November 2012 - Issue 6

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IN THE NEWS

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FEATURES Interview: Die Heuwels Fantasties 4 Retrospective: Uriah Heep

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Into The Unknown

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Kill It With Fire

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Homegrown: Van Smith

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Topic: Best of the Worst

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8th Notes From the Underground: Obscura

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Column Parallel Worlds

We at 8th Note had an epic month of music over the last 30 days. We saw live bands bonanza and attended two of SA’s biggest festivals. We tell you more about these events and give you all the eyepopping pictures you can handle.

We launched our brand-new and improved website, 8thnotelive.com, this month where readers can catch all the daily breaking music news, read all their past favourites and interact with us via all the most popular social media platforms. That’s right, a whole new web experience that puts paid to our promise of ‘keeping it slick’ yet again. We also welcomed Gideon Ramabula on-board as our brand new regular contributor, increasing his staple work of reviews with news and events.

This month we interview more local rockstars in the form of Die Heuwels Fantasties and Van Smith. Of course we’ll be talking all about Uriah Heep in light of their epic SA performance at Mieliepop in our retrospective section. Rudi talks us through all the minutiae of a Warwick bass in our gear section, a must-read for all budding young bassists.

Metal lovers should page ahead as we bring you another legendary interview with metal heavyweights in the form of Germany’s Obscura.

We review the newest P!nk, Ross Jack and The Killers’ albums, we kill someone with fire and introduce you to...wait for it... French military pop.

As always we bring you all the news, reviews and events you need to know about.

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REVIEWS

Keep a keen eye out for next month’s edition where we give you even more gear reviews for all local musicians, music lovers and Christmas shoppers.

Happy reading folks and do keep rocking!

Events

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CDs

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Rudi’s Guide to a Better Recording

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ELLO November! It occurs to me that unlike other editors, I never wax particularly philosophical in my ed’s letters.

Happily, I won’t start now.

Ed.

Features:

28 Contributors:

Calendar

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Design & Layout: Editorial Assistants: Cover Photography:

Competition time!

Write to us on info@8thnotemusicmag. com with your thoughts and comments to stand a chance to win one of this month’s great CD giveaways, including, amongst others, a SIGNED copy of last month’s cover stars aKING’s The Red Blooded Years Special Edition!

Tristan Snijders Yolande Erasmus Rudi Massyn gideon ramabula Reinhardt Massyn Charmaine Palm Michelle Clacher John Wilke C/O Tempo

Contact Us www.8thnotemusicmag.com info@8thnotemusicmag.com Tel : 011-021-5506 Page1

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AVE our Rhinos is a Sting Music and Endangered Wildlife Trust initiative that recently saw a double compilation album featuring 40 of SA’s brightest stars released. Artists on the album include Prime Circle, Johnny Clegg, Elvis Blue, Chris Chameleon, Alter Irving, Locnville and many more. A percentage of the funds for every album sold will go towards the EWT in their fight to develop workable solutions to address rhino poaching. Visit www.rhinocd. co.za to place an order.

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ON Jovi is heading to South Africa. 2013 will see Bon Jovi performing at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town on the 7th of May and the Soccer City Complex in Johannesburg on the 11th of May as part of the band’s ‘Because We Can’ world tour. According to Computicket’s website, ticket prices range from R325 – R975 for Cape Town and R325 – R1850 for Johannesburg. VIP ticket options are available.

Tickets went on sale on the 2nd of November in CPT and in JHB on the 1st of November. Better save up Bon Jovi fans, you’ll be ‘livin’ on a prayer’ after you pay these outrageous prices.

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UICIDE Silence vocalist, Mitch Lucker, has died at the age of 28 after he sustained severe injuries during a motorcycle accident.

Suicide Silence, one of the most popular young metal bands in the world, was set to perform at California Metalfest VI later this month. With Lucker’s death, the band’s future looks uncertain.

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H dear, Madonna is in the news again.

When she is not being sued for encouraging gay sex, being ragged

by Elton John, being booed off stage or doing other midlife crisis-esque things she will find another way to make it to the news. She recently fired one of her backup dancers for giving her incredibly short notice of his leave of absence, and then she got booed off stage again for encouraging the citizens of New Orleans to vote Obama. Shopping for ideology? Give Madonna a miss.

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UCH to the relief of most music fans the world over, sensitive soul James Blunt has announced he currently has no song writing plans. Speaking to the Daily Mail he stated: ‘I just want to take some time out for myself’. The ‘You’re Beautiful’ whiner has been laying low in his Ibiza villa since the end of his 2011 North American tour.

Obviously the British tabloid portrayed it as the end of Blunt’s music career but we somehow doubt this is the case.

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OUTH African rockers aKING have just released a special edition of The Red Blooded Years.

This edition includes two new tracks, ‘Jezebel’ and ‘Wild Child’ as well as all the music videos from The Red Blooded Years and a 20% discount voucher courtesy of adidas Originals. The two new tracks are meant to give fans a taste of what is to come with the band’s next album due for release in 2013.

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P the Creek will be taking place between 31 January and 3 February 2013. The festival, organised by Red Hot Events and Blue Moon, is set to take place next to the Breede River in Swellendam and will feature three sponsored stages, courtesy of 4th Street, MK and Rolling Stone SA. For updates, keep an eye on Up the Creek’s website and social media profiles.

OCAL ladies BlackByrd released their first album Strong on the 15th of October. BlackByrd is Tarryn Lamb, Samantha Heldsinger and Tamsyn Maker and they hail from Cape Town. Having recently been signed to EMI these girls seem to be going from strength to strength.

ED Hot Chili Peppers fans are fuming over the fact that Computicket has apparently not been able to handle the high demand for tickets. Fans took to twitter to vent their outrage at the fact that some people were queuing to buy tickets and only got standing tickets. Computicket set a 20 ticket buying limit per individual, which also struck consumers as unfair. RHCP will be performing on Saturday 2 February at the Soccer City Complex, JHB and on Tuesday 5 February at Cape Town Stadium.

IG Concerts has announced that cult Mexican-American singer-songwriter Rodriguez will once again be performing in South Africa. The Sugarman will be performing five shows in February 2013: 15, 16 & 17 February, Big Arena, Carnival City JHB and 20 & 21 February, Grand Arena, Grand West CPT. Ticket prices will range from R310 – R520 and were available via Computicket.

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HE new Die Antwoord video, ‘Fatty Boom Boom’ released last month has been making waves with Lady Gaga fans. These zef rappers’ latest video sees a convincing drag-version of Lady Gaga on a tour of SA, spotting lions, hyenas, being hijacked and giving birth to a Parktown prawn.

The rappers themselves are decked out in true ‘freeky’ style. Of course, our zef rappers take a dig at the fact that Lady Gaga asked them to open for her on her SA tour.

In response to the video Lady Gaga posted on twitter ‘i fink u freaky but you don’t have a hit. hundred thousand tIckets sold in SA’.

While Die Antwoord slammed back ‘lady... even tho u r ‘larger’ than us... we still cooler than u... plus we don’t have prawns in our private...’. Sho!

HE Vines front man Craig Nicholls was arrested recently for allegedly punching his mom in the face. This band exploded into the music scene in the early-2000s like a punch in a kindly old lady’s face. Their various hits scratched and bruised the charts like the arms and legs of the arresting officer at the scene during Nicholls’s arrest.

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OLMER Bush Lounge (formerly Wolmer Events Arena/ Shisa Nyama Wonderpark) has reopened as a music venue and chill spot and promises to bring guests the latest rock, metal, blues, deep house and occasional R&B and soul. The venue’s re-branding sees it as an up-and-coming outdoor music venue, which can also be booked out for any type of event.

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OLLING Stones fans went hot under the collar over the price of concert tickets. The band’s much-anticipated anniversary shows, two in London and two in New Jersey, saw fans having to fork out thousands of pounds to book a spot at these shows.

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USSY Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, convicted of ‘hooliganism motivated by religious hatred’ and sentenced to two years in prison in August this year, have been sent off to Siberian and Mordovian prison camps, respectively. Russia’s distant penal colonies are the stuff of nightmares and one would be well surprised to hear anything from these girls in the near future.

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MERICAN punk rockers Green Day have released probably their worst song ever in the form of a video for ‘The Forgotten’, a track set to appear on the Breaking Dawn: Part 2 soundtrack. The only good thing to come out of this entire story is that Breaking Dawn: Part 2 happens to be the final installment of the Twilight Saga.

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ARTIN ‘Basvanger’ Labuschagne has tragically died after hospitalisation following a diagnosis of septicaemia.

Labuschagne has been active in the music scene for the last 17 years and he has played bass for Jan Blohm for the last six years. Labuschagne also played for bands such as The New Academics, Jo Day, Gents of Leisure and White Rabbit.

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Tristan Snijders

FRIKAANS pop music is not a particularly respectable genre when approached from a music enthusiast’s or critic’s point of view. I mean, about 80% of the artists sound exactly the same – you could take any Pietman Visagie song and stick it on a Sampie Slabbert album and most people would be none the wiser (granted, much of this is owed to clever production techniques and using the same backing vocalists for almost every Afrikaans-pop artist out there). There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the music, but it’s often quite contrived and whimsical; there’s really not much cerebral going on – almost the perfect accompaniment to a braai, some beers and a weekend rugby match.

Fortunately, for the more discerning music fan, there has been something stirring in the Cape for some time now; the mission to take Afrikaans music and make it into something exceptional, something original.

Fokofpolisiekar got the ball rolling by giving the finger to the conservative Afrikaans community and the band has since splintered into a number of other projects, one of which is Die Heuwels Fantasties.

Die Heuwels Fantasties (English: The Hills Fantastic), consisting of Pierre Greeff (vocals), Fred den Hartog (guitars), Hunter Kennedy (bass, backing vocals) and Philip Erasmus (drums), deliver a far less ‘offensive’, though no less important, brand of Afrikaans music than Fokofpolisiekar (of which Kennedy is a member). The band manages to straddle a variety of genres making music that appeals to both true Afrikaans-pop fans and those who may take their music and its complexity a bit more seriously.

DHF maintains something along the lines of an Afrikaans-pop sensibility at its core yet shuffles

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DIE HEUWELS FANTASTIES

The Promised Land between rock, electro and acoustic inclinations, creating music quite unlike anything heard before in the Afrikaans music scene. The band’s fan base has grown exponentially over the past few years attracting fans of all races and cultures, showing that Afrikaans-pop music can be brought to the masses and not just delivered to a small pocket of the Volk beyond the Boerewors Curtain.

Not only does the band deliver eclectic and well-thought-out pop music but lyricists Pierre Greeff and Hunter Kennedy also demonstrate exceptional poetic prowess and cover topics, with near-unrivalled poignancy in pop music, that resonate with young and old listeners alike. Unfortunately for those who don’t understand Afrikaans this isn’t really relevant but the band’s music, much like Jack Parow and Die Antwoord, doesn’t rely solely on lyrics as a main selling point – it’s simply a substantial boon.

Since the band’s inception in early 2008, the

Capetonian quartet has managed to clinch an impressive bevy of awards picking up numerous Huisgenoot Tempo and MK awards, as well as a prestigious SAMA award, along the way.

To date, DHF has released two full-length studio albums, namely the band’s 2008 selftitled debut and 2011’s Wilder as die Wildtuin.

Both albums were particularly well received by the public and critics alike, each acquiring gold status in South Africa. Beyond that, DHF made South African music industry history by being the first Afrikaans rock band to top the SABC’s Top 20 album sales charts with Wilder as die Wildtuin – a monumental achievement considering the charts have been running for over 40 years. The band has also consistently

We really like to make records that have a lit tle bit of this and a lit tle bit of that!

Photography By: Manfred Werner

set up camp at the summit of various television charts as well as radio stations across the country and will likely continue that trend in the future.

Sales figures, chartings and awards aside, DHF has toured Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK and had the particularly enviable honour of being sent to New Zealand by our Department of Arts and Culture to represent South Africa during the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup. For a then three-year-old band that’s a pretty remarkable achievement.

The DHF machine is still grinding on and the band’s third album is due for release this month. Alles Wat Mal Is is set to hit SA’s shelves on the 15th of November 2012. The album’s first single ‘Beloofde Land’ is already spinning its way around South African airwaves and can also be found on SoundCloud for those who can’t wait until the album is out.

Gauteng fans are also in for a treat when DHF makes the great trek north to launch Alles Wat Mal Is – the band will be performing on the 15th of November at Tanz Cafe in Fourways and on the 16th of November at Firkin in Centurion.

With the release of Alles Wat Mal Is right around the corner, I was fortunate enough to get in contact with front man Pierre Greeff and

ask him a few questions about DHF’s career so far and the band’s upcoming album.

DHF plays a pretty unique style – something along the lines of electro pop rock where you maintain a commercial sound that wouldn’t alienate your average Afrikaans music fan.

How would you guys classify your music if you had to?

I think it’s a good hybrid between the first and the second album, so I guess we’ve gone full circle then!

What were the pre-production and recording processes like for Alles Wat Mal Is? We rented a house in Hout Bay and wrote and recorded there for three months. Once

Alternative pop is what we call it, but I guess there is quite a bit of rock in there as well! We really like to make records that have a little bit of this and a little bit of that!

What other artists have inspired DHF’s music?

Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Passion Pit, The Killers. The list goes on and on.

What can fans expect from your latest album, Alles Wat Mal Is?

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Photography By: Antonie Robertson

we finished up there we did some extra instrument recording with friends of ours in Stellenbosch – violins, accordion, piano etc.

Now Johnny (de Ridder) is mixing it at his new studio and adding his production wizardry!

How does the song writing in DHF usually work and was it any different this time around?

It wasn’t any different this time around, Hunter and I do the lyrics. Us two plus Fred handle the music and Fred does all of the programming in the preproduction phase. Phil plays the drums.

You’ve picked up a number of awards in the five years you’ve been around, from SAMAs to MK awards, and your first two albums achieved gold status in SA – what do you think is the secret to the success of DHF? I think people really relate to the music, if I look at their faces at our concerts. That is an absolutely amazing feeling for any musician and we are very grateful for that... without our fans we would have no career!

You guys just played at the Huisgenoot Skouspel, and have played many other

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festivals. Which gig or series of shows are you most proud of, or enjoyed the most?

What’s coming up for DHF after the release of Alles Wat Mal Is?

I must say, when the government flew us out to play our music in New Zealand as cultural ambassadors to the Springboks that was pretty bad-ass!

Show, show, show, tour, tour, tour, video, video, video, holiday, holiday, holiday, hey!

What’s the worst experience you’ve had on the road?

Our tyre burst....but hey, we fixed it in 10 minutes flat like a real F1 pit stop team!

Haha!

I really enjoyed the VANFOKKINGTASTIES compilation you, aKING, Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel did – are there any future plans to expand on this touring/recording collaboration?

I reckon we will definitely play together again. I don’t know about an album – it’s a logistical nightmare to get all the peeps’ schedules together!

You (and Hunter) run your own label, Supra Familias, and shop. Tell us a bit more about these ventures and why you were inspired to pursue them…

It was a ‘horse before the cart’ scenario, both our previous bands were on labels and we decided with DHF to do it alone as it made sense to own and record your own music. We still do it these days because now we have the means to produce music that we find inspiring and worthwhile (i.e. Van Coke Kartel and Thieve)... we wouldn’t have it any other way! Booya! ■

I think people really relate to the music, if I look at their faces at our concerts. That is an absolutely amazing feeling for any musician and we are very grateful for that...

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Tristan Snijders

HERE are some bands that stand the test of time and remain perennial favourites decades after their heyday and then there are a few others that have faded into relative obscurity. Britain’s Uriah Heep is one of the legendary early hard-rock bands of the 70s that unfortunately happened to find itself in the latter category, diminishing in prominence and perceived relevance as time passed.

Fortunately for classic-rock fans, guitarist Mick Box and crew are still going at it and have lost none of the spark that put the band in the limelight four decades ago. Just last month, South African concertgoers had the good fortune of seeing the rock veterans perform a stellar set at the Mieliepop fest in Mpumalanga.

Uriah Heep was originally known as Spice and was founded in 1969. The original Heep lineup consisted of visionary guitarist Mick Box, vocalist David Byron, bassist Paul Newton and drummer Alex Napier. The band, signed to Vertigo Records, headed off to studio and had recorded much of its debut album when it was decided that the inclusion of a Hammond organ would enhance the band’s sound and drive it into a different direction from the usual strings-only rock instrumentation.

Ken Hensley was brought on board and Napier was replaced by Nigel Olsson. In 1970, the band released its debut album Very ‘Eavy…

Very ‘Umble (the title referencing the heavy sound of the band as well as the recurring phrase used by Dickens’ humble character Uriah Heep from David Copperfield). The album was not particularly well received by critics though has retrospectively become one of the most important works in the formation of hard-rock music.

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Salisbury, Heep’s second album, was released in 1971 and found the band moving further away from a straightforward rock approach, incorporating progressive rock complexity, giving the band a more unique core sound. Soon after the release of Salisbury, Heep embarked on its first US tour in support of American rockers Steppenwolf.

Look at Yourself was released in late 1971 and saw Heep really hitting its stride with Hensley starting to take on a much greater role in song writing.

Nearing the end of 1971, Lee Kerslake took up the drumming duties and Gary Thain was brought in on bass, creating what most see as the ‘classic’ Uriah Heep line-up. What followed in 1972 was the release of Demons and Wizards, an album generally accepted to be the quintessential Heep album where the band’s disparate ideas were perfectly consolidated to create a unique and exceptional album – fans and critics lapped up the album and it ended up being the band’s highest-charting album, peaking at the 20th spot on the American album sales charts.

The relentless band released The Magician’s Birthday only six months after Demons and Wizards, yet again showcasing the talent and excellent song-writing abilities of the band.

Unfortunately the album was the last to capture the classic Uriah Heep sound and subsequent albums saw the band taking on a more commercially friendly sound that came across as trying too hard to break into the upper reaches of the American market.

The band released Sweet Freedom in 1973, through Warner Bros. in the US – the album sold remarkably well, receiving RIAA Gold certification within a year. Next up was 1974’s Wonderworld which did not sell as well and

was also the last album featuring Thain on bass. Thain had developed, or rather expanded upon, a bit of an unsavoury habit and was fired by the band after accusing manager Gerry Bron of having turned Heep into a solely commercial entity. Several months later Thain was found dead in his home of a heroin overdose.

Thain was replaced by John Wetton, formerly of King Crimson, who brought some fresh ideas into the band. Return to Fantasy was released in 1975 and was something of a return to form, at least in the eyes of the public. The band broke into the top ten of the UK album sales charts for the first time but the album lacked a sense of cohesion and decisiveness. Following a year-long tour, the band released High and Mighty in 1976. It was a critical and commercial flop and was the final album vocalist David Byron performed on.

Byron had developed a dependence on alcohol and his live performances, as well as the relationship with his band mates, started to suffer giving the band little choice but to fire him. Wetton announced his departure from the band, having never felt entirely comfortable in Heep. Box and Hensley, the principle songwriters, were now without a front man – the voice and face of Uriah Heep – and had to find a replacement bassist as well.

Luckily, replacements were found quite quickly – John Lawton on vocals and Trevor Bolder on bass. Lawton didn’t have the gravity-defying vocal prowess of Byron but had a solid and emotive rock voice. In 1977 the band released two albums, Firefly and Innocent Victim. By this time, the band had been largely forgotten in the States but saw the peak of its popularity in Germany, with Innocent Victim selling over one million copies in Germany alone.

The following year, Heep released Fallen Angel but there was unrest in the ranks.

Lawton and Hensley were at constant loggerheads and Hensley insisted on using any and all material he had written on the band’s albums, providing him with a far higher royalty payout than any of the other members.

Lawton’s wife was also constantly on tour with the band and this was another factor in his ejection from Heep. John Sloman was brought in to replace Lawton but soon after drummer Lee Kerslake left the band after complaints that manager Gerry Bron was playing favourites with regards to Hensley’s material.

Kerslake was replaced by Chris Slade, of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, to record the next album.

Raging Silence, released in 1989, was the band’s next album and exposed the world to the ‘new’ Uriah Heep. The 90s saw the release of three studio albums, 1991’s Different World, 1995’s Sea of Light and 1998’s Sonic Origami – all decent albums, if somewhat suffering from various inconsistencies.

Sonic Origami was the final album featuring Kerslake on drums and in 2007 he decided to quit the band due to ill health. Enter drumming guru Russell Gilbrook. With a bit of impetus provided by the addition of the youthful Gilbrook, Box and company got right back to recording new songs, releasing Wake the Sleeper in 2008. In 2009 the band released re-recordings and two new tracks on Celebration – an album that marked the 40th anniversary of Uriah Heep.

In fact, it takes a mere matter of seconds to realise that Uriah Heep isn’t over the hill but is instead on top of its game, performing with a zest and attitude that belies the members’ age.

Conquest, the band’s 13th studio album, was released in 1980 but the band was in disarray.

Hensley was displeased with the hiring of Sloman, who he thought did not make the grade vocally. Hensley quit the band, as did Sloman and Bolder, leaving Mick Box as the sole Uriah Heep member. After a brief depressive period of binge drinking, Box decided to get the band back on its feet and contacted Kerslake who had, after leaving Heep, formed Blizzard of Ozz with Ozzy Osbourne. Kerslake leapt at the opportunity to rejoin the band and brought bassist Bob Daisley with him. John Sinclair was brought in on keyboards and Peter Goalby of Trapeze secured his spot as Heep’s vocalist.

In 1982 the band released Abominog, catapulting the band into the 80s. The band was approaching a more commercially viable AOR sound whilst still maintaining some of the typical Heep sound. The following year saw the release of Head First, the departure of Daisley and the return of Trevor Bolder, who has been with the band ever since. Heep toured the States in support of Judas Priest, Rush and Def Leppard and the band briefly secured the attention of the younger heavy metal crowd.

Former vocalist David Byron, who had been pursuing a solo career, died of alcohol related complications in February 1985 and later that year Heep released the less-than-impressive album Equator. The band then suffered further setbacks by the departure of both Goalby and Sinclair. Their positions, however, were quickly filled by Phil Lanzon on keys and Canadian vocalist Bernie Shaw, both of whom are still in the Heep ranks.

Heep was the first Western band to cross the Iron Curtain and play in the USSR, paving the way for other Western rock bands to treat Russian audiences to a bit of live rock ‘n’ roll.

With the ball rolling and an ever-hungry audience, Into the Wild was released in 2011.

This ballsy modern approach to the classic Heep sound has really revitalised the band and the old chaps are currently undertaking yet another world tour. We at 8th Note were fortunate enough to catch the fearsome fivesome live on our shores and the enthusiasm and energy with which the band performs and tours indicates that you’re never too old for rock ‘n’ roll.

Mieliepop 2012

Poor old Phil Lanzon on the keyboard was somewhat hidden for most of the show but played his part perfectly and really came to life when whipping out the odd solo. Between bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Russell Gilbrook, the rhythm section was as tight as can be and I was particularly impressed by the newest addition to the band. Gilbrook is a drummer of exceptional talent and really added an extremely significant punch and drive to Heep’s material livening up many of the band’s older numbers.

The sound at the show was also really quite good, although there were one or two technical issues. The band sounded fresh and, in the heavier sections and songs, damn heavy. The band’s set list could not possibly have been any better, mixing in a fair bit of new material (which is actually very good) with all the old classics. A particular highlight for me personally, as well as for the crowd, was when the band pulled out ‘Lady in Black’ – I’ve never experienced such a high percentage of audience participation.

Other highlights included the latest album’s crunchy opener ‘Nail on the Head’, South African favourite ‘Free Me’, ‘Gypsy’ and the romping show closer ‘Easy Livin’’.

Heep’s set lasted for around two hours so everything was covered and fans were left entirely satisfied – though after such a great show we’re always left wanting more, aren’t we? Having watched a number of international artists live, I can safely say that Heep was certainly one of the best bands I’ve seen and if we’re fortunate enough to host them in South Africa again, I’d highly recommend anyone remotely interested in rock music to attend and take note of how it should be done. ■

On the night of October 27, Uriah Heep was ready hit to the stage in the stunning surrounds of Lothair, Mpumalanga. As the appearance of the headlining act drew nearer the cool night air had become dense with the tangible anticipation of the crowd and the several hundred music fans in attendance were nearing fever pitch. Then after an unbearable, though brief, period of sound checks and MC announcements, the speakers started rumbling with Heep’s introductory track.

Then four long-haired, old hippie-looking guys and a ‘young’ bald guy appeared on stage and simply blew the place apart. Mick Box, who looks like the coolest uncle or grandfather you could have, still has his chops waxed and provides a deceptively energetic presence on stage. In fact, it takes a mere matter of seconds to realise that Uriah Heep isn’t over the hill but is instead on top of its game, performing with a zest and attitude that belies the members’ age.

Front man Bernie Shaw, fillings and all, tore up the stage with his mammoth pipes and constantly engaged the crowd, never giving himself a moment’s rest. All too often have I seen older rock vocalists really struggling with their band’s older material but fortunately Mr Shaw still has what it takes and provides the audience with a compelling and close-toflawless performance.

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Dernière Volonté Tristan Snijders

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N this month’s Into the Unknown section I’m taking a look at one of my favourite underground acts at the moment, Dernière Volonté. Dernière Volonté translates to ‘Last Will’ and is the name under which French musician Geoffroy D records and performs music. Unfortunately not all that much is known about Geoffroy but that sort of French mystique simply adds to the appeal of DV.

The project first marched onto the scene in 1998 with the release of Obéir Et Mourir (Obey And Die). The album was a mesh of pulsating dark ambient moods, neoclassical instrumentation and imposing, percussive martial batteries complemented by vocal samples from the 30s and 40s – the product being a menacing yet inspiring martial industrial meets neoclassical release.

Geoffroy D continued down a similar path, yet consistently improved upon his song structure, for DV’s next five releases.

In 2003 DV released Les Blessures De L’Ombre which saw Geoffroy taking a

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greatly evolved approach to his music, incorporating pop melodies and a typical verse-chorus structure. The result of shifting the focus from a true martial industrial sound to a more pop-influenced one was an explosion in popularity for DV (obviously I’m not talking about superstardom, this is a section dedicated to lesser-known and underground bands after all).

Devant Le Miroir (In Front of the Mirror) was released in 2006 and is the undeniable pinnacle of Geoffroy D’s creative output.

The album is hailed as one of the best martial industrial albums ever and strikes a perfect balance between pop sensibilities and a rugged militaristic edge. I’m not the biggest fan of the French language (that’s putting it euphemistically, I’m afraid) but, from the music to the vocal delivery, Devant Le Miroir is simply one of the sexiest sounding albums I’ve ever heard.

Immortel, released in 2010, further strengthened the pop aspect of DV’s sound and 2012’s Mon Meilleur Ennemi (My Own Worst Enemy) took the music into a purely electronic pop direction. Whilst these albums are good in their

own right, one can’t help but long for that militaristic edge that made DV’s music so compelling.

If you’re curious as to what on earth French military pop or martial industrial music might be, or you’re just looking for something a bit different (and very French), do yourself a favour and give Dernière Volonté a listen. Devant Le Miroir should, in my opinion, definitely be your starting point – it sounds quite unlike anything else out there. ■

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NCE again the staff writers here at 8th Note attempt to warn unsuspecting music lovers against budding musicians of such great enormity that only the strongest stomachs, most tone-deaf ears and most lenient music video critics can handle. As always we do this exclusively for your amusement at the expense of others.

Berril von Amburg is a local lady – or shall we say local frau. She smacks of pork medallions und sauerkraut and her music smacks of the Third Reich’s Top Zehn Country Songs chart-topper list – if there were to be such a thing, of course.

Berril has done loads of things in her life; she’s been a police woman, made two kids, got divorced and been involved in countless Afrikaans music projects that, thankfully, no one has heard of.

Now, the above statements might sound harsh… in fact it probably sounds harsh to anyone who’s never suffered through her music video for the charming little tune ‘Wil Jy Of Wil Jy Nie’. In this video Berril is featured seductively reclining on a bar counter, being bitten by her Dachsund (oh, the dramatic irony) and crawling about on tarmac. It is obvious then, that Berril put a great deal of hard work and energy into this ambitious, but generally rubbish, music video.

The central love interest of this music video masterpiece is a character named ‘Boet’ and the high-profile getaway car is a shitty looking BMW with custom plates Moving neatly on to the music: Afrikaans is a language best pronounced correctly. If you add any Carltonville-esque slang to your dialect you’ll not be making converts out of nonbelievers. Berril clearly cares very little about language or choreography or the fact that most music lovers aren’t tone deaf. The tune sounds a lot like Apartheid-era children’s programme jingles mixed with country. It hurts your brain and insults your intellect.

But look, if you like the seductive musical advances of a middle-aged woman whom you’ve never heard of and you don’t mind being referred to in the diminutive ‘ou pellie’ fashion of Afrikaans slang, give Berril a listen.

you have a mind unbent by substances, and you are prone to seasickness then it would probably be best to avoid this music video.

In Berril’s defence this music video is not one of those that inspire deep waves of shame on the listener’s part for the sake of the performer. It is not one of those gag-worthy efforts that make us reconsider hanging on to life. It is, in short, a knee-slapper. One of those music videos that while it is quite bad, it is probably not the worst thing you are likely to see while trolling the underworld of Afrikaans music videos. ■

Wading through Berril’s short autobiography and looking up her video it is apparent that the cheeseand-herring riddled minds of the Dutch took a small but significant liking to her ‘work’. Her product enjoyed some glowing reviews from Belgians and the Dutch. This means that if you are living in a country where marijuana is not a controlled substance, and people probably grate magic mushrooms over their cheese and herring bakes, you should listen to ‘Wil Jy Of Wil Jy Nie’ – you might just get a kick out of it. If

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AARDKLOP 2012

I

Yolande Erasmus

N another, not nearly rare, celebration of Afrikaans language and culture Clover presented this year’s Aardklop Nasionale Kunstefees in Potchefstroom.

The festival is a souped-up flea market with loads of high-brow theatre productions, nodoubt featuring plenty of post modernism, which runs for six days in the sweltering town of Potch.

Happily, this year we got bang for our buck as there were loads of local bands donning several stages right throughout the festival.

Hats off to the brilliant, musically inclined guys at Klipdrift Brandy who brought us more local talent than we could handle. The Klipinni-Bos tent was huge with a giant stage, loads of amenities and a great live music atmosphere that is hard to resist even during the hottest weather.

More fun was had over at Bourbons, where bands performed on various stages – the drinks flowed and the party went on into the small hours each and every day. The Castle tent was another music monster, giving music lovers enough pleasing tunes and talented local acts to keep their toes tapping as they topped up their draughts. A testament to the fact that large corporations do have a finger on the pulse of local trends and the heartbeat of culture: music.

We saw Jack Stone, No EquaL, Van Smith, One Day Remains, Richard van der Westhuizen, Groot Oom John Tenoor, Chris Chameleon, The Drakensberg Boys Choir, Navi Redd, Jack Parow and many other exceptional local acts performing on several of the stages dedicated to music. It was an incredible musical experience that served as an oasis of pleasure in the harsh landscape of a Potch riddled with pockmarks of the ramshackle organisation of this event.

If you are looking for days of live music in a festival environment, give Aardklop a miss.

If you are one of those die-hard language enthusiasts who use the words ‘tampon’ or ‘vagina’ freely on your blog as you lament the sad decline of language and celebrate the mundane nuances of theatre then Aardklop is a perfect fit. To put it less harshly, if your introduction to culture festivals is Stellenbosch’s ever-classy Woordfees where you enjoyed several great theatre productions as a student long ago, then a day trip to Aardklop may just be justified. ■

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Mieliepop 2012

H

Yolande Erasmus

AVING been a student for many years I am fairly hard to impress when it comes to music festivals. As the editor of a music magazine I have done my time in the trenches: the vomit soaked porta-potties and the broken glass landscapes of local festivals. Aardklop 2012 served as a harsh reminder that my student days are over, that the days of boerie rolls and drunken students were behind me, happily. It was with a culminating wave of sheer dread that we set off for Mieliepop in Mpumalanga.

Of course I had the perfect motivation to go: Uriah Heep was playing. As this would be the band’s third South African performance I knew I would never swallow my regret for not attending this epic third performance. ‘Uriah Heep is playing’ became my mantra as we took off for Mpumalanga under threatening clouds heading toward what could be great but would probably be terrible.

We travelled through mist, light drizzle and the constant threat of apocalyptic Mpumalanga thunderstorms to get to Lothair, all the while desperately hoping that the end would justify the means.

It’s a good thing that a glimmer of hope kept me firmly standing to be corrected – because I was so impressed by this festival. Mieliepop has to be one of the most awesome festival experiences I have ever had.

Not only was the venue clean, idyllic and the hippies well presented and mostly coherent but the organisation of this epic show should serve as a bench mark of how it should be done in SA in the future. Picture the rolling green landscape and beautiful rock faces our bush experience is famous for, now couple that with swimming, ferry rides, good food, great service, clean toilets and Uriah Heep and you are approaching an idea of what this festival was like.

To boot, the organisers and press people were all over the ball and we got our accreditation in no time and had not one iota of trouble taking our pictures, surveying the grounds or enjoying the festival. This is in stark contrast to the Aardklop experience, where the Hitler Youth-esque escapades of the press office chronically reminded me that I had the sponsors to thank for the music in Potch, not the festival.

Seeing Uriah Heep live is enough to convince anyone to work in the music industry. These guys pulled out all the stops, playing a vibrant and energetic set that had fans vibrating, cheering and singing along.

They treated us to a wonderful encore and their departure from the stage was one of those poignant bittersweet moments where your mind reminds your heart that you will probably never see anything this epic anytime soon.

If you truly want an experience in the high art of music, close to JHB and on a shoestring budget I could not recommend this festival highly enough. As wholesome entertainment for party-lovers, families and everyone in between this festival tops South Africa’s list of events you have to attend. ■

PP age13 age13

EVENT DETAILS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

NOVEMBER 17th

Lize Beekman: Genade.

Centurion Theatre, Pretoria.

20h00. R130.

Judith Sephuma in Concert.

SA State Theatre, Pretoria.

20h00. R150.1 Zakes Bantwini Music Extravaganza, Market Theatre, Johannesburg. 20h00.

R180 – R200.

NOVEMBER 9

th

NOVEMBER 13

th

Navi Redd at the Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria.

20h00. R120 – R140.

Adam Lambert. Grand Arena, Grand West, CPT. 20h00.

R340 – R490.

The Johnny Cash Show at Rhumbelow Theatre, Durban.

20h00. R100.

NOVEMBER 16th

NOVEMBER 10th Bay Reggae Fest. Vodacom Amphitheatre, PE.19h00.

R120.

Choral Symphony. Sand Du Plessis Theatre, Bloemfontein.

19h30. R120 – R420.

Idols Top 2 Khaya and Melissa at the Krakatoa Action Bar, Sibaya Casino, Durban. 20h00.

R80.

NOVEMBER 11th Pretoria Symphony Orchestra.

Brooklyn Theatre, Pretoria.

15h00. R115 – R140.

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Lady’s Morning with Nianell.

Imperani Gastehuis in Ficksburg. 10h30. R180.

Kurt Darren. Silverstar Centre, Johannesburg. 20h00.

R100 – R130.

Heinz Winckler 24-7-365.

Centurion Theatre, Pretoria.

20h00. R130.

NOVEMBER 17th Alexander Gilman Violin Recital. Baxter Concert Hall, CPT. 20h00. R125.

Con Spirito Philharmonic.

NG Kerk Auditorium, Welgemoed, CPT. 20h00.

NOVEMBER 18th

Crazy Diamond – A Tribute to Pink Floyd. Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria. 20h00. R140 – R220.

Elvis Blue. Rhebokskloof Theatre on The Lake, Paarl.

19h00. R180.

NOVEMBER 25th Rebecca Malope. Market Theatre, Johannesburg.

20h00. R135 – R150.

NOVEMBER 27th Karen Zoid Under The Covers Dinner. Theatre on The Bay, CPT. 20h00. R165.

Jacques Imbrailo. Durban Jewish Centre, KZN.19h45.

R70.

NOVEMBER 22nd

Zahara Dinner Package.

Market Theatre, Johannesburg.

18h00. R280.

KentPhonik and Friends. Chaf Pozi, Johannesburg. 18h00.

R80.8h0

NOVEMBER 29th Lira Music Extravaganza.

Market Theatre, Johannesburg. 20h00.

R180 – R200.

0. R80 – R100.

NOVEMBER 30th

NOVEMBER 24th

Lady Gaga ‘Born This Way Ball’. Soccer City Complex, Johannesburg.19h00.

R315 – R715.

Rocking Our City. Grand Arena, Grand West, CPT. 20h00.

R150 – R220.

NOVEMBER 30th

Table Mountain Blues Summit.

Bloemendale Wine Estate, Durbanville, CPT. 15h30.

R140 – R280.

NOVEMBER 30th

Urban Legends Most Wanted.

Casa Blanca, CPT. 22h00.

R80.

Ringo Madlingozi Music Extravaganza. Market Theatre, Johannesburg. 20h00.

R180 – R200.

House Afrika Sessions 2. Bar 9 Midrand, Gauteng. 18h00.

R100 – R120.

DECEMBER 1st

Table Mountain Blue Summit.

Bloemendale Wine Estate, Durbanville, CPT Western Cape. 11h30. R140 – R280.

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a melody on my back This month 8th Note chats to the band that produces that distinct ‘funky, folksy, groovy sound that softens even the hardest beard’.

V

Yolande Erasmus

AN Smith is a three-piece acoustic band that hails from Johannesburg and is Jaryd Smith (vocals, guitar, percussion), Willie van Tonder (vocals, bass guitar) and Reyno van der Linde (drums and percussion). The band is very young, having originally formed in July 2011 with only Jaryd and Willie. I was introduced to their unforgettable fusion-type sound at the Klipdrift Battle of the Bands this year and knew it would only be a matter of time before these boys got themselves signed and recorded. Of course it helps that they are prolific performers, and gig seekers are bound to stumble across their charming brand of music – having played in Pretoria, Mpumalanga, North West, Limpopo, the Western Cape, the Free State and most recently Potchefstroom.

Musical originality has the potential to, at times, be rather a barren landscape. When I hear ‘original’ music that sounds derivative of a handful of other musicians or even just sounds like something I’d hear on the radio my mind tends to blank it out a little. I have, as I am sure many music lovers have, grown weary of the tired dirty bass sound that ostensible musicians try to blues rock down our throats.

The obvious influences, the Jimi Hendrix-cumLed Zep rip-offs, prevail upon us far more often than we’d like. Surely that music was mastered in an era of analogue recordings sporting an incredible amount of rock or blues bleed across our turntables in the past? Surely we do not need to revisit the same old hats that tirelessly perform at the same hipster music venue time and time again?

This is where Van Smith comes in...

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Van Smith isn’t too cool for anyone – their music instils an irresistible natural high at the core of any proper music lover. You know; that music-newbie feeling of trying to sing along even though you don’t know the lyrics.

The music amalgamates what we love from pop, rock and dance and brings it together as one refined and easy-listening product. In the primordial wastes of local music, there is always some ambitious act who aspires to bring a whole bag of musical groceries together in one pot – but these guys manage to convince. This rare gift of crafting new music from scratch is no mean feat and is certainly much-needed here in South Africa.

Lyrically the band doesn’t fail to deliver: smooth rhyming lyrics coupled with an awesome vocal performance have the capacity to polish coal to diamonds. This is where Van Smith delivers their bucktooth-shattering punches; this sixarmed lyrical machine’s vocal stylistics burn into the brain with laser precision, creating melodies that are impossible to shake off. Even if you try...hard. The lyrics are designed to be

catchy and easy listening, therefore the music is populated with more hooks than a crabfishing vessel. And if the boys carry on making fan-winning tunes and playing fresh music at the rate they are now, they’ll soon be famous enough to catch as many crabs as they’d like among their groupies and entourage.

The band has recently had a terrific rash of performances at the Clover Aardklop Nasionale Kunstefees, where they impressed festivalgoers with their unique sounds across several stages spanning the entire length of the festival. They were summarily interviewed live at the festival by OFM and had a chance to play their indelible tune ‘Cupid Find Me’ live on the airwaves. Mention was made of the band via the MK journos too – causing me to issue a sigh of relief at the delightful affirmation of my sanity regarding the quality of this up-andcoming powerhouse act.

If they can impress hardcore ooms, drunken students variously clad in very little to rugby shirts and ‘jean pants’, tannies who mainline

We want people to feel the music in their bodies. It makes everyone happy. boere musiek, music-industry media pundits and other budding garage bands alike, then they must be doing something right. After all, it has to be fairly tough to impress a crowd that manages to do everything from bringing up high-brow language to bringing down property values at Potch’s famous student fest.

But Potch was not alone in enjoying the vibes of Van Smith resonating through their studentriddled, porta-pottie nightmare of a town. In this last month alone they rocked Clarens, Pretoria and Boksburg too. Prolific see? I told you.

I did not hesitate at the opportunity of roping these guys in for an interview. It was an absolute pleasure to get talking with the trio and ask them a few questions I’m sure most music lovers will also want to know the answers to.

Where did Van Smith begin?

It was around July 2011. Jaryd (from Springs) was playing solo acoustic shows in the local East Rand pubs when Willie (from Benoni) joined him on the bass. They played together in a previous band so they knew each other before Van Smith. Reyno joined the band in April 2012 after he saw Van Smith play at the annual KKNK festival in Oudtshoorn.

How did each member get into playing music and decide to become musicians?

Jaryd started playing guitar in church when he was seven. He left school after grade nine to study music at COPA. Reyno got his first drum set in high school and studied music at Damelin after school. Willie sang in the school choir from grade one and started playing guitar in high school and studied music at Pneumatix.

All three of us tried to do the day job thing, but we just ended up being miserable, stressed, and unfulfilled. It took too much time away from the music. So it was pretty easy for us to choose full-time music over ‘stability’ and the rat race.

Tell us more about ‘funky, folksy, groovy, dancey, sexy tunes’...

Haha, those words are basically a description of our show and sound as a whole. We love having fun and making people dance. So the melodies and rhythms we choose tend to lean more toward the styles you mentioned. We want people to feel the music in their bodies. It makes everyone happy.

Your music is an amalgam of sounds and genres, what inspired you to do something entirely fresh and how do you guys maintain a

workable balance between different genres?

We were all in hard-rock bands before Van Smith. We learned a lot in our headbanging days, but as musicians we wanted to expand our own playing and music styles.

We also wanted audiences to dance more and we wanted people to actually hear what we sing. So we naturally moved towards a groovier and cleaner sound that appeals to a wider audience. We like to keep the songs interesting, yet simple and combining genres helps us to achieve this.

And it’s great fun to play.

Oh yes. We are playing a New Year’s Show at Friends in Clarens in the Eastern Free State.

It’s really an awesome town and venue to party at. It’s a bit of a trip, but well worth it. Then we have shows at Knight and Dragon in Boksburg on the 23rd of November. Hours Sport Pub in Kempton on the 7th of December.

Where can fans go to find out more about Van Smith?

They can go and visit our website at www. vansmith.co.za and then they can find us on facebook and Twitter.

Thanks for your time, any last words?

Thanks to you too. Can’t wait to see you all at a show. ■

Who is in charge of the lyrics and music in the band?

Jaryd normally comes up with a basic idea for a new tune and from there it’s a combined effort. We start with the groove and build the lyric lines around that.

Which other artists have inspired your music?

Oh, where do we start? Sting, Jason Mraz, Just Jinjer, Ben Howard, Neuton Faulkner, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kings of Leon, Lionel Ritchie...

As this year draws to a close, what are your plans for 2013?

We would love to keep the momentum going with the amount of shows we play. We’ve played 101 shows so far in 2012 and we’re planning to visit new towns and venues in South Africa in 2013. We love to tour. We are also excited about our debut album finally being released and all the things that come with that. Music videos, radio play, festivals.

Tell us about getting signed to Stone Studios International?

We’re really happy to be signed to Stone Studios International. They are super enthusiastic and have big plans. We’ve been looked after very well and unlike many other labels that we’ve come to know, Stone really commits to their artists. We also can’t wait to work with producer Rudi Massyn in an amazing studio. We really feel part of an awesome family.

You guys graced the stages at Aardklop this year, what was that experience like?

Aardklop was everything we hoped it to be.

It was a week of hard work and non-stop shows. The crowds at Aardklop are amazing and you are almost always guaranteed to perform before a large audience every time.

We shared the stage with some awesome bands and artists too. Aardklop is a busy and vibey festival and our music was enjoyed in that spirit.

Do you have upcoming shows that music lovers should look out for?

PP age17 age17

The best of the worst 8th Note Music Magazine’s Yolande Erasmus chooses our 10 worst album covers of all time!

A

NY proper music fan has at least one album in his/her collection that boasts cover art of an entirely surreal nature – and not the whacky art exhibition kind, I’m talking broken-down redneck surrealism.

Having trolled the endless wastes of the internet I have seen cover art from the macabre to the ridiculous. It would seem as if not all musicians are blessed with a creative marketing team that possesses an eye for a good cover or practical language sense. Having discovered everything from Let me Touch Him (gospel) to My Lips are for Blowing (a Russian girl on the recorder – oh, how I wish I was making this up) and having images of people on the toilet, in awkward self-conscious drag or sporting a genuine pirate hook for a hand seared into my mind, I am not sure I’ll get past this topic without therapy.

Nonetheless, there is a shameless pocket of musicians in the world who seem mentally unable to process images the way normal human beings do. This leads them to

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produce cover art of an incredibly disturbing nature, all the while taking themselves nature entirely seriously. Indeed, you get the sense that they are not being quirky and funny at all but they seriously offer these gems to the world as a bona-fide product. I am, of course, not referring to the obvious ‘PoohMan’ and his ilk – I’m fairly sure he knows exactly how ridiculous he is being. Instead I’ll be looking at all the finer things in life and that includes gospel cover art, a heavy metal album cover, a Deliverance of rednecks (I just made up that collective noun) and a German act. What’s a German or two between friends anyway?

some forlorn German. This really seems to be where the biggest treasure trove of terrible album covers can be found.

At this rusty, decrepit altar of sadness hundreds of musicians have lain down their music. Usually these hopefuls are wives of preacher men, or a redneck family, or a trio of farm-yard looking women, or some paedo-looking guy who is hoping to get famous. While these images are what we’d shake off as if waking up from a nightmare, they do exist. The more you explore their existence the more obvious it becomes that loads of knee-slapping chuckles can be had at their expense.

There is a definite pattern when wading through these gems. Either it is a gospel album that evokes the sound of Deliverance-esque banjos, a budding rapper sporting some really porny rap sounds or

It is therefore in the endless pursuit of a few good laughs that 8th Note has decided to take a plunge into the underworld and dig out the worst album covers we have ever seen. Please note that all entirely lewd

covers have been omitted from this piece, barring a few swear words we are, after all, a family music magazine. #10 Joyce.

Very little is known about Joyce Drake who elected to go for the hard helmet of curls hairstyle on her cover.

She also sports some scary glasses, a striped frock and a single long-stemmed rose. If Joyce Drake survives, she’s probably a lonely religious hipster. I actually went above and beyond the call of duty here, and fell on the grenade of the actual music for the sake those who might get curious on YouTube. Joyce sings pitchy gospel music full of some really awkward transitions. If you listen closely it is also obvious that she has a mild speech impediment. #9 Devastatin’ Dave the Turntable Slave – Zip Zap Rap. After looking at the album cover closely there remains little to be said, really.

Devastatin’ Dave is super-cool and he badly wants you not to take drugs, which is ironic because when I look at the cover art I feel like I am in the grips of a late 80s acid nightmare. If Devastatin’ Dave turned up at my house in the middle of the night I’d be paralysed with fear. #8 John Bult – Julie’s Sixteenth Birthday. Oh dear. There is just so much wrong with this album cover. Okay, so it’s Julie’s sweet 16th and John has her at, what seems like, a pub. John is having a draught of beer and a smoke. John is also looking longingly into young Julie’s eyes while holding her hand tenderly. Julie avoids eye contact (well done Julie) and looks away with a sad, fearful sigh. I am not sure what we are seeing is quite legal. #7 The Faith Tones – Jesus Use Me. Where do I begin?

This is one of those album covers that just seems to beg a really important question.

Apart from the obvious wildly inappropriate album title there is the question of the ladies

themselves. That hair was not sanctioned by anyone, no one is using them as examples of anything apart from being ridiculous. I wouldn’t use any one of these ladies for any reason at all. #6 Heino – Liebe Mutter... Ein Blumenstrauβ, der nie verwelkt. Ze Germans!

Finally we have a top-class specimen of when German music goes bad. Heino’s message is beautiful, the cover reads: ‘Dear Mother...A Bouquet that Never Wilts.’

Heino loves his mother in a way only Freud can describe correctly. And man, what awesome glasses! Heino has to wear those glasses because of exophthalmos, which means his eyes bulge into various directions. The proudest flower in his garden, his mom, is Francisca Kramm.

Along with National Socialism, Hitler and genocide, Heino is well known in Germany. #5 Manowar – Anthology.

Manowar is an American heavy-metal band that formed in 1980. The members of Manowar all have a secret that they are desperately trying to out using this album cover. I say this because while I love heavy metal I cannot think of more than a handful of women who actually sincerely love Manowar. So who exactly are they trying to look good for? They are all oiled and two of them are wearing Speedo-inspired ‘bottoms’ with some really ornamental fairground boots. The hair, with the various Bruce Dickinson fringes of the time, is long and thick and glossy. A BDSM guy, on the far right, seems to have stumbled into the photo shoot entirely by accident. These warriors of the catwalk have a very strange take on metal. #4 Kevin Rowland – My Beauty.

Kevin Rowland is the lead singer of Dexy’s Midnight Runners, featured in our topic last month. Kevin had some drug problems, which is apparent when we take just a single glance at this gem.

My Beauty comprises cover songs and was reported to have only sold 500 copies when it actually sold over 20 000 – which is nothing to be proud of. He elected to use

this image of himself dressed in drag at the Reading Festival where he was pelted with bottles. #3 Svetlana Greubbersolvik – My Lips are for Blowing. No man Sveta, what are you doing?

It’s not appropriate.

I am sure she is excellent at the recorder and all but she needs to use her words a bit more effectively. I am willing to bet that some of the rednecks I mentioned previously are going to stumble upon this album while spending some ‘alone time’ with the internet.

The saddest part is that I am 100% certain this was intended to be innocent, but Sveta is bound to become a Russian bride if she doesn’t work on her English. #2 Millie Jackson – Back to the S_ _t! This is a 1989 album by R&B’s Millie Jackson.

On the cover Millie seems to be having some trouble. It looks very much like she hasn’t gotten enough fibre and she is paying the price. Things have gotten so out of hand that Millie has removed one shoe and she is wearing a strained expression on her face.

She is also possibly drunk. I thought that the fake flowers in the purple vase on the floor next to the loo was an elegant touch - the only elegant touch on the album cover.

#1

Freddie Gage – All My Friends are Dead. Freddie Gage is a recovered drug addict from Texas. I wish he’d spun some Devastatin’ Dave the Turntable Slave before it got to this point because we all know Dave doesn’t want us to do drugs. I think we could describe Freddie as a sort of ‘proto-emo’ and his work is clearly a concept album, though probably not a very uplifting one – depending on what you’re into, of course. ■

PP age19 age19

Photography By: Christian Wiess

W Tristan Snijders

HEN one thinks of Germany in a modern context precise engineering, medical pioneering and intense research and development come to mind... oh yes, and of course a collection of brilliant metal bands.

Rarely does one come across a band where exceptional musicianship and expertly constructed compositions marry one another in an absolutely seamless manner. German progressive-death-metal virtuosos Obscura manage to craft quality songs whilst letting the notes fly with precise and seemingly effortless fretboard wizardry.

Obscura was founded in 2002 by guitarist and vocalist Steffen Kummerer, only 17 at the time, who was inspired by bands like Death, Cynic and Gorguts (the name Obscura was in fact taken from Gorguts’ namesake

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album). In 2003 the band recorded its first demo Illegitimation, which displayed the band‘s intent – playing technical and progressive death metal with a strong focus of composition and lyrical concepts.

the phenomenally talented drummer Hannes Grossmann. In 2008 Obscura released its breakthrough album Cosmogenesis and within a year the band had played over 160 shows all across the globe.

The band‘s first big break, however, was to come in 2006 when Obscura hit the road in support of American death-metal legends Suffocation on the band‘s European tour.

That same year Obscura independently released its first full-length studio album Retribution and toured much of Europe in support of the release.

Fretless bass beast Linus Klausenitzer joined Obscura in 2011 and the band‘s line-up has stayed consistent since then.

Omnivium was released the same year and metal fans lapped it up, sending the album right up to number 11 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart – a truly phenomenal achievement for any extreme metal band.

It was around this time that Obscura, having gone through a vast number of band members since inception, secured the talents of virtuoso guitarist Christian Münzner and

Obscura is a band that has consistently blown me away and mastermind Steffen Kummerer is undoubtedly a man of considerable talent and vision (his other

I think the most important thing is to never lose the joy of making music.

You always need to ask yourself what it’s all about. In the end you should just have a good time with friends and enjoy it. band, Thulcandra is also definitely worth checking out). I leapt at the opportunity to have a few words with the young man behind the band about Obscura and a few things in between.

How did you personally get started playing music and what inspired you to move on to metal in general?

At the age of nine I went to a boarding school for music in Regensburg, Germany.

It was really great getting insight into, and taking the first steps within, arrangement, composition and music theory. Besides that it was necessary to learn another instrument, so I chose piano. I played piano for many years and sang in several choirs, moving on to doing solo vocals. At the age of 14 or 15, I listened to more metal-related music and discovered new groups pretty much every week. Back then people listened to music together and still traded CDs in person. Bands like Cynic, Death, Atheist as well as Dissection, Emperor and a few other black metal bands inspired me to buy a guitar and I then started looking for other members to start up my own band.

It’s very rare for musicians in extreme metal bands to make a living from their music alone – do you manage to?

Well, we don‘t actually have to. We can pay our bills during tours or shows and survive quite well from that, but we have university degrees and work normal jobs when we‘re not on those long touring cycles. I really don‘t want to be in a position where we have to take on tours or shows that serve no purpose other than for the sake of paying our bills and staying on tour. We only take on shows and tours we really want to play.

The freedom to be able to make the decicions you want, and have complete control over, is

more important than playing five US tours in one year. With Obscura we try to keep things balanced.

It’s quite astonishing that an extreme metal band made it onto the Billboard Heatseekers charts with Omnivium reaching 11 th position no less. Were you surprised at the response to the album and its chart entry?

It‘s quite surreal thinking about a progressive death metal band entering the charts between indie and pop groups with huge marketing budgets. I am proud of what we have achieved so far and it just shows that our fan base is so loyal and still buys albums. It‘s one of the things that keeps us writing more music.

The lyrical concepts you’ve tackled on your last two albums have been quite complex.

Do you purposely cover complex, in-depth topics to suit the complexity of the music or are philosophy and conceptual frameworks of the universe things you’re particularly interested in? What inspires your lyrics?

People can interpret the album and the concepts within the lyrics and design in very different ways. In the same way I usually compose music I try to build a main foundation and then layer it with other ideas until the result is hopefully a satisfied reader. Here you have the obvious story of the concept of ape to human on a visual basis; but in evolution I also see a very poetic and

Obscura’s music is very technically complex; a lot of highly technical bands fail to actually write good songs, focusing too much on the complexity of the instrumentation… how do you manage to achieve a balance between technicality and good, flowing song writing?

The technicality is just a tool, in my opinion. Having good technical skills and technique allow you to do more with your instrument and affords you many more options in writing music, actually helping the composition of your own music. At the end of the day, though, the compositions are the focus, the most important part – not showing off what you can do.

You’ve played shows across North America, Europe and Asia… what are some of your best and worst memories on the road?

Getting sick on tour is an experience no-one wants to go through and that happened to me a couple of times on the road. Busses or equipment braking down is also something that happens on tour and provide temporary obstacles that have to be dealt with as soon as possible, so that‘s also not great.

The rather good memories I have are from the shows themselves and meeting interesting people around the globe and just travelling in general. Our recent South East Asian Tour and Japanese runs were great experiences and I am glad to have been a part of those tours.

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philosophical link as we as humans develop new views and abilities as well as a third layer of biochemistry and the fourth layer of higher philosophical thought and the great discussion about religions.

I love to play around with those ideas and see how readers, friends and fans alike interpret all these ideas in different ways.

The focus within the lyrics is based on higher philosophy and the discussion within different religions. For that whole idea of Omnivium, I used Friedrich Schelling’s On Nature’s Connection to the Spirit World and layered my own thoughts as I described above. I am pretty sure that talking about lyrics is one of the most boring things for most death-metal fans out there, but maybe a handful of people are interested in this. I am glad to write lyrics for those few who may be interested.

Concerning all my lyrics I have a personal opinion, a personal preference and a different view on the topic itself, especially concerning religion. There is always a link to real life, those ideas never get old. But, I do not tell people what to do, what to think or how to live their life. With Omnivium everyone should find his own truth. The title Omnivium refers to a black vortex within the universe, an eternal downward spiral annihilating all kinds of matter, life and elements to create something new. Some may call this a definite god. Destroy to create – you’ll find this concept in all religions if you search for it.

Your other band, Thulcandra, is completely different to Obscura and has clearly been strongly influenced by Dissection. How do you draw a definite distinction when you’re composing songs for the different bands?

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Musically, there are worlds between the two bands.

While Thulcandra is something along the lines of a tribute band to the early 90s (the music we grew up with), Obscura is band where we want to write something new, something that hasn‘t been done before. It‘s very enjoyable writing music for both bands. Working with the two different groups keeps me in balance. I can write complex material for Obscura and classic old schooltype songs for Thulcandra.

As a technically proficient guitarist, what tips would you offer to young guitarists who want to take their playing and compositional skills a few steps further?

I think the most important thing is to never lose the joy of making music. You always need to ask yourself what it‘s all about. In the end you should just have a good time with friends and enjoy it. It doesn‘t matter if you can play 8 th note triple sweeps at 300 bpm if you can‘t write a good song or maintain a great level of interaction

with your bandmates. One thing I can recommend is to take note of and write down how your favourite songs are built and arranged and read through that a couple of times. It could be a good push towards writing your own memorable songs and really improving your songwriting.

What’s coming up for Obscura in 2013?

We are working on a new album and will play a few festivals next Summer. No tours have yet been scheduled and we are looking forward to preparing our new songs. ■

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Reinhardt Massyn

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O you wake up one morning and decide to become a singer. Now the road to riches, glamour and fame seems quite simple, right? Rip karaoke music from YouTube at a crappy low bitrate, practice it, do a gig at your local pub and bam, your first gig is done! Now you need to record a CD; where will you start doing this? Well, it’s quite simple – welcome to the parallel universe of the music industry.

In the 21st century social media became the voice for people who don’t operate in the mainstream avenues of media, record labels and distribution companies. A few years ago you would find yourself in a music store with a select few titles, in a time and era where we were told by companies what is good and what is not. A lot has changed since then. Social media opens a door to anyone who wants to become famous. The problem is that it also opens that door for blatant sharks.

As you will find wanna-be singers, you also get wanna-be label managers and artist promoters.

A few months ago I was invited to one of the iconic pubs on the East Rand for a ‘year-end function’ for some organisation. The entry fee for the evening was R30. Not much in comparison to what you can end up paying for cover charges at these kinds of venues.

The first thing I noticed was a banner with this ‘mega company’s’ logo and slogan. The logo was indeed the registered logo of Mr. Simon Fuller’s internationally acclaimed Pop Idol with a few changes to fit this company’s name – and not to forget that they added the ‘TM’ in there just for good measure. In doing the math, the integrity of this apparent ‘music company’ came to light; this is clearly a Pop Idol rip off!

I had a few drinks and eagerly waited for the show to begin along with the other 300 or so pub-goers. Eventually, after 40 minutes of delay the show started. This Pop Idol rip-off company had about 12 performers from their apparently lavish company performing the evening. I approached one of the performers just out of curiosity and enquired about their performance fee for the evening. I was informed that they are performing for free on this evening. Now once again the math doesn’t add up, I paid a cover charge for what? You figure that one out for yourself...

I left the pub that evening struggling to come to terms that young aspirant artists are being exploited by a company presenting themselves as the Rolls Royce of record labels and talent

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scouts. The following day I started a serious investigation into this company and how they go about their business. Their website was a vault of information. Going on a name that probably originated somewhere out of Port Elizabeth, this company boasts a studio, a record label, an artist agency and even a vocal training programme! A one-stop shop for any artist wanting to make it big, or just perhaps something operated by someone similar to David Koresh?

has ever been presented in the main stream channels of the music business.

If you as a young aspiring artist enter the ring of this company, this is what you can expect: be invited to a pub idols contest, where you will need to pay a R100 entrance fee. Very rarely, in the real world, will you enter a bona fide competition and need to pay for the privilege – that is not the case in this seedy underworld of Pop Idol rip-offs. Firsthand experience taught me that it doesn’t matter how bad you are, the panel of extremely professional judges will tell you exactly what you need to hear, just to keep you in the loop of things at this company.

A few weeks went by and it became apparent that I am a shit-magnet. Here I am, minding my own business and I get bombarded with messages from a young lady trying to sell me a CD, apparently to rescue some hostages in Somalia. Now at face value this is a very nice thing to do and seems like a great altruistic gesture. But, doing something above the laws of the country is a crime. This was indeed a CD being produced and sold by the same cult-organised company. No publishing details for the composers of the cover songs recorded on this album was visible. Clearly, none of the information required by law for replication of music was available on this disc presented to me for a sale price of R100.

This is all good and nice, but what about the composers of the music you just recorded and you’re now busy selling on the streets?

Isn’t that plain straight-forward copyright infringement?

When, after 10 weeks of competition against the same people you learn that you haven’t won, you will be invited to the studio of this well represented company for a vocal test.

This is quite simple: you go to their studio, which is situated in the lounge of the owner’s house, and once again it doesn’t matter how bad you are, you will be given a good remark so that you will be persuaded to record at their in-house recording facility. Needless to say, no product ever produced by this company

Since my experience with this company, local talent scouts and organisers all over the country are popping up and starting some sort of competition with crappy low-life prizes and nothing to gain for the contestants entering this competition with stars in their eyes.

Entrance fees, sponsorships, door monies, it all ends up in the pockets of organisers with no skill in the music industry. Happily, this type of underground operation will always luckily stay...underground. ■

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P!nk The truth about love – 2012 Reviewed by:Reinhardt Massyn Rating: 9/10

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f you were excited about your collection of music, well, stand back and reconsider. If there was one album in the last two years that I can pinpoint and say I’m truly excited about, THIS IS IT! P!nk’s The Truth About Love was released recently with consumers being given the choice between two versions; the standard version with 13 tracks and the deluxe edition containing four bonus tracks. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the deluxe edition and for the few extra Rands it was definitely worth it!

From the start of the album, the message becomes quite apparent. This album, is not just titled The Truth About Love, but it is indeed the truth about love as told to you by P!nk. The concept of this album was definitely given a lot of thought, and the final product is a testament to the effort that went into it.

The first singles released for radio play from this album were ‘Blow Me (One Last Kiss)’ and ‘Try’, both released a month apart. Now if you think that these tracks are the only two that make the album worth buying, you are making a big mistake. The album boasts titles that are all rich in P!nk’s snappy and sharp lyrics. The lyrics are accompanied by catchy melodies and you’ll find yourself dancing uncontrollably in your car to every song on the album.

On the topic of lyrics, it’s quite common for P!nk albums to contain a fair amount of swearing and some people may find this offensive. The conclusion I made with regards to this is that P!nk knows how to curse fashionably and that it’s not just a method of creating rebellious and provocative music, which is oftentimes not the case with other artists.

In conclusion, if you don’t have The Truth About Love in your collection you’re missing out on a piece of pop music that should be remembered in the history books until the end of days.■

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Ross Jack Chandeliers – 2012 Reviewed by:Gideon Ramabula Rating: 6/10

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HERE isn’t much to go on with regards to this album and its contents because Ross Jack is a new artist even though he has worked with the likes of; ChianoSky, Zeus, Lloyd Cele and HHP. Nonetheless his work as a producer has gained him experience and that is apparent on this album.

The song Seven45 made waves on the radio for weeks. Even though Ross Jack is a new artist the majority of South Africans might come to like him as time goes by not only because of his associations but also because of the quality of music that he produces.

This album is a huge risk because it leans toward urban-orientated hip hop, which could be considered a new style of hip hop. This risk has paid off in full; the songs on the album are very modern and relevant.

Most (if not all) of us have gone out and had fun, lost track of time and realised that we have to get to work in a few minutes, so we all get ready and try to get through the day without drawing too much attention to ourselves - that is what Seven45 is about.

All the songs on the album speak of things that most people can relate to, but to me this album was written based on South Africans; this is strongly reinforced by the featuring of up-andcoming South African artists.

The Killers Battle Born – 2012 Reviewed by:Yolande Erasmus Rating: 4/10

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WAS sincerely excited about Battle Born, having been impressed with some of the work the band had done on their previous three studio albums – and of course following the four-year wait for this latest album. Perhaps this raised my expectations a little high, who knows?

I was not impressed with Battle Born, to me this album tries to reach back to the classic synth-rock flavour of the anthems of yesteryear.

In short, it sounds derivative. The album as a whole forms a sort of a U2/Springsteen bastard lovechild – a metaphorical hand ever reaching toward the stadium rock acts of the past. I am not alone in this opinion, though many fans defend the album claiming that ‘it takes a while to grow on you’. Yeah, so does herpes.

This album retained none of the warm indie rock feel of their debut effort Hot Fuss. This album is chock-full of ballads and some awfully whiny old-school pop, which hurts; it really does. I don’t feel the energy and commitment to Battle Born that the band had on any of their previous albums. That said, if you are not judging the music by the quality of their previous works you may yet be impressed by this album. It is not altogether terrible, but any music lover knows that it is fairly lame to buy and entire album for a few good songs.

The album is fairly insipid and the urge to skip tracks such as ‘Deadlines and Commitments’ – which start out smacking of elevator music/a daily television drama soundtrack. The song isn’t really that bad, it’s just a bit bland for me.

In a nutshell bland is the cornerstone of my problem with this album – it just never inspires me to sing along.

I can’t compare Ross Jack to the likes of Meek Mill, Drake and so on because they gathered fans over long periods of time and released mix tapes to get their names out there and it worked for them because they stuck to what the public likes and accepts. Ross Jack is new and brings fresh material to the table; this might allow him to compete with the top hiphop artists of today.

I’d like to play the devil’s advocate too, though. In defence of The Killers their big, old, American rock sound has an entire market of consumers eager to spend their cash on the bombastic rock and well-worn clichés so rife on this album. Personally, I don’t find anything to relate to on this album. Neither the music nor the poetry appeals to me – and the lyrics are filled to the brim with fortune cookie say things, in an apparent effort to bring us the big old Vegas/Americana sound.

If you are looking for hip hop that is different and fresh, this album is for you, because it is both modern and of good quality. ■

If you can handle a generic version of American rock, then by all means buy Battle Born. The more discerning music lover can go right ahead and dismiss this album with contempt though. ■

Wintersun Time I – 2012 Reviewed By: Tristan Snijders Rating: 9/10

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INTERSUN has been around for nine years, yet Time I is only the band’s second release – not exactly an auspicious sign for the casual music fan.

Wintersun’s 2004 self-titled debut album took a fresh stab at the melodic death metal genre by taking the overdone Maiden-inspired-deathmetal-light that the melodic death metal genre devolved into and creating something almost excessively bombastic and grandiose.

There are a lot of epic metal bands that throw keys in at every opportunity to fill out their sound and cover up the lack of focused and controlled song writing, usually creating some sort of contrived mess. Wintersun has never suffered from such ills and although one could accuse Time I of being somewhat synthesiser heavy, it never manages to put me off. Main song writer, lead guitarist and vocalist Jari Mäenpää has composed a pretty brief album that clocks in at just over 40 minutes but boy, does it pack a punch.

What this album basically comes down to is some impressive fretboard acrobatics, massive synth layers, overblown compositions and a good variation in the vocal department. It would seem as if it has become obligatory to have choirs in metal if you wish to create an epic sound and it really does wonders for Wintersun, not coming off as being particularly cheesy or over-the-top.

Jari’s vocals are more often than not delivered in a clean singing fashion but unfortunately he doesn’t have greatest vocal capabilities or range. He does his job well enough though and his raspy growls aren’t too bad either.

The musicianship is particularly tight on Time I and, at least for me, everything feels like it slots perfectly into place. I do feel that at times there is a bit too much mid-paced plodding as the faster sections are where Jari and his crew generally shine and elevate their music to a level far beyond those of their melodic death metal contemporaries.

At the end of the day, regardless of what type of metal is your favourite, this is an album you really should give a listen to. Some people are really going to hate this, I have no doubt, but for those who aren’t put off by a soundscape often driven by orchestral synthesisers and who can appreciate carefully constructed, bombastic compositions, this album is a must have. I’m already awaiting the release of Time II with bated breath. ■

Juggernaught Bring the Meat Back – 2012 Reviewed by: Yolande Erasmus Rating: 7.5/10

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HE opening chords on this album will hook you immediately. Everyone loves that dirty rock sound. Imagine a party in the 70s, on the table there is a primordial punchbowl filled with bluesy rock that sports a healthy pinch of groove. A bit of an old-school drink, but it has the potential to go down smoothly. I don’t imagine it’s just me, but I do pick up a sort of Orange Goblin, Electric Wizard stoner-metal edge. I do drink a lot though so my opinion is questionable, though that is also probably why I like this band.

The opening track ‘Bad Idea’ is the very song to open up the album with a vivacious, balls-tothe-wall guitar sound – the vocals on this track need help though. Unless, of course, you like that Larry Laryngitis grit. The vocals smooth out throughout the album, becoming less strained and more balanced, accompanying the music far better as the album moves from song to song. By the fifth song, ‘Back Door Woman’, the vocalist really hits his stride and powers through the notes. The sound is wonderfully old school, as it retains some of that instrument bleed that over-produced rock albums of our day seem to struggle with.

Musically this band has their sound waxed; though it is proper old rock it is more technical than a first or second listen might indicate.

Don’t let that detract from the whiskeypowered redneck bar brawl that this album is though. It has awesome peaks and troughs.

Track eight, ‘Follow the Scent of the Musky Brisket’, is a dead favourite and an awesome example of how these Pretoria-based redneck rockers liven things up with well thought-out ebbs and pauses.

Altogether this album is a must-have for those hankering back to the good old-fashioned dirty rock of yesteryear, with a bit of a technical edge. Don’t buy it for purely intellectual reasons though; discerning music lovers might become annoyed by a song dedicated entirely, it seems, to the institution of wors. Yes, really. The closing tune ‘Paint it Brown’ is another winner, a serendipitous meeting of rock backed by a powerful message – a real toe-tapping, whiskeyswigging winner of a track. The unfortunate wors incident aside, this is die-hard rockers’ staple music and it’s well worth a few listens. Much like a bottle of cheap whiskey, it gets better the deeper you get into it. ■

Enslaved RIITIIR – 2012 Reviewed By: Tristan Snijders Rating: 9/10

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HEN listening to a new Enslaved album for the first time, you never quite know what you’re in for. Having started out as a no-holds-barred extreme metal band in the early-to-mid 90s, Enslaved has gone on to incorporate liberal helpings of progressive rock into its now-unmistakeable style of progressive black/Viking metal.

Whilst my favourite Enslaved era ended over a decade ago, I haven’t ignored the band’s subsequent releases and enjoyed the last few albums. So, what’s the verdict on RIITIIR? Well, it’s a damned fine album and perhaps Enslaved’s best since 2003’s Below the Lights.

It’s a bold statement but it is the truth.

The first thing you notice about RIITIIR is that it really isn’t a particularly heavy album. Sure Grutle’s throat-searing vocals are still here and there are still heavy sections and riffs aplenty, but it’s largely more restrained and more supportive of what has become an overarching progressive rock framework. This is in direct contrast to how Enslaved approached music compositionally in days gone by; nowadays the progressive side is what drives the music and the metallic elements are there to finish it off with a flourish.

There’s no doubt that this will be off-putting for metal purists but Enslaved has never really been a slave to that side of the market. All this said, RIITIIR is unquestionably still metal, and several furious passages are strewn across the album, although the general extremity thereof can be debated… regardless, there’s still more than enough headbanging material.

Everything here just gels absolutely perfectly, from Grutle’s varied growls and Herbrand Larsen’s majestic yet soothing clean vocals to Ivar’s metal riffs and spacey Pink Floyd/King Crimson-esque passages.

Enslaved has finally recorded something that feels like a synthesised mesh of styles as opposed to something where the various styles feel juxtaposed.

At a monumental 67 minutes, RIITIIR is chockfull of epic compositions and while the first half of the album is arguably stronger and more dynamic than the latter half, the attention to detail and poise with which the song writing was approached shine through consistently, making for a very pleasing listen. RIITIIR is an album that I would recommend to anyone, really, other than old-school purists. ■

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Rudi’s guide to a better recording

Product Type: Bass Guitar Product Name: Warwick RockBass Corvette $$ (Double Buck) Rating: 8/10

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AST month I took a look at the Fender Stratocaster so this month I’ve decided to have a look at a bass guitar. Obviously the natural choice would have been a Fender Precision Bass or Jazz Bass but considering we just got our studio’s latest toy, I decided to review that instead – the Warwick Corvette $$.

Until a few years ago the models coming out of China had a few problems, such as faulty electronics and basic manufacturing flaws, but the quality control has really picked up in the last two or so years and you can pick up a quality bass guitar at an exceptionally low price. The RockBass series is manufactured in China, and this particular 5-string Corvette is a 2011 model.

I was very surprised at the build quality of this bass and the setup was near perfect coming straight out of the box. The selection of finishes on these basses is not that impressive but each and every one of them looks really good, particularly the natural and oil finishes where the beauty of the Chinese Ash used really comes to life.

Warwick, based in Germany, has been crafting exquisite bass guitars since 1982 and the once-boutique bass company has since taken the music world by storm. Why, you ask? The revolutionary body shape and sounds these basses produced were unlike anything around and there was an air of exclusivity tied to the brand. These days Warwick has several manufacturing plants across the world – in Germany, South Korea and China.

A particularly special feature of this model is the double humbucker setup which really adds a lot of punch to the already chunky classic Warwick sound. The passive pickups can be configured in series or parallel giving you a good few sound options, so those who are active electronics junkies should still give this one a try. The MEC humbuckers in the $$ sound really good and give off the impression that this is a far more expensive bass than it actually is... and that’s because they’re the same as what you find in the Korean and German models.

Manufacturing costs skyrocketed in Germany and this led to the decision to expand the company’s manufacturing capabilities whilst being able to provide basses that cater to almost all budgets. The Korean models are manufactured to the highest standards and a lot of seasoned bassists believe them to be almost on par with the German models at a fraction of the price.

The bolt-on Maple neck is a treat to play on and looks just as good as the finish on the body. A lot of 5-string basses can be a task to play with necks being too wide, or even too narrow, but they’ve done a really good with this line of basses. The only possible complaint is perhaps the limited accessibility of the 23rd and 24th frets but that’s quite minor.

It’s also relatively lightweight and you won’t

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put out your shoulder unlike with a lot of meaty 5-string bass guitars.

What I’d like to bring across is that this is an excellentquality bass guitar at a very reasonable price. You get a lot of bang for your buck and I think this is one of the best near-entry level basses you could possibly buy. It’s got that distinct Warwick tone, a great finish and very decent electronics – what more could you really ask for? At around R6500 the RockBass Corvette $$ is a bargain. ■

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