Way-back-when-Wednesday (Brenda Fassie)

Don't ask me what made me think of this gem by Brenda Fassie, because I don't know. All I know is that she fascinated me as a kid and I used to love watching these kids at their 'wedding'.



I truly believe that she served a very important purpose and none of her struggles were in vain. Her smile was so REAL.

PS- those crying kids are killing me lol
PSS - I haven't been to a wedding ko kasi in a while. Someone needs to get married real quick. And please don't have your wedding at a fancy place. I want a tent in the hood lmbao

So many surprises

I dont know whether I mentioned this, but this week I'm recording a few songs at the Red Bull Studios. And the whole set up is so cool. I'm collaborating with Oltak (an amazing music maker!!) and one of the nicest DJ/producers Audiophile021 (pictured below)




Anyway, yesterday I was on my way out of the studio when I see these CD's by the door. Being the cat who never gets tired of being chased by that sadistic hit-man a.ka. curiosity, I picked one up. It turns out its a compilation of songs made in the Red Bull studios. So Steve (Audiophile021) says 'Ja just take it. You're featured as well'.




Last year I attended the Red Bull Music Academy Taster and put vocals on a DJ MX track called 'Like I see you'. That is the track featured on there. I was so pleasantly surprised. Here I was, feeling so sorry for myself just a few weeks ago. Not knowing that my voice was being heard. Check out my name below (hee he he he he)



Then a few days ago, DJ MX sends me an email. He released the song as part of an EP (Like I see you) and the EP has already made its way up to 21 on the Afrodesia charts. Its only been on there for a week. I'm so happy for MX, because he is also just one of the nicest, most hard working and sincere guys I know. Check out his EP here.


Love to you Beautiful Ones :)

Slip

A while ago I worked with a very talented musician friend of mine (Richard tha 3rd) and he played a beat for me that I couldn't resist. A line appeared from the darkness of my mind and wouldn't leave me alone.

I asked him to put the beat on a memory stick for me and took it home. At home the magic happened. 2 weeks later we finally made it into studio and SLIP was born. My manager is crazy about this track. Absolutely CRAZZEEEEE about it.

Check it out here and let me know what you think.

I love the artwork that is displayed on the site for the track. So absolutely 'Porcelain'... Yeah, I said it.

Tidal Waves ROCK!!!

I have their album Afrika and I love the entire album. I saw their video for Rapolotiki just now at Mahala. Had to post it. Love these guys.

Taking you back to '43

Lena Horne - Stormy weather



Sometimes you just want to sit down with a cup of chai tea, reading a good book and listen to music from way back when :)

Who is Lulu Dikana

She is an AMAZING singer. Absolutely phenomenal. She is local singer Zonke's sister. She is an actress as well and she released her album My Diary My Thoughts last year.

Her song 'Life and Death' is being played a lot on radio and I LOVED IT SOOOOO MUCH I went to go and buy the album. Th rest of the album is good, but Life and death is definitely a stand out track. Her voice is so rich and beautiful, her lyrics thoughtful... All in all Lulu Dikana is a BREATHE OF FRESH AIR!!!

Lulu Dikana - Life and death


Amazing!!!

Da Les surprised me

I will be the first to say that Tippy Toes is not one of my fav songs. But I saw this new vid, by Da Les, on Channel O and I was pleasantly surprised. I really like it. The song itself is cool too. Marcee is a pretty harsh critic and she even smiled when she saw the vid.

Always makes me happy to see great stuff coming out of SA

Da Les- We on fire


Nice one...

UNVEILED update

Am still in pre-prod for THE ALBUM (Unveiled) I just have a million songs coming out of me. I think we will go to studio mid Feb. This is very exciting, but it's also a little scary. Green was 5 tracks, this album is more than 10 tracks EEEEEKK!!!

The plan is to have the first single 'RADIO READY' by end March... We'll have to wait and see :)

In the meantime, go ahead and listen to songs off the EP on MySpace, imeem or join the Facebook page.

The journey continues...

Thankful for music

Today I am just thankful for GREAT music.

Goldfish- This is how it goes


Also love their track Sould my soul.

Jacsharp & dayjob stuff

The best part of the day job is when I get to interview local muso's and this week I'm playing snippets of an interview I did with Jules from Jacsharp.




If you asked me to describe their music, I would have a hard time doing it, so I'm not even going to attempt to. Here is how they describe their music:

What do you get when you mix an electronic drummer, rock/funk guitarist, afro/jazz bassist and a pop/jazz singer? A completely new, eclectic genre of music that's unique to Cape Town based band, jacSharp. If you dig to the core of this band, you will find something magical that has been built on a foundation of nothing but good times, good tunes and keen understanding of musical diversity. All of this has been melted down, mixed together and energetically thrown at their enthralled audiences. Just watch this space...





Check them out on Facebook and MySpace to listen to their songs.

Oh and tune into the Midnight Xpress on Radio 2000 with me to hear the interview this week :)

Miss Lira

It's no secret how much I LOOOVE Lira. I still have not bought a copy of her new album. The first 2 singles that I've heard kick serious butt. The one track is 'Wa Mpaleha' and the second one I heard is called 'Hamba'.

Enjoy the smooth sounds of Miss Lira.

Lira 'Wa Mpaleha'


Good stuff!!!

HALALA BLK JKS

I love sharing good news, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with me.

BLK JKS have just signed a deal with a US label called 'Secretlly Canadian'... HALALA!! I first heard of these guys some time last year (when I still did the Sat 6-9 am slot). We had a slot where we 'new' songs (songs that weren't on the system, songs ppl hardly ever heard on radio), the slot was actually called 'they never play that song'. My producer picked a song called skroof kai 1 (pls excuse my sp- in a hurry) and I liked how different it was. These guys are to my friend Phiwi what Tidal Waves is to me: AWESOME!!

Hopefully this will help SA artists that your geographical position does not determine how talented you are (spoke about this in the interview with Overtone).

Got the good news via SA Good news!! YAY!!





Yes, that is them on the cover of Fader!

Another Angel

R.I.P Mama Africa (Miriam Makeba)

We truly were lucky to have her as part of the foundation of African music. I continue to be inspired...

Eish!!!!

Working in radio I never really did understand the fascination some people have with 'the-shout-out'. I don't mean people who call in once. I'm talking about people who call in everyday to say hello to the same person (or request the same song). But I think I understand it today.


I was checking up on some of my fave blogs when I came across this. EEEEEEEKKKK!! Fellow blogger Eish gives me a little shout out and I felt like somehow that was a sign from the universe that everything is as it should be and that I am on course.

"The sound is a little afro-jazzy, but with a hint of hip-hop here and there and there is just a small bit of pop infused in there as well... ok, if you enjoyed Lira (and I know many readers did!) then you will appreciate Black Porcelain's compositions. I capitulate!"

And a Lira comparison can never be a bad thing because Miss Lira makes quality music.



THANKS EISH!!! You are sooo on the list for one of my gigs LOL!

Check out the music here and if you are on FB then join my page! YAY!!!

5 in 1 this week in Zulu ONLY

This week on 5 in 1: Zulu Boy.

I heard about this guy a few years ago from someone from EMI who was telling me that Zulu Boy is the future. I took the comment and filed it somewhere in the archives of my mind. It was only a few months later that I actually HEARD him. I loved that he did not stick himself into any ones box, he created a whole entire space for his creativity.

His debut album Masihambisane was dope and he has a new one out 'Inqolobane'.

So if you wanna hear about the man behind the music, tune into the Midnight Xpress on Radio 2000 this week Mon- Fri midnight - 3am... Shameless advertising. You can catch us on streaming audio too. HOLLER!!!

Zulu Boy- Hail to the King


The interview didn't start so well though. There is nothing worse than calling the person you're supposed to be interviewing and hearing 'The subscriber you have called is not available. Please try again later." I wasn't gonna lose my coll though, so I called his label and they hooked me up. He had lost his phone. After that everything just flowed. Nice young man!

The only reason I get so worked up when an interviewee (is that even a word?) does not pick up their phone, is because I've had someone promise they would be available for a LIVE interview and then not pick up. This guy did it to me THREE times. I learned my lesson though! I think what made it worse was that he was a friend of mine (not anymore).

Nobody knows

So, I went over to my little MySpace page to see how things are going today. I was very happy to see that NOBODY KNOWS had been played 100 times. 100 may seem like a little to you, but when I finished that track only 4 people had heard it. So to think that it has been played 100 times made me feel like this...

LIKE A PARTY!!! May there one day be a million units (and more) sold LOL!!!

GREEN... I want to be ever GREEN, because being ripe means I'm rotting ;)

The above pic is for my darlingest manager who shares this minor joy with me. This is her favourite pic of the lot... MUCH LOVE TO YOU MANAGER GIRL!!!

Time flies

Oh how time flies when there are deadlines to be met and gigs to be booked. So I'm just gonna give you the long and short of what I've been up to. I've been...

Admiring Crisvector's AMAZING stuff. My little brother & Marcee were hooked and so I decided to check it out... NICE!!! Below are some of my faves.


Ad Infinitum by `CrisVector on deviantART


Queen Of Hearts by `CrisVector on deviantART


Idiocity by `CrisVector on deviantART


Madam Nature by `CrisVector on deviantART



Images via crisvector.deviantart.com


Listened to Fat Freddys drop. Needless to say that was the work of my little brother as well. I would be so old and boring if it wasn't for him :) It's easy listening and it makes me think of sipping cocktails on a sunny Friday afternoon, just before we go party the night away. Aaah will Summer EVER get here?






Went on a team building get away for day job last weekend. That was fun! Magaliesberg was so nice and hot and then I got back to a wet and cold Cape Town SMH. I took my camera with me and took no pics- typical!

Marcee put together an amazing band and we found rehearsal space, now she is working on finding the perfect time for everyone to get together and rehearse as well as booking gigs.





Made my big brother listen to Tidal Waves latest album (Afrika), these guys are amazing. I saw them at Zula 2 weeks ago and they are also incredibly sweet, so I am a HUGE fan. I spoke to Jacob a.k.a Zakes after their performance and he was telling me how weird it is that when they perform overseas the people love them, but here in SA promoters hardly know who they are. Somethings got to change...

Image via their MySpace

I also did a little bit of soul searching.. And came to the following conclusion.

All great achievements require time.

Maya Angelou

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.

Maya Angelou

Thank God for Maya Angelou!!!!

The weeks that WERE

I have been out of action for a good reason: ILLNESS!! It seems I have not been able to avoid being sick. So I did one of the most difficult things I have ever done this year: RESTED!!! I had to not only rest my body, but my mind. There has been some really crazy stuff happening in my life.

But there were some really great things as well:

Went to Bridget's house warming

Bridget- not really keen on having her picture taken

Junior

Marcee

Then went to the 340ml album launch gig at The Assembly. Bought 2 copies of the CD (Sorry for the delay)... Junior LOVES it!!!

The next day I woke up with NO VOICE!!!

But my friend AK was in town, so I went and had a quick lunch with her and Marcee. I thought I would be out of action for a day. But then I REALLY GOT SICK. I missed three days of work, which is not great because I'm a freelancer.

To be continued...

EP Diary - Final stages

Tomorrow I put down vocals on the final track and then C.B masters the stuff and adds a few finishing touches. I am very excited to put the last track to bed. Green the EP will be done and printed by the end of the month.

I never thought it would take so long to finish a 5 track EP, but there has been that little day-job-problem and a few other interruptions. I've already started working on new song for a full length album, I can't help myself. This EP was just an opportunity for me to see 'what I can do'. Now that I know, I'm ready to do more. The efficient manager and I are working on a plan to turn THIS girl into a BUSINESS... Watch this space!

GREEN by BLACK PORCELAIN coming soon...

Very rare Chameleon

I did a whole bunch of interviews this morning (before I had to rush to piano lessons) and I only got to bed just a little before 4am- I feel like a Rock star today :)


One of the people I interviewed was musician Chris Chameleon and it was a great interview indeed. He was so easy to talk to and there was nothing pretentious or overly 'grand' about the way he conducted himself. But he is the exact opposite as a performer, he completely LETS GO and performs from the CORE of who he is. He is so into what he does that there is no room for judgement at all. Watching people who remain true to their passion like that is something completely spiritual for me.

And his management team is also UBER efficient and on point... VERY IMPRESSIVE!







On his MySpace page please listen to a song called 'Days like this' formerly known as Boo!ble (when he was with Boo!). That is MY SONG!!!

Chris Chameleon- OoAa






The interview will be on my show (Midnight Xpress) on Radio 2000 from Monday - Friday at 01:40 if you wanna listen :) (shameless advertising)

Pics via Chris' website