cows, rams, sheep and dogs

ola!

so, this weekend is the weekend that many have been waiting for. the much anticipated RAMFEST has arrived. for some it will be like christmas, new years and your birthday all rolled into one, others just a regular day, and for the rest, a reminder of all things great in the world. i myself, however, am not going to RAMFEST. i know, shock, horror. but these things cost money, money that i do have, but prefer to spend it on more important things such as the greatest long weekend ever next month. the sacrifices one makes, but all these bands can be experienced again, but making memories with the special people in your life are a one time thing (yes, compadre, thats for you!:)x)

since i havent been to a gig in over a week, i dont have much juice for you. i was going to hit mercury on saturday (possibly for all the wrong reasons, but a girl does have needs), but got lazy. but rumour has it that purple turtle was some other kind of fucked up awesome. yeah. bummer.

so, i have decided that this blog would be dedicated to the bands that i would have made sure i danced to at some point at the festivities of the ram. so lets go. let this guide you if you are heading that way this weekend, and let me know your thoughts on my thoughts. and away we go...

FRIDAY:

Kidofdoom
i came across this band on MK about a year ago, and was transfixed by all the pretty colours and lights in their video. yes, i sat through a song that i did not know or understand, for 3 and a half minutes cos like a child, i couldnt take my eyes away from the screen. i am that easily distracted/transfixed, i dont really know which word to use. i didnt really listen to the song though, but decided that next time i'd actually make an attempt at listening, which i actually did the next time i saw the video. i must say i was fascinated. thats the only word i can use. fascinated. and intrigued. here was this band that didnt say a single word in their song, but somehow the music still 'moved' me. it still evoked some kind of emotion, and more that one at that. it told a story. they werent electro, they werent dnb, they werent even rock, but somehow they managed to concoct something that i think went down well. i think they call this genre 'electro-rock' (??), i dont know, but i dig it. and the fact that they dont sing at all, and let the music speak/sing/sound for itself is marvellous. i rate that if you're into electro-esque music, then this is for you. i dig it, and what i say is usually considered the truth.

Yesterday's Pupil
similar vibe to the boys from Kidofdoom. i guess theres something in the water in pretoria, who knows, but can someone get me a glass please? thank you. i do find yesterdays pupil to be more melodic though, and not as dancy, but just as cool. theres even an 80s kind of synth vibe to it (i dont even know what my own sentence means. im just using words i see on Assembly posters). and i just heard this new song, titled, 'you'll poly die', which i am absolutely IN LOVE WITH!!! but like, seriously. its got the grooviest bassline ever, and you cant help but move those shoulders and hips. ah, and the awkard beats. i heart awkward beats. im actually listening to it now. oooooh, yeah man. this is a dancy track though. check them out!!!!!!

3rd World Spectator
I have no words. and thats all i have to say on that :)

SATURDAY

Jack Parow
Okay, i know i said some uncool things about the mr parow a little while back. but i've decided to give him another chance, and you know what, i really do dig him. i know, for some, i am blaspheming, but im happy to put this on the interweb, so you must know how serious i am. but it wasnt the ever elusive 'cooler as ekke' that got me into his vibe, it was this track that he has with die heuwels fantasties called 'vraagstuk' or something of the sorts, that i really got into. yeah, the beat is cool, but i honestly just dig the way he raps. its funny. its slightly daring. its just simple and to the point, and he doesnt pose a threat to your mother or your ho, so thats quite nice. some love him, some hate him. there appears to be no middle ground with this character, and i guess thats also what i dig.

the monroes
i am just being biased here cos my mate is their publiscist, so this is some free advertising on my part :). if you dig My Chemical Romance, then you'll be into these joburg based guys. rumour has it some american company has snagged them, and this is the last time one is going to be able to see them on homegrown soil for some time. you know when those americans swoop in...umm...ja. i personally dont mind them. shame, they're cool. and they're lead singer is not at all painful to look at ;) but im not a fan of that kind of sound though at all, but after a few listens i started to enjoy them. granted i only know one track-something about peter pumpkin having a tumour. not really sure. dont even know how i feel about that title. i dug peter pumpkin as a child. felt bad for him. didnt he have a wife that he couldnt keep? poor bugger.

die heuwels fantasties
this would be in the hope that they did the jack parow collaboration. i have personal issues with one of the band members, but thats neither here nor there. shame, i dig them. they arent too bad, and i like their music videos. i hear they werent so sharp at the AKTV vibe in stellenbosch, but i guess this is way bigger, so they will have to bring it!

desmond & the tutus; taxi violence; isochronous
these bands i have heard and heard of, but havent been able to come to a conclusive decision about them. have only caught them in passing, so this would be a good chance to check them out properly. i did hit up an isochronous gig once at zula, but i was so incredibly boozed, i honestly dont remember. but i do remember making a mental note for some reason. they must have been good, cos i originally went to watch a mates band, and i cant remember what the name of the band was or how they were, but isochronous does ring a little bell at the back of the bird cage i sometimes refer to as my brain. taxi violence, i dont really know either, but a mate of mine had very good things to say about the drummer. and she has good taste in music and band members, so i trust her. and desmond and the tutus, i really dont know actually. can someone send me a memo about them?

so those, are the bands that i would def make my way to. i dont mention PENDULUM here, cos there really are no words, and no point in saying anything. so im not going to. maybe i'll shed a tear instead.

so kids, have fun. take photos. groove. drink. live. and love.

a little rain never hurt nobody

happy valentines day for sunday to all you fabulous people. i love the day after v-day: all the singletons are smiling cos love isnt being paraded in front of them anymore, and those in couples are either glowing/hating the fact that they only receive love and adoration from their significant others for one day every year. ah, yes. bliss. but we are not here to discuss the virtues of valentines day, so lets get down to what needs to be done.

i had all these fabulous things that i wanted to bring to the table for discussion, but cant remember any of them. i do apologise. so, what did i discover this weekend? discovered a band that i thoroughly enjoyed, and a band that only cemented themselves in my dislike column (they do this everytime i see them. have they not learnt? have i not learnt?)


lets go with the band that i like. so friday night, my mate invited me to a valentines day picnic thing at bishops and i was only too happy to oblige. i mean, music, the sun and wine, what more could one ask forwell, maybe that children not be allowed to be where the adults are, but thats neither here nor there. so, this band, right, check them out, i have a feeling that they are going to go places. oh, they're called Holiday Murray, and i just became their 806th fan. talk about progress!!! their fan page describes them as 'dance-folk'. im not sure about the 'dance' part, but i am in deep agreement regarding the folkness in their sound. its different, unusual, and thoroughly enjoyable. the lead singer has a crystal clear, sweet voice; and the bassist was just grooving. i love a grooving bassist. all bassists should just groove. yeah man. there was even a violin at one point, and by now, everyone should know that i get excited when a 'classical' instrument gets thrown into these 'rock' bands. it excites me in a way that many things dont. oh, and the gin in my tonic, the whiskey with my ice, the icing on the cake and the lemon and salt with my tequila, was that they had a tambourine!!! yes ladies and gents, a tambourine! now, if you think violins, trumpets and the like get me excited, they have nothing on what a tambourine does to me. wow! i love that instrument, and im hoping that someone gets the hint and gets me tambourine! but ja, they reminded me of ashtray in a way, in the excitement, creativity and a sense of innocence attached to them. its all about the music. check them out, you owe it to yourselves.

ok, now the band that continues to disappoint me. zebra and giraffe. i have the same dislike for them as i do for the dirty skirts. its just this arrogance that they perform with that really grates me cheese. i cannot stand it. firstly, they took a minute and a half to start playing, due to 'technical gliches'. but i mean, i get it, they are super rock stars, they can start whenever they want to.forget the fact that its cold, and the kids want their performance. then the lead singer was trying to be funny by cracking a few jokes. yeah...no. THEN, oh and this got me, it started drizzling. it was cape town drizzle, so its more like a mist. so then they couldnt play anymore. they were done after 5 songs, because they couldnt brave the rain. ok. yes, thats how i like my rock stars, like little girls. i mean, whats more bad ass than that? it rained a bit during holiday murray, and i didnt see them flinch once. so ja, over that vibe. just because you are on the 5fm playlist, doesnt make you cool. it makes you a sell out. the one thing that i did like about them was the energy of the guitarist. i dont know if it was red bull, illegal substances, or thats just how he is, but he brings it, and brings it well.

so this is my mildly entertaining insert for the week. apologies for it not being juicy as usual, but varsity is real and my computer at home is broken, so have to do this on campus and dont have the luxury of time or a cup of tea. tomorrow 7th son and the stremes are playing at mercury, and since its my weekly personal date night, i might treat myself to that. only know one song from each band, but thats enough for me.

oh, and have you guys seen that the jonas brothers have all embarked on solo projects. high 5 to them! still teenagers, and already they feel the need to have the band break up, and do what they need to do-explore their own creativity. well, we know what that kevin jonas one is exploring, and it isnt music (goodbye purity ring!) ;) i had some other comments to make about something, but i dont remember.

oh, lastly (i've noticed that i say this at the end of any post), i really want to make this blogspot prettier and more entertaining, but like i said in my very first post, i have no idea how this is done. if anyone knows how to upload pics, vids, put pretty things in my heading etc, let me know please. this forum needs a bit of a facelift of awesomeness.

sex for breakfast

this is going to be a particularly difficult update to write, because there is so much i want to say, but a lot of it has absolutely nothing to do with why we are here. so im actually going to have to sift through all the stories, and only extract the necessary ones.

so, friday evening, my mate, rachelle, and i headed to mercury to catch captain stu, who were performing with theCITY and Son of 1000 blues. she's the publicist for the captain, so we went to support them. i'll get to captain stu in a bit, since most people have heard of them, and will begin with a mention of the other 2 relatively unknown bands.

ok, lets start with theCITY, since they were the first performers of the evening. k, so this was their first live performance, so it was all pretty exciting. my thoughts=sweet as! no, but really, one wouldnt have known that this was their first time (hehe), and i was mighty impressed. a conglomerate of different vibes, grooves and people. they were full of funk, spunk and soul, and i thoroughly enjoyed the performance. and if a band performs a song about morning sex, called 'sex for breakfast', i mean, can you really hate them? i was grooving, smiling and was truly entertained. if you ever get the chance, and are keen to just groove, i would suggest checking them out. they reminded me of a much cooler version of FreshlyGround...infinitely cooler. the white dude who was singing wasnt anything spectacular (in terms of singing, but he claimed that he had had tonsilitis...), but he had a good energy and had a relationship with one crazy motherfucker in the audience, who clearly loved having sex for breakfast. everyone had their place in the band and performance, and didnt have to bring it, cos it had already been brung. two thumbs up! :)

next was Son of a 1000 blues. i kept calling this band by various names cos i had no idea what they were called. hmmm, what do i say about this band. let me start with the music. apparently the lead singer was missing, so that affected the performance. they were...um....ok, i guess. i dont know, i really didnt enjoy them, and didnt really understand what they were trying to do and where they were going in terms of music. i actually cant describe what i heard.no shame, they werent that bad. i dont really know rock music, so i dont know what time period/band i could associate them with in order to describe them, but they sound like a band one might have heard at woodstock '69. yes...no...maybe? i will however say that they lead guitarist (who also played the role of lead singer for the evening-shame, he was really good) had some mad skills, and was doing things with his guitar that i thought only rockstars in spain did. oooh. and on the topic of the lead guitarist *sigh* there are no words, or at least there are not enough, in the english language to describe this specimen who was put on this earth as a gift from God. he was the reason i was somewhat entranced by the bands performance. do yourself a favour, and google/facebook stalk 'federico fernandez' (we have 4 mutual friends! yes!). if the name doesnt already get you excited, then i dont know what will. im blushing just thinking about him. oh, and i heard he used to be a GUESS model. understandable. (tried to upload a pic, but i dont understand the technology behind the implementation of such a venture)

and lastly, the headliners, captain stu. bless their souls. i didnt really know this band before i went to the show. yes, i had heard of them, because i do have my finger on the pulse of whats happening, but i had never really heard them. i saw them once during that Road to V time period, and enjoyed them then, and enjoyed them now in exactly the same way. carefree reggae/ska/pop/jazz, i dont know what it was, but everything was performed with an air of innocent excitement and joy. and the fact that they were playing with their jeans rolled up and barefoot just added to the whole fun. 70s rockstars who smoke weed and trip on acid....was the vibe that i got, and a vibe that i like :) and the fact that they have brass instruments in the band gets me excited...i love me a brass instrument...and woodwind...but thats neither here nor there ;)

i was getting thoroughly annoyed at one point, not with the band/performance at all, but with this idiotic 12 year old and his homies. this 12 year old who thought that the only thing that bread was used for was to make toast (different story for a different day, hahaha. compadre, thats for you) appeared to be having a sugar-induced epileptic fit (if such exists), and when i rushed to help him, he appeared to be smiling, so i was very confused. eventually figured out that he was actually 'dancing'. and the 8 year old chic he was 'dancing' with, was trying to be sexy and kept doing the 'dance physically away from the target, but keep the eyes on eachother, then go jam with his friend' thing. she also appeared to be having a sugar-induced epileptic fit. and this irritated me, cos they kept falling into my personal space. unfortunately i dont bitch slap.

so ja, that was the band front for the weekend. good times, and good vibes. have been trying to figure out the vibe of this blog, and have decided that its just gonna focus mainly on gig things and relatively unknown bands and stuff. i dont know. i tend to talk a lot anyways though, so who knows if we are going to be able to stick to that?

oh, and lastly, before you leave. i saw the scariest sight ever at the assembly on saturday night: jack parow grinding some chic. no one should ever have to experience such, and i wouldnt even wish that on my worst enemy...maybe....i dont know.

if music be the food of love, play on

was just watching some mtv just now, and you know that you really have to start worrying about life, music, and one's general sanity, when a man who answers to the name 'pitbull', is telling you to forget about your boyfriend and meet him in the hotel room. and the scary thing is that girls do just that (probably, i mean, have you seen that latin pop sensation?), and this man probably makes millions from this hit single. its somewhat worrying, and i am peturbed by such. and apparently, these days a baby only costs fiddy's millions? but the guy is so cool, so i dont know who wouldnt want his babies (i just dont have time right now. that, and i have some self-respect. love you, fiddy).

anyways, i am moving towards a point here. well, i think i was. i could have just been talking out of my ass and just saying whatever it was that was on my mind. but perhaps by the end of this, a connection between what i have said, and what i am about to say will be made. lets cross fingers.

the other day i was having a ponder about the malleability of south african music. how people play and change shape, form, colour and perceptions. experimentation is the key word in this day and age, and there really are no limitations as to what a musician/artist can or is able to do.

im relating this to this crazy sound i heard the other day, but this duo called 'oorlog frankenstein' its made up of Peach van Pletzen (sp??) of Yesterday's Pupil 'fame' (if you dont know this band, then you better aks somebody), and Francois van Coke, the dude from all those afrikaans bands..hahaha, from fokof and van coke...is that it? anyways, so basically these 2 dudes from opposite ends of the music spectrum (YP is electro-ish, minimalistic-ish rock and everyone knows fokof and/or van coke), decided to get together and form a band, and produced this heavy metal electro-esque sound thats completely insane. although, i cant decide if i want to kill a cat or dance to it. i think i'll do what the title tells me to do, and 'dans dans dans'. but my point here is that its incredible that musicians here are not afraid to just experiment, play around and see whats happening. creating new sounds, new vibes is what they do.

and i extend these collaborations to the latest cool tune, 'afrikaans' with the folks from flash and those boys from foto na dans (photo after the dance to some :)). 2 bands from opposite sides of the music spectrum came together to produce a new sound that is able to complement everyone, and leaves no one being forced to compromise on who they are and what they do. thats a little piece of awesome right there, i think.

the other day i came across a collaboration between stealing love jones and mzambiya. it took me a second to register who mzambiya actually was, but then i had a vague recollection of a very young 'hip hop' star from say the early millenium. i think they were trying to model him on bow wow, i dont know. the difference here is that bow wow is hot and apparently cool. anyways, once again, 2 musicians from opposite ends of the music spectrum, coming together. are you noticing a pattern here of what im trying to say?

i dont know, i find all this experimentation, no limits, no borders vibe extremely exciting and a lot of fun. i think it truly portrays the immense amount of talent we possess, and that anything is truly possible. im excited to see what happens next.

checking out captain stu on friday. should be fun. then sat its either ashtray, new holland and thieve/3rd world. i dont know, still deciding who deserves the honour of my presence. i know who im leaning towards though.

oh, and lastly, clearly there was no connection between pitbull and fiddy, and everything else i spoke about. sorry these posts are so long, but i never have enough time to write shorter ones (reference: mark twain)