Tag Archives: music

Shannon Hope: The irrationality of belief… and hope

Mike Hampton Posted on by

I’ve never known Shannon Hope in a meaningful way although I’m sure we have some scars in the same places. In the Durban music scene, most of us were just trying to survive the fact that dreams never built reality. But I was in awe of Ketamine, the band she fronted that got recorded by Smashing Pumpkin’s producer, Bjorn Thorsrud. I was there when he watched them perform in a crummy bar in Umhlanga. The resulting E.P. included ‘In the Shape of a Heart’, a contender for South Africa’s greatest … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

You’re going to be raped and stabbed and shot at….

Mike Hampton Posted on by

“You’re gonna be raped and stabbed and shot at…” It’s a line from a powerful South African spoken word/song called ‘Afterthought’ (which is what we are to the politicians). It’s dismay, protest and a shout for you to wake up. It’s also a damning indictment of the South African Government and ridiculous attitudes held by ‘its’ passive citizenry. Auriel Lefebre Van Zyl, the singer/lyricist of Menage á Trois, repeats the line, “You’re gonna be raped and stabbed and shot at,” in a way that it will give you shivers. Play … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

Rockers Deity’s Muse aim for the clouds

Mike Hampton Posted on by

Alternative rockers DEITY’S MUSE give me happiness each time they break out of the limiting South Africa scene. Their recent successes wouldn’t have happened unless they’d the passion to stay together longer than their local counterparts. Talent needs balls too. I’m not kidding. Most of the bands I loved are long dead. But DEITY’S MUSE keeps staying alive for me – hey, I can pretend! It says something about DEITY’S MUSE that bands of varying genres want to perform with them. They’ve supported notables Seether and 36 Crazyfists but it’s … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

Andra, music bigger than the sand of the Namib Desert and the stones of the Karoo

Mike Hampton Posted on by

I WANT YOU TO LISTEN I’m interrupting politics to share love for the music of a Namibian lass now based in Pretoria, South Africa. I communicated with her, briefly, maybe a dozen years ago, when I struggled in the struggling music industry of Durban. I’d just heard her coffee grind voice and wanted her on a compilation I was making. I don’t recall what happened but all that matters is that it never happened… and I began the dark journey into political activism. However, music remained my joy and escape. … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

Video: The Clock at the Back of the Cage

Mike Hampton Posted on by

Amanda Palmer & Edward Ka-Spel’s I Can Spin a Rainbow album is the opposite of taking LSD in outerspace. It’s dreamy but it isn’t dream pop. It’s magical but there’s no unicorns. It’s a ghost addressing hard reality. It’s eerie and full of loss looking at love. It’s indescribable by me but that’s ok ’cause the haunting stop motion video for the song ‘The Clock at the Back of the Cage’ will do it for me. It’ll speak to you in profound ways if you play it fullscreen and listen … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

Counting Crows – Films About Ghosts (Review)

Mike Hampton Posted on by

“Little angels hang above my head and read me like an open book.” I can’t hear the Counting Crows without having my mind drift back to a period of young love. It was time of good waves and beaches, great but awkward sex, and, inevitably, dreams bursting from the weight of unrealistic hope. For an entire two years, my lover’s favourite song was ‘Mr. Jones’. She never got tired of it and I never tired of watching her dance to it. When she was gone, I would sometimes torture myself … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!