Music you don't hear on the Radio

About a year or two back, I wrote an article for the school newspaper called "Music you don't hear on the Radio". I recently found it again, and laughed. It listed bands such as Florence and the Machine, Band of Skulls, and Muse.
             
I'm not sure if the obnoxious grade 9 version of me just didn't have any idea what alternative music was, or if the bands I listened to at that time really WEREN'T on the radio yet. I like to believe the latter. It makes me sound less lame.

Anyway, things have changed since then, and as the first post of my made-over blog, I present you with the revised version of Music you don't hear on the Radio, or Things I like Listening to, but East Coast Radio Doesn't.

1) I discovered The Sir Walrus Band by accident. Scarlet Hill, another amazing local band, was playing at a Durban hang-out called LIVE. I came for the main act, but fell in love with the opening one. Sir Walrus is one of the best instrumental bands I've ever heard. With the magnificent Sebastian Goldswain on guitar, Jonathan Judge on sax, Brian Stone on drums and Ruben Thomas on bass, they easily combine swing, groove, funk and rock. Find them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/thesirwalrusband

The Sir Walrus Band

2) I also found the next band, 7th Son by accident, at another LIVE performance. I haven't really listened to enough of their music to form a proper judgment, but they too have a sax player, and a trumpet, which instantly brings up their coolness level. They also have a hell of a lot of energy, if the drummer is anything to go by - his shirt was off by the second song.

More photos of 7th Son can be found at http://www.facebook.com/#!/LiveTheVenue

3) Staying with the local theme, a friend made me a CD recently, and one of the best things on it was Mr Cat and the Jackal, who are described as "experimental acoustic folk". If you're into strange, these guys are for you. Look for "The Devil Always wants to Dance" and "The Rain came Pouring" if you're willing to give them a try.



Photo of Mr Cat and the Jackal found at http://onesheet.com/mrcatandthejackal/

4) The Shins are a four-peice American indie band, but they aren't extremely obscure anymore. In fact, since Kristen Stewart announced them as one of her favorites, they seem to have earned a place in the "Archetypal Indie" gallery. Nevertheless, their albums Wincing the Night Away and Chutes Too Narrow include some of my favourite indie music.

The Shins

5) These guys are a little old school, and by no means obscure, but they had to show up here because A) they are one of my favourite bands and B) besides Smells like Teen Spirit, I've never heard Nirvana on the radio. Made up of legends Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. They exploded onto the Seattle scene in the 1990's and sparked the grunge revolution, but only released three albums before Cobain committed suicide in 1994.

Grunge legends Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana

Continuum

When I started with this blog, I didn't really expect much to come of it. 1000 page views (views have now reached almost 7000) was a far off dream I didn't even consider to be within my reach, but since this blog started the response has been overwhelming, not just from people that I know and my friends from Facebook, but strangers from overseas and people I've never met.

So I've decided, now that I find myself on this unexpected platform, that I will continue with this blog of mine. Not only with my art, but also with things I'm passionate about, namely conformity and fighting against it. 

The new subtitle, rather than being Beauty and Conformity, will now be Courage or Conformity, based on this lovely quote by Rollo May. 

"The opposition of courage in our society is not cowardice... It is conformity."