Photographic Tribute to Mr F Z.

Came across this photo of the immortal Frank Zappa. I have long admired his eccentric musical musings and I feel this photo captures the man and his wild ways. RIP.


And here's a clip of his last live performance playing the guitar...

1 Giant Leap Part 2

What I consider to be one of the most beautiful collaboratives of music and culture, 1 Giant Leap (the brainchild of Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman), is gearing up for the launch of it's second phase. It features many familiar faces and voices from the first Leap as well as some new friends, Noam Chomsky, Tim Robbins, KD Lang, Zap Mama, Susan Sarandon, Courtney Love, Daniel Lanois, Alanis Morrisette, Oumou Sangare, Rokia Traore, Lila Downs, Deepak Chopra, Stephen Fry, Douglas Coupland, John Cusack, and brain surgeons, drug smugglers, belly-dancers and preachers filmed and recorded in 50 new global locations.

www.1giantleap.tv

Check out the Teaser for phase two below.

Ghetto Blaster

Kwaito.


Art imitates life. Summarising the state of the kwaito industry is like trying to condense the history of American hip hop music into a few pages. Some broad brushstrokes will serve as an introduction, but to fully appreciate kwaito, you’ve got to hear it for yourself.

Like hip hop in the United States, kwaito is not just music. It is an expression and a validation of a way of life - the way South Africans dress, talk and dance. It is a street style as lifestyle, where the music reflects life in the townships, much the same way hip hop mimics life in the American ghetto.

Just as many of the influences on hip hop come from the streets of New York and California, kwaito is known as the musical voice of young, black, urban South Africa.

Kwaito did not originally aim to show a South Africa happy in its new urbanity, especially because urban life has been exploited by foreign commerce. For these reasons, kwaito’s best moments become those that deliver a chorus of black voices opposing a legacy of bureaucracy and racism, and anticipating a new identity and mobility on its own terms.

Kwaito was touted as part of a South African renaissance, but it’s also part of a South African revolution - one that does not suffer misinterpretation lightly.

Major proponent of the movement is Mandoza, whose music clip is featured below.
Source: www.mentalfloss.com

Folk hero

Nick Drake. Essentially folk. Such a groovy voice. The music speaks for itself

Cocorosie

I was listening to Mark aka Bob on 702 the other night and heard this remarkable sound coming from my little wireless box. It was of two sisters who make up the duo cocorosie. Mark's guest on his music segment was Lee Tulloch who was playing some of her summer music collection. What an amazing woman. What eclectic sounds. Lee is apparently a well known Australian journo and writer but being an immigrant I had not heard of her. There are rare times in one's lives when one's soul connects with another and this was one of those connections. I believe people connect via music. Raised in Africa I was always connecting with the drummers playing their huge wooden and hide drums across the plains in Botswana. And this was one of those experiences. Thank you Lee, for cocorosie. Enjoy "Hairnet Paradise" and have a listen to their most recent compostions on a CD called "Noah's Ark"
www.cocorosieland.com

Good morning people.

"Good morning." Reminds me of that famous line from Woodstock '69 when the MC (did they call them MC's? or a rag tag line of stoned people wondering about on a majectic stage that would change the world) announced to the crowd that "what we had in mind is breakfast in bed for 400 000 people". Don't know about you but I battle to sink 2 Weetbix, a glass of juice laced with glucosamine powder and various vitamin tablets. I forgot, I start the day with a glass lemon water (cold) with Celtic Salt. I'm on this mission to try and eat alkaline foods. As you can see the only alkaline thing about brekkie is the lemon water...yes I hear all 2 of you shout, lemon is acid, well apparently after it enters the body, it converts to alkaline. But I digress. The pic is of the Woodstock site today, the destination of my next pilgrimage, and no it's not a gravestone just a simple plaque to mark the site of the greatest event that occured in my life. I recently watched the director's cut of the event and still yearn for those days to return. What happened to the protest movement? Where are the restless youth challenging the leadership of the world? Where have all the flowers gone?

A precious find

Yma historica