You know you’re bored of your company when you start noticing split ends in your fringe and are combing them out all over your face and lap. Or when you blink one eye at a wall and then the other, just to get a different perspective of whatever you’re looking at.
“When did hanging outside on the pavement become an option?”
Personally, the music scene in SA has become a little dull. The company of some of my most favourite bands over the years is still there but what else is there? If I really think about it, I haven’t been introduced to anything new or exciting to emerge from the industry the entire year. Usually I’m the one amongst us who is always optimistic to say the least about local bands and sure, there is a lot of music coming out of the culture but I feel like the glitter of creativity is waning. Now, I’m looking at the line up for the weekend and well… will it be a case of showing face so as not to be boring or will it be boring to simply show face?
Disjointed as our music scene is and disappointed as those may feel, I am not one to just bitch and complain because I only watch the same three bands every month. So, just as when you are bored at work and start doing unusual little drum rolls with your pen and Google pictures of very big cats, I have been trying to do something different and go places for different sonic experiences. It’s a bitter pill to sometimes swallow but I figure feeling out of place like a douche is better than sitting at home and wishing I’d made the effort while listening to Grinderman 2 on repeat.
Most recently I went to a DJ set in Cape Town where the vibe was hard 80’s anthems remixed. I’m sorry. I did dance. I didn’t mean to but it was funny. For five minutes. Sometimes I feel like the music at clubs is just elevator music to those inside getting wasted and looking to get laid. The night ended early and felt like a waste of time.Before that I’d gone to a couple of fairly underground events where the beat was mostly commercial hip-hop, 90’s ecstasy inducing club crap and then occasionally with some sincerely interesting dance tracks. I felt weird, imagined my face gave away my feelings as it always does but still had a little jam on the dance floor and left politely.
Paying a trip to Durban a couple of weeks ago did leave me feeling slightly more optimistic after watching Tumi And The Volume at Unit 11. The band’s been around for ages but the performance was damn cool and proves there is still a high standard in SA music without a doubt. The set the DJ played afterwards was practically worth going for in itself. Give me some psychedelic rock and roll and I’ll dance till dawn. Says a lot about me and how open I am to innovation, doesn’t it?
I believe in dissidence to keep the strong, strong and the fire alive in everything, especially music. However, I don’t think this is the case with SA music. I think it’s all a little wishy-washy and has no significant direction as to where it’s going or what they are trying to do. It feels copied and characterless at times and could do with some radical intervention.
With the festival season fast approaching (I can feel it. My bones tingle) I hope to feel rejuvenated after this dreary winter of soupy music experiences. I’m not going to be checking the polls to see who’s in the running for Daisies or anything else. See what happens and hope to be surprised. Perhaps summer can produce something new, hard and solid that kicks us in the face and stops the dialling tone.
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