Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Chilled Revolution
The tight crowd is throwing hands in the air to the beat boxing as Brandon from Pocket Change sings gentle urging words, sharp strumming his guitar. Pocket Change are Brandon on acoustic guitar and vocal, Pasgenic on beatbox and MC’d harmonies, tonight joined by Steve on bass and Black Moss on rhymes, playing a sort of beach skank, replete with fuck the cops type lyrics and many blunt references. There is a sweet forcefulness to Pocket Change, reminiscent of the idea of peaceful protest, of living a life un-hassled by bureaucracy, but overall it’s their skanking sound that wins the crowd over.
At Society there is a seeming change in the attitude to live music. Jack Daniel’s sponsors these now monthly, soon to be more often, events that are exposing bands that have solidified their sound to a different audience. And while the audience falls mostly into the expected demographic, it’s pleasing to see many other suburbs and subcultures passing through, stopping to check it out, joining in, getting down.
Manuvah To Land follow Pocket Change and they seem to come from the same philosophy regarding attitudes to authority and lifestyle. With drums and djembes their sound is a little mellower but doesn’t fail to move the crowd, now from hands in the air to dancing, grooving along. Jason punctuates his sentiments with wild facial movements almost out of context to the floating beach reggae that the band produces, calling for revolution while the music calls for another wave another smoke another sunset.
I find myself in a black leather chair, letting the sound wash over me, watching beautiful hippy chicks dance with girls in high heels and boys with hip hop hats, thinking, this isn’t so bad after all. Maybe it’s the spirit of the moment, maybe it’s the flowing of the Jack, maybe I’ve been lulled by Manuvah’s gentle insistence, but, really, you couldn’t ask for sweeter persuasion.
At Society there is a seeming change in the attitude to live music. Jack Daniel’s sponsors these now monthly, soon to be more often, events that are exposing bands that have solidified their sound to a different audience. And while the audience falls mostly into the expected demographic, it’s pleasing to see many other suburbs and subcultures passing through, stopping to check it out, joining in, getting down.
Manuvah To Land follow Pocket Change and they seem to come from the same philosophy regarding attitudes to authority and lifestyle. With drums and djembes their sound is a little mellower but doesn’t fail to move the crowd, now from hands in the air to dancing, grooving along. Jason punctuates his sentiments with wild facial movements almost out of context to the floating beach reggae that the band produces, calling for revolution while the music calls for another wave another smoke another sunset.
I find myself in a black leather chair, letting the sound wash over me, watching beautiful hippy chicks dance with girls in high heels and boys with hip hop hats, thinking, this isn’t so bad after all. Maybe it’s the spirit of the moment, maybe it’s the flowing of the Jack, maybe I’ve been lulled by Manuvah’s gentle insistence, but, really, you couldn’t ask for sweeter persuasion.
Surfers Huh?
We might as well define in words the obvious: Durban has a scene going on.
At Burn, before Avatar get on stage, Manuvah to Land play. Members of THOTS, Pocket Change, and Fruit ‘n Veg are in the crowd. At the Wreslerish/The Arrows/kidofdoom gig, all these plus Gonzo Republic, City Bowl Mizers, South Jersey Pom Poms and Fire Through The Window (although they’re just there to hand out flyers) fill up the crowd.
In Durban it seems all bands are interested in other bands. Mostly there is a lot of hanging out together and many deep conversations about stylistic issues. In some cases there is a sound developing and, while there are exceptions to the rule, it’s obvious that there’s a punk attitude, reggae sounding style at the centre of it.
Even metal act Sheep Down has skank roots. Pocket Change and Manuvah to Land are the super chilled, lying on the beach proponent with a bit of dub thrown in. Fruit n’ Veg are the revolutionaries and few other bands don’t have at least one skank break in a set. But it's not all just a stolen skank riff here and there. Durban ferments real revolutionaries. Something about the heat, I don't know. The thickness of the atmosphere, the slow shush of waves and palm leaves, perhaps, but Durban folk don't lie down. There is enough complacency in the atmosphere.
Durban seems like a slow town, but the balance lies in the fact that below the surface its people are on it, more culturally charged than anywhere else in the country right now. It shows in the music, in the low down dirty mix of musical styles that lie half cast off by audiences around the city’s venues. That’s the main problem: the musicians give a fuck; the crowds do not.
It takes a Durban band leaving town for Durban to claim them as their own, to clamour to the occasional Botanic Garden gig. There is a lack of respect for the music here that is disquieting. It's almost as if by staying here, there must be something wrong with you, a reflection perhaps of the low status Durban seems to have in the eyes of other cities. But I'm not here to trumpet Durban - it has its own problems and its own beauties. And one of those beautiful things is the way there is a mutual respect between musicians and music industry peripherals based on a love of music. Sure there are the fat shark operators who prey on musicians’ need to pay rent, but these are a dying breed. The Department of Economic Development (yes, yes, the D.E.D) and serious key players in the industry are working towards building systems that standardize music business practices and methods.
One of these is the DC, Durban Collective, the brain child of no one in particular, which involves Andrew Loubscher (director of Slingshot Productions, responsible for some of the city’s bigger festivals) and the likes of Angus Joseph (writer, filmmaker and general revolutionary type), Bullet (Promoter of Hip Hop and champion of the previously disadvantaged) and amongst others, the organisers of the Uprising Festival, the boys from Sibling Rivalry.
The DC is also pulling in the support of other collectives, like the KZN Music Co-Op, the Bat Centre and members of PANZA . They are pulling in those in business (and we're talking about the business of original live music) so musicians, managers and sponsors can work together to find ways of acting with integrity in order to grow business and to generally get the locals to see what's under their noses. It's not just talk - budgets have been allocated, a researcher is already employed, and an administration system is going up. It seems, in Durban, the atmospheric complacency is countered by people who are actually standing up for the music.
This reflects across the board. It’s why there are so many good bands, so much instrument swapping, jamming, grooving, getting on top of it all. All types of actions are happening here. For live music in Durban, sure, some of the venues may be small, but four nights a week and Sunday days you are spoilt for choice, from Steve Newman to Steve Fataar, from Syd Kitchen to Fruit n Veg, From T.H.O.T.S. to The Otherwise, Esjay Jones to Gonzo Republic. Venues like Burn and Yossi's, event managers such as Luna Lounge and Slingshot, all of these things come together to mean that Durban produces good music, like it produces good art and good hearts.
I would like to wrap it all up neatly and say yes, there is a definite Durban sound going down and it's this or it's that. But it's not a sound so much as a rock ‘n roll attitude with a beatific smile. It's all the young punks and the old folk working together, playing better music all the time, rocking the crowds, high five-ing the sun, and generally being in it for the love of it.
It's infectious. No wonder Durban's exiles do well in other cities Pure hearted mostly and talented most likely, they work odd hours, compulsively, doing more, being more. Maybe I'm generalizing, maybe I'm from here, but I was away for a while and never knew what I was missing until I saw it again. Durban people, embodied mostly in a surf lifestyle, I guess, just don't want to be hassled man, but this does not mean they are lazy. The meaning of "being hassled" must be broken down. Durban's music doesn't take any shit; it's going to do what it wants to do and damn the torpedoes.
Am I making sense? Maybe you have to be here, but there is a beautiful explosion of many different heartbreakingly good kinds of bands or incarnations of bands happening in Durban right now. It has to be experienced to be believed. If I was to analyze it, I guess I could say it's a national phenomenon, this out-bursting of new music. But nowhere I've been in South Africa right now displays the cohesiveness of spirit this scene does. Here you will find the most unlikely legends unplugging in corner bars, smiling happy, playing their songs, sweating in the night, and at any one of those gigs you will find, in the audience, splinters of other bands, of so many bands, of so many good bands, because right now in Durban, there is a scene going on.
At Burn, before Avatar get on stage, Manuvah to Land play. Members of THOTS, Pocket Change, and Fruit ‘n Veg are in the crowd. At the Wreslerish/The Arrows/kidofdoom gig, all these plus Gonzo Republic, City Bowl Mizers, South Jersey Pom Poms and Fire Through The Window (although they’re just there to hand out flyers) fill up the crowd.
In Durban it seems all bands are interested in other bands. Mostly there is a lot of hanging out together and many deep conversations about stylistic issues. In some cases there is a sound developing and, while there are exceptions to the rule, it’s obvious that there’s a punk attitude, reggae sounding style at the centre of it.
Even metal act Sheep Down has skank roots. Pocket Change and Manuvah to Land are the super chilled, lying on the beach proponent with a bit of dub thrown in. Fruit n’ Veg are the revolutionaries and few other bands don’t have at least one skank break in a set. But it's not all just a stolen skank riff here and there. Durban ferments real revolutionaries. Something about the heat, I don't know. The thickness of the atmosphere, the slow shush of waves and palm leaves, perhaps, but Durban folk don't lie down. There is enough complacency in the atmosphere.
Durban seems like a slow town, but the balance lies in the fact that below the surface its people are on it, more culturally charged than anywhere else in the country right now. It shows in the music, in the low down dirty mix of musical styles that lie half cast off by audiences around the city’s venues. That’s the main problem: the musicians give a fuck; the crowds do not.
It takes a Durban band leaving town for Durban to claim them as their own, to clamour to the occasional Botanic Garden gig. There is a lack of respect for the music here that is disquieting. It's almost as if by staying here, there must be something wrong with you, a reflection perhaps of the low status Durban seems to have in the eyes of other cities. But I'm not here to trumpet Durban - it has its own problems and its own beauties. And one of those beautiful things is the way there is a mutual respect between musicians and music industry peripherals based on a love of music. Sure there are the fat shark operators who prey on musicians’ need to pay rent, but these are a dying breed. The Department of Economic Development (yes, yes, the D.E.D) and serious key players in the industry are working towards building systems that standardize music business practices and methods.
One of these is the DC, Durban Collective, the brain child of no one in particular, which involves Andrew Loubscher (director of Slingshot Productions, responsible for some of the city’s bigger festivals) and the likes of Angus Joseph (writer, filmmaker and general revolutionary type), Bullet (Promoter of Hip Hop and champion of the previously disadvantaged) and amongst others, the organisers of the Uprising Festival, the boys from Sibling Rivalry.
The DC is also pulling in the support of other collectives, like the KZN Music Co-Op, the Bat Centre and members of PANZA . They are pulling in those in business (and we're talking about the business of original live music) so musicians, managers and sponsors can work together to find ways of acting with integrity in order to grow business and to generally get the locals to see what's under their noses. It's not just talk - budgets have been allocated, a researcher is already employed, and an administration system is going up. It seems, in Durban, the atmospheric complacency is countered by people who are actually standing up for the music.
This reflects across the board. It’s why there are so many good bands, so much instrument swapping, jamming, grooving, getting on top of it all. All types of actions are happening here. For live music in Durban, sure, some of the venues may be small, but four nights a week and Sunday days you are spoilt for choice, from Steve Newman to Steve Fataar, from Syd Kitchen to Fruit n Veg, From T.H.O.T.S. to The Otherwise, Esjay Jones to Gonzo Republic. Venues like Burn and Yossi's, event managers such as Luna Lounge and Slingshot, all of these things come together to mean that Durban produces good music, like it produces good art and good hearts.
I would like to wrap it all up neatly and say yes, there is a definite Durban sound going down and it's this or it's that. But it's not a sound so much as a rock ‘n roll attitude with a beatific smile. It's all the young punks and the old folk working together, playing better music all the time, rocking the crowds, high five-ing the sun, and generally being in it for the love of it.
It's infectious. No wonder Durban's exiles do well in other cities Pure hearted mostly and talented most likely, they work odd hours, compulsively, doing more, being more. Maybe I'm generalizing, maybe I'm from here, but I was away for a while and never knew what I was missing until I saw it again. Durban people, embodied mostly in a surf lifestyle, I guess, just don't want to be hassled man, but this does not mean they are lazy. The meaning of "being hassled" must be broken down. Durban's music doesn't take any shit; it's going to do what it wants to do and damn the torpedoes.
Am I making sense? Maybe you have to be here, but there is a beautiful explosion of many different heartbreakingly good kinds of bands or incarnations of bands happening in Durban right now. It has to be experienced to be believed. If I was to analyze it, I guess I could say it's a national phenomenon, this out-bursting of new music. But nowhere I've been in South Africa right now displays the cohesiveness of spirit this scene does. Here you will find the most unlikely legends unplugging in corner bars, smiling happy, playing their songs, sweating in the night, and at any one of those gigs you will find, in the audience, splinters of other bands, of so many bands, of so many good bands, because right now in Durban, there is a scene going on.
Metal 101
Burn is a nightclub that’s reputation is hinged on the fact that it consistently has good solid local live music, from Lark’s electronic opera to SNG, Prime Circle to T.H.O.T.S.’s rocking hip hop and encompassing all the goth, metal and emo in between. It therefore goes that Burn understands that all bands have to start somewhere. New Band Weekend at Burn is something that needs to be experienced only once to understand what a depth of commitment doing this kind of thing is. Many Burn locals simply stay in the corners complaining about the sheer ineptness of the bands, but they stay, drawn in by the prospect of the next band up, always qualifying, but they are young, they’ve never played before.
These things in mind, you can’t fault these young bands for enthusiasm, for their belief in what they are doing. Most of them won’t last long as bands unless they evolve, but it’s really a beautiful thing to see the beginning point, standing in the crowd and seeing the parents cheering the son.
On the Friday night that I was there four bands tried to produce their version of generic metal and only one succeeded, I will mention no names. At this stage in a musicians life, joy in the doing is important. Criticism will come later if there is a failure to grow, of course. But now, boys on stage in clothes clearly trying to emulate heroes must simply be complimented for doing it, forming a band giving it a shot. Hopefully the audience faithful, friends, relatives with realise that at some point you have to act with compassion, be cruel to be kind, all that. Me, I love the fact that it’s possible to see this embryonic passion, the raw energy and badly disguised stolen riffs. Elements of each band were excellent, finding the right elements will be a process.
It’s a testament to the crowd at Burn that they stick around to listen, and are eager to hear the next band. Give them a few songs before they form an opinion, that there are more established bands in the audience listening, because everybody knows, all good bands have to find their feet, start somewhere, and why not here?
These things in mind, you can’t fault these young bands for enthusiasm, for their belief in what they are doing. Most of them won’t last long as bands unless they evolve, but it’s really a beautiful thing to see the beginning point, standing in the crowd and seeing the parents cheering the son.
On the Friday night that I was there four bands tried to produce their version of generic metal and only one succeeded, I will mention no names. At this stage in a musicians life, joy in the doing is important. Criticism will come later if there is a failure to grow, of course. But now, boys on stage in clothes clearly trying to emulate heroes must simply be complimented for doing it, forming a band giving it a shot. Hopefully the audience faithful, friends, relatives with realise that at some point you have to act with compassion, be cruel to be kind, all that. Me, I love the fact that it’s possible to see this embryonic passion, the raw energy and badly disguised stolen riffs. Elements of each band were excellent, finding the right elements will be a process.
It’s a testament to the crowd at Burn that they stick around to listen, and are eager to hear the next band. Give them a few songs before they form an opinion, that there are more established bands in the audience listening, because everybody knows, all good bands have to find their feet, start somewhere, and why not here?
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Road Name Changes. Moving On.
We have a hidden history, blame it on the schools then and the dumbing down of schools now, but I bet you Rick Turner is not taught in schools. We are being told our history, unknown, unimportant to those not directly involved. Our daily symbols are being subverted and not altogether in a bad way. Those petty-minded countrywide City Officials must have known this shift in thinking would happen. History forced on us, on one level, How Rude! On another, Thank you.
Let me tell you what I have found by doing my reading. I will lazily quote the wiki, to show you how easy it is to find this stuff.
"Richard Turner (born 1942 in Stellenbosch), known as Rick Turner, was a South African philosopher who was allegedly assassinated by the apartheid state in 1978. Nelson Mandela described Turner "as a source of inspiration" Turner graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1963 attaining a B.A. Honours. He continued his studies at the Sorbonne in Paris where he received a doctorate for a dissertation on the French intellectual, Jean-Paul Sartre. He returned to South Africa in 1966 and went farming on his mother's farm in Stellenbosch for two years before lecturing at the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Rhodes. He came to Natal in 1970 and become a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Natal and in that same year he met Steve Biko and the two formed a close relationship.
In 1972 Turner wrote a book called The Eye of the Needle - Towards Participatory Democracy In South Africa. The South African authorities thought that the book exercised a strong influence on opposition thinking with its plea for a radically democratic and non-racial South Africa. Such a society, he argued, would liberate whites as well as blacks. In the same year he was banned for five years. He was not allowed to visit his two daughters or his mother and had to stay in the Durban area. Even though he was banned this did not stop him from speaking out and in April 1973 Dr Turner and other banned individuals staged an Easter fast to illustrate the sufferings that bannings impose on people. The fast was supported by the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury. After his bannings, Dr Turner was kept on the staff at the University even though he was not allowed to lecture.
Turner has been largely left out of the pantheon of post-apartheid heroes. Most of his former comrades ascribe this to his focus on popular self-management and bottom up democracy which is very uncomfortable for the post-apartheid state which is notoriously authoritarian (mixing neo-liberal managerialism with Stalinism in its practices)."
One click on a web search, that's how easy it was. You see it's not the actual names that are the problem, it's the manner in which it has been done. Mixing neo-liberal managerialism with Stalinism in it's practices. Me, I don't mind, the new names, they're good names. I just want to know who they are before they're imposed on me. I want to have a say. I agree with Rick Turner. After all, it seems, Rick is My Hero.
Tight Pants. Tight Riffs.
The Guitar. The Bass. The Drums. So Nice. She struts non-ironically, wielding her bass like, well, there simply is no other way to put it plainly, a giant strap on. Cortina Whiplash has cornered the market in stripped down rock ‘n roll. They corner the crowd too, in an unfettered display of primal energy, moving through a neat little set that is about breaking from, as much as it is sticking to, rock and roll purity.
Cortina Whiplash would have blown Lou Reed away, if he were still young. They have that essential Dirt, and mix it with a cleanness of notes that just makes you wish you had the balls to be in a band.
It’s the simplicity that gets you, that and the energy, and the lame guitar strap. It’s also in the little breaks and tempo changes that Cortina Whiplash display their love for, it seems, gently chaffing Joburg references, the Karoo and of course, being rock ‘n roll, dead cheating lovers.
Bass, Drums are also Lead Singer and Harmonies. Guitar is almost stylistically contrapuntal. Not that I know what
I’m talking about, being a boy, at which point it must also be said that Cortina Whiplash are a three-piece all girl band who own the stage along with all the boys’ and some of the girls’ hearts, if not, at least, pants.
They don’t play like girls; they don’t play like men. Women who rock, rock out, and generally seem like women you shouldn’t mess with but want to.
But for all the rock and roll and lust I can talk, the simple fact is that Cortina Whiplash are not just three hot chicks on stage. They’re awesome performers and natural musicians. They rip through the stage and crowd with abandon, without sacrificing a note, with balls, bad boy energy and sheer style. Just as they slip into a groove, they take you someplace else, some place you really want to go.
Cortina Whiplash would have blown Lou Reed away, if he were still young. They have that essential Dirt, and mix it with a cleanness of notes that just makes you wish you had the balls to be in a band.
It’s the simplicity that gets you, that and the energy, and the lame guitar strap. It’s also in the little breaks and tempo changes that Cortina Whiplash display their love for, it seems, gently chaffing Joburg references, the Karoo and of course, being rock ‘n roll, dead cheating lovers.
Bass, Drums are also Lead Singer and Harmonies. Guitar is almost stylistically contrapuntal. Not that I know what
I’m talking about, being a boy, at which point it must also be said that Cortina Whiplash are a three-piece all girl band who own the stage along with all the boys’ and some of the girls’ hearts, if not, at least, pants.
They don’t play like girls; they don’t play like men. Women who rock, rock out, and generally seem like women you shouldn’t mess with but want to.
But for all the rock and roll and lust I can talk, the simple fact is that Cortina Whiplash are not just three hot chicks on stage. They’re awesome performers and natural musicians. They rip through the stage and crowd with abandon, without sacrificing a note, with balls, bad boy energy and sheer style. Just as they slip into a groove, they take you someplace else, some place you really want to go.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Hand Claps. Dirty Beats. Clean Heart.
(The guy from) Yesterday’s Pupil grabs the mic as he thrusts his guitar to one side and shouts “Fuck Yeah!” before he gets behind the drum kit and totally rocks out. He plays with (recordings of) himself doing the bass line, throwing in bits of Beat It. He is multilayer’d working with multiple parts, past, presents himself alone, as full band. Yesterday’s Pupil is the kind of band that sucks you in because you are blown away by the sheer audacity of his technical skills and cunning instrument switches until you realise that you are digging this music. Grooving, even.
Yesterday’s Pupil is not a one man band. Yesterday’s Pupil is a band made up of a man who can Multiply himself, morph into different forms while other pieces of him are still playing other instruments, like some kind of strange superhero, or maybe villain, he slowly coerces you into seeing his point of view. Musically that is.
What I know about electronic music is dangerous; so let me talk on a personal level. I used to like house music (as everyone says, “back in the beginning”), until it became formulaic. I enjoy anything that explores and subverts boundaries, redefines. This is why I enjoy Yesterday’s Pupil on a theoretical level. I also catch myself dancing internally in a white-guy-at-the-rave kinda way. Yesterday’s Pupil evokes multiple Musical pasts. Nine Inch Nails through feeling of Joy Division to the black Michael Jackson. And the slightly scattered group is being won over. Except for the large Goth next to me, who says, “You need to be on drugs for this music”.
“And now moving on to the experimental part of my set” is almost a warning, but (the guy from) Yesterdays Pupil is just so darn Pretoria Cute, you want to chuck him on gently on the electronic chin. He sets to work on one of his three electronic gizmos, then smiling he grabs the mic and there are actual muffled, distorted, yes, lyrics. This is when the crowd start to get into it. He pulls out a guitar to, believe it or not, a cheer. It’s his enthusiasm that cuts through, his internal loving it himself-ness, his technicality being the instrument and not something to be bogged down with, make errors on. He makes no mistakes, heard or otherwise, he is always going with it. Going someplace else. The large guy next to me is dancing.
Look, musically, it’s almost like early Brian Eno with a Speak & Spell beat and Ian Curtis on vocals, with handclaps. If you don’t understand what I’m telling you, you might never get Yesterday’s Pupil. He moves from being a guy with a laptop to a full band, and while I can honestly say, I could only remember the bass lines on the way home, it was these bass lines that sent me online to get as much of his music as possible.
I would like to wrap this up with a concise summation, a neat packaging, but Yesterday’s Pupil are still learning, evolving and the only thing, really to do, is go along for the ride.
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