Gorgeous!
See more at http://www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com/
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Lessons in luminosity
There has been quite a variety of international artists gracing Cape Town’s shores of late. Due to the disparity of the genres, one wouldn’t have thought all too many people managed their monthly band budget around Rammstein and Imogen Heap, but as Helen and Vera attended (and loved) both, I figure there are probably many more music-lovers out there who get their kicks from any spectacular live performance. (Though I don’t foresee either of them attending U2 or Roxette. Ahem.)
Watching Imogen Heap live was a once-in-a-lifetime experience: a kick in the gut, a tickle of the ear, a whisper of breath on the neck. She is the most inspiring musician. Well... at least I endeavour to be inspired by her when not cowering in the face of her talent and ability.
While prancing about on a stage amidst the trees on Paul Cluver wine estate, Imogen collected samples of her superb cello and percussionist on her wrist microphones, as well as her own vocals, keyboard, all sorts of wind-up toys and bells, and the plucking of her thumb piano from Zimbabwe. These layers she used, bit by bit, to create whole worlds of sound that crashed down around us as the songs ended, leaving us simultaneously devastated and elated.
One moment she was silly and endearing with her personal anecdotes, and the next she was leaving us shell-shocked with her sheer power – and mad keytar skillz! Her vocals veered from wild and intense to breathy and sweet, all with such consummate skill that we were blown away.
And her graciousness meant that she was very kind (perhaps more than she should have been!) in agreeing to have all sorts of people up on stage with her, as well as involving the audience in the harmonies for one of my favourite of her songs, “Just for now.”
Because of her, we all went home with a little moonlight on our shoulders and a song in our hearts.
Let’s hold thumbs that musicians of this calibre continue to wow us and keep the local scene on its toes.
Yours in starlight and cello strings
Linky x
Watching Imogen Heap live was a once-in-a-lifetime experience: a kick in the gut, a tickle of the ear, a whisper of breath on the neck. She is the most inspiring musician. Well... at least I endeavour to be inspired by her when not cowering in the face of her talent and ability.
While prancing about on a stage amidst the trees on Paul Cluver wine estate, Imogen collected samples of her superb cello and percussionist on her wrist microphones, as well as her own vocals, keyboard, all sorts of wind-up toys and bells, and the plucking of her thumb piano from Zimbabwe. These layers she used, bit by bit, to create whole worlds of sound that crashed down around us as the songs ended, leaving us simultaneously devastated and elated.
One moment she was silly and endearing with her personal anecdotes, and the next she was leaving us shell-shocked with her sheer power – and mad keytar skillz! Her vocals veered from wild and intense to breathy and sweet, all with such consummate skill that we were blown away.
And her graciousness meant that she was very kind (perhaps more than she should have been!) in agreeing to have all sorts of people up on stage with her, as well as involving the audience in the harmonies for one of my favourite of her songs, “Just for now.”
Because of her, we all went home with a little moonlight on our shoulders and a song in our hearts.
Let’s hold thumbs that musicians of this calibre continue to wow us and keep the local scene on its toes.
Yours in starlight and cello strings
Linky x
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Imogen Heap Audition
Two days ago Vera let us know she'd seen this online: http://www.imogenheap.com/earth/
As stated in the description for the video we've now uploaded, we were understandably concerned about how little time we had to get the recording finished. Some of us still haven't slept - adrenaline coupled with the heat of a thousand suns pouring in through bedroom windows.
Special thanks to John for letting us invade the Vudio, to Yuri for mixing the audio and taking control of the recording, also to Ross, who worked tirelessly editing the video and fighting with vimeo's incredibly slow upload speeds!
Last night was a true collaboration - we enlisted the help of Caty, Yuri and John from Call Out, the firefighters' band. Caty and Yuri both sang and did some inspired beatboxing. The experience was amazing: there were fights about Mark Knopfler's singing abilities, Cathy went crazy and chased a moth around the vudio with a bug zapper - exclaiming that they 'destroy fabric!' and were therefore evil... and deserved death! Red wine was consumed and our trusty friend the gin and tonic made an appearance. Clapping went hilariously out of time, Linda fell asleep sitting upright, John was called out to put out fires at 3am and we most definitely came close to outstaying our welcome by staying on in his flat [home of the Vudio] to finish what we'd bloody well started!
Admittedly it was frustrating in parts, we learned a lot though and have this great recording and video for all our efforts. We've uploaded it to our vimeo page, and linked it to the Imogen Heap audition group. Now we just have to wait and see... holding collective thumbs!
You can see the video here:
Imogen Heap - Earth Audition - Coal and Friends
You can see photos of the evening here:
Coal & Friends Album
As stated in the description for the video we've now uploaded, we were understandably concerned about how little time we had to get the recording finished. Some of us still haven't slept - adrenaline coupled with the heat of a thousand suns pouring in through bedroom windows.
Special thanks to John for letting us invade the Vudio, to Yuri for mixing the audio and taking control of the recording, also to Ross, who worked tirelessly editing the video and fighting with vimeo's incredibly slow upload speeds!
Last night was a true collaboration - we enlisted the help of Caty, Yuri and John from Call Out, the firefighters' band. Caty and Yuri both sang and did some inspired beatboxing. The experience was amazing: there were fights about Mark Knopfler's singing abilities, Cathy went crazy and chased a moth around the vudio with a bug zapper - exclaiming that they 'destroy fabric!' and were therefore evil... and deserved death! Red wine was consumed and our trusty friend the gin and tonic made an appearance. Clapping went hilariously out of time, Linda fell asleep sitting upright, John was called out to put out fires at 3am and we most definitely came close to outstaying our welcome by staying on in his flat [home of the Vudio] to finish what we'd bloody well started!
Admittedly it was frustrating in parts, we learned a lot though and have this great recording and video for all our efforts. We've uploaded it to our vimeo page, and linked it to the Imogen Heap audition group. Now we just have to wait and see... holding collective thumbs!
You can see the video here:
Imogen Heap - Earth Audition - Coal and Friends
You can see photos of the evening here:
Coal & Friends Album
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Art's Farewell
Thank you to each and every single person that came out last night to help us bid Art farewell. The crowd spontaneously singing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" was just incredible!
Words cannot adequately describe how we all felt last night. So we leave you with this picture taken by our friend John Murray:
Words cannot adequately describe how we all felt last night. So we leave you with this picture taken by our friend John Murray:
You're always on the guest list Art!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Posters & Gigs
Simon Tamblyn from Tape Hiss and Sparkle designed the poster for our 19th November show at Obz Cafe:
Adam Hill designed Art's poster for his farewell show on 1st December at Mercury Live:
Art has only 3 shows left with us, and Friday's show at Obz Cafe is the final opportunity to catch us with our semi-acoustic set this year.
Adam Hill designed Art's poster for his farewell show on 1st December at Mercury Live:
Art has only 3 shows left with us, and Friday's show at Obz Cafe is the final opportunity to catch us with our semi-acoustic set this year.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Dear Johnny
My original intention was to quickly post an informative blog on where Dear Johnny is being held, and how the hell to get there - I myself had but a vague idea until about an hour ago.
However, I'm a procrastinator by nature and well prone to being sidetracked, so the result is this delayed post with a bonus update to our blog layout - which now includes a banner that people with poor eyesight / darker displays can also see, as well as a list of links to some of our favourite local things.
So on to the Dear Johnny information....
Dear Johnny is part of the Matt Black sessions - the DPK website has this to say about the sessions:
Celebrating Bilton’s easy-drinking “Matt Black” Bordeaux-blend, The Matt Black Sessions aim to change music events from clichéd, repetitive and formulaic, to unique, interactive and authentic experiences. Look out for a brand new, wildly innovative, absurdly affordable and insanely enjoyable session every month. With the best local musicians, fun themes for dress up, art & crafts, funky food, wine tastings, a cash bar, gourmet coffee and much more, Matt Black Sessions is the one party you don’t want to miss!
The Matt Black Sessions are hosted at the Bilton Wine Estate, which is on Annandale Road, Lynedoch. So you need to take the N2, take Baden Powell, turn left and keep going until you feel like you might be irretrievably lost. Bilton is then on the left just before the Spier hotel [which is just a smidge before Baden Powell joins with the R310 and goes into Stellenbosch].
Our two cover songs are well underway, including 4 part vocal harmonies and some possible shaker shaking! Music starts at 5pm, but you can get there at 1pm to enjoy the rest of what's on offer. We'll be driving back from supporting our friends The Sleepers at Synergy so will see you all in the afternoon :)
My only hope is that the wine drinking takes place post-performance, because wine and a reasonable hold on timing are not firm friends.
- Helen
p.s. the gig is on Sunday the 28th November
However, I'm a procrastinator by nature and well prone to being sidetracked, so the result is this delayed post with a bonus update to our blog layout - which now includes a banner that people with poor eyesight / darker displays can also see, as well as a list of links to some of our favourite local things.
So on to the Dear Johnny information....
Dear Johnny is part of the Matt Black sessions - the DPK website has this to say about the sessions:
Celebrating Bilton’s easy-drinking “Matt Black” Bordeaux-blend, The Matt Black Sessions aim to change music events from clichéd, repetitive and formulaic, to unique, interactive and authentic experiences. Look out for a brand new, wildly innovative, absurdly affordable and insanely enjoyable session every month. With the best local musicians, fun themes for dress up, art & crafts, funky food, wine tastings, a cash bar, gourmet coffee and much more, Matt Black Sessions is the one party you don’t want to miss!
The Matt Black Sessions are hosted at the Bilton Wine Estate, which is on Annandale Road, Lynedoch. So you need to take the N2, take Baden Powell, turn left and keep going until you feel like you might be irretrievably lost. Bilton is then on the left just before the Spier hotel [which is just a smidge before Baden Powell joins with the R310 and goes into Stellenbosch].
Our two cover songs are well underway, including 4 part vocal harmonies and some possible shaker shaking! Music starts at 5pm, but you can get there at 1pm to enjoy the rest of what's on offer. We'll be driving back from supporting our friends The Sleepers at Synergy so will see you all in the afternoon :)
My only hope is that the wine drinking takes place post-performance, because wine and a reasonable hold on timing are not firm friends.
- Helen
p.s. the gig is on Sunday the 28th November
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The line from wake to sleeping
We're still getting to grips with Art's leaving, but we're preparing in earnest for his last handful of shows with us.
Our next gig is the semi-acoustic set at Obz Cafe on the 19th November, which includes our rendition of Henry Lee! Simon on his own as Tape Hiss & Sparkle will be opening for us. We're trying to get things going a bit earlier than usual, so Simon's going on at 9:30pm sharp, get there early!
In addition to the gigs listed by Linda in the last blog post, we're playing the Bilton Wine Estate on Sunday 28th November for the Matt Black Sessions. The theme is "Dear Johnny" this time. Here's a link to the DPK website for some more information: http://www.dpk.co.za/matt-black-sessions/. We're doing two cover songs in keeping with the theme, so if you're interested in both Irish Folk songs, and depressing rock music, then we're your band ;)
Today is classic "coal weather" so I leave you with the video for Florence & The Machine's Cosmic Love, which is awe inspiring and can soothe any heartbreak: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EIeUlvHAiM
xH
Our next gig is the semi-acoustic set at Obz Cafe on the 19th November, which includes our rendition of Henry Lee! Simon on his own as Tape Hiss & Sparkle will be opening for us. We're trying to get things going a bit earlier than usual, so Simon's going on at 9:30pm sharp, get there early!
In addition to the gigs listed by Linda in the last blog post, we're playing the Bilton Wine Estate on Sunday 28th November for the Matt Black Sessions. The theme is "Dear Johnny" this time. Here's a link to the DPK website for some more information: http://www.dpk.co.za/matt-black-sessions/. We're doing two cover songs in keeping with the theme, so if you're interested in both Irish Folk songs, and depressing rock music, then we're your band ;)
Today is classic "coal weather" so I leave you with the video for Florence & The Machine's Cosmic Love, which is awe inspiring and can soothe any heartbreak: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EIeUlvHAiM
xH
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
New adventures and sad goodbyes
It is with heavy hearts that we must announce the departure of our beloved drummer, Art. In a decision to take a break from the music scene as a whole, Art is going to have a well-deserved rest and devote his time to pursuing other adventures. He will be sorely missed for his refreshing input in jamming sessions, quiet strength, and infectious sense of humour – not to mention his superb drumming skills which showcased our music so beautifully.
Coal will be playing a few last shows with Art behind the kit:
• Friday 19 November at Obz Cafe (acoustic) with Tape Hiss and Sparkle.
• Wednesday 1 December at Mercury – a huge farewell show featuring some of Art’s bands, including Andy Lund and the Mission Men, V.O.L. and Three More White Guys.
• Saturday 11 December at Zula with The Sleepers and The Great Apes.
Be sure to catch one (or all) of these shows to enjoy Coal for the last time in its current format. As for us ladies, we plan to experiment a bit more with percussive elements in our songs and are open to various options going forward. We look forward to our future, and wish Artur all the best for his.
Coal will be playing a few last shows with Art behind the kit:
• Friday 19 November at Obz Cafe (acoustic) with Tape Hiss and Sparkle.
• Wednesday 1 December at Mercury – a huge farewell show featuring some of Art’s bands, including Andy Lund and the Mission Men, V.O.L. and Three More White Guys.
• Saturday 11 December at Zula with The Sleepers and The Great Apes.
Be sure to catch one (or all) of these shows to enjoy Coal for the last time in its current format. As for us ladies, we plan to experiment a bit more with percussive elements in our songs and are open to various options going forward. We look forward to our future, and wish Artur all the best for his.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Waxing lyrical
Coming up with song lyrics is tricky. For an audience as varied as ours, they can’t be too soppy or poppy, must be meaningful without being emo, and should be recognisably hooky and easy to sing along to.
At our Monday night prac a couple of weeks ago, while we were jamming, sweet Cathy came up with the most lewd line. She crooned: ‘You float by me, still inside me’.
Well, that’s what the rest of us heard, anyway. This whopper (ahem) resulted in hours of sniggers, but it turned out her words were actually ‘You float by me, still and silent’. Much more poetic, wouldn’t you agree?
Misheard lyrics have always given us all a good laugh. Everyone remembers the famously shocking Jimi line, ‘Excuse me while I kiss this guy’. In the early noughties my friend K thought the words of ‘Leave me breathless’ by The Corrs were actually ‘Go-oh on, go-oh on! Tease me, Bradley!’ (Ja, I don’t know about that either.) And the father of one of Coal’s members used to sing along to R.E.M. in the family car, ‘That’s me in the corner, losing my erection.’
You float by me, still inside me? Perhaps not so bad after all, Cath!
The threads of the new song will hopefully come together tonight to form a beautiful tapestry – or least a comfy crocheted knee rug – and I will share with the rest of the band my terrible dream from last night. Coal was on stage in front of an awful audience of youngsters, most of them resembling those monsters I used to teach. It wasn’t going well: we had to stop mid-gig because our new mystery member (a tall, gangly chick I don’t know in real life) was useless and kept forgetting her guitar parts. I was so embarrassed I just picked up a newspaper that was lying off stage and stood there reading it, feigning nonchalance. *cringe*
I hope the ‘spring’ weather improves soon, and we will see you all at ROAR for Halloween on Saturday 30 Oct. With no useless new members in sight, promise. (Only the old ones. Nyah hah.)
Yours in lyrical productivity and nocturnal brain-activity,
Linky
At our Monday night prac a couple of weeks ago, while we were jamming, sweet Cathy came up with the most lewd line. She crooned: ‘You float by me, still inside me’.
Well, that’s what the rest of us heard, anyway. This whopper (ahem) resulted in hours of sniggers, but it turned out her words were actually ‘You float by me, still and silent’. Much more poetic, wouldn’t you agree?
Misheard lyrics have always given us all a good laugh. Everyone remembers the famously shocking Jimi line, ‘Excuse me while I kiss this guy’. In the early noughties my friend K thought the words of ‘Leave me breathless’ by The Corrs were actually ‘Go-oh on, go-oh on! Tease me, Bradley!’ (Ja, I don’t know about that either.) And the father of one of Coal’s members used to sing along to R.E.M. in the family car, ‘That’s me in the corner, losing my erection.’
You float by me, still inside me? Perhaps not so bad after all, Cath!
The threads of the new song will hopefully come together tonight to form a beautiful tapestry – or least a comfy crocheted knee rug – and I will share with the rest of the band my terrible dream from last night. Coal was on stage in front of an awful audience of youngsters, most of them resembling those monsters I used to teach. It wasn’t going well: we had to stop mid-gig because our new mystery member (a tall, gangly chick I don’t know in real life) was useless and kept forgetting her guitar parts. I was so embarrassed I just picked up a newspaper that was lying off stage and stood there reading it, feigning nonchalance. *cringe*
I hope the ‘spring’ weather improves soon, and we will see you all at ROAR for Halloween on Saturday 30 Oct. With no useless new members in sight, promise. (Only the old ones. Nyah hah.)
Yours in lyrical productivity and nocturnal brain-activity,
Linky
Monday, September 20, 2010
Inspiration & Respiration
Yesterday we hauled our [mostly] sick selves down to Bush Radio for The Unhappy Hour with Johan Hugo & Toast. Vera unfortunately had to stay home in bed because the black death is going around! We managed to motormouth our way through the hour without her though.
Johan asked us a great deal of interesting questions so hopefully you tuned in to hear us talking about Art's "wasabi nut overdose", how we resolve creative headbutting [not by headbutting, alas] and that Linda apparently started off as the keyboardist for A-ha!
We also got to play some songs that we've drawn inspiration from. Of course not all of them received airplay, so here's our full list of songs, in no particular order:
Blonde Redhead - By Spring and Summer Fall
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
NIN - Just Like You Imagined
Sidecar Fire - Despot
Alison Krauss - The Scarlet Tide
Dead Can Dance - Sanvean
Depeche Mode - In Your Room
Kate Bush - Jig of Life
Loreena McKennitt - Bonny Portmore
New Model Army - Green and Grey
PJ Harvey - Down by the Water
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
Bat For Lashes - Glass
The Arcade Fire - Tunnels - Neighbourhood #1
There were others, but we were so over zealous they wouldn't all fit on one CD! Art had some Explosions in the Sky, Deftones and Alice in Chains. Art also nearly convinced the Bush Radio production assistant that we were a Norwegian Death Metal band, very nearly.
Hope to see you all out tomorrow night, because we're being joined by Simon for a beautiful 3 part vocal harmony version of The Ruse, and Yuri is playing sitar for us again on Stroke.
Simon will also be strumming his guitar solo, serenading your ears with some Tape Hiss & Sparkle songs.
We're welcoming winter back for the final push before summer burns our retinas again and makes us forget that rain ever existed!
- H
Johan asked us a great deal of interesting questions so hopefully you tuned in to hear us talking about Art's "wasabi nut overdose", how we resolve creative headbutting [not by headbutting, alas] and that Linda apparently started off as the keyboardist for A-ha!
We also got to play some songs that we've drawn inspiration from. Of course not all of them received airplay, so here's our full list of songs, in no particular order:
Blonde Redhead - By Spring and Summer Fall
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
NIN - Just Like You Imagined
Sidecar Fire - Despot
Alison Krauss - The Scarlet Tide
Dead Can Dance - Sanvean
Depeche Mode - In Your Room
Kate Bush - Jig of Life
Loreena McKennitt - Bonny Portmore
New Model Army - Green and Grey
PJ Harvey - Down by the Water
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
Bat For Lashes - Glass
The Arcade Fire - Tunnels - Neighbourhood #1
There were others, but we were so over zealous they wouldn't all fit on one CD! Art had some Explosions in the Sky, Deftones and Alice in Chains. Art also nearly convinced the Bush Radio production assistant that we were a Norwegian Death Metal band, very nearly.
Hope to see you all out tomorrow night, because we're being joined by Simon for a beautiful 3 part vocal harmony version of The Ruse, and Yuri is playing sitar for us again on Stroke.
Simon will also be strumming his guitar solo, serenading your ears with some Tape Hiss & Sparkle songs.
We're welcoming winter back for the final push before summer burns our retinas again and makes us forget that rain ever existed!
- H
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