White South African music is burgeoning, with more releases than ever before. Our critics listen to a host of recent CDs
The Buckfever Underground: Jou Medemens Is Dood (Janus) A really clever concept which unfortunately comes off sounding pretentious as hell. Basically what you get here are six sparsely arranged acoustic guitar pieces with some percussion, samples and pseudo-Beat poetry in Afrikaans and English layered on top. The upside is that Toast Coetzee’s “kakpratery” is actually not half bad. -Rob Davies
Lesley Ray Dowling: Clear (Gallo) Dowling reins in her famous voice here, and the CD is all the better for it. One is less distracted by odd vocal effects and allowed to concentrate more on the songs themselves. Not all are up to the same standard, but overall the quality is good, with impeccable arrangements and Dowling letting her greater maturity deepen the emotions inherent in the songs. -Shaun de Waal
Ethel My Love: ‘Scuse the Fun (EML) This young threesome is obviously having fun. Their live performances are drenched in youthful energy, and while all this testosterone doesn’t quite make it on to the album, it does make for some good listening. They give us infectious happy rock – unfortunately, there’s quite a lot of it around these days, and Ethel My Love will need more than cute lyrics and boisterous punk rhythms to make themselves heard. – Riaan Wolmarans
Famous Curtain Trick: Land of No Cadillacs (Universal) No jive. Land of No Cadillacs starts off strongly, but from track two it’s a fast downhill in fifth to Shitsville (with one or two redeeming moments along the way). The musicianship and Nadine Raal’s singing is good, but the lyrics sound forced and there is no way that awesome production and slick packaging a great record make. Only three songs, Night Breeze, Running Scared and What It Looks Like, have identities of their own. -RD
Jennifer Ferguson: Untimely (Tic Tic Bang) Ferguson is one of this country’s best singer-songwriters, though some find her theatricality and her emotional intensity a bit of an acquired taste. This CD is a re- release of her 1990 album, now bookended by short and long versions of Dave Marks’s 1966 hit Master Jack, which Ferguson links to the assassination of Hendrik Verwoerd. It is a superb reading that gives a new life to the song. The album is excellent, particularly what was the second side: it addresses the traumas and oddities of Eighties South Africa with a poetic and melodic skill that takes it way beyond agit-prop. What is really wanted, though, is a CDof new Ferguson songs. -SdW
Anton Goosen: Putonnerwater, 21 Unreleased Songs and Greatest Hits Vol 2 (Gallo) There’s no way one can write this off. Sure, some of the tracks sound dated, but that’s the joy of this record, and overall it is great fun. Goosen takes you to Deja Vu Central with childhood stonkers like Hanoverstraat, Ouma Se Warm Kombuis and, embarrassingly, Trompie. Jy’s ‘n Lady remains one of the most beautiful Afrikaans songs ever recorded, and the songs from the Bushrock sessions are marvelous, especially Voete van Johannesburg. ‘Tis grand. -RD
Karin Hougaard: Metamorph (JNS) Cabaret artiste Hougaard retreads those old standards that many used to think were written by Taubie Kushlick. I mean those associated with Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf. Hougaard’s arrangements are resolutely up-to-date, and often she manages to give a new twist to an old song. Her version of La Vie en Rose is an imaginative make-over, but at other times such devices fall flat: turning Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien into a banal rocker and entirely recasting its tune is surely a bad idea. -SdW
The Honeymoon Suites: Five Star (HMS) Cape Town’s eccentric big band of pop- pasticheurs has a great deal of fun playing with different styles, and they have a nicely off-kilter line in lyrics. They are groovy as well as humorous, which makes an attractive package – as any George Clinton fan will tell you. Kevin Parissien’s vocals go a bit Hootie in places, but that doesn’t detract from a set of highly enjoyable songs. Shame about the artwork. -SdW
Mauritz Lotz: Earthtones (Tequila/Universal) I wasn’t that mad about Mauritz Lotz’s solo CDs in the past – too fussy and too sharp to me. On his new recording, however, he adds variety and it works. There are electronic beats, touches of flamenco style or an Eastern taste; a bit of frantic dissonance and some gentle moodiness too. Vocals are used sparingly, and Lotz’s guitar-playing is much more interesting in this context than when it is set against conventional rock backings. He even sounds a bit like Adrian Belew or Robert Fripp at times. – SdW
OHM: OHM (MELT 2000) An unlikely amalgam of break-beat rhythms, lilting viola, eastern melodies and swirling rock guitar, OHM’s debut long-player is inspired and ambitious. Brendan Jury’s viola work is superb; his vocals have never been more powerful. Drummer Gaston Goliath has a remarkable ability to create live drum’n’bass rhythms. Lyrically dark and musically innovative, OHM marks a foray into new, indefinable musical territory -South Africa’s most exciting new band. Unreservedly recommended. –Nashen Moodley
Wendy Oldfield: On a Pale Blue Dot (Scorpio) This is a rather uneven CD, but it’s miles ahead of most of what Oldfield has done before. The rhythm section here is doing a great job, though they’re often battling with rather bland tunes – and I had hoped not to hear Acid Rain again. Cool Bananas is also very irritating. There is an echo of kd lang’s recent style here, but the compositions often suffer the same problem as lang’s – they are rather samey. Oldfield’s voice is at its best when it is most understated; then it begins to sound truly sensual. -SdW
Frank Opperman and Prime Time Addiction: Serial Boyfriend (Gallo) TV star Opperman here plays the aged bluesman, leaning rather heavily on a broad American accent of his own devising. The joy here is the songwriting (by Opperman and Michael Maxwell), of which anyone working in this genre would be proud. These are really good, muscular rock songs, simple yet not inane, and with a generous sprinkling of wit and some very catchy hooks. For instance, Happy Birthday (addressed to Baby Jesus) is an appropriately wry song for the end of another Christian millennium. I’m still not entirely sure about that American accent, though. -SdW
The Tim Wells Band: Fallen Through the Cracks (Wellsound) Fans of this Durban group should be quite happy with the 10 radio-friendly folk-rock-type tracks on their first album. As a whole, the album could have made a better impression – too many of the songs are just a little bit too similar-sounding, only now and then surprising one with a dash of energy, like on Soul Shelter, with its early-Urban-Creep feel. This may mostly be due to a lack of proper production, since musical star Tim Wells, his band members and their esteemed guests – Nibs van der Spuy, Syd Kitchen, Dave Birch and others – musically all seem to be doing just fine. It remains a listenable piece of work, though, but the band should work on putting those little finishing touches on their work that will prevent them from falling through the cracks into oblivion. – RW
The Usual: Born in a Storm (BMG) This is guitar-pop of the highest order with hooky, clever tunes that sometimes cross the border of greatness into perfection. A seriously good record, understated and intelligent with lyrics that make you go “Hooray!” at times. The title track is phenomenal and once you hear it you will wonder how you ever lived without it. James Stewart’s vocals are heavenly, as are the respective contributions of Tom Fox, Johan Buys and Paul Tizzard. Born in a Storm is a record that shows unequivocally that local music is not limited to banal, generic pop or thrashing chunka-chunka heavy riffing. Go out today and buy this. In fact, buy two copies, because you won’t hear anything this phenomenal anytime soon. -RD
Valiant Swart: Deur die Donker Vallei (Wildebeest) Swart’s fourth album is his most mature and introspective work to date. While the sly humor is still there, it takes a back seat to perfect blues tunes like Banneling, Gange van Babylon and Die Donker Kom Jou Haal. Swart’s lyrical poetry is precise and he articulates emotion phenomenally well. He is also one of the few local artists who doesn’t use his guitar as a substitute pooch pacifier. The man’s backing band is awesome and Albert Frost on lead guitar deserves a mention, as does Agent Orange on the Hammond organ. A brilliant album that will grow on the listener. Swart has yet to make a bad record. -RD
Various: Splashy Fen (3rd Ear) If you think Oppikoppi and its ilk are the ultimate in music festivals, you have it wrong – long before, Splashy Fen was already soaking KwaZulu-Natal’s mountains in local sound. This album, featuring tracks from 35 acts recorded live since 1990, is a celebration of the festival’s 10th birthday. Originally billing itself as a folk festival, Splashy Fen has grown through the years, expanding into most other genres. The album is a fascinating trip through local music history. Alongside the big names, one delights in the contributions by lesser- known acts such as Pedro Espi-Sanchis’s spirited PVC pipe-playing and the short- lived Keep the Change. This is a perfect opportunity to get hold of tracks that might never be heard again. Well done, Splashy Fen. – RW