+DJ Jazzy Jeff has been the victim of vicious rumours, from his financial affairs to his so called has-been status BUT after listening to this there is no doubt none of that scratched on his talent (pun intended) . This mix is for the lovers of music ...it's varions in genres and pace...he sample's +Toto's 'Africa ' for crying out loud! Can anyone say %$#!ng Epic?!! Enjoy! #TSKC
If you read myprevious post, you would know that the Goliath & Goliath team
was set to jet into the Harare and tickle our funny bones. And just as they promised
they did… well, at least it looked that way. I noted a good number of patrons gasping
for air, slapping their thighs, spilling their drinks and guffawing throughout the
show. Carl made an entertaining host, as he threw a few jokes here and there. The
Program though a little late (we are African after all!) ran like clockwork as each comedian took a turn to
crack our ribs. (in a non-violent fashion of course!)
Jason found himself the big butt of the joke as everyone took a stab at his weight, gait and goodness all. Being the good sport he
is, he passed the heat onto to someone else as he lightly roasted a few patrons.
By the time he was done all I knew was people married for 10years have the
libido of old Peugeots, that Mdara Zober’s libido runs on diesel (Creeepy) and
that Jason only allows experienced drivers to ‘drive’ his car (wink). I loved Donovan;
he was such a charmer and a funny one at that. (what more can a girl ask for
though *ehem* in a performance ka!)
Our Zim Comics flew the flag Marijuana high! Michael K being my favourite, his
impressions were top notch! As for Q... watching him feels like watching your
favourite nephew grow (let’s ignore the fact that he might be older than me). My
point is He gets better and better every time I watch him perform okay! Big pat on the back for that one! Lovers and
haters (I’m stuck somewhere in between) of Dancehall were left agog by the end
of his set. All I can say is "USADAROOOOOOOO!!!"
Both during the intervals of the
Program and at the end of the show; patrons milled about in the foyer all
smiles. For the most part it seemed All
had a gay old time. Teaming up with something for a good cause a pair of ladies from the charitable initiative With Love Zim sold some really funky jewellery; made by the women from the Mbare soup kitchen.
The Miller Genuine Draft themed after party was the cherry on top as DJ
Chucknosis (did I spell it right?) spun that good music from his Pink Apple Mac…
(I sh*t you not it really was pink!)
I hear we’ll be having four of these Comedy fest things next year, I say ….
Bring it On!!
The first time I listened to Dimitri & the Scarecrow ‘it’
was both live and very alive. The passion exuded in the front man as he roared
out ‘Scarecrow’ was amazing to say the least.
I was beyond ecstatic to receive the album at long last all 7 tracks of from
start to finish was lyrical life journey. Heck a rollercoaster to say the least.
Throughout it I kept thinking “what’s this guy going to say next, what’s the
next beat going to sound like?!”
‘Scarecrow The EP’ is packed with clever
relatable metaphors. Dimtri sounds a lot like he swallowed a thesaurus...in a
good way. In ‘Anarchy’ he treads on the well known sacred political ground. He dices
typical Zimbabwean social ills, freedom of speech and the power in the saying “each
man for himself”. I’ll let your own perception do the math with that one.
On ‘Drums, Guitars, Mics
& a Boom Box’ he raps out his passion for Hip-Hop; a juxtaposition of what
Zimbabwean Hip Hop is painted as now, what it actually is and what it could be
on deep bass and a well paced high-hat. The chorus is a bit on the scratchy
side but I guess it’s fair to assume the sound was meant to be rugged? A choir
master would have a heart attack; I’ll bet whilst one with a taste for weirdly
combined fusions of sound (GUILTY!!) would enjoy it.
‘Little
Raven’s Lullaby’ is by far my favourite. The melody of moans at the
beginning is pure Goth! Though I love it, I wish the vocals were slightly better
mastered! Then there’s the deep growling bass beating to Dimitri’s chilling recollection
of real time problems observations and moments of epiphany. He sketches out the
dreams we buy via our television sets and the cancerous existence to humanity deemed
popular culture. If you’ve ever been a Fort Minor fan the “Let my voice be free”
phrase will send your subconscious into shards of nostalgia.
When I first read the title ‘Funfare’
on the cover I could have sworn it was either a typo or wordplay; luckily for Dimitri
& The Scarecrow it was the latter.
There’s a heavy urban, almost reggae-d melody to it. That piano
settles it just right. I love the saxophone as it knots it together almost
perfectly, its fault being its loudness. (Why oh why is it so loud?)
With ‘Scribbling hard’
we charter through what sounds like the thoughts of an emcee as he explores the
curse and possibly the burden of being African and Black. It left me thinking
really hard. “Were they really right
about our primitiveness and savagery?” The backing vocals sound very ‘Blue’ and
there’s a hint of John Legend influence somewhere in there. Here Dimitri
highlights his versatility not as Rapper but as an artist.
Overall another Kicka** Zimbabwean Album of great Genre related diversity (and
they said we had no talent, tsk!)
I give ‘Scarecrow the EP’4.2 Stars
Have you listened to Scarecrow The EP? What’s your favourite track?
Hey guys! Gosh I missed you! My life has been in weird places but never you mind let’s talk music (even if it’s late)! I had the pleasure of watching and listening to French muso, Dj Oil spin at Red Bar on Friday the 26th of April. This was courtesy of Af de Harare, a teaser for the kick a** gig that was to come during the collaborative performance during HIFA (Which I missed *bangs head into wall*). Though I did not get to watch Oil for long I had one word to describe his mix and sound…GROOVYBaby! Okay, okay I know those are two words but his music did sound Austin Powers groovy! That is to say it was populated by 60s funk and some killer soulful Motown sounds I didn’t even know existed! It was, just as my sister said in passing an ‘acquired taste’ however this 40 year old cool –guy can spin for my musical pallet ANY day! And from the patrons that ‘grooved’ to the beat, (Including a handful of The Monkey Nuts’ band members, Mbira diva Hope Masike and rocker Dimitri to name a few) I’m sure many more would concur. Check out my badly recorded mini clips of his set below AND check out DJ Oil’s Profile Here!#TSKC
Seeing as there are 220 million French speakers worldwide, 96.2 million of
those being in Africa; it is s no wonder that
the one of the Organization of La Francophonie’s missions has been to promote
solidarity amongst 70 of its member states through the cultivation of
linguistic and cultural diversity. In pursuit of all things Artsy & French
*wink* I headed for the Le Cabaret first showing on Thursday night.
The time on the
Posters and flyers heralded the start of the show to be 7pm however it
officially began at 7.30, no one was complaining though this gave the patrons
enough time to sip or like me gulp the oh so complimentary and not so French wine.
Arties mixed it up as there was a hum of excited conversation. I had to admit
after one glass of dry white I was giggly and girly (oh the shame), I probably
need to work on my booze ethic since a 12 year old with the very same glass
seemed to be doing much better than I. (Could it be more French culture?)
He looked a little like this....
The foyer presented
everything French; they certainly did a fantastic job transforming it; a
Confectionary tray teaming with Croissants (my favourite), the colours Blue, White
and Red (French flag duh!), a giant replica
of the famous Arc de Triomphe and folk music in the corner by a fairly old duo
playing the Saxophone and Accordion. Ah le Parisan Cabaret indeed!
As the show began a
young man (Josh Harley presumably the MC for the night) scantily clad in slacks,
a bowtie and suspenders (cheese-appeal) teamed with more make up Dita Von Teese
herself has ever worn; kept us informed and mildly amused as he see-sawed
between mock French accents and stumbled (humourously) over complex Shona stage
names and often English ones too.(His cute backside did no harm to the entertainment!)
The live band, Summer
Breeze gave a fantastic Jazzy backing as Josh serenaded, “thank heavens for
little girls For little girls get bigger every day!”; a dubious song indeed
that I truly enjoyed.
Soon after Kristina Jenkins, coupled with a young
gentleman Basil did the damn funkiest duel dance I’ve ever seen. It had a very ‘Love
the way you lie’ feel as they mock argued as lovers in dance to Adeles’ ‘Turning
Tables’. Kristina’s emotion was clear, a combination of her Contemporary Ballet
and Basil’s urban Break-dance heated up the stage as they ‘made-up’ to Miguel’s
‘Adorn’. *fans self*
Kristina indicated her versatility and singing talent later
as she did a cover of Pink Martini’s ‘Sympathique’;
something about not wanting to work and smoking to forget life’s problems (sounds
like a plan to me).
A very buxom quartet
of ladies called African Voice sang a medley of Congolese traditional music as well as a cover of ‘In the jungle’ in
French(dans la jungle). It was a beautiful harmony if voices that probably needed
to practice their coordination a tad bit more. (I enjoyed it all the same
especially the fact that they were barefoot!).
I had the pleasure of
being audience to Mangoma and Mutsa as they dueled on the Congas (Percussion)
and Drums respectively! It was LOUD, Chaotic and a fantastic Rock and Afro beat
fusion (Rumba). Restraining myself from standing and displaying my not-so-cool
dance moves was an effort indeed.
After the 10minute
interval the Convent Girls Junior Choir (cute as buttons) nearly brought me to
tears as they did the PG13 version of the ‘Can-Can’ “yes I can…of course you
can can!”. The Stripes, an acapella group from Prince Edward taught us in true American
style Spirituals to “take a walk in your neighbours shoes”.
Josh (remember the MC
with the cute a**), was back with a very well acted out Frank Sinatra song ‘I
love Paris’ right after, he started on his vote of thanks and I realized it was
nearly time to end the night (to my disappointment). In quick paced pursuit a harem
of beautiful young ladies Can-caned gymnastically and gracefully as they
displayed their bloomers and under skirts donned in the French flag colours.
Kinkini’s dance out cheered
me up as they (all 7of them) did an Indian, Ballet, Pop (Michael Jackson
inspired), Hip Hop dance blend! Kethen and his group of dancers were beyond
cool as they swayed, split, and flipped all over the stage. Alas the show ended.
The posters promised “kitschy fun…nostalgia…delicious
clichés up to your elbows”; and after all was said and done I agreed. Yes one
minute I was in a Le Chat Noir, watching Burlesque and
listening to Edith Piaf serenade my pants off and the next back home or so haphazardly
with Afro beat and locally harnessed talent in song and dance!
That
transition is most probably the point of La Francophonie week. Our cultural diversity
as a nation (Zimbabwe) highlighted which we often take for granted. A chance to
laugh at ourselves and with others, to long for and appreciate an era we not
ever lived once. An emotional rollercoaster minus the puke, that was the French
Cabaret for me.TSKC
