Paul (Still) Hearts Imogen

This chick is ridiculously talented and I really can’t wait for this new album of hers. I’ve been following the making of it on Twitter for months. Soon…

Inspiring Music Videos #5

This is one of the most beautiful videos I’ve seen in a while. I’ve been listening to a ton of ambient music lately, maybe it’s just winter, maybe it’s just me, but when I checked out Hammock’s site, I stumbled upon this new video. It’s a video for “Mono No Aware”, off their new album, “Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow”. The cinematography is incredible and fits the dreamy song perfectly. Wow.

more about “Hammock: Mono No Aware on Vimeo“, posted with vodpod

District 9

Wow, I’m pretty amped to see this. Aliens in South Africa + produced by Peter Jackson = A very possible movie win! Also stoked that it’s a South African director (Neill Blomkamp).

Words To Live By #10

“Days Of War, Nights Of Love” by the Crimethinc Collective is probably one of the most influential books I’ve ever read. Although I didn’t necessarily agree or embraced it entirely, it made me think like no book ever has. I got it when I just got out of high school, I am busy re-reading it now. Here are some of my favourite quotes/excerpts:

"Days Of War, Nights Of Love"

“To be rich today is merely to own the largest number of meaningless objects – to possess the greatest amount of poverty”.

“Are we saving time? Saving it up for what?”.

“They’re buying your happiness from you – steal it back!”.

“”Freedom is a sensation, we have only choice”.

“Yes, I’ve had my moments – but I would have liked for my life to have been nothing but moments, one after another…”.

“Do you have ideas or do ideas have you?”.

“What’s the point of doing anything if nobody’s watching? What’s the point of watching anything if nobody’s doing?”.

“Honestly, when was the last time you spent a whole day just enjoying what you were doing and feeling? Enjoying it solely for it’s own sake, without thinking about the future or worrying about the long-term consequences? When was the last time you spent a whole month living that way? Do you have a hard time forgetting about your responsibilities, your goals, your productivity , and just being in the present?”.

“Sometimes, I feel like the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there’s no room for the present at all”.

“Modern society is centered around the production and distribution of material goods, rather than the happiness and satisfaction of it’s participants, thus, modern man thinks in terms of what he has to “to show for it”, rather than considering the life itself”.

“If your heart is free, the ground you are standing on is liberated territory. Defend it”.

“You have to realise that someday you will die. Until you know that, you are useless”.

“Where do you want to go my heart? Anywhere – anywhere, out of this world”.

“Join the resistance, fall in love”.

Secret Mommy

A couple of years ago, I was very much into a band called The Redlight Sting. One of their key members, Andy Dixon, had a glitch weirdo side project called The Epidemic. I was interested and so ended up buying the album. It was called “Now Museum, Now You Don’t” and it was mind blowing. It comprised the blending of acoustic instruments and really whacked cut and paste glitch electronica. For some strange reason, that album is nearly impossible to find now (Win for me!).

Andy Dixon / Secret Mommy

After a bit of missioning I found out that Andy Dixon changed the project’s name to Secret Mommy. I recently downloaded the latest Secret Mommy album from emusic.com, it’s called “Plays”. Again, I’m dumbstruck. This guy is a genius. All his music is concept based and is unlike anything you would have heard before. It’s electronic, but not. It’s glitch, but not. It’s noise, but not. It’s not necessarily something you would listen to all the time, and it requires focused listening (definitely not background music), but it’s just amazing. He made an album called “Very Rec” using a year’s worth of field recordings from recreational activities. His “Wisdom” EP comprises a couple of tracks made from sounds recorded at a trip to the dentist and his “Hawaii 5.0″ EP was made from sounds recorded in various tropical areas.

As for “Plays”: “The one stipulation of the recording process was that no instrument was allowed to be electrified. No electricity would be used at all (except of course, to operate the recording gear). The idea was to create the most anti-electronic electronic album, free of any synthetic sounds (no electric guitar, let alone synths or drum machines), opting for an earthiness and soulful charm” (from secretmommy.com).

Secret Mommy - "Plays"

Andy Dixon is right up there with my heroes/biggest inspirations, Jacob Bannon and Ian McKaye. So yeah, please check out Secret Mommy and also Andy’s record label, Ache Records. Oh, he also plays for a ridiculously inventive indie type band called Winning and runs a graphic design company called The Chemistry. Here’s a rad Secret Mommy music video which he made for “Kool Aid River” off “Plays”:

We Jam Econo

I watched a documentary on The Minutemen yesterday. It’s called “We Jam Econo” (2005) and it was really inspiring. The Minutemen was a progressive, socio-political hardcore punk band of sorts. They started in the late 70’s and tragically disbanded in 1985. I was never a fan, since I wasn’t really around when they were, but after seeing this film, I have a lot of respect for them.

The Minutemen influenced one of my all-time favourite bands, Fugazi, and I just find it so incredibly sad how music has changed over the years. Even in this country, things are drastically different to how they were in the good old punk days. Bands like The Minutemen and Fugazi had such depth to them. There was so much substance and thought and rawness and purity to their music and their beliefs. They played with conviction – D. Boon (guitarist/vocalist of The Minutemen) was a fatty, but he rocked out with all his heart and I idolize that.

The Minutemen

I hate the superficiality of the music business, especially today. Every second kid is in a band now, but they have nothing to say. Every live performance is a mimicking of a concert DVD. Urgh! I feel a rant coming so I’ll stop right there. All I’m saying is that The Minutemen were so different and innovative for their time, they were so “not in” that they literally got spat on at some “punk” shows, people were unplugging their mic cables, but they kept on playing. I find that ridiculously inspiring.

They played because they had to, and I can relate to that. They loved music, purely for their sincere passion for music, nothing else (no sense of belonging, no need for attention, no lazy “dream” to be a “star”). Because of that, they were committed to making it their own. They were by no means a “huge band” but they definitely weren’t a disposable/generic band. All the difference to me lies in that.

Here’s the trailer to the documentary:

My Words #1

I’ve strangely been finding a lot of my old stuff lately – basically, a long forgotten folder on my old PC. First it was the Cannon To A Whisper EP, and now, some of my old scribbling. Here are two old poems of mine. The first, “An Ally Of An Enemy”, was published in an anthology called “Soulfully Seeking”, in 2006. I wrote it in July 2005. It was also used as lyrics for a Convalescent song at some point:

An Ally Of An Enemy

Distance, how far to your end?
Our love routed through payphones and appointments,
kill every trace of feeling (to touch, but not touch).

You sever the root of our intentions & control eyelids.
You spark the drama in our heads,
forcing us to convey yearning through thin air:
These lines they drift, saddening our balance,
the last tether of stability we need to push through to true contact.

I don’t want this phone in my hand or her voice in my ear,
but all we have is time (an ally of an enemy).

This second one was written in November 2004, and has never seen the light of day. Wow, it was weird reading and remembering all this. That’s the beauty and tragedy of documenting your life I guess…

L’amour est l’armure

This youthful page comprises weight-full words.
Words that occurred by heart, spilled to ink,
each line crammed with escape, every letter heaving with hope.

Our prospect, this page’s content, to trial.
All we need, we posses: Without our consent, they can’t cut.
The borders, the conventions, could only corrugate this love.

Through our fiction, we’ll annul their attempts.
Conclusion’s our option.
Love is armor and in armor we thrive.

Words To Live By #9

Bleak but beautiful. I think these are new Converge lyrics. Yay Jacob Bannon!

“Another morning without sunshine breeds another endless night.  Give the world two black eyes for the wishing well that ran dry”.

My Music #4

I used to play in a post-hardcore band a couple of years ago. We were called Cannon To A Whisper. We formed after my other band, Pet Flyz, broke up in 2004. We were ahead of our time (sounds arrogant, but it’s true). What we accomplished in just 18 months was insane.

We played at Woodstock, got 2 music videos playlisted on TV, got interviewed in various magazines, toured all over South Africa, toured the UK and played with the likes of Enter Shikari & Million Dead. We also recorded and released a 7 track mini-album. We didn’t have any distribution and only sold our CDs at shows. I listened to it again the other day, and I’m still proud. I want you to have it if you don’t have it, so here you go, Cannon To A Whisper’s self-titled mini-album (7 songs), for free download.

Killer Single Servings

I guess most people would just go and download these albums (if they’re available) but I still enjoy good ol’ Myspace single songs. I don’t really do torrents. It’s not as exciting. Anyway, here’s some amazing new music that’s coming out soon or that just came out officially recently:

CLOSURE IN MOSCOW – “Sweetheart” from their debut album, “Silent Temple” out now on Equal Vision.

Closure In Moscow

My friend Adrian kept on raving about these guys. He gave me their EP, “The Penance & The Patience”. The vocalist sounded really whiney and scene so I stopped listening (wow, how ignorant). I eventually gave it a proper chance and became a HUGE fan. This band is amazing. They play creative, technical, progressive rock I guess. Oh, and they’re from Australia which I find inspiring. Judging from “Sweetheart”, this album is going to knock my socks off!

DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL – “Crane Lake” from their upcoming new album.

Devil Sold His Soul

Firstly, these guys want to come to South Africa. Please join this group on Facebook to show them that there’s interest. “Crane Lake” sounds amazing. These guys are probably one of my favourite heavy bands right now. Intense and atmospheric, a powerful combination. I seriously can’t wait for their new album.

WATER & BODIES – “Something I Can Grasp” & “Freeworld” from their upcoming self-titled EP.

Water & Bodies

This is the new band formed by ex-members of Kaddisfly. A band I adore. Their flash player thingy on their Myspace page streams 2 new Water & Bodies songs. They sound similar to Kaddisfly, but not better I think. I would have to hear more. Either way, awesome progressive rock stuff.

DREDG – “I Don’t Know” from their upcoming new album, “The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion”.

Dredg

This new song is an obvious single but I still like it. Love the little bass groove. Again, I’m really fond of this band and I’m sure that this new release will yet again be something refreshing.

RINOA – “Eyes Closed” from their upcoming split with Bossk.

Rinoa

This is a pretty small band from the UK and I found them through Devil Sold His Soul. Like DSHS, these guys play a style of heavy music that’s still atmospheric. I’m also a big fan of the guy’s voice as it’s different, raw and emotive – definitely not a “scene” scream I wish they’d do an album soon because their EP blew my mind!