Foto Na Dans - music video

Hou Hou Hande Bymekaar
Foto Na Dans

(from the album Intervensie, 2007)
Producer: Stephanus Rabie
Editor: Eben Smal

They've been quiet for months while their lead vocalist debates with angels on the fate of his chords.

A few well-placed pixels were all it took to remind me of what I already know and miss so much : this band has a charisma that oozes the kind of cool we hardly ever see in Africa. From the frisson of flicking hair to standing still while the sound pours torrents around them, they embody their sound on stage. The power of their music lies in its restraint, and the restraint of their power propels it.

The video has a distinct doccie feel, but is edited with careful attention to the song's pitch and metre. In effect, you're backstage and on-stage at once. Another sophisticated product from the princes of Afrikaans rock.

No, there isn't aKing in Afrikaans rock. (only old laurels that have by now been pressed between the heartfelt bosoms of wrinkling wives and budding bokkies making points in their pointy boots.) Romeo is dead. This is a new generation of romanto-realists; Foto Na Dans have captured the moment.

It gives me hope. For local music. And for the people it speaks to and stems from. That's You. Me. And Them.

(more on the making of the video here )

untamed band names

Hmm. Lots of animals scratching and licking the band name game of late:

Jackal and wolf
Zebra & Giraffe (* * * * *)(count them)
Mr. Cat & The Jackal

Bit of a zoo, really. (yeah, yeah, you knew i was going to say that, didn't you?)

What I didn't know, thought, was that there was still wildlife at large ...check them out. Like spots and stripes, they're all quite different.

roar of silence

Dear Le-Roi

I once fell off a mountain and crushed my jaw. They stitched and wired me up and left me with a pen and paper. I dozed around, dumb, for six weeks on a diet of protein feed and myprodol and learnt this

most of what we say is unnecessary, even if it means something; but everything that we sing is vital, even if it means nothing.

Of course, your silence is different, and deeper. And so is your voice. Your voice doesn't just talk, it moves mountains. I miss your voice. I miss the mountains. I miss being moved.

Remember it's your soul that moves your voice, though, and trust in that.

Faith like mountains
jezebel

FKBSS

FKBSS



if you're familiar with the intellectual resonance of the magazine, Chimurenga, you'll expect quality from this gig. (they're related)

swingers. a club for the whole family.

What a lovely spot. Somewhere off Wetton road (not that far, homies, a kick and a spit past Kenilworth racecourse at most, actually) - a genuine Jazz institute of note.

Warm vibe. You can feel people are happy there. No airs and graces. And a nice variety of jazzy stuff from schmaltz to swoon to smooth. Monday nights are jam sessions, but this is no ham fleshing, you have to audition to get in. Veterans have a regard for talented newcomers that encourages the art. The strong sense of mentorship tween the wise and the willful makes for some touching moments, and some tickled ones.

There's food and drink, two levels to lounge about on, a lounge too, and a real mix of folk across the colour, culture and age barometers.

Goes well with weed and whiskey.

Tel: 021-762-2443.
Free entry