Durban music picks: October 8 2010

Durban offers an eclectic mix of sounds this week.

• With their bittersweet melodies, poignant lyrics and the effortlessly endearing Van-Morrison-
  meets-Joanna-Newson vocals of Werner Olckers, it’s small surprise that aKING’s Hunter Kennedy would describe the music of Wrestlerish as ‘the soundtrack to my quarterlife crisis”. Treading the heady line between innocence and experience that characterises all the wonder and woe of youth, Wrestlerish create a fresh, honest and highly original brand of indie-folk to bring life to a genre that’s generally far too busy feeling sorry for itself to have any fun. Whimsical, melancholic, delicate and dark all at the same time, Wrestlerish make the sweetest, most surprising South African pop music in singles such as Oliver Tambourine and their inspired debut album The Rude Mechanical. confection this side of Power Sour Jelly Tots.

  Durban Botanic Gardens, Sunday October 10 from 2.30pm. Gates open at 12,30pm. Tickets R80 in advance or R100 on the day. R20 for kids between 6 and 12. Visit www.ticketbreak.co.za Tel:
  031 202 5819
  

• Friends of Music, the small but dedicated group of classical music connoisseurs, this week present an inspired recital featuring some of the finest local and international talent. Young London-based violinist Daniel Rowland has been rapidly racking up the plaudits and prizes with The Herald having described his style as ‘radiating a single-minded intensity that makes him seem totally at one with the music”. Rowland is an active member of various ensembles, most notably the illustrious Brodsky String Quartet and the Breitner String Quartet and he plays on an exceptionally rare violin made by Lorenzo Storioni of Cremona in 1793. South African pianist Pieter Jacobs has performed to great acclaim as both soloist and chamber musician and is fast becoming recognised as one of the country’s most accomplished collaborative pianists. Together, he and Rowland perform a challenging selection of work by Schumann, Beethoven, Bartok and Franck.

  Durban Jewish Centre, 44 Old Fort Road, Tuesday October 12, 7.45pm. Tickets R70 from
  Computicket.

• The Origin, Durban’s most stylish and seductive nighclub, this weekend hosts a no-holds-
  barred night of high-class hedonistic mayhem in the form of The Danger Jol. Notorious electro-
  heads and party crew NONONO crank up The Origins state-of-the-art sound system to gazillion
  jiggawatts and, in their own words, summon all ‘dangerously devoted disciples of disko” to ‘bring out the gimp, the whips, the chains, the live peacock; dust off your voodoo fetish, stick your appendages in the wall-socket, join the Renegade Electro-Lemonade Parade and come dressed like danger.” On the decks is Grave Danger, aka Durban’s Skeme brothers, who blew up this year and shared stages with Fatboy Slim, Bloody Beetroots, Steve Aoki and more. Indie-fried electro king Offset is another star of the wheels of steel as are glitch/dubstep maestro Nightvision and lounge-hop impressario King B. In all there are 4 dancefloors and 11 DJs playing every school of cool under the sun.

  The Origin, Clark Road, Saturday October 9, 10pm. R50 if you are dressed like DANGER
  otherwise R80. Tel: 083 640 7447 or find the NONONO group on Facebook.