Five months ago, MK launched the MK Music Video Project whereby local bands were invited to team up with SA production companies and submit a creative pitch to MK for a music video.
From there, MK chose the 12 best pitches and commissioned those videos to be produced, resulting in some of the videos I’m about to show you.
If you want to watch all 12, check them out here. Otherwise I’m posting my top five right here, right now. I’ve chosen these videos according to two broad criteria – not only do the videos have to be sick, but the songs must be rad as well.
Let’s start with my number 5. Here’s aKing with “Jezebelâ€.
I really, really dig that song. It’s got a bit of a Thin Lizzy vibe going and from a songwriting perspective it’s really complex, a lot of moving parts all fitted perfectly together.
The video itself was well shot, but when you boil it down to it’s essence, it’s just the band jamming in a room which we’ve all seen at least a couple hundred times before and is the reason why this isn’t higher on my list.
The next vid from Shortstraw however tells an entire flippin story with schweet underwater shots and everything!
Great track as well, the way they match the pace of the track with the video is pretty much flawless. It’s a lot harder to get that shit right than it looks and that last shot is powerful as a punch right to the gut.
Moving on we have the Gazelle track “Val Van Die Ryk†which I must be honest I chose 40% because the video is cool and 60% because the track itself is pretty goddamn sick.
Classic! I’d love to see them do that song live, I reckon it would definitely get the crowd jumping. Great cameo from ol’ Francois as well.
This next track and video are both pretty fucking phenomenal. It’s P.H. Fat with “Business Business Crashâ€.
We makin’ love bitches! Hahahahaha! Too awesome. That one was directed, produced, flippin ART DIRECTED even by my man @thefilmo.
Big up to him and the P.H. Fat crew, I thought that video was incredibly well-shot – the editing is fucking tight as a drum and the whole enchilada, the video and the song itself, are both fucking cool without trying hard.
Which brings us to number ONE on my list. You might have heard this one before…
You guys should have been there in the cinema to see this one on the big screen, people were loving it, great concept, awesome track and an ending that packs a helluva punch.
So all in all, I was really impressed at the standard of videos we watched last night. SA has a shiteload of artistic and musical talent in this country, such a pity there isn’t the proper infrastructure to support and develop that talent but it’s pretty plain to see we’ve come a long way.
At the risk of looking like a total douche though, there’s one last video I want to share with you guys.
It’ isn’t South African but I honestly think we aren’t far off from conceptualising and producing music videos of this calibre.
WARNING: Keep a box of tissues handy. Not that I needed any, but I know how sensitive you guys are, so yeah, I just don’t want you breaking down in front of your co-workers and stuff…
It’s Kodaline with “All I Wantâ€.
Have a killer weekend party people.
Here’s to finding that someone if you haven’t already
Every time a 90s rock band rears it’s greasy head from a decade or more of obscurity, I buy the album for nostalgia’s sake only to end up filing it in the overflowing folder of “albums never to give a shit about again.â€
Alice In Chain’s 2009 effort minus their iconic frontman was a sad parody of the band that used to write grunge that was so heavy just listening to it instantly addicted you to heroin.
Stone Temple Pilots and Hole both dropped Frankenstenian albums in 2010 that were nothing more than a sum of the decaying, disused parts from previous albums haphazardly sewn together and zapped (briefly) back to life to terrorise the villagers.
Garbage’s recent album Not Your Kind Of People literally had one decent track on it and the recent Smashing Pumpkins album Oceania, whilst being the best of a bad bunch, was nothing we haven’t all heard before.
Which brings us to Soundgarden’s latest effort, King Animal (in stores today!). You remember Soundgarden right? Growly, screamy vocals, monster grunge riffs, Jesus-complex lyrics (complete with hair and goatee), drums tighter than a nun’s… moral code…
Soundgarden! Back before Chris Cornell joined Audioslave and dragged both the name of Soundgarden and Rage Against The Machine through the mud? Before he decided to team up with Timberlake and record the 2009 solo album Scream, which affirmed what a gigantic fucking worthless douche he was all along?
Ok, maybe that last sentence was a little harsh. I mean shit, a failing grunge musician’s gotta eat right? But to hear one of the best lyricists of the 90s sing “That chick ain’t a part of me†was the final nail in the coffin for me.
I wrote Cornell off completely, as did millions of others, so what did he do? He picked up the phone, called Kim, Matt and Ben and was like, “Guys, I fucked up, please let’s get Soundgarden back together and make a fucking face-melting album so the world can stop laughing at me behind my back.â€
Is King Animal that face-melting album? Until I hear it, I have no fucking idea, but the first single, “Been Away Too Long†is pretty much stock-standard, meat and potatoes Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden.
Check it:
Huh. Promising? I honestly don’t know. I’ve been let down so many times by 90s rock bands in recent years that I’m starting to think they all should have gone the Cobain route and eaten some buckshot while they were still popular and relevant.
Lemme get my hands on this filthy basterd and who knows? Maybe I’ll shock everyone’s pants off and write an album review – remember when I used to do those?
Your Tiger pal has YOUR best interests at heart. That’s right. His goal in life is to make yours better in every way, whether that’s by making you laugh, helping you to think thoughts, or just playing you some sick summer jams.
It’s been a long week guys, so let’s all kick back, crack open a couple of cold ones and dig this sick South African band that come from The Big Smoke and call themselves The Means.
The video for their new song “Fragile Lines†just landed and I must say, the song is pretty damn catchy which is saying a lot coming from a hardened music critic like your buddy Slicky-T.
Check it:
Very fucking cool ne? I dig it – it’s like The Pixies invited The Cramps over to klap a few bongs, relax to the max and have a jam session.
The Beach Boys might have dropped in as well, just to say hi. But they couldn’t handle the cheese and ended up napping on the couch in the sun.
Excitement for this year’s Rocking The Daisies 2012 is mounting party people! Three sleeps and I’ll be there, cracking open a cold one at Camp Tiger and letting the good times roll.
So in this, the last instalment of my must-see bands, I am going to be tackling the bands you can’t miss on the main stage on Saturday.
Sure, there are other stages and other bands I could be covering, but as mentioned before, I can’t research every band at the festival so if there are other acts you think deserve some love, hit me up in the comments section.
If you’re also in this for the long haul from Thursday to Sunday, then Saturday is either going to make or break the festival for you.
Thursday night you’re probably gonna go balls to the wall and the same goes for the entire day on Friday so by the time Saturday rolls around you’re going to feel like you need a blood transfusion to boost the level of blood in your alcoholstream.
The trick to getting Saturday right will be to take it as super easy as possible during the day. Go for a dip in the dam if you’re feeling brave, indulge in a hot Woshbox shower, get a hearty breakfast in you and down at least a litre or two of orange juice and as much water as you can handle.
Flush your system out, rest up as much as possible and don’t even think about hitting the sauce until at least 4 or 5 in the afternoon because it’s gonna be a looooooooooooooong night and you want to be as fresh as possible when the big acts of RTD12 take to the stage to melt faces.
Though the main stage kicks off at 10am, I’m probably only going to mosey on over there at 12.10pm to catch Southern Gypsey Queen (featuring Al Frost).
It’ll be a bit like holding a defibrillator to my chest, cranking it to 11 and hitting the “charge†button (watch the video below and you’ll see why), but I do love me some loud, bluesey rock and roll.
This is the band sans Mr Frost – throw him in there and you’ve got a guaranteed recipe for face-melting good times.
Dig that drummer. What a flippin boychay.
After that it’ll be time to grab a bite and head back to your campsite for some R&R in the shade. Or go have a float in the dam (inflatable lilos are a must. Or you could go the Tiger route and take an entire inflatable BOAT. Bada-BANG!).
At 2.20pm Moving House are lighting up the main stage, a supergroup of sorts consisting of Andre Pienaar (Ashtray Electric) and Rob Davidson (ex Zebra & Giraffe).
I haven’t been able to find any of their material, but if I can summon the strength, I’ll definitely go check them out just based on the merit of their two previous bands.
The next band to watch out for will be Jeremy Loops at 6.05pm, who is one seriously talented guitarist and songwriter.
As the name suggests, this guy’s loop pedal skills have to be seen to be believed. One man. One guitar. And here’s what he’s capable of:
Insane sheeit right?! People who use loop pedals like that fascinate me because if they fuck up one of the loops, the whole song falls apart. So yeah. No pressure.
After that it’s Desmond And The Tutus on the main stage, but I’m gonna leave that one totally up to you guys.
The new single (“Zim Zala Bimâ€) has been murdered on local radio to the point where when it came on 5FM the other day the guy in the lane next to me deliberately swerved into oncoming traffic.
But let’s not forget what these guys are capable of. Here’s “Tattoo†off their most recent album Mnusic in case you need some reminding:
After that, run away.
Arno Carstens is up next and he’s probably going to play material off his new album, Atari Gala which, if the first video “Two Dogs†is anything to go by, could very well send you spiralling into a post-90s, ballad-rock depression guaranteed to kill whatever buzz you might have been feeling up until that point.
My advice would be to go line your stomach and start drinking heavily. It’s time to up your game, once Arno clears out it’s going to be two and a half hours of bone-rattling badassery, starting with Shadowclub, the made-in-SA version of The Strokes.
Funny story is I interviewed these guys back in ‘08 before they skyrocketed to fame. I used to do this fucked up show on UJFM called The Tuesday Night Bandslam With Rick Hunter And Al Burton (I was Al Burton).
Myself and Graumpot would go around with a roving mic and arrange to interview bands in weird places like bowling alleys, the Zoo Lake, the planetarium and in the case of Shadowclub, the putt-putt course at Fourways.
Our sound equipment kept fucking out and Jacques from Shadowclub (frontman) had this look like he was smelling a fart throughout the interview.
Then we started playing putt-putt so we could record some funny, random shit like we did for all our shows but Jacques was so over it by that stage he just walked from one course to the next hitting his ball into the water, kicking it around and generally just making it known that he thought the whole thing was a load of shit.
We ended up throwing the interview in the bin. The bassist at the time (forget his name) felt bad and suggested we try again when Jacques was in a better mood.
Second time around, we just interviewed them at Fuel Bar one night before they got onstage to play a gig at Carfax. The interview went a lot better and Jacques seemed to be much more chilled until about 30mins in when he started laughing in this really creepy way and told us he’d taken a large quantity of acid before the interview that felt like it was kicking in.
Crazy cat that guy. In my experience a bit of a douche, but I can’t fault the band, especially not Isaac the drummer, he’s a real stand-up guy and one of the best drummers in the business.
After that, it’s time.
Get your head in the game, smash a tequila or three, go take a long pee, fight for a spot nice and close to the stage and steel yourself.
Bloc Party, this year’s headline act are up at 11.20pm and trust me, you are not gonna want to miss this one.
This band was instrumental in kick-starting the indie movement that’s been rolling out in its various guises over the last decade.
Here’s their best track, “Banquet†which I’ll be losing my goddamned mind to when they rock it live:
So those are my must-see bands on the main stage on Saturday, like I said before, holler if you think any other bands deserve a mention and I’ll gladly show them some love.
Otherwise I’ll try have a review up by Monday / Tuesday after the festival has ended, so watch this space because I have a feeling Daisies is going to be pretty damn epic this year.
You can still get tickets from www.webtickets.co.za so get on that if you haven’t already.
Oh, and if you see a guy with a Tiger on his head missioning around, don’t be a stranger
Now that I’ve recovered from the “IDFFLT†state that I found myself in last week, it’s time to get things back on track with my second Rocking The Daisies Must-See Bands post.
Originally I was going to break this festival down stage by stage until I realised how much work that would be on my part.
Instead, I decided to go day by day rather, a much less painful option.
So the first post pretty much covers everything for Thursday as there’s only going to be one stage up and running. Come Friday however, the festival will start coming alive and when it does, these are the bands you need to check out.
One more disclaimer before I start though – all the bands I’m recommending are playing on the main stage.
Yes, I know how lame that is, most people will just go to the main stage by default so I probably don’t need to big up any of the bands playing there, but holyfuckingshit, I’m writing this post on a machine that crawls like a goddamned dying snail, it’s already taken me THREE FUCKING HOURS just to find the videos below.
As much as I’d love to give other bands and artists from the Beach Bar Stage, the Nu World Beat Barn and the Electro Stage some love, that will literally take me another ten hours at the very least.
If ANYONE reading this knows other sick bands and artists performing on the Friday, drop a video link in the comments section below and if I get enough, I’ll write a follow-up post to this one.
Moving on, Friday kicks off at 1pm on the main stage with the Black Handed Kites. This band will make for a perfect, chilled start to the day with their acoustic guitar / banjo folky vibes. Check out their video for “Upâ€.
The next band I’d keep an eye out for on the main stage is Beatenberg, who are stepping up to do their thang at 3.10pm.
They’ve got a nice acoustic pop vibe, easy listening kinda stuffs to zone out to and get lost in. Really liked the sound of their track “Scorpionfishâ€, check it:
Anyone planning to indulge in some shrooms or anything else of a hallucinogenic nature should probably give the main stage a wide berth at around 5.20pm when The Brother Moves On take to the stage.
Or not. Depending on what you can handle…
These guys are like the Mars Volta of African music. Massively experimental, they won’t be everyone’s cuppa tea but I’ll definitely make an effort to see these guys. Should be pretty entertaining to watch if nothing else.
Of all the bands playing the main stage on the Friday, the first one to really make me sit up and listen when I was researching this piece was Machineri, who are up at 6.25pm.
From the couple of tracks of theirs I’ve managed to dig up, I like what I’m hearing. The guitarist Andre Geldenhuys is on a whole other level and the vocalist Sannie Fox has a Jefferson Airplane / Janis Joplin vocal tone that is all kinds of sexy.
Once Machineri have melted a few faces, I’d strongly recommend EVERYONE AT THE FESTIVAL heads to the Lemon Tree Theatre to watch Dylan Skews do the funniest stand-up you’re likely to see the entire weekend.
I watched this man at Synergy and literally cried laughing. Here’s a clip I dug up of some of his material from last year:
After that, I’d grab a bite to eat, smash a few tequilas and get ready for Friday’s big acts, starting with Isochronous, (who recently shortened their name to ISO), who are up at 9.40pm.
They wrote a pretty mesmerising, almost ethereal kind of indie which balances nicely with the Ben Gibbard / Death Cab For Cutie vocals.
Here’s a taste:
Last up is a band that I will personally kick you in the shin if you even think about missing.
Kongos are up at 11pm and they are going to blow everyone the fuck away. You can pretty much take that to the bank.
Here’s their video for “I’m Only Joking†if you don’t believe me.
Love those Queens Of The Stone Age / robot rock vibes. That relentless, driving bassline sounds like something stolen straight from Song For The Deaf, beyatiful.
If you’ve still got any strength left in you after that, I think it’ll be worth staying to watch BEAST, Inge Bergman’s new band.
I loved Lark, so even though I haven’t been able to find any of BEAST’s material to show you guys, I have high hopes for this band.
So that’s Friday for ya, anyone have any other suggestions of bands to watch, don’t be shy
For those of you that didn’t catch my tweet earlier this week, my media accreditation for Rocking The Daisies has been sorted!
Having learned the hard way from Synergy last year, this time around I kept it classy and applied way the hell in advance and having seen the lineup I am beyond fucking excited.
So every Friday leading up to RTD12 I’ll be posting videos and tracks from the bands you HAVE to catch this year come hell or high water.
To keep it simple I’m breaking it down one stage every week, starting with the Thursday night “Campsite Stage†which kicks off at 6pm.
Man-o-man what I wouldn’t give to be able to get through in time to set up and have all my shit together to catch the bands on Thursday night, but at this stage it ain’t lookin likely.
IF I do manage to make it though, it’s probably not going to be before 8pm, which sucks gigantic balls because it means I’ll miss Woodstock Mafia who, in my humble opinion, are probably the best band playing on Thursday night.
Just watch this video. Seriously. It’s fucking awesome.
How fucking intense is that solo?! Christ, gimme a minute while I quickly mop my face back up.
Right after them another sick band will be hitting up the Campsite Stage just after 8pm, The Very Wicked, who have a pretty sick stoner / desert / 70s rock vibe.
Another reason to get your ass to Darling on Thursday.
I actually heard that song earlier this year when the video was first released and had no idea they were South African. Apparently their live debut is going down on 19 Sept (next week Wednesday) at SGT Pepper on Long Street.
Carrying on in the 60s garage rock vibe, another sick band to catch on the Thursday night will be The Future Primitives whose track “Try On Something That’s Really You†is packed to the max with dirty surf rock vibes.
And last but not least, the main act on the Thursday at the Campsite stage will be Goodnight Wembley who are on just after 11pm.
I’ll be honest, the single that’s playing on 5FM at the moment isn’t really blowing my hair back, but I have a feeling these guys have a couple aces up their sleeves because Goodnight Wembley is a supergroup consisting of the guys from Taxi Violence, 7th Son, Dead Lucky and Yes Sir!Mister Machine.
And that, boys and girls, is the down lizzo for Thursday night at RTD12. If I can make it there, you bet your ass I’ll be losing my mind to the bands above.
Have a killer weekend Party People, see y’all at the beach tomorrow
It’s Friday bitches and if you’re down here in Cape Town with your Tiger pal it’s a goddamn beautiful day, ain’t no doubt about it.
The first golden rays of summer are finally shining through the shitty winter we’ve been having which is cause enough to celebrate by loading a massive bong when you get home and ripping that mofo for everything it’s worth.
“But wait!†I hear you say, “I need some killer music if I’m going down that road man!†Well, what the fuck dude? Didn’t you read the title of this blog post? I got you covered broheme. Just hit up the 8Tracks playlist I put together below and let the good times roll!
I gave them the benefit of the doubt though because I love this band and I knew that they could do better. “The next album is going to melt faces†I predicted, “so I’ll just let The Resistance slide for now, nobody’s perfectâ€.
And now here we are, three years down the line with their next album scheduled for release on 1st October and from what I’ve heard thus far, I’m as excited for the new album as I was for my last root canal treatment.
Their Olympic song, “Survival†was utter tripe. The lyrics were weak and the song itself sounded like reheated leftovers from The Resistance.
Of course, people immediately rallied to the band’s side saying they deliberately made the song a watered-down version of what they’re really capable of because if they unleashed their full force writing a song for the Olympics, chances are the masses wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Now their first single, “Madness†has just landed and yeah. Maybe I need to give it a few more listens because right now, this track is doing absolutely nothing for me.
Check it:
I mean Christ. Who wrote this track? U2? Queen? Cause it sure as fuck couldn’t have been Muse, right?
To put this in context, lemme just remind you all of what this band is actually capable of before some smart-ass decided to troll the shit out of this post.
Muse, please, get your shit together.
If the new album has just one track that can hold a flame to that, I’ll be happy, cause right now, the outlook is pretty goddamn bleak.
I know I say it on a weekly basis but I fucking love the internet. I honestly don’t think I could live without it – life would be too boring to handle.
The great thing about it is just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any funnier, someone steps up to the plate and smacks a piece of fall-off-your-chair-laughing content right out the park.
My favourite internet memes at the moment are auto-tuned African-Americans from the projects breaking it down in soulful R&B remixes of legit news interviews. As far as I know, AntoineDodson was the first, followed by Sweet Brown.
Now there’s a new auto-tuned internet superstar – my main man Daym Drops who’s hilarious review of a burger and fries, originally filmed in his car has been turned into an even more hilarious song by the guys who originally auto-tuned Antoine (Schmoyoho).
Here’s the original video. It’s a bit lengthy, but totally worth watching. Probably don’t do it if you’re hungry though because holy sheeit, this man knows how to sell a tasty burger.
Did you have any idea they made people that awesome?! It’s like he was hand-crafted for internet superstardom by God himself. Mesmerising I tells ya…
And now, for your Friday viewing / listening pleasure, here’s the remix:
Look at. The bacon.
DAYUM!
And then watch that video again, it gets better every time
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Converse “Get Out Of The Garage Competition†has officially come to an end and the winner, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, is Matthew Mole!
Matthew will play at London’s 100 Club on Oxford Street, which has seen some EPIC acts take to the stage in the 70 years it’s been open.
I have to be completely frank at this point and say that though there’s no denying Matthew has a lot of talent and heart and is a great song-writer, he wasn’t my first choice to win it.
Still though, congrats to the guy. He blew everyone out of the water with his track “You And Your Crown†which goes a little something.
Like this:
I think it’s a pretty rad little ditty, but it’s no secret that my favourites to win this were The Kiffness.
I mean Matthew is cool and all, but does he have a track that can stand up to “Ra Ba Do Ba Day�
Exactly. I rest my case.
Just try get that song out of your mind. Impossible.
Hopefully I’ll be able to get my greasy mitts on a few songs from Matthew’s set when he plays next month to share with you crazy cats.
Until then, well done Matthew, go kick some ass over there and come back with a fat recording contract and some belter groupies.
Five months ago, MK launched the MK Music Video Project whereby local bands were invited to team up with SA production companies and submit a creative pitch to MK for a music video.
