Shaun de Waal
DURBANITE folkie and sometime leader of The Utenstils, Syd Kitchen, plays jazz-singer/guitarist on City Child. The opening song is a charming if ambivalent miniature of growing up “to city freedom” and “city hatred”, and from there on the songs flow easily one after the other. In terms of its sound, the album is all of a piece, and unfailingly engaging. Syd muses on such grown-up subjects as the search for love, the second-thoughts and doubts of a developing relationship, and people who become “social chasers”. Mark Duby’s bass and Mike Drake’s drums propel the numbers precisely, and Dave Tan’s violin is an inspired touch, though I’m not entirely sure about his saxophone, or the synth on Shame.
ANDRIES KRAY: That Was Then But This Is Naar (AK)
BETWEEN the late-Eighties’ Party Dolls and today’s Skate Muties, led by Andries Kray, there was a sojourn in London and other foreign cities. This cassette is the result. With contributions from MC Sparky, Kay’s songs travel through a selection of genres (something borrowed, something blue), often spurred on by slightly acidic lyrics. There are some very fine songs here: my favourite is Blind Love, which should be on the radio. The tape can be obtained from Kray at 45 Muller Street, Yeoville, 2198.
MAGIC CACTUS: Time/Isikhathi (Tequila)
MAGIC CACTUS come bounding toward you with a brand of reggae-pop that can turn into a kind of mbaqanga- ska or lolloping calypso, topped with Amanda Schofield’s vocals. There is some chummy jostling in the interplay between Jason Lurie’s and George Phiri’s guitars, but it is Owen Mthembu’s organ-like keyboards that set the whole thing in a nicely bubbly groove. That should be enough, but the press release goes on about how this music will enthrall us with “primal rhythms” and lift “everyone to a higher plane of consciousness”. I thought that was QCumba Zoo.
ROBIN AULD: Heavy Water (Shifty)
YOU can tell Robin Auld is a surfaholic. The CD foldout’s images are oceanic and fishy, and references to sea and sand (and sky and trees too, it must be said) abound in his lyrics. “Give me a spark of nature’s fire,” he sings in his soulful voice, but the songs are not just paeans to the non- human world. For instance, Long Lost — perhaps the strongest number on the album — deals poignantly with what sounds like an obsessive romance. Auld turns out solidly structured rock songs, and maintains the balancing act between urgency and laid-back cool.
CINEMA: Once in Your Life (Teal)
SOME years after they faded from public view, Cinema suddenly find themselves at number one in the Philippines with their 1994 song, Strangers Again. Could it be anything to do with their Duranny hairdos? Not quite “big in Japan”, but they’re almost obliged to put out a new album, containing, naturally, a 1996 remix of the hit. Once in Your Life certainly shows what Jarrod Aston and Mike Todd can do: glutinous ballads + la Strangers Again are interspersed with up-tempo numbers such as the robo- reggae of Ain’t Gonna Waste My Love or the Erasure- disco of Fire in Her Eyes and Dirty Lover. One can only wish Cinema the best of luck in the Far East. The Very Far East.