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Friday, February 25, 2011

Say Yeah

Just joined Soundcloud.

By way of testing it out, here's a older track from Three More White Guys...

SAY YEAH
written by Steve Smith
performed by Three More White Guys
produced by Anton Marshall


Say Yeah by AntonMarshall

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Art's Not Dead - The Feedback

Drums ottoImage via Wikipedia"a superb slice of CapeTown band life, as seen with a smile, from a day that was a sad day. Might not make sense to anyone outside 'the scene', but it's a must see for anyone who's enjoyed any of the bands, or knows people who go to listen to them, night after night. "
- Evan Milton (Music Journalist, Radio DJ, Bandstand columnist)

"Really enjoyed it, being a local musician. It was a definite passion project, and that passion shone through. For the content and feel, it deserved better production quality, not that the quality ruined the movie. The presentation of the story and people’s thoughts and impressions was very well presented. The flow was very good as well."
- Philip Cramer


"Art's Not Dead, gives a glimpse into the life of one of the best drummers in South Africa, and his seemingly relentless quest to be the best. It also demonstrates what happens when you push yourself too far in such pursuits.

"What Art had accomplished over the last two years (2009 - 2010) was akin to an athletic feat. Luckily, he has a strong base of people who care very deeply for him, so he made it out of - what must have been - a metaphorical pit of frustration.

"The film also provides you with an insight into what it really means to be in a band in the underground rock scene in the CBD and southern suburbs of Cape Town. A look into the lives of the members of the bands that don't come from Bellville or Stellenbosch - where there's stronger support - and how we all have tried and still are trying to make something that is deeply personal and belongs to us.

"Marshall has produced a true documentary; there is no pity in the film and no arrogance. Just a group of friends dreaming together, sticking together and helping each other out. Even when they disagree with one another. I for one, am proud and lucky to call these people my friends."
- Simon Tamblyn (The Sleepers)



"...it was awesome. Legend."
-Carli Mcadorey

"...the only thing I was distracted by was how awesome I was on the big screen"
- Kevin Rule (V.O.L.)

Friday, February 11, 2011

The King's Speech

Colin Firth - The King's SpeechImage by WorthingTheatres via Flickr
It's tough to judge historical dramas on their factual representation – frankly, none of us were there. So we only really have the film as an artefact upon which to try to dissect the film's craft, the emotional authenticity of the performances, and, perhaps, the interpretation of the story.

The King's Speech is widely considered among the favourites for a number of this year's Oscars, and in the case of Best Actor there's a case to be made. Colin Firth is excellent as "Bertie", conveying a thoroughly uncomfortable and probably embarrassed second son of a king - a contradiction in social emotions.

It is also fair to say Rush (as therapist Lionel Logue) and Firth play across each other superbly. Their relationship is a key motivator of the story, and it is equally powerful when injected both with humour and conflict. Both their fights and their humourous back-and-forths are compelling viewing, and often mask each other convincingly.

On another note, Nettie Chapman's glorious art direction may as well be a character in the movie, so central to the feel of the film it is. England between the wars always seems quite a difficult period to capture on film, but the sets and settings are so captivating that cinematographer Danny Cohen (another nominee) enjoys framing several shots with walls and furniture as focal points.

But whether or not all the above qualifies The King's Speech as the Best Film of the Oscar year is debatable. The film hits all the rights marks when it comes to what traditionally does well at Oscar time (historical, foreign cast, and erm... historical!) , but something about it – much like royalty – remains cold and distant.

Read full article on Channel24
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Guest slot with Josh Grierson

I will be stepping on stage with Josh Grierson at his show on February 16.


Grierson gives us an intimate solo performance with a few friends at the exquisite Bree Street venue &Union!
Incredible food and even better home brewed beer!!!
FREE ENTRANCE - 19:30 for 20:00 - we begin at 20:00 SHARP!


This forms part of my 2011 commitment to "Just Do It."

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Another five-minute theory on modern music consumption

A 12" record, a 7″ record, and a CD-ROM.Image via Wikipedia
You know, when I was a kid, we used to listen to a lot of radio.

One of the things about radio those days was that you heard a pretty broad range of programming and tunes.

I want to be even more specific about those tunes: Not only were they diverse in style and tone, but they were also much more ranged in chronology. You were far likely to hear "golden oldies" – even entire shows dedicated to them – on your regular programming.

This most likely accounts for an even cursory knowledge of some pop music history for people my age.

Listening to 5fm a few days ago, I noted how few tracks featured were five, two, even just one year(s) old. The focus of commercial music programming today seems squarely and unmovingly modern and new top 40.

It may be great for moving CDs (at least theoretically, but certainly not in practice if the labels are to be believed), but it does little for the collective musical memory of "the masses".

A shame it would be if the next generation of high school graduates entered the culturally significant part of their lives never knowing who or what artists like Elvis, Makeba,  Clegg, The Beatles, The Stones, Robin Auld, The Dollyrockers, …

Because, you know, they were born in 1993…
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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Art's Not Dead - Trailer 3



The third teaser for Art's Not Dead - The Movie is a performance clip featuring Three More White Guys with George vd Spuy of Taxi Violence.

Queen - Greatest Hits I and II

We're in Greatest Hits Season it seems. P!nk, Jay-Z, Bon Jovi (reviewed here soon) and several others have done the new compilation thing in the past few months.

But it was quite a surprise to find a re-issue of Queen's Greatest I and II in the mail the other day. And my attention was immediately drawn to the sleeve notes, where I was curious to see whether this was the last throw of the dice for EMI Queen, or whether it was the first cash-in by the new label. "Universal" it says on the back.  Fair enough.

And good play on their part to issue the original covers emblazoned with the "digital remaster" ploy. Because in reality Queen should be reissued every ten years or so anyway, lest the younger crowd hopped up on 30 Seconds to Mars forget what number one hits sounded like back in the days of real album rock.

Read full article on 24
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Order in the house

arty fartyImage by sandwichgirl via Flickr
Damn, it just gets harder and harder to find the time to make a note on the blog here and there. So a general update and a re-commitment to finding more time to check in with you...

Art's Not Dead - The Movie is poised. We do have a few issues with the technical side of the projection. Basically, it has to do with a strange sound issue happening at the projection venue. They're not sure what it is, but the technician has now acknowledged and agreed with me that there is problem.

There are apparently alternatives to the situation, which I guess will be resolved on Friday.

Beyond that, I've been meaning to post a few ramblings on motivations for certain things being in the film. Sort of like an off-line director's commentary of sorts. I'll try to throw some short notes together as we get closer to dates and times
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Monday, February 7, 2011

Up the Creek Pics

So L and I made it to Up The Creek - all 40 degrees of it.

And I took some pics.

I could tell you the story behind the pics and their motivations, but it's Friday and I can't be bovvered.


See me gallereh of Up The Creek here on Channel24.

Friday, February 4, 2011

The Green Hornet

American actor Edward James Olmos.Image via Wikipedia
Cameron Diaz – the most high-profile star of the show – is peculiarly relegated to the role of eye candy, both in the context of the movie and for the audience. Her character has no actual role to play in the storyline other than perhaps to shoehorn some irrelevant romantic rivalry that never seems convincing.

Cringeworthy, too, is a bizarre conversation about Diaz' (movie) age. In it her character defends why she's temping for a businessman at 36, when she's clearly overqualified in terms of her knowledge and value to the business. The same question could well be asked of why she chose to be in this movie. Again, you're never sure if this is a nasty but clever intentional parallel with the real world, or if it's just ... you know... in the script.

Christoph Waltz is wasted in a ridiculous parody of a crime überboss (again, when did pantomime come into this?), and so is Edward James Olmos, who somehow retains his hard-earned dignity in his few moments of screen time.

Perhaps the confused silliness of The Green Hornet can be summed up in a quote from the movie. When Kato asks whether Britt Reid knows Shanghai, Reid answers: "Yeah, I love Japan."

Some might find that funny, but the punchline is discomfiting when delivered by a supposedly likeable rich industrialist. The film may well be saying that actually, this guy is just a dumb, rich dickhead who gets all the credit for minority labour. And then again, it may not.

Read full article here...
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