South African toilet humour shows need for retooling
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Die Antwoord: Mount Ninji And Da Nice Time (Zef Records/Sony)
“He likes his coffee black like his soul.” That line sung in the operatic chorus hook in We Have Candy is the first thing in this Cape Town duo’s fourth long player to put a smile on your face. Depending on how forgiving you are for mining the same territory to weaker and weaker effect, this album may keep you smiling. Ninja and Yo-Landi are in standard form throughout representing South African Zef culture (read: white low life) as usual. But the degree of familiarity with the duo’s model — vintage and played out dance beats, Yo-Landi’s weird vocal ticks and Ninja’s utterly rudimentary rapping — is playing out. Even the contributions of the guests such as Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog trading brags on S*** Just Got Real sounds like something off the cutting floor. The less said about Lil Tommy Terror’s contributions, the better. Latrinalia is best left to the walls of the stalls rather than in songs. Coming from satire and sketch comedy to begin with, Die Antwoord need to retool the act. It’s too bad, because if We Have Candy — the song was the original working title track of the album — had been the launch point for the rest of the record, it might have signalled the needed change. Given what a solid festival draw the two are (and truly fun live), the closing track I Don’t Care is probably Die Antwoord’s opinion of its critics.
LOCAL RELEASE
C.R. Avery: All The Angels Don’t Scare Me (C.R. Avery)
Always on his own tip, the latest Nashville-recorded release from this local poet is full of surprises. The inspired wordplay that is always expected from him is certainly there.
But the way in which Avery can spin his frequently cynical and often funny slice-of-life observations into vintage country and western (Hollywood Movie Blues), swaggering glam punk (Promiscuous Woman) and Bruce Springsteen/ Tom Petty sounding collaboration (Insufficient Funds of Love) is impressive. He has a way with titles too, as the anti-gentrification screed Either the Wallpaper Goes Or I Do proves.
At the Cobalt | Saturday, October 1, 8:30 p.m. | Tickets: $15 at Red Cat, Neptoon, Highlife Records and myshowpass.com
BLUES
Bobby Rush: Porcupine Meat (Rounder Records)
The 82 year-old Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame funkateer recorded his latest in New Orleans with a backing band of ace Crescent City luminaries such as bandleader Kirk Joseph. Anyone who can make it through the track I Don’t Want Nobody Hanging Around without needing to shake a tail feather should see their GP. Rush can burn through a ballad (Got Me Accused), boogie with sleaze (Night time Gardener) or just steam with soul (Porcupine Meat). Longtime collaborator, guitarist Vasti Jackson, conducts a masterclass in technique and tone. Might be the essential blues album of the year.