For the past couple of years the MK Awards have aimed to celebrate South Africa’s best Rock and Alternative music acts. The winners aren’t decided by any judges, but by you, the viewer. You have the opportunity to vote for you band or artist on the MK website. The winners will be announced on 23March, 2012, at the Pretoria State Theatre. The nominees are as follows:

 Best Video/Beste Video

aKing – The Runaround
Winterstasie – Los My
Spoek Mathambo – Control
Die Heuwels Fantasties – Modus Operandi
Locnville – Stars Above You
Jack Parow – Tussen Stasies

Best Newcomer/Beste Nuweling

The words to describe this trio don’t come easily. Conventional, definitely not. Blues influenced, very. Incredible, most definitely.

When a band releases a debut album of such emotion and consistency on every track, you can be assured that you have something special on your hands, as is the case with Machineri.

Formed in 2008 by lead singer Sannie Fox and guitarist Andre Geldenhuys, the band has been slowly biding their time to become one of the top new acts of the last year. It has grown to include drummer Daniel Huxham. Initially the band struggled to find a drummer that perfectly suited their style. In an interview with Just Music Fox said that they went through six drummers before they found Daniel.

And so our society has come to this: The world’s top tech house producer and DJ wears a mouse head. Or rather, a Mau5head. It’s amazing the Mau5isms you can come up with if you try. “Mau5ed up” (amped), “Mau5ed out” (tired after 10 hours of jamming to tech house), “I’ll meet you at your Mau5” (see you at your place). Etcetera.

It’s testament to this tech house phenomenon then, that his stage persona and the hype around it can enter popular culture so easily. Especially when you meet the man behind the Mau5. Which we had the privilege of doing at his pre-gig press conference in Camps Bay.

Media Release:

“…at its best the city offers a relaxed blend of African ethnicity and culture – and nowhere does that harmony look, or sound, better than at the summer concerts at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden”. – Time Magazine, 19 November 2007

There’s a spring in our step and summer is truly on its way as we relish the thought of long hot days enjoying the special experiences that make Cape Town so unique.

For Capetonians and visitors the internationally renowned Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is the place to visit, not only for its beauty but for the hugely popular Old Mutual Summer Sunset Concerts that draw audiences from far and wide.

If you like an eclectic mix of Afro/Latin/rock then you need to check out The Curious Incident, a new(ish) four-piece band with roots in Cape Town and London. The Curious Incident has gained quite a cult following in the UK, where it has been performing for a couple of years, but this is the first time that the group will be in South Africa.

In their own words, the band describes themselves as:

‘Shaka Zulu Rock duelling with Conquistador Rock while Motown Soul provokes them (but in a gentlemanly fashion).’

‘… spreading like swine flu.’

 ‘… the musical expression of that feeling you get in your stomach in a descending lift.’

And,

Have you ever found a band that you thought was amazing but for some reason or another never managed to make it beyond a couple of local gigs? Financial constraints are, perhaps, the biggest problem new bands face when they try to break into the music industry. Often there simply isn’t enough money in the kitty to buy studio time or even to market a mini-tour. Now you can make a difference; you can help give a band the aid it needs to crack the big time with Fanraiser.

Rolling Stone magazine will launch in South Africa on Wednesday 23 November. Known for its controversial and cutting  edge articles on music, liberal politics and pop culture, Rolling Stone is set to be the first magazine of its kind in South Africa.  It will be managed by Miles Keylock as editor-in-chief, Georgia Gardner as creative director and Anton Marshall as digital editor. 3i Publishing will produce it under license and it will sell for R34.95 at stores such as CNA, Pick ‘n Pay, Look ‘n Listen and Musica.

Saturday 10 December is an important day for folk music lovers as it heralds the Cape Town Folk and Acoustic Music Festival. It’s one night of amazing acoustic performances by 18 of South Africa’s top music artists, including Ard Matthews, Brian Finch, Natasha Meister, Tombstone Pete, Louise Day, and Christine Weir and Julie Blundell.

The festival is brought to your courtesy of Real Wired Music, Eastern Acoustics, CTICC, Sedgwick’s Old Brown Sherry and Marshall Music.

The acoustic guitars, folk and jazz performances are designed to recreate the ambiance of a genuine 70s folk concert. Artists will perform three sets with two 30 minute intervals. A cash bar and food stalls will cater to concert-goers food and beverage needs.

Whether you are a music connoisseur, a musician, or simply a lay listener, the fusion of compositions which reverberated through the CTICC’s grand auditorium in Cape Town on Saturday 24 September would not only have melted your music-loving mind away, but quite possibly turned you into a classical Indian music fanatic.

Local production company Inner Circle Entertainment presented the double bill concert ‘Celebration of Santoor’ to the audiences of Johannesburg and Cape Town. Santoor is a hammered dulcimer made of wood, which originated in the valley of Kashmir in the Himalayas. Originally an Indian folk instrument played as an accompaniment to a style of singing known as Sufiana Mausiqi, it is now on par with any other classical instrument owing to the skills of legendary santoor maestro Shivkumar Sharma, who has created a new style of instrumental music due to his modification, arrangement and new techniques of playing on the hundred-stringed instrument.

It’s that time of year again. No, not when we marvel that Christmas decorations are up earlier this year than last, but when we celebrate all things rock and green at Rocking the Daisies. This year, Rocking the Daisies will take place on the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th of October at the same old spot – Cloof Wine Estate in Darling.

According to Helen Herimbi (iol.co.za), you can get to the festival with around 150 cyclists who will cycle approximately 350km to enjoy the sights and sounds, or you can participate in Walking the Daisies, which goes along the west coast (you can donate R150 to raise funds for children who need school shoes), or you can fly. The Daisies Plane, courtesy of Velvet Sky Airlines, offers return flight for R999.