I’m a fan of sexy Natasha Khan who performs as the dark velvet pop act, Bats for Lashes. She regularly sings cover songs as tributes to her heroes and heroines. Her live performance (above) of The Cure’s ‘Lullaby’ is particularly impressive.
Michelle Breeze became famous in South Africa as the lead singer and lyricist for alternate rockers Fetish (if i recall correctly, they became the first SA band to get signed to Virgin). She skipped over to the UK, as so many do, skipped the heroin and delivered an album (along with mate Chris) under the name Darkpop. It was a seductive and classy offering but for reasons unknown it never got a proper release. Now she’s in Why Why Peaches. It’s different and cool.
As the lead singer of Just Jinjer, Ard Matthews has delivered radio rock with integrity because it’s so damn passionate. The video for his debut, ‘Bolder’, has him filming himself with an iPhone as he rides one-handed through a crowded Asian street – how the hell doesn’t he crash? He even smiles at one point.
Except for Bats for Lashes, the bands i’m featuring today are all South African. It worked out that way unintentionally. There’s far more to my home country than tourist fantasies about lions and elephants:) Hey, we gave the world Seether, Johnny Clegg, Trevor Rabin and Die Antwoord! Sometime soon i’ll start a regular highlight on the kickarse rock, punk and alternate that kicks from the south and deserves a shot at the world. For those impatient, check out my old site, www.WickedRock.net.
Let’s end with an Afrikaans band. What the hell is Afrikaans, you ask? It’s one of the main languages down here. It sells far more albums than those of the poor English. And you don’t have to understand the words to appreciate this cool video for the song ‘Buitenste Ruim’ from Die Heuwels Fantasies::
