A local is lekker listening session

Do you know that famous song from the Disney-feature ‘The Lion King’? Always thought it was especially written for the feature? Think again: that song is South African!

Dave Matthews was born in South Africa and Ladysmith Black Mambazo where on the critically acclaimed Paul Simon album Graceland, but that’s about it if it comes down to South African music making it overseas. That doesn’t mean that there’s no talent in this country though. Doug Simpson, manager of the CD Wherehouse at the Waterfront, invited us for a listening session in his store and convinced us: local music ís lekker!

Simpson has been in the South African music industry for close on twenty years. Now he’s the manager of CD Wharehouse at the Waterfront, the biggest record store in the southern hemisphere. Doug is a massive local music lover and sees it as his duty to spread the word. “It’s a combination of misguided patriotism and the fact that I grew up in the rural area’s of South Africa”, says Doug. “I’ve been exposed to black radio all of my life, so I heard the music and really enjoyed it. Now I drive my partner crazy, because I listen to so much different kinds of local music: jazz and mbaqanga, but also rock, hip-hop and acid jazz.”

A sweaty South African tourist walks up to Doug when he shows me around in his store. “Can you help me please”, he asks. “I want to send a local album to friends in Malaysia, ‘cos they like the click-sound in our music. Which do you recommend?” Doug is in his element now. He looks around, takes two steps, gets a CD and hands it over to the tourist. “I would send this one if I where you, it gives you a good overview of South African music.” The customer seems happy and takes the CD. Doug smiles and walks away. “I really love this you know”, he says when he takes me to a quiet spot in his store. “Whenever I’m fed up with the office I just come down and help a few customers. It makes me feel good!”

South African music doesn’t get a lot of airplay overseas, and apart from a few, not a lot of the local bands do concerts in other countries either. Doug is disappointed by that. “Our acts don’t get the recognition they deserve. It’s like the industry doesn’t seem to care. Well, only about Graceland, the Paul Simon album. That was really important for our industry. But I think the time will come for our bands. You see bands like Boo!, Moodphase5ive and Seether doing pretty well overseas, others will follow eventually.”

Now it’s time for me to catch the virus that is SA music virus. Doug hands me a chair and four CD’s that just about covers the South African music history. “Enjoy!” He smiles and puts the headphones on my head.

The first record he plays for me is ‘Rocking against the System’, a compilation of South African pop/rock bands from the 80s. “The bands on this album were actually the firsts that tried to educate the white youngsters in the country”, Doug explains. My first conclusion after a couple of minutes: the sound that bands like Psycho Reptiles, Asylum Kids and Bright Blue produce doesn’t seem to differ much from other typical 80s acts. But South Africa has a rich history of traditional music and jazz. If you listen to the music a bit closer you’ll notice that some of these bands (especially Bright Blue) are using traditional sounds in their own music.

Once you’ve concluded this, the step to the next album, ‘Best of African Jazz (a tribute to our heroes)’, isn’t as big as it seems. The ‘rocky’ jazz played by the legendary Hugh Masekela, the tranquil voice of Stompie Mavi or the mysterious sound of Sakhile: this is where new South African artists get their inspiration. But the oldies are still going strong as well. “I’m really looking forward to the North Sea Jazz Festival!”, Doug says. “I’ve only been listening to jazz for about six years, bit I’m hooked.”

The third album Doug gives me is a typical album for tourists: ‘The Great South African Trip’. It starts off with a sample from the inauguration speech of Nelson Mandela, followed by the national anthem and Shosholoza, a well-known traditional song. But the album does give you a good view of the local industry. And by putting the Blk Sonshine hit ‘Born in a Taxi’ on it, every album turns into a beauty!

The it all clicks together when Doug plays the last album: ‘African Dope Volume 1’. African Dope is a dance-label from Cape Town, and some of the acts signed on this label are pretty big in South Africa, like Moodphase5ive (who played at the Dutch Lowlands Festival as well), Felix Laband and the Kalahari Surfers. African Dope blends traditional African music, drum ‘n bass, triphop and acid jazz into the music of the new South Africa. “God is a DJ here in Cape Town too”, Doug laughs.

I crank up the volume and shake my head to the rhythm. Even I, as a Dutch journalist, have to admit now: local South African music ís lekker! Doug looks at me and smiles. Mission accomplished!