It’s usually an interesting experiment, though not always successful, when artists cross the boundaries of a specific music genre to incorporate the beats and sounds of another.
Local boys Gommora, winners of SABC1’s Gumba Fire competition and nominated for best newcomers at this year’s Metro Awards, hail from Dobsonville and proudly profess to loving hard rock in the vein of Linkin Park and U2 as well as kwaito, and their tastes are obvious on their self-titled debut album (Gallo). Upbeat and catchy hit single Living in da Ghetto got cross-radio airplay (although heaven knows what the 5fm kids think about when singing along to ‘We’re living in da ghetto, down in Sowetoâ€). The rest of the album is lively, with rock guitar riffs often craftily underpinning the kwaito soundscape, like on Kwal and opener Halla. Interlude 2 sounds like a dramatic movie soundtrack before sliding into the loungy, chilled Uthando Noma Yimali. It’s a strong and worthy debut — try it out.
Hailing from Virginia in the United States are production team The Neptunes, whose performance debut as Nerd (No One Ever Really Dies) comes on In Search of … (Virgin). From its hip-hop/rap roots the album slips into other modes effortlessly and seamlessly, all this with live instrumentation. Opening track Lapdance is hard-assed hip-hop, leading into the funk-hop of Things Are Getting Better; later on there are Run to the Sun‘s R&B jam, Am I High‘s upbeat piano lounge and single Rock Star‘s Fred Durst-like rock onslaught. Nerd is energetically eclectic and makes for addictive listening.
Thebe Mabanga reports Zwai Bala has taken it upon himself to make a solo album outside the realm of kwaito. This is obviously to avoid direct competition with fellow TKZee members Tokollo Tshabalala and Kabelo Mabalane and also sensible, since TKZee gives him enough space to do kwaito. Last year’s solo album Lifted Vol 1 had elements of experimental techno. His latest offering, Christmas in South Africa (Bala+), gives a new spin to Christmas carols. Parts of the album peter out and sound playfully pedestrian. But a lot of it works, starting with Coventry Carol, Three Kings and the jazz interpretation of Silent Night. His reworkings of Little Drummer Boy and Mary’s Boy Child will irk purists but is inevitable.
Various: Wicked Rock: Let Us Be Heard (Wicked Rock)
This new double CD compilation features no less than 38 South African bands giving it horns with hardcore homegrown rock. Local luminaries with new tracks on board include Not My Dog, Fetish, Battery 9, Kelvin Declined, The Parlotones, Sunways, The Finkelsteins, Pestroy, The Phoebes, Karen Zoid and Van der Want/Letcher. The album is launched on December 13 at CD Wherehouse, Gateway, Durban with performances by Vernix and 33 from 7pm and at CD Wherehouse, Rosebank, Johannesburg, with Duck and Cover, Sibling Rivalry, New World Inside and Rhütz from 1pm. It sells for R130, the price of a single CD.
To win one of three copies of Wicked Rock: Let Us Be Heard or one of three Instinct T-Shirts, call Tel: 083 742 5145 between 10am and 11am on Monday December 16 and name one of the bands appearing on the compilation.