Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Cape Town singer Black Porcelain supporting International dup poet Linton Kwesi Johnson
I enjoy keeping track of those artists featured on the Eish!! Friday SA Music Spotlight. So when I received the following press release from Balck Porcelain, who was featured on the 10th October last year, the decision to publish it was an easy one...
South African singer songwriter Black Porcelain has been chosen to support internationally renowned (reggage) dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, who is touring with the fabulous Dennis Bovell Dub Band, on the Cape Town leg of his tour. This is a major feat for rising star Black Porcelain, who independently released her eclectic 5 track EP Green last year. Green was very well received across the country, receiving airplay on national, regional and campus radio stations alike.
Black Porcelain kicked off the year with an inspiring performance at the 2009 Women’s Show at the CTICC and is now currently working on her first full length album. Born and raised in Soweto, this tireless singer is very excited to be opening for such a respected artist “I was a little shocked initially, but now I’m so excited. I can’t wait to warm the stage for and share it with LKJ.”
The Linton Kwesi Johnson show in Cape Town takes place on the 1st of May in Wynberg at Maynardville. He will also be performing in Johannesburg, Durban and Grahamstown. Tickets are available from computicket.
For more information on the performance go to: www.whatsonsa.co.za
South African singer songwriter Black Porcelain has been chosen to support internationally renowned (reggage) dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, who is touring with the fabulous Dennis Bovell Dub Band, on the Cape Town leg of his tour. This is a major feat for rising star Black Porcelain, who independently released her eclectic 5 track EP Green last year. Green was very well received across the country, receiving airplay on national, regional and campus radio stations alike.
Black Porcelain kicked off the year with an inspiring performance at the 2009 Women’s Show at the CTICC and is now currently working on her first full length album. Born and raised in Soweto, this tireless singer is very excited to be opening for such a respected artist “I was a little shocked initially, but now I’m so excited. I can’t wait to warm the stage for and share it with LKJ.”
The Linton Kwesi Johnson show in Cape Town takes place on the 1st of May in Wynberg at Maynardville. He will also be performing in Johannesburg, Durban and Grahamstown. Tickets are available from computicket.
For more information on the performance go to: www.whatsonsa.co.za
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Friday SA Music Spotlight - Cutout Collective
I saw these guys interviewed on some local Dstv show and really liked their personalities. Their knowledge of the local music scene within their genre and the energy they exude, oddly in a super laid back way, caught my attention.So I did the Eishman thing and began trawling the interwebs. Like any self-respecting musician they have a MySpace and Facebook page and although they could probably make better use of these platforms there was enough for me to take a good listen and be extremely impressed.
My personal taste in electronic music is somewhere on the chilled, world, acoustic and eastern groove side. However there is just enough late 80's, early 90's edgy, synth electronica to grab my attention. Check out my favourite track 'Bloodlines' (available for free download here) and Fossils, and you will see what I mean. These guys are destined to make it big if they can stick at it and build up their audience.
Cutout Collective is Tim Apter, Jason Hartford, Flikkerr & Max Lehr and the for their sins are Johannesburg locals (Cape Town streets are too narrow for them!), keep your eye out for them their debut EP Eponymous will be released shortly and their tunes seem like they would be wild live!
Links
Monday, March 16, 2009
Cape Town Hospital Bend Road Closure Information
Public service announcement time :Taken from capetown.gov.za
UPCOMING ROAD CLOSURES ON HOSPITAL BEND
Construction work on the road improvements at Hospital Bend is progressing very well, and the contractor, Haw & Inglis, has managed to maintain traffic flows.
The dismantling and erection of gantries to facilitate the construction of bridge decks across sections of Hospital Bend is to continue at night, during traffic off-peak times over the next two weeks.
From Sunday night 15 March 2009 up to and including Wednesday 18 March 2009 (or earlier if work progresses better than expected) from 23:00 each night to 05:00, Hospital Bend city-bound only will be closed to all traffic.
This closure is required to allow the removal of the temporary girder support structure which was required for the construction deck of the new Anzio Road Bridge across the city-bound lanes.
To accommodate night time traffic, the following arrangements have been made, similar to the arrangements which were in use previously:
• N2 (Settlers Way) inbound traffic will be diverted at the Main Road turn-off. From there city-bound traffic can turn right in Main Road and get back onto Hospital Bend via Anzio Road. South-bound traffic turns left in Main Road to get back onto Rhodes Drive via Woolsack Drive
• M3 (Rhodes Drive) in-bound traffic will be diverted via Woolsack Drive to Main Road. City-bound traffic will proceed via Anzio Road as described before, while traffic bound for Settlers Way can turn right at the Main Road/Settlers Way intersection.
Traffic travelling away from the city centre will not be affected.
From Sunday 22 March 2009 to Wednesday 25 March 2009, between 23:00 and 05:00 only, Eastern Boulevard in-bound will be closed to traffic from the De Waal Drive split at the top of Hospital Bend. During these times all traffic will continue towards the city along De Waal Drive.
This closure is required to allow the contractor to continue the erection of temporary support structures for the construction of the deck of the new De Waal Drive Bridge over Eastern Boulevard inbound lanes.
Traffic can proceed along De Waal Drive to the city, or alternatively get back onto Eastern Boulevard towards the city via Upper Roodebloem Road, which is accessible via an existing break in the separation between the opposing carriageways of De Waal Drive just under 1 km after the De Waal Drive – Eastern Boulevard split.
Detours will be clearly marked. Officers from Cape Town Traffic Services will be in attendance to assist the public.
To date all night time detours have been very effective with minimal disruption to the general public. We want to take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience and support during the closures to date.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Friday SA Music Spotlight - Chasing Friday
It's been a while, but the Eish!! SA Music Spotlight is back! I like to do the bands I highlight justice, so when time is short I prefer not to post a half-hearted attempt and wait until I have some quality time available.This week was almost another one past, when I got a quick reply from one of the bands on my shortlist. The enthusiasm and willingness to interact inspired me to drop what I was doing and start typing this post.
'If you’ve ever been stuck in a dead-end job (hopefully not anymore) you’ll know exactly what it means to be ‘chasing Friday’. Phill Black on lead vocals, Brendon Hull on backing vocals and lead guitarist , bass guitarist Nico Mouissie and drummer Andrew Mellish make up Chasing Friday a Cape Town band making waves on the local scene and seemingly on the brink of making that all important leap into the commercial success on the SA music scene.
Their current single 'It's not like London's calling you' is a moody/grungy melody fits into the current consciousness of the SA youth torn between the love of their country, the perceived greener pastures beckoning and the bonds they have built with their peers at home. This, along with the tunes I have heard around the various internet properties they are utilising to get their gospel spread, already illustrates a growing, quality catalog of raw grungy rock and roll.
With the music video below already featured on Fuse TV in America , MK and DSTV's HD channel and singles getting airplay on Radio 2000, Tuks Fm and Mfm almongst others things are happening for these guys.
I thought it would be fun to get to know the guys a bit better, so here's a short text interview with the lead singer Phill.
How did the various band members find each other?
Nico bumped into Andrew on Facebook, I pulled in a few months later (knew Andrew frm school, since 96, we went to SACS together) through another band, Autopilot, we met Brendon! (he was good buddies with them!)
What names were in consideration before Chasing Friday won?
One was wilderthanvan....pretty crap! Can`t remember any others???
How are you using the web to market the band and how do you intend to going forward?
We are doing the obvious thing.....Facebook!But we also take pride in www.chasingfriday.com keeping it updated every week. you can download our debut produced track on iLike. We also have our music vid on various US sites and as a result it aired on Fuse US TV in the states shoot funny vids of us messing around.....and stick em up all over! Myvideo, youtube etc
What is the weirdest gig you have played?
ROAR springs to mind, you need garlic to fend off the vampires....... also after winning the CT leg of the RBF SABC battle of the bands, then having to pay for ourselves to get to the final in Gauteng, then waiting 12hours with 22 bands ahead of us, to only allowed to play 2 tracks????? ( you just gotta smile and wave boys! )
How would you describe the SA music scene?
Growing, with great potential! It is a very exciting time to be part off it! We love rocking out in SA.
What is Chasing Friday aiming to do during 2009?
Dominate South Africa and the world....seriously!!! Also shoot our 2nd music vid, get onto 5fm and work with our chosen charity REACH FOR A DREAM!
What will you be doing during the 2010 World Cup?
Apart from watching all the games, playing at one of them to. Listen out for our second single LET ME BE YOUR CHAMPION and you will know what i mean!
Links
How tough was the Argus Cycletour?
For those of you who missed my live Twitter feed as I struggled around this year's Argus Pick n Pay Cycletour click here for pictorial journal of my progress.While it must be made clear that this year I was as unfit as I have ever been, this years tour was by all accounts toughest of the seven I have completed and would have been even if I had done a few km.s training. The gale force winds had a huge effect on all participants. Exactly how much of an effect is illustrated by the following statistics just in.
Target time Equivalent 2009 “Storm” time
2:45 actual 3:10
3:00 actual 3:35
3:15 actual 3:55
3:30 actual 4:20
3:45 4:45
4:00 actual 5:05
4:15 actual 5:25
4:30 actual 5:45
5:00 actual 6:25
5:30 actual 7:10
6:00 actual 8:00
In 2008, 1781 people did a “Sub-3”. In 2009 there were only 111. In 2008, 12844 people did a sub-4. In 2009 there were 4467. In 2008, 21765 people did a sub-5. In 2009 there were 12077.
Of the 73 start groups, only 2 made it through the first 100m without anyone crashing.
Monday, March 9, 2009
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