Ode to Confusion

The 16th annual SAMA awards have come and gone, and they were spectacular to say the least! From the audio-visual aspects, to the performances and even the brilliant host Trevor Noah, these awards ran seamlessly and were truly something that we as a country should be proud of :) Below is a list of the winners, a few photos and some of my commentary.

I really admire Lira as an artist. She’s a brilliant musician, has a great vibe about her and I think her music is very unifying. However, I was slightly disappointed that she won awards for the second year in a row, based on old material.

Male Artist of the Year 
Black Coffee for Home Brewed 

Newcomer of the Year 
Tshepo Mngoma for People And Places 

MTN Record of the Year 
Umlilo - Big Nuz featuring Tira 

These guys are brilliant performers! I wish I could understand Zulu though, simply so I could fully appreciate their music :P haha. They very deservedly won album of the year, song of the year and kwaito album of the year.

Best Afrikaans Traditional Music Album 
Klipwerf Orkes - Hantam Carnival 
 
Best Adult Contemporary Album: Afrikaans 

Chris Chameleon - Kyk Hoe Lyk Ons Nou 

Best Afrikaans Gospel Album 
Retief Burger - Luidkeels Oorgegee 

Best Kiddies Album: Afrikaans 
Nedine Blom - Supercool Vir Jesus 

Best Country Music Album 
Ray Dylan - Goeie Ou Country 

Best Rock Album: Afrikaans 
Jan Blohm - 7 Jaar 

Best Alternative Music Album: Afrikaans 

Die Heuwels Fantasties - Die Heuwels Fantasties

Best Pop Album: Afrikaans 
Bobby Van Jaarsveld - Net Vir Jou 

Best Sokkie Dans Album 
Die Campbells - Mamma Maria 

Best Afrikaans DVD 
Juanita Du Plessis - 10 Jaar Platinum Treffers Live 

Best Adult Contemporary Album: English 
Dear Reader - Replace Why With Funny

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album 
Proxy - The Call 

Best Kiddies Album: English 
Gcina Mhlophe - Songs And Stories Of Africa 

Best Rock Album: English 
The Parlotones - Stardust Galaxies 

I love the Parlies, don’t get me wrong, but I would’ve been insanely stoked if Voodoo Child had won this award.

Best Alternative Music Album: English 
BLK JKS - After Robots 

Best Pop Album: English 
Axene – 16 

This lady is SO talented! I’m incredibly happy that she won - she’s going places in SA music, wait and see.

Best Global Chart DVD 
Lira - Live In Concert: A Celebration 

Best Popular Classical Album 

Daniel Rowland And Stellenbosch University Camerata - Vivaldi / Piazzolla Seasons 

Best Instrumental Album 

Guy Buttery - Fox Hill Lane 

Best Traditional Jazz Album 
Tutu Puoane - Quiet Now 

Best Contemporary Jazz Album 
Adam Glasser - Free At First 

Best Jazz/Instrumental/Popular Classical DVD 
Wouter Kellerman - Colour Live In Concert 

Best Music Video of the Year 
Francis Gavin & Jolyon Ellis for Push Me To The Floor by The Parlotones 

Best Producer 
Brian O’Shea for Fruitbats & Crows by Farryl Purkiss 

Best Engineer 
Ishmael Morabe & DJ Swami for On The Edge by Ishmael 

Remix Of The Year 
DJ Nutty Nys for K’zogo K’zogozogo (Summer Anthem) – Nutty Nys Remix by Deep Level 

Best Album Packaging 
Craig Wells for Who Do You Trust by Cassette 

Best South Sotho Music (SeSotho) Album 
Koete - Tharisa Ea Matsoapo No.4 

Best Tsonga Music (XiTsonga) Album 
Thomas Chauke - Shimatsatsa No 29 

Best Venda Music (TshiVenda) Album 
Ntshengedzeni Maligana – Mathada Vol. 2 

Best Mbhaqanga Album 
Oflende - Pajero 

Best Traditional A Capella Album 
African Cream Freedom Choir - Freedom Songs 

Best Adult Contemporary Album: African 
Bhudaza - Likhomo 

Best African Contemporary Gospel Album 
Jay - Worship Unlimited Vol. 1 

Best Traditional African A Capella Gospel Album 
Amadodana Ase Wesile - Jesu Wena Ungu Mhlobo 

Best Alternative Music Album: African 
Joe Nina - Unchained 

Best Traditional/African Adult Contemporary African DVD 
Solly Mahlangu - Obrigado 

Best Urban Gospel Album 
Bongi & Collin - Makadunyiswe 

Best Urban Pop Album 
Jozi - Wild Life 

Best Mobile download

DJ Cleo

Check out that incredible haircut! ;)

Then, as usual, there is the yearly fashion comparison of dresses at the awards. My favourite was definitely Bonang - she looked incredible, as every year

And, the worst was definitely a tie between Thandiswa and Camgwini

Lady Gaga rip off or bucket lady?

This dress nearly knocked Jon Savage off stage, haha. Too funny :)

Overall, another successful SAMAs event! Congrats to all the winners and to the event organizers for putting on such a brilliant show!

We all have those musicians/bands whose music can instantly transform our day from ordinary to incredible! :) Mine would definitely have to be the strange, but highly entertaining, Jax Panik! This rather popular muso from Belville has made it big in the news recently for being the first South African artist ever to solely distribute and perform his music online. And, his unique approach has definitely worked for him, if his popularity is anything to go by.

Although pop music is not generally the sort of thing I listen to, anybody (regardless of your taste in music) will agree that this music makes you smile :)

Take a listen here:

*Cigarettes and Cinnamon (the ending is too classic, haha)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA2dwSGMmpE

*Hit or miss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlBLzIR6LBM

As pointed out by Ricky:

I’ve been a bit bored today… so I decided to play around on photoshop, and I created a “new” animal :P haha

I took

and this

and made this:

What I did:

• I used the lasso tool to cut out the shark from the sea
• I erased the shark’s body, leaving only it’s head
• I zoomed up close on the shark’s head and tried to smooth out its outline, cause it was a little jagged still
• I rotated the shark’s head to be the correct angle to fit onto the seagull’s body
• I used the hue/saturation adjuster to change the colours slightly to match the bird’s colouring more
• I then merged the two layers and used the clone stamp tool to blend everything together :)

I, under Rock Out Radio, had the privilege of interviewing one of South Africa’s most talented up-and-coming vocalists, Eden Michelle, whom, despite being young, has already walked an exciting musical path that can be envied by many a musician! We spoke to her and found out a bit more about her and what has shaped her musically:

You are a hugely successful artist and at such a young age! When did you start to develop a deep interest in music and take it seriously?

It started when I was six years old, and I began classical piano lessons. From there, I entered many local competitions, playing piano. Then, when I was thirteen, I gave up classical music and started to write my own songs and my brother then took me to a recording studio soon after to record my songs. Several record labels were interested in my music, and from there, my passion for the industry just grew and I began to work towards a future in music.

Which artists have been a major influence in your music?

Vanessa Carlton’s song, 1000 miles (a song of mainly piano and vocals), inspired me to write songs based with piano and vocals and Avril Lavigne’s music motivated me to become better at guitar and write more rock songs.

 Which local bands and musicians do you enjoy listening to?

I am a big fan of Holly and the Woods, the Dirty Skirts, Voodoo Child, David Aldo and Lonehill Estate.

How have your family and friends influenced your musical career?

They have supported me at all my performances and encouraged me never to give up. My brother insisted I started piano, and persisted that I focus on music as a career and my Polish piano teacher gave me the love and passion for music.

What do you enjoy most about working in the South African music industry?

I love the different variety of music found amongst all the bands in our country and how we’re not all classified into specific genres. Because of our mixed South African influence, we are all very versatile.

In your career as a musician, you’ve obviously had the opportunity to play your music at many places for a lot different people. What has your favourite show been and what made it so special?

A gig I performed at Fourways for the launch of a TV program called Next On Stage. The sound was perfect, as was the audience, and there were cameras everywhere recording it. The crowd singing my lyrics back to me made it extremely special. The excitement of having Mushroom Productions producing the show also contributed to this, and I am fortunate enough to have them and Saspre productions managing and promoting me now.

Tell us about your amazing debut album, Broken Truth, for which you wrote all the songs. What inspired the themes and topics for the songs you write?

The main themes are definitely falling in love, having your heart broken, losing someone close to you and life’s experiences. My single, Scream, was written for one of my friends at school who didn’t really fit in and tried so hard to be accepted.

Tell us briefly about the song-writing process for you.

I get inspired by people’s life stories and experiences. I’ll write a story about them and turn the story into music. For example, whilst traveling home one day I found out that one of my good friends had been diagnosed with cancer, and it hit me hard. When I came home that day, I wrote a song about it in 15 minutes and I recorded it the following day. That is my song Brave, which is now the theme song for the Cancer Awareness Association. People can support this by downloading it at www.max3.com, as all proceeds will be donated to the Cancer Association. This song is being used on a compilation with artists of the calibre such as Sheryl Crow.

How did it feel to see your very own album out in stores, and your songs played on radio stations around the country?

It was the most amazing feeling in the world! When I first heard Scream on national radio, I cried! I was so overwhelmed by all the positive comments and phone calls that poured into the radio stations! Rock Out Radio also supported me greatly by streaming every single song on my album, and getting them well-known, helping me greatly. My songs are also being playlisted on Australian radio which is very cool.

There has been talk lately of overseas interest in you. What is happening exactly with that?

I have been invited by AEG from America to open up for some international artists in the future. I’ve also been given the opportunity to tour the U.K. and Europe, with a manager who is prepared to introduce me to big names in the industry.

What is your ultimate goal for your music?

I’d love to tour the world, performing at festivals, and make people more aware about important social issues in our world through my music. I’d also like to eventually have a recording studio overseas to record and produce other artists, and have my own record label, once I’ve reached my sell-by date!

Is there any other interesting news that you would like to share with your fans?

I’m in the process of doing a collaboration with DJ Mark Stent, who will be launching our song at Nicci Beach. It’ll be a new style of house music, and very different to what I usually do.

If people would like to find out more about you and your music, where should they go?

They can go to www.edenmichelle.com, search for me on Facebook or go to www.max3.com to purchase my music online.

This is starting to turn into a bit of an art blog, unintentionally :P how cool are these though? They’re made completely out of food, by a guy named Carl Warner.

“If the world were a village of 100 people, how would the composition be?”. This is what http://www.toby-ng.com/graphic-design/the-world-of-100/ set out to explore through a series of posters that represented statistics of the world’s population. These were my favourites:

5. The Wave in Arizona

Any place that looks like this deserves a visit :)

4. Singapore

I love everything about this place 

3. Any Caribbean island

Seriously… who could argue with that? ;)

2. The Giant’s Causeway in Ireland

I really want to visit Ireland, especially to see this… I also love Celtic music, so I think I’ll pick up a low whistle along the way ;)

1. Japan

It’s no secret that I have a slight obsession with this country and that I’ve wanted to visit it for as long as I can remember :) love the arts and culture, people and food! 

Artist Julie Thompson uses feathers as her “canvas” for her artworks - I think they’re stunning :)

Go here to check out her full portfolio of work:

http://www.featherlady.net/paws.html

Scientists are getting smart… after 10 years of research (which probably could’ve been spent on better things, but anyways), scientists have managed to genetically engineer polka dot roses

No, your eyes aren’t tricking you!

If you want to read up more about this project, visit http://blog.interflora.co.uk/interflora-scientists-grow-the-world’s-first-polka-dot-rose/

I’ve always loved skateboarding - such a rad sport. I also love the way photography manages to capture things in a totally different way than from which the eye sees them :)

I love art… the weirder and more interesting the medium, the better :) I found this guy, Kevin van Aelst, by chance, and I was super impressed with his work.

Van Aelst takes ordinary things in life and tries to rearrange them in interesting ways to form art. His main goal for his artworks are to hint that the little things in life are capable of displaying large ideas - I think it’s brilliant. Take a look at some of his works: 

If you’d like to see his full portfolio of work, go here: http://www.kevinvanaelst.com/art.html