There was much chatter yesterday on the social networks and then today came the confirmation that DJ Sasha Martinengo will be leaving 5FM at the end of March, after being with the station for 17 years. Here’s what their press release said (sort of):

5FM is sad to announce that, after 17 years on air, Sasha Martinengo will be leaving the station at the end of March 2012. The decision comes as part of the station’s annual line-up change, which takes place from 1 April 2012. Explains 5FM’s station manager Aisha Mohamed, “Line-up changes are an unfortunate part of the radio landscape. Annually, 5FM, along with the SABC’s 17 other radio properties, evaluate their on-air line-up for the year ahead and we are always careful to ensure that we implement these changes on April 1st each year. That’s how we managed to get Grant & Anele into the afternoon slot. Everyone thought it was just a sick April Fool’s joke, and by the time they realised that it was actually genuine, the contracts were signed and it was a done deal.”

“Sasha will unfortunately not be with us from April onwards. The change comes as part of a long-term strategic plan to revise our on air offering. From our extensive research, we’ve noted that many people are at work during working hours. If these workers are listening to the radio, they are less productive and as the national broadcaster, we feel that it’s important to improve national productivity in the interests of the country as a whole. As part of this plan, we are actively encouraging people to switch off their radios during the day and to do some work.”

Aisha continues, “So far, we’ve been extremely successful in cutting our listener numbers between 12 and 3pm, with an incredible 95% switch off rate – and we estimate that most of the remaining 5% would rather be doing anything other than listening to 5FM during those hours. From these figures, we can see that it is foolish to employ DJs with any talent or personality who people might actually listen to during the day. We are enormously appreciative of Sasha’s incredible work ethic, his dedication to the listeners and his support of the 5FM brand. He’s just too good at his job though and so he has to go. The station needs to evolve and change as our listeners do and we’re banking on engaging a more unfunny, brain-dead audience. He will be a hard act to follow and whoever replaces him in the studio will struggle enormously, as Grant & Anele have proven literally every day since starting here.”

Says Sasha, “Working at 5FM hasn’t just been a job, it’s been my life. I’d like to think I have entertained my listeners over the years. I have had a brilliant time and will miss my 5FM family. Thank you for all the years of fun and support.”

Newsreader Kim Schulze was also shocked at the news, “Comrades, the safety of the travelling public is the amongst the most important challenges we face and it is for this reaso…”

I’m sorry, that’s the incorrect soundbite.

Adds 5FM’s Aisha, “It has been absolutely wonderful working with Sasha. He’s been a huge asset to the 5FM team and we will miss him as an on-air personality and as a team player. But look out for news of an exciting new show with Grant & Anele from 9 until 3 each day. I bet you can’t wait, right?

Hello?

Hello?”

(The genuine press release (some of which you may be able to pick out from the text above) is available here.)

Got to love the lights coming up on the faces of the band (0:29), revealing Mark Knopfler as some sort of rough looking Geordie version of John Travolta. And the recurring girl in the outfit fashioned (and I use the word loosely) from the contents of her Mum’s kitchen drawer – tin foil and cling wrap – is pretty special too.

Incidentally, the “Spanish City” referred to in the song:

And girl it looks so pretty to me,
Just like it always did.
Like the Spanish City to me,
When we were kids.

is not Madrid or Barcelona, but the Spanish City Amusement Park in Whitley Bay, Tyneside. Now we know.

I would have shared the video for my favourite track on the album (and possibly my favourite track by the band), Hand in Hand, but it was never released and never got a video. Still – you can have a listen to it and look at the completely unremarkable album cover for 5 minutes if you wish. Just click here.

I obviously like this track since it seems that I have looked it up several times on SoundHound. Soundhound really should just go ahead and download it for me now. It’s a feature that I’ll suggest to them. Three lookups on the same track and you’ll automatically find it in the My Music folder on your device.
This is a perfect example of Throwaway Dance Music (TDM). TDM is great to listen to for a short time, but in 10 years, only pub quiz aficionados and true dance fans will actually be able to recall who made the track. And Jasper Forks’ similarity to Robert Miles may even confuse those individuals.
This, as you’ll be aware, is the official video for the radio edit. You might also enjoy the Extended Radio Mix, which is like the song above, but extended.

We’ve all heard that the Chilis will be playing in South Africa in 2010 before the World Cup and in 2010 after the World Cup and that they also are playing in South Africa in 2011 and, of course, who could forget those several times in 2012 that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be playing in South Africa?

However, this new information (much like all the other information), which pushes the potential concerts back still further to 2013 comes (apparently, allegedly) straight from the horse’s mouth. And the particular equine in question is Attie van Wyk, founder of Big Concerts. This demonstrates the sheer desperation of the social media music scene in getting very excited about a band whose biggest hits wowed us just 21 years ago who may or may not play a concert which may or may not be happening in South Africa in the next 23½ months.

If the tour does happen, they will be supported (ever so ably, I’m sure) by The Parlotones. Tickets - to our great surprise and annoyance - will be available from Computicket, whose website – to our great surprise and annoyance – will crash on the morning that sales open.
The concerts will be well attended, the beer will run out after 20 minutes and the sound at the Cape Town Stadium will be a bit crap.

See you there!

The good news is that the latest versions (draft 6) of the album tracks are now available for listenage and downloading on Facebook. It’s still got that 80′s electronica feel, with a touch of house and a hint of Röyksopp. And yes – you can hear the influence of Guy from Coldplay and and Jonas from Mew. Less so Magne, but it’s still great listening.

If you only have time for one song, I’d recommend Aretïve (the piano remix of Sequential) for those who want to get a quick feel (ooer!) of the sound.

But – these “auditory documentings” aren’t going to be around forever – get there now, download and enjoy.

You’re welcome.

Wow – I said that like it was a good thing. Meh – it was fun evening: good food, good company, crap music.

After yesterday’s near miss when it came to getting up the West Coast, today’s return journey was rather unexciting, tinged with heat, more heat, a lack of sleep, some heat and a mild hangover.

Passing Koeberg

Mrs 6k drove and I looked out of the window at the scenery passing by at *cough* 120kph. This grey one sums up how I’m feeling this evening – distinctly lacking colour.

The bread is made, the uniforms are ironed and it’s back to school for our two tomorrow. Back to some sort of normality here too – but right now, I need my bed.

Piet se Punt – literally “Pete’s Point” – with just the crashing surf, a few Black Oystercatchers, the battling contrapuntal cello and piano of Ludovico Einaudi and the mad, mad wind for company. Still, this is summer and it’s still shorts and t-shirt weather.

It’s a rare moment alone – the kids and the wife back at the cottage sleeping off the midnight fireworks on Struisbaai beach to see in the new year – and I’m enjoying it.

It’s elemental, lonely and almost belittling to see the power of nature. I could quite happily die here, although the intention is rather to head back and sink some Black Labels over a potjie.

All the best for 2012 and thanks in advance for sticking with 6000 miles… through what promises to be another year.

Do ya miss me? Huh? Do ya?

One such suggestion came from the UK, from an anaesthesiologist (I think that’s what she does, anyway?) and involved a retrospective cohort study, conducted in Australia, asking – after Amy Winehouse’s untimely but not entirely unexpected death and the fuss over the “27 Club” – whether 27 was really a dangerous age for famous musicians.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Australian scientists have pondered important questions in the BMJ using cohort studies. Who could forget the seminal research of Lim et al at an Australia research institute back in 2005, investigating the disappearance of teaspoons from er… an Australian research institute?

This 2011 paper on the 27 Club (or, as it appears, the lack of it), comes from Adrian Barnett and others from Queensland University of Technology and uses complex statisical methods to analyse the mortality rate of musicians who had number 1 hits (albums) in the UK between 1956 and 2007 and compare them to the mortality rate amongst the general UK population. During this period 71 (7%) of the musicians died.

The sample included crooners, death metal stars, rock ‘n’ rollers and even Muppets (the actors, not the puppets). The total follow-up time was 21,750 musician years.

The authors used mathematical analysis to determine the significance of age 27. They found no peak in the risk of death at this age, however musicians in their 20s and 30s were two to three times more likely to die prematurely than the general UK population.

The research team found some evidence of a cluster of deaths in those aged 20 to 40 in the 1970s and early 1980s. Interestingly, there were no deaths in this age group in the late 1980s and the authors speculate that this could be due to better treatments for heroin overdose, or the change in the music scene from the hard rock 1970s to the pop dominated 1980s.

The authors conclude that the “27 club” is based on myth, but warn that musicians have a generally increased risk of dying throughout their 20s and 30s. They say: “This finding should be of international concern, as musicians contribute greatly to populations’ quality of life, so there is immense value in keeping them alive (and working) as long as possible.”

Their frame of reference begins with Frank Sinatra’s Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! on 28 July 1956 (dead), and continues through to Leona Lewis’ Spirit on 18 November 2007 (sadly still with us). However, as with any research, it has its limitations:

Our sampling scheme only captured three of the seven most famous 27 club members), as one fell outside our time period (Robert Johnson, who died in 1938), and three did not have a number one UK album (Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison).

Although we only captured three of the seven famous 27 club members, we did capture seven Muppets.

I can hardly wait to see what Australian statistical research provides us with in December 2017.

Thanks Lynn.

This was actually my first introduction to Radiohead, on a Parlophone (careful now) cassette tape given to us freshers in our first week at Newcastle Uni. I’m going to have a dig around at home and see if I can find it – the track listing would be “interesting”. This was the standout track (and the second best on their Pablo Honey album), but there were other good tracks on there as well.
The Frames’ Masquerade was one – I’ll list the others when if I find the tape.

In a nod to their music/art fusion, the band have pre-released certain parts of the album for fans to “premix” before the official launch next year:

More bassification.
Newer songings?
More Magne A vocalings?
Synthesizer soloings by Jonas A?
Bedtime story by Martin A?
Falsetto tunings by Guy A?
You want to re-mix? apparatjik lets you premix

But you need to have an iPad to be able to partake and I don’t have one of them.