real expectation defying material, reminding us that he is a genius.

Wilko Johnson and Roger Daltry - Going back home. Very pure, very immediate rock 'n roll. I can't begin to explain how much I enjoy this album.

Live review: Metallica in Johannesburg, South Africa - 27/04/2013

Saturday 27th April 2013 had been looming large on my Calendar for many months. That was the day that Metallica would be in Johannesburg.


I had seen them before when they came to Centurion (between Johannesburg and Pretoria) for the Cokefest. That show was incredible, but marred by incredibly poor event management. This, coupled with the fact that being on a festival bill possibly restricted their stage set was enough motivation to want to see them again. This time as head-liners of their own show, I expected it to be quite different.

My experiences from the Centurion show helped me to better prepare for this show, and make some crucial decisions up-front. Particularly, deciding whether I would be head-banging or watching (I found the two actions mutually exclusive in Centurion when I head-banged my glasses two rows of seats below me).
The event this time was staged in the Soccer City stadium on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Getting there and back was a breeze, and the Stadium handles these types of events very well. I have been to a few now and have no complaints other than that of the in-stadium vendors charging absolutely crazy prices for everything.

Metallica started promptly at 21:30 - true professionals. We had the western clip of James living out his cowboy fantasies (I can totally relate) and then they ripped straight into an evening filled with monumental guitar shredding.

What was different from the last show I saw was that they had some new songs from their last album to choose from (Cyanide), they had some amazing fireworks displays throughout the later songs, and then most startling, the fact that James has become such a pleasant, engaging entertainer. Throughout, his between song conversation was genuine and engaging, this did not impact the ferociousness of their songs, so he has achieved a great balance. Everyone was inducted into the 'Metallica family', and, I was at least, convinced that the band was enjoying the show as much as the incredible crowd (apart from the idiot in front of me, wearing a t-shirt of one of those bands with an illegible name and screaming f-bombs each time Metallica invited crowd participation - I thought he might have been happier back in his bedroom in his Moms house with his head-phones turned on loud).

There was great atmosphere, the band played really well, Kirk had his iconic guitars there (Boris etc) and the weather was perfect. Two encores later, people started filing out - James, however, was still on the stage, chatting to anyone who would listen.

PS - You can purchase live Metallica concerts for download over here: http://www.livemetallica.com/

Live Review: Kings of Leon in Johannesburg

It’s been far too long since we have had some fresh and exciting rock band visit us in Johannesburg. Sure we had U2 and Coldplay, but the last of the more edgy rock bands will have been Oasis or Muse.

Needless to say I snapped up tickets when the Kings of Leon show was announced only to end up waiting half a year when they postponed it to 29 October 2011. It was well worth the wait though.

Supporting Acts:

The Black Hotels

I have seen these guys before, and blogged about them before (check my first Parlotones review). They have come a long way since then and sounded much better this evening. One thing that was clear this evening was that the opening bands were at least given a great sound system for the stadium and came across very well from a sonic point of view (Springbok Nude Girls sounded appalling opening for U2 in the same venue).

Shadowclub

There is a lot of hype around Shadowclub in local media, with their debut album ‘Guns and Money’ recently released. I can understand why – they have a great hard rocking sound going on. They are a power trio who have some great songs and excellent music ability.

Die Heuwels Fantasties

This band put on a good show, but for me at least were over-shadowed by The Shadow Club (no pun intended). But I could see that conversely, for a lot of the audience, this was the best SA band on show tonight.

Kings of Leon:

With all the media stories about a Caleb meltdown, I really did not know what to expect. What we got was a real rocker of a show!

The stage was quite simple, but really effective, with some split screens and lights set up that worked extremely well, never detracting from the music or the performance.

The bulk of the material came from ‘Only by the night’, but they threw in some earlier songs, the second song they played being ‘Taper Jean Girl’.

The audience was amazing, singing along to a lot of the songs: ‘Crawl’, ‘Closer’, ‘Revelry’ and then almost drowning out the band with ‘Sex On Fire’.

I have found that now since seeing them played live, the songs off ‘Come around sundown’ work better for me. It was not initially an album that had the same impact with me as ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’ or ‘Only by the night’, but now it is making more sense.

The band trooped off the stage after ‘Sex On Fire’, only to come back with a blistering encore that included a stunning ‘Use somebody’. Audience participation on this song was even more lusty that ‘Sex On Fire’. They closed out with a spectacular fireworks show.

Kings of Leon put on an under-stated, solid rocking show. They have a great bunch of stadium filling songs to choose from. The pace changed variously throughout the show, and it was good to see how well their slower songs carried in the live context.

I can’t wait until they come again!

December 2011 Update

It’s been some time since my last update, but that just means that I now have more to blog about.

New Music (to me):

I got the new Feist Album – Metals. This is really good, a combination of rootsey, poppy songs that reel you in.

I also obtained Kate Bush’s - Directors Cut. This is a real bargain, three albums for roughly the price of one. It includes The Red Shoes, remastered, which I never owned before. I find it a great album with some high credibility guest artists. Then there is the Sensual World album. Including this is great for me since I only ever had it on vinyl. The third CD is re-workings of songs from these two albums that provides some fresh takes on songs.

Also recently acquired is the new Felice Brothers – Celebration,

Florida. This band goes from strength to strength. Their sound evolves and they definitely do not get stuck in a rut. My favourite track thus far is Ponzi.

Then of course there is the new Bon Iver album called Bon Iver- get it, it is truly awesome. He has also expanded his soundscape in very positive ways.

Other:

Check out www.justmusic.co.za this is another good website for reading about music news.

For some end of year lists, check these out:

http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/index.php?blog=6&title=

http://www.nme.com/list/50-best-albums-of-2011/255135/page/5

One good for a laugh:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/12/14/143699630/the-20-unhappiest-people-you-meet-in-the-comments-sections-of-year-end-lists

Summary July 2011

It's been too long since I have updated my blog.

As a summary I will mention various topics.

1) New(ish) music:

The Robert Plant - Band of Joy album is brilliant.

Paul Weller's - Wake up the Nation is also good.

The new Bon Iver - Bon Iver is beautiful.

2) Discoveries:

The Pitchfork website is good reading - pitchfork.com

Wolfgangs Vault is an amazing website for watching and listening to an incredible variety of live recordings for free - wolfgangsvault.com. There are also Ipod and Android apps that can be used to access this on your mobile devices. Extremely cool!

3) Live concerts:

I saw the Parlotones again at Teatro at Monte Casino recently. They have a revamped live show. There are a variety of props, dancers who remind me of the zombies from Pinball of the Dead (had my flipper fingers twitching), and more polished songs. It was an enjoyable experience. There are some pictures at the beginning of this posting.

I saw U2 live in Johannesburg. I had a seat way out at the top of the stadium, but it was still and excellent show. A stunning experience. Opening acts were Springbok Nude Girls (the sound quality was appalling it was difficult to recognise even their most famous songs), and Miriam and Amadou (also suffering from poor sound quality).

I have tickets for Kings of Leon who were already meant to have come, but due to injury were not able to make it. Apparently they will honour the tickets in October. I can't wait.

4) Deaths:

Since my last posting, three of my heroes have sadly passed away: Ronnie James Dio, Gary Moore and Clarence Clemons. I believe that you can hear Clarence on Lady Gaga's The Edge of Glory.

Live review: The Parlotones at Monte Casino September 10 2010

Venue: Monte Casino

You may have noticed that I tend to moan about the sound at the Dome in Northgate. This was one reason why I passed up the opportunity to see The Parlotones there recently.

Monte Casino however, I approached with an open mind. The only other show that I had seen there had been Cats, and apart from everything else, the sound was actually quite good.

On Friday 10/09, parking was easy to find, there were no big queues, and arriving at the event was a pretty stress-free occasion.

Opening Act: The Black Hotels

What do The Black Hotels sound like? They came across as a non-intrusive band playing songs in the key of Joy Division, New order, Lightning Seeds, A Flock of Seagulls and Cat Stevens. They came out in a 1 4 formation..... sorry still struggling to come down from the soccer world cup. I know that it is September already, but the high from the South African Soccer World Cup 2010 is a very difficult thing to get over. The additional guitarist on the right wing seemed to me to be a little superfluous and the keyboard sound a little high in the mix.

Overall though, quite a nice band, good songs, good sound thanks to the venue, and lots of potential. A bit more work on their stage show and they could be great.

The Act: The Parlotones

The lights dimmed, a couple of guys came on stage strumming guitars and we heard singing. Looking around we spotted Kahn jitterbugging down the aisle with drummer Neil Pauw singing about building ladders to the moon looking like a this was an incredibly funny prank. They made their way to the stage, Neil slapping a tambourine to keep time, and the show got under-way. Their formation is 33 3 1, with the Kwa Zulu Natal Youth Orchestra also in attendance. The Parlotones are in their home strip, black skinny jeans, black shirts and red ties (OK I promise - last soccer reference) at the start of their world tour. Next stop USA.

The sound is awesome, the songs with the KZNYO sound wonderful and I started to wonder why these seats felt so claustrophobic, the venue felt so hot and uncomfortable and I felt so trapped in the venue during Cats. This part was closed with an incredible duet with Axene singing the title track from 'Stardust Galaxies'.

After a few songs, they ditched the youngsters, Kahn strapped on a Gibson SG (mint condish) and they started to rock out, warning us that it would get a lot louder. It got louder, still the sound was great and the songs kept coming. The greatest chorus of course – Push Me To The Floor!!!! These guys have a whole lot of fun with their songs and the sold out crowd joined in whole-heartedly.

In terms of the show, there was great on-stage banter, very witty quips flying with no condescension to the audience. Kahn's energy was infectious, with each song delivered perfectly accompanied by leaping and dancing in his worryingly tight jeans. He is a great entertainer!

If you have not seen them live yet, make the effort, these guys put on a fantastic show! They are up there with the likes of Foto Na Dans and Wonderboom. A great South African rock band that we should all be proud of!

The day after, I feel great, my ears are still ringing and I am annoying my better half by screaming out Push Me To the Floor at random intervals.

March 2010 round up

Wow, the first quarter of 2010 gone and my blogging is so infrequent.

Two things I can report on are: Kelly Clarkson and also the BLK JKS.

Kelly Clarkson Live at the Coca Cola Dome

OK, I know that this is a rock blog, so what's with Kelly Clarkson? Well this year is not looking strong on the live music in South Africa front when it comes to international acts.....

Another point working against this is the Dome. I have yet to hear a show there where the sound can be described as at the very least good. Every one I have seen there is always abysmal.

Back to the show - the opener was SA Idols 2009 co-winner Jason Hartman and his band. The poor guy has his one chance to play in front of tens of thousands of people and it sounded like he had not even had a sound check. His voice was way down in the mix and everything sounded tinny. I suspect that he and his band are actually pretty good, but who could tell.

After AC/DC's 'You shook me all night long' blasting out the PA, Kelly Clarkson bounded onto the stage. Again the quality of the sound was rubbish, but certainly better than that of Jason.

Kelly actually rocked out and I was amazed by the strength and power of her voice. She also seems determined to build up some rock credibility. Between songs in which she part covered Kings of Leons 'Use somebody', she references current influences (such as KoL) and also at some stage gave us a fantastic cover of the Black Keys. All the while the audience were totally loving her.

KC turned out to be an entertaining, talented and endearing performer!

The BLK JKS - After Robots

Another revelation for me this year has been the BLK JKS. I had heard a bit about them on the blogosphere and have been looking out for their CD 'After Robots' for a while, not really knowing what to expect. I had heard that they were a South African Rock band from the townships, which intrigued me.

Listening to the CD, I was enthralled. From the cutting guitar solo on the first track all the way to the last track, these guys have laid down some great rock songs. To my ear, their influences range from Journey, Santana, Sakhile, Springbok Nude Girls (our South African rock bands like to rock with Trumpets sometimes) to Hendrix and Wolfmother. These guys have integrated a great sonic experience into their sound.

In my view they are the saviours of SA rock music right now. An offering to make us all proud!

Now I just have to try and track them down for a live performance.

2009 Wrap up

2009 has been an interesting year in terms of music.

Most magazines and web-sites are treating the close of 2009 as the time to review the decade.

Have a look at what NME magazine rate as the greatest albums of the decade here:

http://www.nme.com/list/albums-of-the-decade/158049

and while you are there also have a look at their greatest tracks of the decade.

Rolling Stone magazine have an opinion too:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/31248017/100_best_albums_of_the_decade/

As well as Uncut magazine:

http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/uncut/special_features/13805

Lists like this are all over the www. I cannot even begin to compile a list as I have not been exposed to much of the new music mentioned.

My find of 2009 was Them Crooked Vultures. The band line up of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones represents a few of my favourite bands. Homme is a collaborator par excellance, and the high hopes that I had for this album were met. These guys have the personalities and musical skills to make this kind of collaboration work! I love it.

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!

 

December 2008 update

In South Africa, quality radio programming is a problem. Maybe it’s because we live in such a culturally diverse country, but radio station wise, it is very difficult to tune into some good quality rock.

 

This does not always have to be a huge issue since I now have my Squeezebox ( see www.slimdevices.com) and can therefore tune into radio stations around the world via the internet at home. The huge issue relates to what to listen to when I am driving.

 

I have blogged before on the college radio station UJFM that can be picked up in the Johannesburg area, and they have been a bit of a life-saver in this regard. You cannot begin to describe my joy in turning on the radio at 6:45 a.m. on my way to work and hearing the new AC/DC, Kings of Leon, Killers or Metallica song. Sometimes even an old classic comes on that leaves me overjoyed. This radio station can really be a life-saver sometimes.

 

There are slots in their programming where it all goes horribly wrong for me. They do have times that they play more of the commercial type industry bubble-gum. They also have some DJ’s who are abysmal. Some of these guys cannot even pronounce the street names around Johannesburg when providing traffic updates. That kind of makes the whole point of a traffic update redundant.

 

But on the whole, this is still a great station to listen to when looking for some good rock music.

 

A few weeks ago I even entered a competition on a Sunday afternoon whereby I won the new Kings of Leon album – how cool is that? For the record, it is a very good album. I had my reservations about this album and that is why I had not already bought it, but it certainly holds up as a strong offering from a really talented band.

 

Other news for December is that most magazines on the web have got their ‘Best of 2008’ lists out. Have a browse on NME.com (there is even a blog on NME.com that tries to compile results from all over), rollingstone.com and popmatters.com for a view on what people are rating for the year. For a South African flavour check out www.isolation.tv for Lloyd Gedye’s best of 2008 summary. My favourite South African rock offering is the new one (EP only unfortunately) from Foto Na Dans. They are an incredible band doing very fresh stuff. In terms of my favourites for 2008, what is new to me may even actually be a couple of years old.

 

What I can commit to however, is that the greatest musical experience I had this year was seeing Muse live in Johannesburg! Truly truly incredible. I am not sure that I will ever get to see something like this in South Africa again.

 

In terms of albums, Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago is my recommendation for 2008 in terms of what I have heard of all the offerings out there, which probably is not much.

 

The best music related DVD that I bought this year is Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Runnin’ Down a Dream by Peter Bogdanovich.

 

Albums that I listened to a lot this year regardless of when they were released are:

 

Rodriguez – ‘Cold Fact’,

Radiohead – ‘In Rainbows’,

Muse – ‘HAARP’,

AC/DC – ‘Black Ice’.

 

All in all I thought that 2008 has been a great year for music! Let’s see what 2009 has to offer….

CD Review: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand

As an avid Led Zeppelin fan, I have tried to follow the careers of it’s members over the years. I have bought albums such as ‘Honeydrippers’, ‘Outrider’, ‘Walking into Clarksdale’ and ‘Manic Nirvana’ amongst others. And I must say that none have ever been as satisfying as the tremendous back-catalogue that Led Zeppelin have.

 

Also, I have a couple of Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS) albums which are enjoyable blue-grass offerings. Therefore this specific musical partnering appealed to me the moment I heard of it. Of course I was a little anxious, as I have felt let down by Robert Plant before, but as the rave reviews came in, I felt more and more confident that this would be a worthwhile purchase. But I was a little concerned that I would be getting a full CD’s worth of ‘Battle of Evermore’ style keening. While a fantastic song in the context of the Led Zeppelin album, I had my doubts about this being bearable for a whole albums worth of songs (I have enough issues with some of the neighbourhood cats on my garden wall).

 

My next problem was finding it at a decent price in South Africa. It seemed to be priced at least 10% higher than any other current/chart CD in the shops that I visited, and that offended my principles of the moment (hee hee). Then I noticed recently that it was going for half-price in on-line retail shops like Amazon, and my mind was made up. That’s the story on why I took so long to buy it!

 

The first good news is that it is not as I imagined – namely not ‘Battle of Evermore’ keening throughout. While Robert and Alison do sing together on a lot of the songs, there are just as many where Robert takes the lead, or Alison takes the lead with the other performing backing only. This means that there is plenty of variety. Another point is that the pace is rather slow. There are one or two up-beat songs, but it is largely a pretty laid-back album.

 

What comes through though is a pair of voices that nearly perfectly compliment each other, a solid bunch of musos backing this all up, and the production standards of T-Bone Burnett. I would say that the music is dreamy, smooth, beautiful, down to earth and warm. Overall, if one wanted to classify it, I suppose that one could say ‘Country’.

 

Making a reappearance from Plant is ‘Please Read The Letter’, that also appeared on ‘Walking into Clarksdale’, and I suppose that people are still not reading his letters. Since you’re asking, I will say that I prefer this version of the song but I really wish someone would read the damn letter now. The overall feeling about this album is that Plant sounds a lot better than he has for a while. Not everything is highly original. Songs are covered, the style is old, but amazingly it is one of the freshest sounding offerings that I have heard this year. I hope that they do another one!

CD Review: The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers

Amidst all the genre definitions of music, there is a constant striving in the music industry to pigeon-hole bands and their musical styles. One that I have become increasingly attracted to is that that has been labeled variously alt.country, Americana, or even alternative rock. Maybe I have confused a few of them together where in reality they should be considered more distinctly, but what I am talking about is music by the likes of Wilco, Golden Smog and more recently Okkervil River and The Felice Brothers amongst others. What seems to define this music for me is that real instruments are used, influences can be detected from Bob Dylan and The Band to Tom Petty, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and the blues. The music is earthy, rootsey and heart-felt.

 

The Felice Brothers have two albums out. This one called ‘The Felice Brothers’ and is their second, apart from one song on their first (which I love) I have not heard that one. Based on my enjoyment of their second, I will certainly try to dig out their first. This can be a challenge in South Africa as shops here are pretty dismal, and ordering online has become more and more risky whereby shipments are frequently lost.

 

‘The Felice Brothers’ is in fact a very varied album. This was a refreshing discovery for me as I had the expectation that they would put out an album full of very similar sounding songs. This is not the case. Sure the vocalists have pretty distinctive sounds, and there is a general trend of a basic format carrying each song. But the pace changes a lot from song to song, the vocalists seems to change too (there are no liner notes so I don’t know this for sure, but if it is the same guy singing every song, he sure can change a lot), and they bring in some pretty different instrumentation from song to song too. Again without liner notes I can’t be 100% clear on who is playing what on each specific song, but on some the is the presence of brass, others include the accordion, while others can be pretty stripped down too. But my point here is that The Felice Brothers have managed to keep the entire album refreshingly different.

 

The anecdotal nature of the songs also draw the listener in from song to song. In each, one is also drawn into considering the protagonist. This multi-layered song writing requires a lot of talent and skill, and this band is certainly not short on that. What this results in is that you can listen to this album time after time and it reveals itself to you a little more each time.

 

The band is not afraid to start the album off on a pretty subdued note with the exquisite ‘Little Ann’, subsequently taking the listener on a roller-coaster ride with many changes of pace. One of the main ingredients that I look for in a great album is that of the fun element, and you can hear that this band really enjoys what they do. This is highlighted in some of the more bar-room brawl type songs that they deliver which bring a smile to my face every time. These songs come across as raunchy and rollicking, but such is the nature of this album, that you can expect a complete change of pace at any time.

 

If you’re looking for some real music by a band that loves what they do – I strongly recommend this one.

November 2008 summary

While the postings on this blog may not reflect it, November has been a rather busy month for me in terms of my music activities.

 

Amidst the financial crises around the world, and the subsequent tightening of belts by consumers, I have been out shopping. I have purchased the following albums and found them very enjoyable (I hope to provide more in-depth or detailed assessments soon):

 

The Felice Brothers – The Felice Brothers,

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Raising Sand,

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago,

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular, and

Okkervil River – The Stand Ins.

 

I also got the chance to visit the excellent Roughtrade store in East London, and can report that they have a really cool shop there including, by today’s standards, a huge vinyl selection, as well quite a different categorization system for their CD’s. Check out their web-site here www.roughtrade.com where you can shop online. Also very cool there are the in-house compilation CD’s that they put together. These are great samplers of specific themes, or genres – normally 2 CD’s for about 11 GBP. You can also check out their top ten list for 2008.

 

Other exciting things about November have been the appearance of the new Kings of Leon album. I have not heard it yet, but love the single. As well as the great reviews of Metallica’s latest which , I am ashamed to admit, I have not yet heard either. Some members in my household are also wildly anticipating the release of the new FOB album. Then the biggest buzz around has got to be that Guns ‘n Roses have finally released their ‘Chinese Democracy’ album after 15 years in the making. I have heard snippets, and all I will say right now is that what I heard sounded ‘OK’.

 

In December, I will try to compile some lists such as my best purchases of 2008. Songs that I have most enjoyed in 2008 etc. If you have any best of 2008 music comments to make, please do not hesistate!

CD Review: AC/DC - Black Ice

In nature  some animals imprint. This normally occurs at birth and is a method for improving their chances of survival. For example a new born duck imprints on the first duck-like moving thing it sees, and learns to follow this in convoy style (or so is my limited understanding from Microsoft Encarta). Why am I explaining this?

Well, the first truly cool music I heard was AC/DC. Up until then it had always been stuff like ABBA, Boney M, etc that never really moved me. The moment that George brought his AC/DC albums to school I was intrigued. Once I heard it on a decent sound system - it had imprinted. Therefore I’ll be honest from the outset here – there was no way that I was not going to like this album. I have always believed that AC/DC are the greatest band around, I love Angus’ guitar playing style, and their songs always cheer me up!

There have been some mediocre albums, but over the years, every album has had great songs to offer with new ways of saying the same thing offered, and also new things to say. So, I don’t think that I am like the Robert De Niro Rolling Stones fan in ‘The Fan’ in that I can admit to being a bit more realistic in my expectations of the band.

I do however imagine AC/DC sitting in their well-deserved lap of luxury, being stumped and agonizing over how to keep things fresh and vital after so many years. And my view is that I wish that they would not do that. Get in the studio, make a whole lot of hard driving boogie rock and roll, add lyrics about all the rude jokes and innuendos that you can think of and take it from there – what could be easier? Keep it greasy and menacing with lots of sinister sounding backing vocals. The guitar should be razor sharp, slicing through the clutter that invades my day and the riffing should massage my brain in the way that a physiotherapist would treat your lower back (i.e. not too gently, but it feels great when it stops). The thing is, in my view, AC/DC fans probably are not looking for something that’s too different, as long as it rocks, and gives them a new excuse to pump some seminal AC/DC out of their stereos. They have done enormous bell gongs, and cannons firing, and I suppose it is difficult to top that in the 2000’s? I, of course, would like cannons on every album, but am prepared to admit that they may come across as overused to other none cannon preferring listeners (at least they’re included on most of the live albums). In addition, most of my experiences with AC/DC albums have resulted in some type of damage – AC/DC ‘Live’ resulted in me accidentally breaking the volume button on my car stereo, ‘Back in Black’ broke some speakers, you get the idea. This has sort of become an expectation too….. in short I want to be Thunderstruck! That looks easy enough…….

So, what have they done with ‘Black Ice’?

Well, I’ve listened to it in the car on the way home from the shop, I listened to it twice on the stereo at home and I have listened to it again driving to work and back (it’s an extremely listenable album).

They have made another AC/DC album – that’s what. It’s all in here: the straight ahead AC/DC style boogie rockers, the various innuendoes, the fantastic Young brother’s guitar sound, the rock solid and booming rhythm section and the high spirits. Also, they have slowed things down on a couple of songs, and offered some new things like some that almost sound like Pop songs. To me there is no shock and horror related to this (the slowing down that is), I have always enjoyed songs like ‘Ride On’ and ‘Night Prowler’ and have believed that this element of their oeuvre has been neglected on the last few albums. Even the most classic of their albums such as ‘Highway to Hell’ includes tracks such as ‘Touch too Much’ or ‘Love Hungry Man’ which in my view are pretty ‘light’.


They have also not remained impervious to the world around them. Both lyrically and musically, the 2000’s have had an influence. For example ‘Anything Goes’ and ‘War machine can be musically linked to offerings by younger bands such as the Killers and The Raconteurs (the guitar reminds me a lot of ‘Born in the USA’ era Springsteen). However, there have always been moments when AC/DC have displayed a lighter touch.
On ‘Rock 'n' Roll Dream’ Johnson sounds like a cloth capped version of Grace Slick, Stevie Nicks and the Wilson sisters all rolled into one. Maybe he has believed that all this time, he doesn’t do slow (the last slow AC/DC songs coming from Bon Scott). Well here he does, and it comes across well.

My Favourite track thus far: ‘She Likes Rock ‘n’ Roll’.

But, essentially, the question is: ‘Is this a good album’ i.e. ‘Is this as good as Highway to Hell or Back in Black’? The answer is not as easy. When I first heard those albums I was still in my teens. They resonated with my life at the time. How do I look at ‘Black Ice’: from the point of view of a teenage boy and the minimal baggage that comes with that, or from the point of view of a middle-aged male? While I believe that I am more in touch with my inner teenager than most, I will stick to the middle-aged view for the sake of honesty. After all the ‘boys’ in the band are even older than me, so let’s say that we have all ‘moved on a bit’. The sound and the music are great, what may be missing is the same level of humour in the lyrics that I have come to know and love. In that sense I think that this is a good album certainly better than “Fly on the Wall’ and ‘Flick of the Switch’, probably somewhere between ‘For those about to Rock’ and ‘Stiff Upper Lip’. I will say this: if you like AC/DC, you will like this album!

From a teenaged kid’s point of view amongst the clutter of itunes, ipods, MTV, hormones and insecurity, I don’t think that we will get an opinion on the album as a whole, and that is how the band want us to view it – a complete album.

In a career and history where the band has received so much from Rock and Roll, it is refreshing to see how much they are prepared to give back. I don’t think that they ‘need’ to make albums anymore, and that said, if they were only doing this to keep out of the way of the wife and kids at home it probably would have sounded terrible. But they have been dead serious about this and it shows. I believe that this is the underlying lesson relating to this band – it is not all about taking only, to succeed you also need to give, and these guys do so with all of their collective hearts and two big balls each too.