Wednesday 17 February 2010

the answer

another article that i decided to write for The Enfield Advertiser after getting thoroughly excited about discovering a new band, followed by the bitter taste of hindsight.

i don't know if the Advertiser will have the balls to print this, but i also submitted it to Glasswerk who i am considering renewing my journalistic 'career' with...




if Richard D. James ever had a nightmare about Aqua and Vanilla Ice after gorging himself on cheese all evening and watching District 9, it would be just like this.

as comparisons make easy reference for the uninitiated to understand an unheard musical artist, this is perhaps by far the weirdest yet. but when you have seen and heard the band you will truly understand.






until witnessing Die Antwoord i don't think there has ever been a band that has made me feel quite so intrigued yet also equally repulsed before since watching the afore-mentioned Aphex Twin's 'Window Licker'.

the video for 'Enter The Ninja' is a surreal slice of celluloid while 'Zef Side' is just slightly perverse, but both remain utterly enthralling.

and the music?

i will now have the sickly sweet 'butterfly' refrain stuck in my head while i try to shake the images from my mind.

tattooed MC, Ninja fronts the South African trio with a rap style that verges on parody, delivered with conviction and bile, spitting over insane techno/hip-hop hybrid beats by DJ Hi-Tek and countered by the hi-pitched vocals of Yo-Landi Vi$$er that spill over the tracks like a saccharine overdose.



anyone whose experience of world music only reaches as far as Ladysmith Black Mamboza should perhaps cut their teeth on CSS or Bonde Do Role before delving straight into Die Antwoord, but anyone wanting something edgier than
the latest Hot Chip album or anything by 3oh3! should open their mind and should search for Die Antwoord on the interweb.

i streamed the album from their website while drinking Sailor Jerry and extolled the virtues of the odd trio to my unimpressed girlfiend, commanding her that we would be seeing them when they hit London in April.

Die Antwoord are a unique mash-up of cultural styles and influences in the same vein that made Buraka Som Sistema a hipster choice, but despite the passion i felt for them i still couldn't help shake the feeling that Chris Morris was about to pull the rug from beneath me.

but the nagging dis-belief did not matter, right now i had found my new favourite band as i replayed 'Zef Side' off of Youtube once again.



but then in the cold light of day it seems like the joke realy is on me.



cop yourself 'Enter The Ninja' and 'Zef Side' from Tilt below

Die Antwoord - Enter The Ninja

Die Antwoord - Zef Side




credit where it's due:

thanks to Akira The Don (via Joey 2 tits) for turning me onto Die Antword

and to NME.com for ruining my fun


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