postcard for zinkplaat

Alette arrives unanounced at my door. the correct number four, this time. last time she went to the wrong house, and it ended very well with The Pretty Blue Guns being booked for Up The Creek. gherard at the other number four is a blues fan with his own custom built basement recording studio. he's also a friend of the Creek peeps. He listened to Cutting Heads, was well impressed, and made a call. Of course it's a good thing the Guns had already impressed the organisers somewhere else in the country, but it just goes to show that mistakes can make magic, sometimes... though not too many times, DPK; guns and daisies should be seen together, after all.

anyway, she hands me an advance of Zinkplaat's new album, and a self-addressed, stamped postcard to send back with thoughts, and watches as the cat pisses on my only copy of HAT. "you act just like Bertie with his puppy," she says as i yell about disprespect and what am i going to do that was my only copy. what did i do? i pressed play, obviously. there's not much that music can't fix (and what it can't fix, probably can't BE fixed). here's the postcard, sans snailmail...

Zinkplaat! ai - i'm back on avontoer listening to this. to your disadvantage, i recently saw veterans valiant swart and chris chameleon live, and liked and loved them respectively; to your advantage i just heard "oorlog frankenstein" (and nearly puked.) This album is somewhere inbetween, in a class of its own, though.

like a grown-up, it's more laid back and self-confident; like a young 'un, it's fresh and uncomplicated. It's seems you've finally got the balance, and you remain a blessing to your brothers and sisters. well done!

jezebel

p.s. it's like my childhood soundtrack... in Afrikaans!

what i didn't have space to add is these 3 thoughts:

• very crosby stills, nash and young.
• next album, suggest slightly more variation in the vocal melody and range - that well worn ascent and descent is going to exhaust our ears if they continue to invest in it with so much loyalty!
• and just how do they put sad and happy into every song? it makes joy poignant, and melancholy bright. Mooi besoedeling, indeed.