Saturday, June 26th, 2010
I don’t know if I say this often enough, but Paul Simon’s Graceland remains one of my favorite albums of all time. I know he jacked most of the songs from traditional South African folk songs, and I know that he ripped off Los Lobos with the song “All Around the World or The Myth of Fingerprints.” But all of that somehow hasn’t managed to spoil its position in my mind as the greatest driving music ever. The rhythms are both classically South African and classically American, but in both respects the songs are meant for the country-side.
Graceland is an album about, in many ways, South African culture. The vibes, the feelings, are everything I managed to feel when I was there. On the other hand, it is more closely a song about Americana, about America. The songs speak to South African themes, but they also speak to the classic idea of America, the idealized form of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road.
Listen to the title track, look me straight in the face, and try to tell me you don’t want to go on an epic roadtrip in the bed of a pickup truck. Trust me, you can’t. The lyrics help – “The Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar/I am following the river down the highway/through the cradle of the civil war” – but to ignore the earnest, upbeat, strumming of classic South African rhythms would be criminal. Throw in some backup singers and some ever-moving percussion and you have everything you could ever want. It doesn’t matter when you take this roadtrip – there is music for a sunny afternoon and a breezy highway, and there is music for a still night with millions of stars lighting the way.
All of this was in my mind when I traveled to Lesotho this spring. I spent six straight hours in a minibus taxi listening to five different languages. I had the biggest smile on my face as we passed through the South African countryside, watching mothers doing their laundry while their barefoot kids ran after us waving and laughing. We passed through great mountains and great pastures. Through all of this, I was thinking of Graceland. How perfect an album it was for a drive such as this! I yearned to hear the incredible saxophone from “Gumboots,” the chants from “Homeless,” and the thundering drums of “Boy In The Bubble.” Alas, I didn’t have my iPod. I won’t make that mistake again.
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PS: I promise I’ll stop writing about South Africa eventually. Stay tuned for a nice little piece on Francis and the Lights.
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
This one is dark, brooding, and only has two words in english (money maker). It’s a solid jam produced by DJ Bobo and Menace. While I’m probably a few months behind in the kwaito/house circuit, this is absolutely worth a listen. Photo jacked from a friend I studied abroad with.
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Friday, June 11th, 2010
I’m currently sitting at my computer proudly wearing my Bafana Bafana jersey. Why, you ask? Because today is (or was, I guess, if you’re in South Africa) the first day of the 2010 World Cup and I’m not in Cape Town. I left early so that I could spend time with my family before I left for DC, a decision I definitely don’t regret.
At the same time, though, looking at those pictures of the city right now… man. That would have been something. In a few months, I’ll sit down with some of my friends who stayed and ask them what it was like, what that palpable energy in the air felt like, and how much hearing damage they sustained due to the Vuvuzelas.
In the meantime, though, I have uncapped internet bandwidth, so I’ll drown my Cape Town regrets in streamed quality of The West Wing’s seven seasons. And the game, which I watched on my laptop this morning.
Monday, June 7th, 2010
It’s been a relaxing week at home, but now I’m headed to DC. Flying out Wednesday morning. Get excited. I’m terrified. And if there’s any justice in the world, I’ll have finished a new tape by the time I leave.
Oh, and here’s another South African track while I’m at it.
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This thing goes deep, a huge anthem in the SA kwaito/house scene. If you’re white, the only place you’ll ever hear this is Mzoli’s. Sad but true, good black music is pretty hard to track down in Cape Town.
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
Unlimited bandwidth is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I am using gigabytes of bandwidth just to use it. That’s not totally true, but it may as well be. Anyway, here’s post #1 of the music I’ve brought back.
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One of kwaito’s early superstars, this is one of my favorites from him.
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Because somehow a track based around a Destiny’s Child melody just seems great.
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This one is big in the townships these days, though it’s been out for like a year. To the left, to the right, everybody say.
Friday, May 28th, 2010
- Went to Starbucks for an iced coffee (South Africa makes you a frappacino when you ask for iced coffee)
- Visited the best pizzeria in Boston, Upper Crust. Cape Town’s DaVinci’s is great, but man it has nothing on these guys.
- Stared out the window at all the white people.
- Looked the wrong way for a minute when I was trying to cross the street.
- Walked around after dark just to do it.
- Used up obscene amounts of bandwidth because it doesn’t cost me anything now (though had we been on a proper uncapped plan in SA, I suppose that wouldn’t have been so bad).
I’ve got a few more things on my list to do – I’ll probably guzzle some ketchup (too sweet/watery in South Africa), eat peanut butter (they add sugar to it there), and try to hail a minibus taxi only to realize that they don’t exist here. I’m so glad to be back, but I kind of can’t believe I’m not in Cape Town. I keep getting the urge to type in present tense when referring to the city, or when explaining it to friends in the US using “here” instead of “there.” Ah, what a wonderful city. Pictures and posts over the next week when I get the urge to do it. For now, I’m off to use bandwidth.
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
I have 5 hours before my flight. I am so confused about what to feel, but I know that I want to go home and I want to stay here.
I can easily imagine living in Cape Town for years on end, it’s one of those cities with a lifestyle that just sucks you in without even noticing. I’ve met some incredible people, DJ’d internationally, and had some amazing experiences. I’ll write about all of them, I hope. But for now, I just have to find a way to say goodbye to the mother city.
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
And I couldn’t have asked for a better semester. The things I have had the privilege to experience, the people I’ve met, it’s been pretty damn good. With three days left I can’t help but reflect on how weird it will be to be home. I don’t want to pretend that Cape Town is “Africa” in all of it’s romanticized and wild glory – that would be way too… colonial. But that doesn’t take away from the things I’ve encountered that I just wouldn’t have seen if I chose a place like the UK (not to say it wouldn’t have been incredible). But my point is this: Cape Town, no matter how polished or Western the city, holds on to much of it’s history in interesting ways.
When I landed at the CPT airport in January, I was picked up by a family friend (she runs Shine Shine, check it out!) who drove me over to my house for the semester. I had been flying for 48 hours, been through JHB (Johannesburg) airport customs three different times, and was wide-eyed as could possibly be. On my drive from the airport (about 20 or 30 minutes from the city), I passed the N2 Gateway, a stretch of shacks that are impossible to not notice on the drive. Homeless people crossed four-lane highways at a snail’s pace. I had, of course, known, that it existed but it was different seeing it in the flesh. Not outraging so much as it was incredibly sad. I know now that I had driven through a couple of the many townships that surround Cape Town, a relic of the apartheid government that forcibly removed blacks and coloreds from their homes in the city. Ever see District 9? Based on Cape Town’s District 6′s forced removals.
A month or two later I was mugged around noon in my own neighborhood. A neighborhood that is incredibly residential on the scale of things. It wasn’t violent, and they left me with my license and my ATM cards, but definitely upsetting – after all, this was my neighborhood. I had been getting comfortable, and it was a healthy reminder to stay aware of my surroundings. Muggings can happen everywhere, but crime is a “reality” in this city. There is barbed-wire around most houses, and ADT security has a larger presence then the police. I leave in three days and I was just mugged this past Friday. But even though I’ve been mugged, even though this crime is seemingly “everywhere,” it certainly hasn’t colored my impression of Cape Town. On my flight down from London, an Afrikaans girl warned me about the crime. It was awful, she told me, I had to be safe. There are certain things you can’t do in Cape Town (walking home past sunset isn’t usually advised, certainly not for Americans), but it doesn’t something I will remember in a negative light.
Minibus taxis. Oh, how I love minibus taxis. Everything I ever read about Cape Town warned me against them – they were scary, wild, dangerous, and certainly not fit for tourists. Pish posh. Granted, there are no seatbelts, they are rickity, the drivers can be maniacs, and an unsurprisingly high portion of traffic accidents can involve minibusses, but man I love those things. 5R ($.80 USD) will get you almost anywhere in the city and there is nothing like a crowded minibus! You and 14 people in a tiny van, the driver honking every other second (literally – they have special triggers attached to the horn to make this easier), and the guardjie hanging out the window whistling and yelling the destination. The music is blasting (kwaito, reggae, or Ke$ha), and people are talking in languages you could never hope to understand. Want to know about what people really think about politics? Hop in a minibus and listen. Ride all day! They might be speaking Zulu or Xhosa, but you’ll hear their tone and recognize words. Mandela, Zuma, Malema, Xenophobia. That’s a big one. You may have heard about the nationalist violence that sprung up in 2008. Definitely a sensitive subject, and you’ll know it if an expat from another African nation decides to air his opinions on the matter. When you reach your destination, give a holler and try and find a way to get out without hitting more than a few people by accident. “Thank you, driver.” He’ll tell you “Thanks bru!” I don’t know if it’s because I’m white, but I always get the ‘bru’ (like ‘bro’) from them. I kind of like it.
Maybe I’ll continue this at some point, but for now I think this is enough. Cape Town: like everywhere else, but not like everywhere else. I have an exam in the morning, and as cathartic as this has been, I should probably get back to studying. Oh, and that sunset doesn’t have to do with this post, it’s just a nice sunset that I see from my house almost every other day.
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
I was just gifted about 30 or 40 world-music/South African cds, and I am stoked. Putumayo runs such a great compilation series, but who knew that Buddha Bar was so weird? I’ve already posted about Freshlyground, but I finally got my hands on some Oliver Mtukudzi. A performer from Zim(babwe), his music is just so incredibly light-hearted. “Chido Chenyu Here” is worth checking out for an idea of his sound, and the guitar is heavily reminding me of Paul Simon’s “I Know What I Know.” Kind of screwy, considering that Paul Simon’s work on Graceland was based on South African music, so I guess it should be vice-versa. Ah well, you have to start exploring music somewhere, right?
Just realized that I have about 13 days left here in Africa, can’t believe my life here is ending so soon. It’s been one helluva semester.
Monday, May 10th, 2010
A pretty large group (singer, bassist, guitarist, violinist, synth player, drummer, and horns/flute section) from Cape Town, Freshlyground is crazy good. Their sound is rock, but with a heavy Afro and jazz influence. Think Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings but a little less throwback and more nu-soul.
I had the good fortune of meeting the violinist from the group just last Saturday. A family friend of mine knows an incredible amount of people here. I had tickets to their concert that night, so it was pretty cool to meet her before the show.
Their show, or what I saw of it, was incredible. I didn’t get there until close to the end, which I immediately regretted. I saw two songs and an encore. Lucky for me, the encore was a good 3 or 4 songs long, including one of their biggest hits (“I’d Like”) and the greatest Michael Jackson cover I’ve ever seen. The vocalist’s voice squeals just when she needs it to, and it’s such a full sound that she had no problem taking over MJ’s part. Add in a few horns, some funky drums, and a really tight baseline (and don’t forget a crazy synth solo!) and you’ve got a crazy recipe for a cover.
Oh, and that World Cup song by Shakira? It might be terrible, but the good bits are courtesy of Freshlyground. They weren’t supposed to be in it at all, but the producers wanted something more “African” and the band happened to be in the same NYC studio. Go figure that some of the only South African involvement in the South African World Cup Song was snuck in by accident.
Link: freshlyground.com