OK so 2010 is here and already there are some great albums on the horizon. Hope you all have a great New Year. Anyway so I am going to use my first few posts of the new decade to look back. Back at the year of 2009 in South African music, back at what the rest of the world got up to in 2009 and finally a look at my favourite records from the past decade. These lists are not definitive, they are merely the records that rocked my world the most. Plus I'm sure i'll look back at these in a month and find many albums that I forgot about.
1. BLK JKS - After Robots
I'm pretty sure everyone expected this after all I did call it the most important South African album of the last 20 years. 2009 was the BLK JKS year and as their recent homecoming gig at House of Nsako showed, its onward and upward for the JKS.
2. Joao Orrechia - Hands & Feet
I just couldn't get enough of this album by Joao Orrechia in 2009, which features some of South Africa's finest musical talents. Addictive is all I have to say.
3. Righard Kapp - Strung like a compound Eye
An incredible piece of work from Cape Town's guitar wizard, his best album yet
4. Busi Mhlongo -
Released at the tail end of 2009, Busi Mhlongo's new album is a spiritual tour through Zulu blues
5. Seloela Selota - Lapeng Laka
Seloela's new album is a rich and wonderful album, he deserves to win a bunch of SAMA awards for this
6. kidofdoom - My Faith in War
Kidofdoom's second album is a cracker, a prog rock concept album about the apocalypse, this band is going places
7. Buckfever Undergound - Limb's Gone Batty
A great live album from the Underground. This band is a national treasure
8. Guy Buttery - Fox Hill lane
Guy Buttery's mature new album was an absolute delight in 2009, beautiful nu-folk from KwaZulu Natal
9. Tidal Waves - Manifesto
South Africa's finest reggae band returned with a great new album, there fourth studio record is a pearler
10. NUL - Drie
Pretoria Industrial outfit Nul's third album aptly titled Drie is their best yet, protest music of the highest order
11. Kyle Shepherd - fineART
OK so technically this album was released in 2008, but it was launched in 2009 and I only heard it a few days ago, but Kyle Shepherd is a serious talent. The future of Cape jazz
12. Dear Reader - Replace Why With Funny
The growth from album one to album two was quite astounding, now signed to City Slang, one of SA's great international hopes
13. Kalahari Surfers - Turntabla
SA music veteran Warrick Sony returned with this long overdue Kalahari Surfers record, a chilled, spaced out ambient soundcsape
14. Black Hotels - Films For the Next Century
The Black Hotels fleshed out to a five peice, offer up many different sides from their musical palette
15. And in Fifteenth place we have a tie
Ramon Galvan - Outer Tumbolia
This debut solo album from Ramon Galvan is a grower, that has many treasures for the patient listener
Us Kids Know - Friendship Test
For a while
it looked like this band had packed it in, thankfully that's not the
case and this EP shows why they would have been missed
