 | Don’t you hate it when you pick the wrong meme for summer? I’m pretty sure that’s the feeling over at Vodacom this week after airing their big budget summer “Mo Faya” campaign TV spot, featuring the LMFAO’s catchy but ultimately noxious “Party Anthem” (for which, you can be sure, they paid big boy money). And then being gazumped by KIA’s even bigger budget CGI hamsters-dancing, on the set of what looks like Gears of War, to the same damn tune, ...read more |
One on One | Everyday I’m Shuffling
Friday, December 9th, 2011 by Andy Davis, illustration by Laugh It Off
Everyone Gets the Blues
Friday, December 9th, 2011 by Karl Kemp
 | “We started this festival 6 years ago at a place called Tafelberg Tavern, with a crowd of about 400 people,” explains Mike Combrinck, full-blooded bluesman and organizer of the Table Mountain Blues Summit. “It’s amazing to see how it’s grown considering our limited options and budget. Unfortunately, for the past three years, the only date we’ve been able to finalize has fallen on the same weekend as Synergy. I’d like to see the turnout if we could change that.” Looking ...read more |
Grinding the Axe
Friday, December 9th, 2011 by Themba Kriger, images by Neil Kasselman
 | We live in an age where companies have become brands and their products are no longer just physical items but rather emotions, ideals and lifestyles. Coca Cola sells us happiness, Nike an active lifestyle and Axe sells sex to the 16 – 24 year old male demographic. The new AXE Excite, takes this one step further. In their view, sex with women is not enough for The Axe Man. The Axe Man wants to fuck angels! ...read more |
Bread and the Rebel Motorcycle Club
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 by Rob Scher, images by Adam Kent Wiest
 | The decision to return was made the moment the international headline act was announced. I imagine this is what it was like for Robert De Niro’s character in Deer Hunter, except replacing gooks and tortured screams with neon-capped northern suburbanites and the agonising wails of ‘Barbara Streisand’. We were on the road to Boschendal to endure another year of Synergy, or as we were calling it the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig. ...read more |
Nevermind the Bollocks, Here’s The Great Apes
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 by Max Barashenkov, images by Adam Kent Wiest
 | In a concrete bunker on the grounds of Valkenburg psychiatric hospital, five men make music. The committed – those deemed stable enough to wander the facility – drift in and listen to the sounds. Perhaps they feel an affinity between the bastardly noise that floods the place and their own condition? This music is, indeed, for those of the non-standard mind. The old ‘flammable materials’ room in a mental institution is the perfect space for the Great Apes to have ...read more |
One on One | An Ode to Sankomota
Friday, December 2nd, 2011 by Ts'eliso Monaheng, images by Aryan Kaganof
 | Kingsway, Maseru’s main street, should have been bustling with lines upon lines of mourners queuing to touch his casket; the airwaves should have been saturated with the beautifully-haunting textures of his compositions; a public holiday should have been declared just to honour his immense, immeasurable contribution to the art of music-making. ...read more |
Album Round-Up
Friday, December 2nd, 2011 by Mahala
 | Here at Mahala we’re still being sent albums by the truck load. Mostly, they’re not exactly worth a full review but definitely worth a mention. Occasionally we will compile a selection of music you should know about, either as a recommendation or a warning. ...read more |
Jargon Fest
Thursday, December 1st, 2011 by Danni Diana, images by Adam Kent Wiest
 | In one of my favourite scenes from 30 Rock, there’s this one part where Tina Fey’s perpetually stressed comedy writer character, Liz Lemon, attempts to convince (via slideshow presentation) the wistful TV tycoon and Bush-Administration-fawning Jack Donaghy, of the merits of using company money to pay for a trip to Miami for the writing staff. “Synergy!” She shouts. ...read more |
10 Years Down | Zubz | Listener’s Digest
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011 by Ts’eliso Monaheng
 | Zubz’s role in local hip hop has been that of a lyricist who engages the listener beyond the hackneyed tropes of bootie, clubs and bling. His songs have explored such disparate topics as polygamous relationships (“Handiende”), football (“Premier emcee”), and xenophobia (“Time to heal”); every subject has received unscrupulous inspection by the man holding the golden mic. ...read more |
MK Top 10 | Shaved Dogs
Monday, November 28th, 2011 by Brandon Edmonds
 | When the dog where I live gets shaved for summer she becomes self-conscious and you have to affirm her a lot, stroke her more, be encouraging. She looks like an extra in Ratatouille. A slim, bat-eared maus and if she catches you staring, her tail locks between her legs and she hangs her head. Your heart goes out to her. Local white (mostly unsigned) pop musiek behaves much the same way. It’s so vulnerable, so timid and quavering, so overly ...read more |
