Pic: Beast
So Transmusicales Day 3 has begun. But let me recap. The highlight last night was a Canadian band named Beast. They are from
Montreal and they feature one of the best singers I have ever seen.
Like the lovechild of Rage Against the Machine and Moloko, they were
brutally intense and I loved every minute. A bassist with a keyboard
attached to his bass, a guitarist in a Wu Tang Clan t-shirt who smokes
like Tom Morello, a drummer who emcees and plays like he is in a punk
band and a singer who sounds like Shirley Bassey one minute and Bessie
Smith the next, wow one to check out people.
Day 2 began late for me, im learning that the trick is to get up late and get to bed late. After a late breakfast/lunch I headed off with Jean Louis annotated map to find some vinyl, first on the list was Rockin Bones Sebs record store. Picked up a great Warsaw record, songs recorded before they became Joy Division. Then off to the Virgin megastore where i picked up the new Animal Collective and the BLK JKS Mystery EP. Then off to another one whose name I have forgot to get some African reissues on vinyl.
I made it back just before 5 to see Cercueil a French band billed as similar to Electrelane and the Third Portishead record. They were, they just werent that impressive and Lark would have smoked them. Maybe I am biased but I really feel that South Africa would throw down with the kind of indie industry that France has behind their young bands.
Then back to the hotel for a break before the main activities for the evening took place. First up was The Whitest Boy Alive featuring Erlend Øye from Kings of Convenience - Geek Funk for the French masses, love it.
Pic: The Whitest Boy Alive
Then I went to catch Klezmer Funk band Abraham Inc but after the intesnity of Beast they seemed like a novelty act. Cool horn players though, one of them used to play with James Brown and Bootsy. Retreated to the bar where I met a French House DJ who had a residency in SA in 2003 and raved about our country. Also met this crazy drunk French Journalist who kept telling me about some DRC refugee friends of hers and the tough times they had been facing lately. She was a little to hammered to understand properly, especially with the accent. Lost track of time so I only made it to the last song of this band called An Experiment On a Bird in the Air Pump, they sounded great though and apparently are about to go into studio with Steve Albini. Last was a Solvenian female choir called Vrelo, but I was crashing fast it was after 3am and I headed home to get some sleep. More to come.
Pic: An Experiment On a Bird in the Air Pump