Anyway, you’ve all waited long enough for the final verdict. So, here are the awards…

TIN FOIL AWARD: Zahara

Zahara sold over 200, 000 copies of her debut album, Loliwe, in just 1 month, shattering local music records – yet she only managed to obtain 3 (yes, 3) votes in our poll – do the 200, 000 people who bought her album not have internet access? Her label was informed of her nomination and the poll was supported by top SA artists and various publications, so there can be no excuse of “we didn’t know she was nominated” – unless you’ve been living under a rock, or playing tons of Skyrim (naughty, naughty).

Nonetheless, regardless of our poll, Zahara did do big things in 2011, and we predict even greater happenings for this talented songstress in the upcoming months.

BRONZE MEDAL: Van Coke Kartel

If you haven’t heard Wie’s Bang, you’re seriously missing out on one of the best local albums that you’ll hear in years. Rocking harder than The Shredder after discovering the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ lair, VCK kick out the jams with ferocity and vigour, as their unmatched energy ignites any venue.

Half-rock, half-awesome, Van Coke Kartel are pouring whiskey over the local rock scene, and setting it ablaze.

SILVER MEDAL: Contrast the Water

Arguably, the hardest working band in this year’s poll. The South African death metallers, Contrast the Water, have left nothing to chance, gigging like beasts, locally and in the US, with the likes of legends such as Carcass, Exodus, Sacred Reich, and D.R.I. Not content on just gigging, the band also hit the studio and recorded a full-length album titled Perseverance, which they gave away for free (yes, for free).

Mobilising the metal community, CTW made sure that you knew they were always in the running and undoubtedly introduced themselves to people who’d never heard of them before. Terrific effort from a metaltastic band, who are coming back to South Africa later this year. Go catch them live!

*Cue the Rocky theme and Michael Buffer announcement*

THE WINNER: Mark Haze

The gold medal goes to South African Idols finalist and 12^th Avenue founder, Mark “Jack Black” Haze. Tallying a whopping 49% of the votes, the man who swears he isn’t related to the famous porn star, Jenna Haze, has proven that rock ‘n’ roll has a place in the local music industry – and isn’t dead at all (nor does it require resurrecting from the likes of “let’s jump on any bandwagon and ruin it with auto-tune” Ke$ha).

Haze isn’t resting on his laurels, nor is he doing restaurant gigs after Idols, instead he has taken the bull by the horns and gearing up to rock South Africa in 2012 with the release of his solo album. Well done, Mark!

Congratulations to all the nominees. These 10 artists were the best of the best in 2011. Go out there and support South African music!

Related posts:

1. Best South African Metal Band Of The Past Decade
2. Operation: Shoot The Pirate?
3. Interview: Mark Haze

10. Feeling This

9. Not Now

8. What’s My Age Again?

7. Adam’s Song

6. After Midnight

5. Up All Night

4. I Miss You

3. The Rock Show

2. First Date

1. All The Small Things

Got other favourites? Let us know below.

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1. Video: Blink-182 – Up All Night
2. Video: Blink-182 – After Midnight
3. Video: K’s Choice – I Will Carry You

10. Lagwagon – Hoss (Reissue)

Okay, we’re cheating a bit, since Hoss was released in 1995 – but it was reissued in 2011, so, technically, it can be considered. There is a whole joke about Hoss being the greatest guy who ever lived, according to Lagwagon at least.

9. Misfits – The Devil’s Rain

The actual music might’ve been complete garbage, but the artwork of the black-robed Skeletor-lookalike, designed by Arthur Suydam, for the Misfits’ The Devil’s Rain is still a ghoulish marvel to behold, much like every other Misfits album before.

8. Newtown Knife Gang – Newtown Knife Gang

A giant, knife-wielding post-box walking the streets? No, we’re not talking about Rosie ‘O Donnell down Sunset Boulevard – it’s a real giant, knife-wielding post-box on the cover of Newtown Knife Gang’s self-titled debut album!

7. In Flames – Sounds of a Playground Fading

We don’t think that In Flames have ever released a mediocre album cover – and Sounds of a Playground Fading ensures that they keep up the standard of always releasing outstanding visual accompaniments to the music.

6. Staind – Staind

Unsettling, dark and grungy, the album cover for Staind’s seventh album beautifully sets the tone for a crushing 42 minutes of hard rock.

5. Wednesday 13 – Calling All Corpses

Calling all, calling all corpses! Looking like a spin-off of The Walking Dead, the artwork of Wednesday 13’s Calling All Corpses keeps up with the horror punker’s tradition of always releasing devilishly cool covers.

4. Nightwish – Imaginaerum

Created by Janne “Toxic Angel” Pitkänen, who had previously done the cover for Nightwish’s 2007 album, Dark Passion Play, Imaginaerum‘s piece features the entrance to a deserted amusement park lit up by a full moon on a cold winter’s night. Tuomas Holopainen says this picture conveys “sublime but desolate, ‘all this is waiting for you, and only you’-feeling”.

3. The Devil Wears Prada – Dead Throne

Created by Dan Seagrave, who is renowned for creating artwork for the death metal scene, Dead Throne’s cover is the kind of image that will grab your attention, force you to pick up the album and inspire you to have a listen.

2. Spiky – Carnival Symposium

With what could’ve been a lost screenshot from Shane Acker’s 9, the cover of Spiky’s Carnival Symposium is majestic, narrative and jaw-dropping, to say the very least. It sets the precedence for this steampunk masterpiece.

1. We Came as Romans – Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be

Painted by Paul Romano, who was also behind We Came as Romans’ To Plant a Seed, the haunting cover of Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be grasps you with its striking imagery and subtle symbolism.

Related posts:

1. 10 Essential Local Albums To Kick-Start 2012
2. Best Articles of 2011
3. Lostprophets: New Album Details

So, 10 years in the industry. That’s a long time. Aren’t you sick of all the politics yet?

Gareth Wilson: Got sick of the politics very early in our career; that’s why we do our own thing, work very close with our manager,  play with bands who feel the same way we do, give ourselves the freedom to do whatever it is we want to, musically – and, most importantly, avoid ever becoming a part of any so-called scene.

Looking at where you are now, do you have any regrets?

Gareth Wilson: Yeah, loads – but the main one is worrying what the music industry people thought about what we were doing earlier in our career. When we started making the music we wanted to, is when it really started happening for us. Seems the more respect you have for your music, the more the rest of the industry has as well, and if they don’t, well it’s no skin off our backs; we do have the best job in the world, so who are we to complain.

If there was one thing you could change in the local music industry, what would it be?

Gareth Wilson: I’d like to see radio stations get a little more daring when playlisting music. In my experience, most people can relate to some or other form of ‘real’ music they just need to be exposed to it.

What have been the highlights of your career up until now?

Gareth Wilson: You’d think it’d be playing to our first crowd of 10 000 or our first # 1 on a radio station – but, to be honest, for four kids from Molteno to still be doing this 10 years later definitely ranks as our highlight. Can’t wait for 20 years.

Considering that the whole band is family, have you ever had any major disagreements that have boiled over at the family braais? You know what they say about mixing family and business…

Gareth Wilson: For sure, Paul [Wilson] and I fight over absolutely everything, but we also forgive really quickly.

Southern Gypsey Queen seem to have built up a good rapport with Shadowclub, and do quite a lot of shows with them. Why is this?

Gareth Wilson: They probably the only band we have toured with who really have that old school rock ‘n’ roll work ethic. Also, we have a great respect for each other, musically, and feel we can sometimes achieve more touring together, taking rock ‘n’ roll to the people the old school way – on the road, baby!

What are some of your other plans for the year?

Gareth Wilson: We are doing a national tour with Shadowclub in April, and there will be some really cool things happening for our 10 years later in 2012.

Do you feel that it’s still worthwhile recording full-length albums, or are EPs and singles the way to go?

Gareth Wilson: We’re still on the fence with this one, but it does seem that albums are losing more and more relevance these days.

And finally, do you think you’ll still be wearing skinny jeans in the next 10 years?

Gareth Wilson: (Laughs) I have recently discovered Bermuda shorts and flip-flops; this might just be the beginning of the end for me.

Photography credit: Shireen Arbuthnot

- Sergio Pereira

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1. Review: Cortina Whiplash – Queen Hyena
2. Sacha Baron Cohen’s Queen Biopic Reportedly Titled “Mercury”
3. Interview: Newtown Knife Gang

Dear Big Concerts,

Happy New Year and all the best for 2012! We hope that it’s a successful one with lots of concerts and less trolling on your Facebook fan page.

Let’s get to the point: South Africa wants a Foo Fighters tour. Don’t believe us? Well, carry on reading…

In case you might not know, Foo Fighters have just received the prestigious Billboard Album of the Year award for their latest album, Wasting Light. This is a pretty big deal, and kind of cements the band’s place as one of the premier rock bands in the world (hint, hint, a perfect chance for you to prove to those naysayers that South Africa can get bands when they’re still in their prime).

However, we don’t just leave anything to chance, and conducted a poll amongst our readers, asking them which bands should Big Concerts (that’s you! Smile!) bring out in 2012. At the time of writing, Foo Fighters were at the top of the list with 41% of the votes, ahead of names such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day and Black Sabbath. And since MusicReview’s readers are beyond awesome and have serious taste in music, you should listen to the people.

Now, put down that contract to bring over Tom Jones for a casino tour, and listen. Just listen. Can you hear that? It’s the sound of Dave Grohl saying yes. Do not be frightened by his big teeth; he is a cuddly panda.

You know what to do.

Lots of love,

MusicReview

PS congrats on being named 20^th in the Pollstar list of Top 100 Worldwide Concert Promoters! You deserve it!

Related posts:

1. Dear Big Concerts – Please Bring Incubus To South Africa
2. Dear Big Concerts – Please Bring Avenged Sevenfold to South Africa
3. Which Bands Should Big Concerts Bring Out In 2012?

Last year, Like Moths to Flames experienced a bit of musical chairs, as Eli Ford joined the band on guitar, and Aaron Evans moved from guitar to bass. Is Aaron happy to be on bass, or was it more out of necessity than anything else? We all know that bassists are hard to find – kind of like the Holy Grail…

Chris Roetter: Yeah, it’s been pretty unfortunate, but we’ve always been prepared with a backup plan. Aaron stepped to bass duties for a few reasons. He took over some singing live and it was a lot easier for him to grasp playing bass and singing, rather than playing guitar and singing. He’s also one of the founding members of the band, so it was crucial that he remained a part of it, so I guess that’s where the necessity of it kicks in. Eli has been a great friend of the band and we’ve known from the get-go that he would have been a perfect fit for us. It just worked out for the band if Aaron moved to bass and Eli became the band’s new guitar player. I think in the end we’ve become a lot stronger of a band because of it all.

When We Don’t Exist has been out for a few months already. There has been lots of praise, and there’s been criticism. What do you think is the main lesson you’ve learned over this period?

Chris Roetter: I’ve learned to take it all with a grain of salt. People will love the band and people will hate the band. We knew going into recording that we were changing up our sound and we also knew that not everyone was going to like it. What we did and wrote was for the better of the band. We’ve all had experience in other projects, so we were well aware of the fact that we weren’t going to please everyone. With this band, we wanted to play music that pleased us.

The music video for ‘You Won’t Be Missed’ is standing at just over 900K views since its release in November. That’s pretty darn impressive. What has been the secret to securing so many views?

Chris Roetter: Honestly, we are blown away by the response. It’s awesome to think of what we went through to get the video done, to then see it online getting the attention it is. It’s a great feeling. We’ve not really done anything special, but spread it around online. We really like to utilize our social network sites to reach out to our fans.  It’s important that we make them feel involved in what the band is doing.

The S.I.N. (Strength in Numbers) Tour has begun, with LMTF hitting the road with Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, Hit the Lights and Sparks the Rescue. We’ve been trolling the net and a lot of comments have been made that you guys are almost too heavy for the bill. What do you make of this?

Chris Roetter: I mean, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I tend to overlook some of the things that people say online. What a lot of people don’t understand, is that not every tour is going to be stacked with their favourite bands. This tour is a great opportunity for us to expand our fan base.

Speaking of tours, Shane Blay of Oh, Sleeper gave a rather frank summary of what the life of a mid-level touring band in the 21st Century is like (they basically said they aren’t making any cash from albums and tours). Now, obviously at this stage of your career, you guys are still pretty fresh and new – but do you believe Shane’s sentiments to be correct?

Chris Roetter: Reading over it, I definitely agree. I think it sucks that money has to be taken from a band over things like merch rates, but I also understand that it’s something necessary to keep some of the venues going. It’s one of those things that probably won’t ever go away so I’ve learned to just deal with it.

The past year was quite a busy one for LMTF with the release of the album, video and subsequent live dates. Looking back, would you have done anything differently?

Chris Roetter: Not a thing. Our band is exactly where I want it to be. We’ve been working hard from the start and it’s great to see it all finally starting to pay off, even if it’s only a small pay off now. We are just happy to be on the road and to have the opportunity to do what we are doing. We plan to stay on the road and keep just as busy throughout the life of the band.

What’s the main focus for 2012? Is it just touring, or are their plans for a new album already?

Chris Roetter: Obviously, we will always have new music on our mind, but I think we are concentrating on touring and really spreading around the album [which] we just released. This is the first that some of our fans have heard or listened to anything that the band has put out. We want to let it settle a bit, but like I said, we do have new music on our mind and recording a new album is definitely something to happen in the future.

When We Don’t Exist is out now via Rise Records/Nuclear Blast Records.

- Sergio Pereira

Related posts:

1. Band of the Week: Like Moths to Flames
2. Like Moths To Flames Drop Off Ignitour; Announce Line-Up Change
3. Like Moths To Flames Reveal Album Title And Cover Art

Yesterday, the organisers of RAMfest announced the final line-up for the 2012 edition. Judging by the social media responses, the audience seems to be divided on some of the acts on the bill (but hey, after all, it’s social media, and EVERYONE has an opinion on those forums).

So, we’ve decided to create a quick poll for RAMfestarians to vote in.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

If you have any comments, please drop them below.

Related posts:

1. RAMfest 2012: Line-Ups and Details
2. Who Do You Want To See At RAMfest 2012?
3. New Additions to RAMfest 2012; AWOLNATION Added As Final International Act

TECH-HOUSE-GOOVY-NU-DISCO-INDIE ELECTRONICA. A good mix of everything; my sets are usually long…

You are the world’s youngest producer to hit no. 1 on Beatport. How does it feel to have achieved such an amazing accolade so early on in your musical career?

It came really early, that’s true, and it helped me a lot to make myself heard. I felt really surprised, to be honest; I never imagined that it would be such a success.

With your South African gigs just around the corner (Fri, 20 Jan – Trinity – Cape Town ; Sat, 21 Jan – Truth – Johannesburg), what can South African dance-goers expect?

Everything! Im really excited for this one. The last gigs here were epic and this time I also have my best friends from Spain here and we are spending a holiday in this amazing country, so I’m more ready than ever to rock it!

Music wise, they can expect my last unreleased productions, that will be out on labels like Get Physical. Get ready to dance!

Growing up, who were your musical influences?

My father, who taught me to play the piano when I was a child. When I was older, I really liked Laurent Garnier. Nowadays, I try to listen to other types of music. I really like The XX, James Blake and Nicolas Jaar. I think they have done something really special.

It is relatively well-known nowadays that dance DJs are the new rockstars. With so much travelling and so many gigs in such a short amount of time, what do you do to relax between sets?

When I’m on tour I just try to : a) listen to other types of music, b) note the emergency exits on the planes c)have good food and rest in the hotel…

What is next for you as a producer, can we expect the imminent release of any full-length albums?

A new EP on Get Physical alongside my friends Los Suruba by the end of February and some more remixes. I’m really inspired right now in studio, so I’m sure there will be plenty of music.

Thanks, Edu. Have a blast in South Africa, I know your fans will! Last question – if you could get residency at any club in the world, which would it be?

Well, I already have a residence in 2 of the most important clubs for me, Barraca in my home town Valencia and Space in Ibiza. I think Truth would be awesome!

Catch Edu Imbernon at:
Trinity in Cape Town – 20 January
Truth in Johannesburg – 21 January

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2. Kylie Minogue Extends South African Tour
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Chimaira

I absolutely love Chimaira. The Impossibility of Reason is one of my favourite albums of all time – but the amount of member changes in the past few years, including the departures of guitar duo Rob Arnold and Matt DeVries, will undoubtedly take its toll on the band. However, the addition of Emil Werstler (of Dååth) on lead guitar could be an interesting development. I’m hoping that Chimaira version 8.4 proves me wrong.

Misfits

Some will say that the Misfits died when Glenn Danzig said adios, yet the horror punk legends still kept spooking along and experienced a renaissance of sorts with Michale Graves – but then, Graves left and so did iconic guitarist, Doyle Wolfsgang von Frankenstien. Now, the only remaining member of the classic line-up is Jerry Only, who was behind last year’s miserable release, The Devil’s Rain, which further exemplified that it’s time for Only to make amends with old friends, or walk away.

Design the Skyline

I don’t mean to jump on a bandwagon here, but Design the Skyline are a horrendous band. As Frankie said in his review of Nevaeh, “the best moments are the softer instrumental numbers”, which are far and few in between the onslaught of aural rape (without lube). In fact, I’d pay them to stop making music. Please, just go away.

Loutallica (Lou Reed and Metallica)

Do I really need to explain this one? It’s fair to say that Lulu was a universal bomb, and no-one wants to see these two legendary names in the same sentence ever again. We all forgave Metallica for St. Anger, so we can forgive them for Lulu, too.

Killswitch Engage

Unless Jesse Leach takes over lead vocals, there really is no point. Howard Jones did a tremendous job of replacing Jesse, but now that he’s gone, KsE have a real problem on their hands. Can you really imagine someone else singing ‘End of Heartache’ and ‘My Last Serenade’ apart from Howard or Jesse? I’d rather not. Bring back Jesse!

Do you disagree, agree, or have your own choices? Let us know below.

- Sergio Pereira

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MusicReview: A while ago, Oh, Sleeper’s Shane [Blay] gave an eye-opening account of why mid-level bands cannot make money. Have things changed much since then for you guys?

Zac Mayfield: I think a lot of people missed the point of Shane’s post. He was not trying to tell people how broke we are – I mean, we are not rolling in cash, but we make enough to pay our phone bills. The point was to show how many hands are reaching into our pockets. Everyone feels like they are entitled to money that we make. That is something I feel will never change, unfortunately.

MusicReview: A lot of bands have been going the Kickstarter route, in order to fund their musical projects. Are you guys looking at following this route down the line?

Zac Mayfield: Kickstarter is such a cool website. I think there are some pros and cons to it, though. You are essentially asking fans to pay for your album twice. Once to fund the recording, and then again to buy the album. I think it would be an awesome idea to try, but I would want the people that funded the album to feel included. We would have to come up with some really awesome incentives to donate.

MusicReview: You seem to spend quite some time on Twitter. You enjoying yourself?

Zac Mayfield: Always enjoying myself! Haha! On a serious note…I am such a believer in “grass roots” promotion for bands – meaning: talking to fans and interacting with them on a personal level. The people who support my band are the reason we can do what we love. I feel like the least I could do is reach out and say thanks when people say how much they like Oh, Sleeper. I want them to know how much they really mean to us.

MusicReview: Do you feel Children of Fire is the best representative of the sound Oh, Sleeper is after? Or are you guys still searching for the definitive album?

Zac Mayfield: In the context of the album theme, I think we achieved our “sound”. Although, I don’t think our next album will be anything like Children of Fire. With our latest album, we wrote songs to a story, much like a composer writes music for a movie. We had songs that we wanted to “sound like God dying” or “sound like an uplifting battle”. We wanted the album to tell a complete story, musically and lyrically. I think we achieved that.

MusicReview: You mentioned on your Twitter account that you’ll be jamming Diablo 3 until it’s time to go on tour. You’ve obviously played the previous Diablo games – correct? So, tell us, who is your favourite character and what was the highest level reached?

Zac Mayfield: I played Diablo 2 quite a lot. Not to brag, but I had the top hardcore Necromancer in the east realm for a few seasons. Getting to level 99 in hardcore was no easy task!

MusicReview: Favourite pastime on tour?

Zac Mayfield: Playing Starcraft/Diablo and working out – gotta balance out all those video games!

MusicReview: Which was the first drummer to really inspire you to pick up the sticks?

Zac Mayfield: It wasn’t a drummer that inspired me, but a whole drumline. As a kid, my parents would take me to parades on Christmas and Thanksgiving. Hearing the drumline from down the street, feeling the drums shake the ground…I fell in love instantly!

- Sergio Pereira

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1. Video: Oh, Sleeper – Endseekers
2. Oh, Sleeper: Children Of Fire Studio Video Blog
3. Review: Oh, Sleeper – Children Of Fire