2009. I salute you.
2009 has been one crazy year, and by crazy I mean very, very good. The end of 2008 saw me very interested in local artists Jax Panik, Ashtray Electric and Zebra and Giraffe (not to mention the hordes of international bands I had my eye on).
The start of 2009 saw me still very interested in the aforementioned bands; I also had the opportunity to interview Prime Circle, a band whom I had been a fan of for quite some time. aKING released In The Twilight (which were three songs as a project in collaboration with Cape Town based production company Ghetto Vibrations, Khayelitsha United Mambaso and the Thokozani Brothers).
I interviewed band The Ataris, who later came down and did a brief tour in South Africa, they were a brilliant live act and it was great to see as well as meet them. In March, my blog was nominated for the SA blog awards (in the music category, obviously). I also interviewed the iconic band, Fokofpolisiekar and found myself eagerly listening to bands like Empire of The Sun and 3OH!3. The MK awards also took place, with some rather surprising winners and Die Heuwels Fantasties released their debut album.
April was a rather interesting month. Cokefest took place and two of the international bands pulled out 48 hours before the event. It was shocking to most, but they weren’t sorely missed. I interviewed stellar bands Isochronous, Thieve and Flash Republic. Ashtray Electric was gearing up for a tour ahead of the release of their album, Bonjour. The Nokia Music Store launched which was rather revolutionary.
In May, Ashtray Electric’s website made it’s debut and I chatted with Pierre Coetzee of THERCM about all the aspects of it. I interviewed Blu Mar Ten, I caught up with Greg from Zebra and Giraffe after their SAMA win and I interviewed Markus of Sweat X. I also found 2 local DJ’s who I instantly fell in love with, CodecVSTheSound.
In June, I had Gossip on repeat, the new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone to review for a month, I reviewed Ashtray Electric’s album Bonjour and then possibly the most shocking news of the year broke, Michael Jackson had died.
In July, artists Florence & the Machine and Paloma Faith caught my attention, I interviewed Foto Na Dans and the phenomenon that is Vanfokkingtasties had their first gig.
In August I was invited to be a part of the Music Alliance Pact. Sounds They Left Behind described MAP as: “an initiative to facilitate the spread of local music to the ears of others around the world. It started with country-specific blogs who each selected one hot local track that was posted on the sites of each of the other members of this “union” [every month]. It so happened that the inclusion of their “first-ever African blog [mine] meant that six of the world’s seven continents are represented…” I chose LAN as the first South African band to be featured.
I also interviewed Die Heuwels Fantasties and super producer Ameen Harron. Sadly guitar legend, Les Paul passed away.
In September, there was all that VMA drama. I interviewed The Shotguns. Nokia launched ‘Comes With Music’ which meant access to the more than 5 million songs that are available from the Nokia Music Store, all available for download without worrying about the cost of an album or a track. I missed the launch of Comes With Music but Nokia still gave me the choice of either a 5530 or 5630 to test for an entire year and I chose the touchscreen 5530. I also drooled over the Jennifer’s Body soundtrack (a movie I still refuse to watch) and found a few new artists to add to my collection.
October was Rocktober (bad pun intended) I interviewed Taxi Violence, Dance, You’re On Fire, The Sound and a guitar legend in his own right, Dan Patlansky. I also went to Rocking The Daisies, which was truly rocking.
October was also a month of releases. ‘This Is It’ the documentary following the late and great Michael Jackson rehearsing for his tour that never was, was released. The list of acts for the Old Mutual Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts for 2009/2010 was released and “Forgive them for they know not what they do” a documentary following the rise of Afrikaans punk rockers Fokofpolisiekar was also released.
In November Rihanna made history when she performed for a global audience via Nokia’s live streamed concert in London which officially marked the launch of her much anticipated new album, Rated R. I was invited to that event but unfortunately I wasn’t in London at the time. The EMA’s took place and I interviewed the “original donker dodgy Afrikaans rapper.” Jack Parow, Gazelle, Ill-Literate-Skill, Wrestlerish and chatted with Ashtray Electric.
In December, Susan Boyle recorded the biggest first-week sales of any album in U.K. chart history. The MK award nominees were announced. I interviewed Hot Water and Perry Wimbleton. Rage Against The Machine went against X Factors Joe McElderry in a bid for the UK Christmas number one. Sadly, December also saw the passing of Avenged Sevenfold’s The Rev.
To top it all off I got to see The Killers, Zebra and Giraffe, Die Heuwels, Thieve, Jack Parow, aKING and Ashtray Electric, all in the space of a few weeks.
Adjectives failed me as I tried to sum what up an amazing, incredible and mind-blowing year it’s been. A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who made this year truly special.
Here is to 2009. I salute you.
xx
yours in musical madness
Sounds perfect