Mail & Guardian reviewers give us a list of what’s local and lekker and what’s not
Selaelo Selota
Lapeng Laka (Sony)
Lapeng Laka is a Sepedi phrase that loosely means “my home”. It’s also the title of Selaelo Selota’s fifth album. Listening to this CD makes it apparent that Selota is focusing on his sense of home. The traditional music of the Bapedi and other common cultures of Limpopo province provide the background to this offering. With this album Selota moves closer to world music than to straight-up jazz, which he explored in his earlier albums. Bluesy guitar riffs blend well with traditional kiba drumming. Selota also delivers a delicate glaze on vocals while flirting with the incantations familiar to the folksongs he reimagines here. This 11-track album opens with the title track, Lapeng Laka, which features a cool call-and-answer groove. Tshipi Sepanere is a competent revisiting of a folksong that parodies an aunt’s flight to Pretoria on a bicycle, fleeing from an abusive “iron man” of a husband. The song is an exploration of violence against women. Many will probably argue that this is a safe creative journey that breaks few rules. But Lapeng Laka will please the nostalgic types in need of music with a folk leaning and just might warm up jazz heads too. — Percy Mabandu
AndrÉ van Rensburg
Unfinished Cities (Soul Candi)
André van Rensburg, who now lives in Taiwan, has been an esteemed member of the South African music scene for some time, having performed with Die Menere, Battery 9, Ohm and Supernature. Unfinished Cities, his second solo album, is a collection of 13 instrumental pieces featuring world-renowned experimental musician and virtuoso koto player Chieko Mori, with Yoko Ikoma on accordion and toy piano. South African violinist Brendan Jury, who formed Ohm with Van Rensburg in the late Nineties, also guests. As a whole the album is an enchanting exploration of sound and, despite the quality of his collaborators, it is Van Rensburg’s solo guitar pieces that really impress. Part 7, with its rich, warm guitar tones encased in the silence that surrounds them, is something to savour, and on Part 12 it sounds as though Van Rensburg is dismembering his guitar. This is not an album for everyone – in fact, its appeal is likely to be limited. But if you have an interest in experimental music this is well worth a listen. — Lloyd Gedye
Die Heuwels Fantasties
Die Heuwels Fantasties (Supra Familias)
Hunter Kennedy is seen by many as the brains behind Afrikaans supergroup Fokofpolisiekar, but if you are expecting a similar experience with his new project, Die Heuwels Fantasties, you will be surprised. The raw rock sounds make for Bloc Party-like electronic smoothness and the cutting-edge lyrics Kennedy has become famous for remain. The other partner in Heuwels is Lukraaketaar’s Pierre Greeff, who brings a hint of guitar to the band. But the music is electronically dominated and a great deal of fun. Oorlewing 101 has already become a firm favourite among fans, but there are songs far more exciting than this radio hit, including Nare Kaskenades and Hyg Duiwel. aKing’s Laudo Liebenberg, Van Coke Cartel’s Francois van Coke and a host of other alternative Afrikaans artists also bring their three cents to this remarkable album. Rock fans might be disappointed, but there is no doubt that Die Heuwels Fantasties is worthy Afrikaans music. — Yolandi Groenewald
Jax Panik
Cigarettes and Cinnamon (Soft Light City Music)
Jax Panik makes music for people who like being in a scene. He knows his audience of self-titled “indie kids” and gives them exactly what they want. Cigarettes and Cinnamon is electronic pop, a mishmash of skinnies and wayfarers, accessible synthesisers and catchy riffs. But for an artist who considers himself somewhat different to the mainstream because of his online-only performances, there is nothing terribly alternative about his product. If you like the Bravery, the Cinematics and MGMT, you’ll be slightly on the positive side of indifferent about this album. Talking to Myself and Cigarettes and Cinnamon are rather fun but not very interesting. The opening track, Don’t Wanna Dance, is almost hummable, but everything else sounds like one long Tiffanyesque mall-tour pop anthem. The bonus remixes are pure indulgence for the audience and, musically, the album is a bit boring. The people who like Jax Panik really like him, but, then again, the people who like Kenny G really like him too. — Ilham Rawoot
Zebra and Giraffe
Collected Memories Deluxe Edition (Just Music)
The pseudonym for musician Greg Carlin, Zebra and Giraffe, is well known to most South African music fans. Carlin has exploded on to the local music scene with a number of hits off this album, not least of which are The Knife, Arm Yourself and Oxymoron. The album was written and put together by Carlin, who did pretty much everything, bar some outside assistance on drums. The sound skids around from rock into the realms of electronica and Eighties pop, but is consistently good on this CD. With the release of the special edition there is the stock inclusion of a few music videos, most of which anyone with the internet will have already seen. But there is also some good behind-the-scenes coverage of Carlin’s evolution from a one-man band into an actual band. He has, he says on the DVD, always intended for Zebra and Giraffe to become an actual band name rather than a funny moniker for him alone. The special edition shows us how that is happening and includes the new bonus track, In My Eyes, which one assumes is a product of the band’s and not just Carlin’s. But the real test will come in new material that is a group effort. Whether Zebra and Giraffe will be as good a team as it is as a one-man show remains to be seen. — Lynley Donnelly
Various Artists
Bellville Rock City (Rhythm Records)
In the late Eighties a young upstart label by the name of Sub Pop managed to convince the music press that it was the hotbed of everything that was exciting and relevant in the rock world. It did this by marketing a lifestyle called Grunge. Fast-forward to 2009 and local independent record label Rhythm Records seems to be adopting the strategy hook, line and sinker. With the success of Fokofpolisiekar and its spin-offs, Van Coke Kartel and aKing, Rhythm has decided to pick up a number of peripheral bands and package an easily digestible, bite-sized scene for consumption by the masses. The meal on offer is Bellville Rock City and for my money it will leave you unsatisfied. It opens with Ashtray Electric, whose song, Quite Overstated, sounds like something that the Killers or Interpol might have left on the cutting-room floor and for good reason. New Holland are up next with their monumental slab of drivel, titled Inside Out. Add to that forgettable songs by Tatum, Lukraaketaar, the Thieves and Jax Panik and it spells “waste of money”. Let’s face it, Kobus!, Fokofpolisisekar and Foto na Dans are the only interesting bands on this compilation to have come from Bellville, so do we really need a compilation CD and DVD package mythologising this industry-manufactured scene? — Lloyd Gedye
Martin Rocka and the Sick Shop
It’s a filthy song but someone’s got to sing it (Sheer)
Martin Rocka and his Sick Shop keep on keeping on. By now you should know what to expect: badass swamp-boogie and surf-rock madness. Don’t expect progression here, folks — I think the whole point is regression. Take Slaglab for example, with its chorus: “S-L-A-G-L-A-B/ We make girls who fuck for free”. It sounds like Rancid singing a doo-wop number, but it’s hardly memorable, which is probably my biggest criticism of this album and Martin Rocka of late. Once the novelty of the masked rockabilly villain has worn off, the music is just plain ordinary, no matter how sick his sense of humour. But if you are a fan, you’ll probably love this album, because nothing has changed, besides Rocka adding a few more country tinges here and there. — Lloyd Gedye