Namibian Farmer In Brilliant Hampshire Teenage Music Recommendation Shocker

It does exactly what it says on the tin.

Seriously, in return for my recommendation of the Sound of Guns album Angels and Enemies, Emil Jung “Retired from corporate (and city) life, farming in Namibia (no better place to survive the zombie apocalypse), living a dream” hit me right back up with a suggestion that I check out Blaenavon (the band, not the World Heritage Site), which I did. And wow.

They have two tracks currently available on Soundcloud and though I think Into The Night is the more commercially viable, I have much love for Denim Patches. And you can click play right now to see exactly why:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/blaenavon/denim-patches[/soundcloud]

Cape Town’s Ashtray Electric must be wondering where their trademark mournful sounds had gone. Well, they’ve been hijacked by three teenage lads from southern England.
At least they are putting them to good use.

Described as:

making tightly wound, instantly accessible alt-pop that soars in all the right places. Massively intuitive for such a young age, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re listening to a band three albums into their career. Oh, and there’s not a single navel gaze or reverb pedal in sight.

You can read a depressingly contrived and juvenile interview with them here.

But the music – well, that’s anything but. Again: Wow.

Emil is unhappy

Ask anyone anywhere in South Africa what the biggest scourge in this nation is and they will probably answer “crime” or “Jacob Zuma”. Ask them what is the biggest scourge on the roads and they will probably answer “crime”, “Jacob Zuma” or “taxis”.
Taxis are a law unto themselves in this country, breaking rules, endangering lives and making the ride to the amusement park a lot more of an adrenaline rush that the roller coaster once you actually get there.

So reviled is the minibus taxi – and so happy to disregard any rule of law – that Helen “Twee Hoede” Zille, mayor of Cape Town, has threatened to call in the Army to make them behave.
Meanwhile, civil rights group AfriForum have suggested that citizens take photos of “lawless taxis”:

AfriForum created an e-mail address, taxi@afriforum.co.za, to which the public may send the pictures, as well as details of the event, after which AfriForum’s legal team will formulate a complaint on behalf of the public for submission to the SA Police Service.

Alternatively, if you don’t want the bother of emailing a picture in, you could always just put it on your blog with a brief description of the driver.

emil
Don’t hold back: tell us what you really think, Emil!

For you non-Afrikaans speakers out there: “Easy stereotyping – The driver of this taxi is a [censored].”

Better out than in, Emil. Thanks for your honesty. Aaaaaaand relax!