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SA ROCK DIGEST TOP 30 ALBUMS OF 2001 1. ‘Poles Apart’ - Karen Zoid * [EMI] 
Karen Zoid’s wonderful debut album, ‘Poles Apart’, brashly
grabbed a
major label release on EMI and arrived just as a new wave of South
African rock acts were starting to make their presence felt,
particularly Afrikaans bands. The movement needed a figurehead, and in a year
in which the ladies led the pop-rock procession from the front, it got just
that. Up stepped this smart, confident, vulnerable, funny,
sneering, sweet, blonde rocker, with a sack of great songs, and an
enthusiasm and belief in her and our music that should be bottled and
made required sprinkling for all our South African artists and record
companies. ‘Poles Apart’ was exactly the intelligent, emotional, and
balming album that we needed to get through a tough year. Try imagining
a blend of classic SA albums like ‘Edi Niederlander’s ‘Ancient
Dust’,
‘The Pressure Cookies’, and Koos Kombuis’ ‘Elke Boemelaar
se Droom’ and
you’re getting warm.
This remarkably mature and consistently unboring album opens in stirring rock style with the rough, dramatic guitar chords of 'Set of Wheels (Karoo Anthem)’, which also drove off with the SA Rock Digest ‘Song Of The Year’ for 2001. Our new favourite South African road song warns us that we’re off on a Zoidian journey through contemporary SA. Travel under soft, folky ‘Southern Skies’, meet a very sarcastic ‘Waitress’ ("The food here is tasteless!"), and catch a ride with a chatty taxi driver who will tell you that "we live in a land where our celebrities are TV continuity announcers". She assures us that ‘Afrikaners is pleserig’ ("Dit kan julle glo!") and reveals that all her friends are ‘Yuppie scum’ ("they got the money, but I got the fun"). And dangling constantly from the rear-view mirror, and protecting us on this wild trip, is her ‘Engel’, an honest and utterly gorgeous two-and-a-half minute confessional ("Ek is so dronk soos Koos Kombuis, ek het geen swembad by my huis; My sister woon in Potchefstroom, die mense daar rook almal boom."). On ‘Poles Apart’, Karen Zoid teases, rants and rocks her way through 14 tracks of perceptive, humorous and sensitive English and Afrikaans lyrics, all set to a backdrop of imaginative and solid South African rock sounds. It is an obvious and unanimous choice for our SA Rock Album of the year. As Nobesotho informed the nation, as she left the Big Brother house: "Chicks Rule!!". She’s absolutely right. 2. ‘Steady On’ - Moodphase5ive * [African Dope] 
MoodPhase 5ive’s contemporary gumbo of Cape Town’s hottest sounds,
in one stunningly original album, began appearing on sound systems in many of the
Mother City’s coolest food and music hangouts early in the
year.‘Steady On’ managed to attract and dazzle a wide selection of SA
and international music fans via a bush-fire word-of-mouth campaign, culminating
in the group’s acclaimed appearance at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Cape
Town in March.
'Steady On' is an album of trip-trance jazzy rap-hop, boasting a collection of wonderfully inventive and layered songs with biting socially relevant lyrics. The group consists of two front voices - Rapper Denver "D-Form" Turner and soul sister Lady Ernestine "Ernie"Deane - and four classy musicians (the band should actually be called MoodPhase 6ix). These 12 songs will enhance your life and improve your day, from the fizzing opening salvo of ‘Brainstorm’, ‘Rise ‘n Shine’,and ‘Steady On’, through the brilliant Miles Davis tribute (‘Miles’), to the sombre closing track, ‘Geto@Sunset’. ‘Steady On’ was mixed, mastered and released by Krushed & Sorted at African Dope, and its wide appeal and success are proof that this is a group assured of bigger and better things in the year to come. 3. ‘Snowflake’ - Zen Arcade * [Indie] 
2001 was a year when SA rock needed a big traditional new band with a hard crisp
sound, killer songs, and a sparky live show, something to blow away the dance
music cobwebs and re-establish rock as the dynamic, evocative and thrilling
music it has always has been. Step up the four lads from Zen Arcade who fitted
the bill and ended the year as the band to watch in 2002 and further. These
Hüsker Dü fans produced a smouldering album of mellow grunge and thundering
rock that left one in little doubt that they were hearing something very
special. The steady drums and bass of Andrew Cleland and Alistair Mathie
anchored James Donaldson’s incendiary guitar and the edgy, tortured vocals
of Iain McKenzie.
Add some violas and cellos to that mix and you have their big, first single, 'Crazy Over You', which stood out on ‘Snowflake’ as well as on the excellent ‘5FM Showcase 3’ assortment of new SA rock. It wasn’t the only great song among these seven - 'Not About You’ strutted like prime Zep; ‘Sister’, ‘Take Out The Trash’ and ‘Step Back’ crackled with energy and intent; and ‘Up’ is the clearest indication of the breadth of this band’s potential. On ‘Crazy Over You’ Iain sang: "Is there anybody out there, anyone at all?", not quite sure if anyone had heard or noticed. Well fortunately a lot of people did, and are all still raving about this album. More please! 4. ‘Africa’s Not For Sissies’ - Syd Kitchen * [No Budget] 
Syd is a hugely talented songwriter and guitarist and (unfortunately) a hugely
overlooked South African musician. His two previous albums - 'Waiting for the
Heave' (1985) and 'City Child' (1995) - made this clear, but his 2001
masterpiece, ‘Africa’s Not For Sissies’ puts the issue beyond all
doubt. This 11-song album is earthy, evocative, about Africa and of Africa, and
simply stunning. Songs like ‘Calling’,‘Settler’,
‘Thekweni’ and ‘Chicken Run’ prove that Syd Kitchen
(no relation to Koos Kombuis, besides musically) has the red dust of
Africa running through his veins and a finger firmly on the pulse of a
nation still going through a traumatic, transitional period.
But it's not just the music that makes this album work. His insightful and poignant lyrics talk of the wonders of Africa and simultaneously the horrors, all tinged with this weathered Natal troubadour’s "twinkle in the eye" humour. He is the hippest of hippies and has produced a profound and essential SA album of extreme beauty and social awareness that you ignore at your peril. Syd admits: "It's so amazing, living in paradise", while warning us that "Africa’s not for Sissies". Our national paradox disguised as an essential South African folk-rock album. 5. ‘Burn’ - Venessa Nolan * [Rhythm] 
‘Burn’s’ grey cover photo of Venessa’s fringe-covered face
first appeared on a huge billboard on a Cape Town highway at the same time
as behind it, a massive fire swept across Table Mountain, creating a powerful
backdrop and unintentional "brand" awareness. These ten original
ballads introduced us to an impressive new singer, songwriter and pianist. Dark
and exquisitely broody, these songs swirl around in the mind and tingle in
hidden recesses of the brain, playing symphonic bedsit rock on your
heartstrings. Songs like, ‘Fragile’, ‘LosingControl’,
‘With You’ and ‘Emptiness High’ followed each other onto
the radio and into the charts. But, singles aside, this 'Glorious Gem' of an
album, makes it clear that we have a major new talent on our hands. And thanks
to her emotive piano playing, 'Burn' qualifies as our‘Unplucked’
album of the year.
6. ‘Songs From The Mall’ - Max Normal [Chameleon] 
Watkin "Waddy" Tudor Jones Jnr first tested the SA Hip-Pop waters a
few years back as an original member of the Original Evergreens, and then again
earlier this year with his dour but sussed ‘Memoirs Of A Clone’ solo
album. On the excellent ‘Clone’ collection he introduced us to
the strange ‘Max Normal’ ("dress code, dang-de-dang-dang-dang,
strictly formal"), soon to be the name of his new band. As Max
Normal’s frontman, Jones wrote and released this startling mix of wicked
words and hip beats, and also added some reworked songs off the
‘Clone’ album.
Since then, the group’s dynamic live performance has conquered audiences across SA and in Europe (ask Nelly Furtado!). But this Max is not normal at all, he’s got a quick wit, and a razor-sharp tongue and mind to match. One minute he is schmoozing about some ‘Good Old Fashioned Loving’ and the next he’s being very rude to some guests in ‘Space Invaders’, and complaining paranoidly about everything including cinema pains - "You talk too loud in the movies, won’t you please be a little bit considerate". Other highlights include ‘Crowd Control’, Funny Money’, and ‘Punch My Teeth Out’. We don’t know which mall they’ve been hanging out in, but recommend you buy this album and keep up with the Joneses. 7. ‘Farewell Station Road’ - Wayne Pauli * [Bulldog] 
Guitarist Wayne Pauli had already recorded some songs at home on his 4-track, in
appropriate ‘Nebraska’ style, when he was called in to play most of
the guitar sessions on Venessa Nolan’s ‘Burn’ album. He
so impressed the boys at Sunset Recording Studios with his skills and commitment, that they
happily donated some studio time and invited him back to record his own stuff.
You don’t get offers like that every day, and neither do you get to hear SA
folk-blues albums as intense and wrenching as what resulted from that grabbed
opportunity. The urgent Chris Isaak huskiness of opening track ‘Who? (can
relate to you)’ guaranteed immediate chart action, but the rest of the
songs move off into true-blues territory, songs about Mom, Dad, ex-girlfriends,
crying, farewells, and one called ‘Deep Black Hole’ that probably
won’t crop up on the next summer hits collection. But I’m sure Wayne
will get brighter, later, if you know what we mean!
8. ‘Thin Shoes In June’ - Felix Laband * [African Dope] 
Young musical whizz-kid Felix soon realised that fronting a grunge-punk band in
‘Maritzburg was not where his true skills were being best utilised. So he
tapped his heels together and zoomed across to join the growing new musical
community in the Gardens at the foot of Table Mountain. There they immediately
loved and appreciated all his mysterious and wacky little electronica vignettes,
especially the Krushed ‘n Sorted duo who helped Felix with the mixing and
mastering and then released his debut package of 15 strange and wonderful
Labandisms on their African Dope label. ‘Thin Shoes In June’ is
choc-full of groovy instrumentals with hidden angles that don’t always
have a conventional structure and aren’t always as they seem to be. Listen
to tracks like ‘Cat On The Fence’, ‘Bats In My Hair’,
‘Run.Alive.Run’ and ‘Thin Use For Shoes’ - all terminally
weird and wired. ‘Thin Shoes In June’ is an inventive and confident
debut from a prolific and creative musical head. Our best SA Laband of the year!
9. '8 Days' - The Led * [Rhythm] 
These five Stellenbosch university friends formed this band back in 1995 and
released two sparkling and generally acclaimed EP’s (‘Last
Evening’s Dreams’ and ‘2a.m.’) over the following four
years. Those EPs, and a polished, electric live set, earned The Led a host of
SA fans who have since been waiting patiently for this first full offering.
Work on the album began over a year ago, and found the members collaborating
from different continents. The ‘8 Days’ of the title refers to the
total number of days all five were together in the same studio, yet the 12
thrilling songs on this very strong album show no sign of this displacement,
and benefit from the measured and patient creative and recording process.
Vocalist Skye Stevenson has an ear for a great hook, and a posh, polished voice
that sounds all sophisticated against the band’s slick but grungy backing.
Opening track, ‘And I Reason’, shows off all The Led’s assets
and moved quickly up the charts. The album will no doubt follow soon with songs
like ‘Working Day’, ‘Sunshine And Happiness’ and
‘Holding On’. As good a full debut album as we had expected or hoped.
10. ‘Rising above the Madness’ - Lionel Bastos [SAFm] 
Lionel Bastos has already released a handful of quality pop-rock albums and
writes and produces for many SA artists. 'Rising above the Madness' is his
latest half studio, half "live" album of mature ballads, all
masterfully produced and professionally executed. On these songs (all his own
compositions), Bastos’ rich, warm vocals add an intimacy to an album of
the finest armchair rock, while the Latin-tinged instrumentation flows
effortlessly with a dinner party mellowness. The second half of the album
features seven songs that were recorded as part of a live webcast (but with no
audience present) in the seclusion of the home of internet-only recluse,
Dotcoza. It must have seemed like bad timing to release a great single like
‘Thank You’ at the same time as Dido’s hit of the same name. But
Lionel’s ‘Thank You’ still attracted a lot of interest, as did
other ballads like ‘’I’ll Forget About You (Every Day)’,
‘I Can Resist (Anything Except Temptation)’, and 'She Can't Let it
Go', which topped the MP3.com AOR charts, which is no mean feat for this
deserving and talented SA singer-songwriter.
11. ‘All I Am’ - Kaolin [Sheer] 
Kaolin Thompson’s previous band, Naked, and the under-achieving debut album
of the same name, are now distant memories. After a short break from the SA
music scene, this versatile and multi-talented pop Amazon has temporarily put
aside the daily duties of marriage and motherhood, to get her promising career
back on track. ‘All I Am’, her honest and openhearted solo debut is
sure to reinstate Kaolin in the SA spotlight where she clearly belongs. Working
with producers Neal Snyman and Q Forster, Kaolin serves up a consistently
trip-poppy mix of cool songs and the occasional instrumental. It opens with the
swirling beauty of‘Crossing’, before moving straight into the first
single, ‘Real’, a gorgeous pop hit penned by the upcoming SA
songwriter, Dean Hart.There’s more variety to come with tracks like
‘Is This Your Dream’,‘Ambience’, and ‘Walking On
Air’. Kaolin is back and 'All I Am' proves that she is still an important
presence on the SA music scene.
12. ‘Akasic Record’ - Kalahari Surfers * [African Dope] 
The original ‘Akasic Record’ of the title could be tentatively
explained as the ‘Collective Unconscious’ released as a vinyl album,
all the universe’s knowledge contained and accessible in its grooves. Yup,
Warrick Sony is back and he’s trying to achieve just that with this broad
and breathtaking musical opus. Sony is the only remaining active member of the
Kalahari Surfers, the musical collective whose five iconic,
"politically-active" albums all achieved ‘Banned By The
Nats’ status in the ‘80’s, a mark of quality and
relevance. Generally regarded as one of SA’s musical marvels, Sony returns
herewith an entrancing 12-track, 75-minute soundscape of African
sounds, indigenous beats, ambient dub, jazz, electronica, and snatches of lyrics,
chants and samples taken from his recordings of the Himba and Koisan, all
fluidly arranged and produced. ‘Akasic Record’ is the magical,
mysterious musical trip Warrick Sony always promised to take us on.
13. ‘Who Painted The Moon?’ - Nianell * [Fresh] 
During a lunch meeting with Fresh Music boss Benjy Mudie, music publicist Ingrid
Roding suggested he listen to a CD by an unknown female singer. An hour later,
while driving home, Mudie pulled off the freeway and literally signed Nianell
over the phone. It’s not hard to spot what caught his attention here.
Namibian-born Nianell is sure to be a major new singing talent on the SA
landscape following the release of this stunning album (named and written after
a lunar eclipse!) which was produced by Mauritz Lotz. Her emotional and
original ballads draw their influences from artists like Kate Bush, Tori Amos,
Enya and Lesley Ray Dowling, and are clearly all written to highlight her
awesome, crystal-clear and wide-ranging voice. The soaring vocals on ‘As
One’ marked it out as the first single, but songs like ‘Take Me
Home’, ‘Have Faith’, ‘Feeling Grows’ and the lovely
title track will all soon attract a lot more fans to this classy, new pop diva.
14. ‘Voortvlugtend’ - Akkedis * [SSS Records] 
The ‘Voortvlugtend’ album is a spot-on example of the creative
and diverse Afrikaans pop-rock that has been surfacing in 2001 (see
also Beeskraal and Spinnekop). This second album offering from the Lizard dudes
is a great mixture of the carefree and serious, with lots of great melodies
thrown in for good measure. Akkedis also played these tunes to a rapturous
audience in London earlier this year. These zany songs from the Dennis broers
cover topics from having a love affair with your Datsun Stanza (!), through to
the hard-hitting drug addiction of 'Jannie Cocaine'. ‘Sweet
Stellenganga’ is a cover of Valiant Swart’s ode to Boland weed that,
for once, successfully samples that old musical chestnut, ‘Mbube - The
Lion Sleeps Tonight’. "In die oerwoud ("jungle"), die
moerse oerwoud" of SA Rock 2001, they are the Lizard Kings, they can do
anything!
15. ‘Dreamland’ - Edi Niederlander [Indie] 
It would take a really cold heart not to be overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of
Edi Niederlander's long-awaited third album. It’s been over 10 years since
her ‘Hear No Evil’ collection, but it is obvious that this respected
SA folk-musician has been keeping herself in good songwriting and guitar
playing condition. Here, wonderful acoustic tunes wrap themselves around some
earthy drum ‘n bass, African, and ragga rhythms, and all are given an
injection of warmth by Edi's clear and powerful vocals, typically perceptive
lyrics and stylish guitar. From the sarky opener, ‘Bye Bye’, with its
urgent jazzy beat, to the soft, gentle ‘Undying Light’,
‘Dreamland’ is yet another wondrous and diverse collection of classic
Edi. "Save my soul from Cyberspace" she pleads on ‘Marathon
Head’, clearly hankering after the good old days, but Edi Niederlander is
back and still relevant.
16. ‘The Moon Is A Spoon’ - Sunways * [Fresh] 
This SA rock trio - Robbie Boake (ex-Squeal), Sarah Hills, and Jason Horseman -
had been together for a few years before they signed to the Fresh label and
released this angsty rock debut. ‘The Moon Is A Spoon’is a far more
serious album than its sweet poppy title suggests, with its songs slowly and
languidly revealing their charms. Like the single‘Style’, it’s
mostly very downbeat and moody, although ‘Colour Me In’ is an
energetic, head-nodding blast. But overall this is an album that indicates a
patient and intelligent approach to songwriting and production, and that’s
what keeps it still fresh and interesting as the year ends. Good thing too, as
Sunways have been successfully touring the album around England and Ireland
over the past months.
17. ‘Rewind’ - Wonderboom * [DGR] 
It's about time that someone paid decent homage to our SA music legends, well,
musically speaking for starters (and where is our SA Rock Hall Of Fame
anyway?). {It's here... - ed}. So well done to the wild rockers from Wonderboom who have taken some
of the greatest SA songs of all time (Falling Mirror’s ‘Johnny Calls
The Chemist’, éVoid’s ‘Shadows’), given them complete 2001
raunchy musical make-overs, and released them on to an unsuspecting SA public.
From their somewhat irreverent kwaito version of Rabbitt’s delicate
'Charlie' to the respectful cover of Juluka's 'Africa', ‘Rewind’
skriks up these golden oldies with new attitude, poetically-licensed reworkings
of the lyrics, and a bag of contemporary studio tricks. But what about 'The
Buccanneer' and 'Weeping' and ‘ZX Dan’ etc? I guess we'll have to
wait for ‘Rewind II’. Based on this effort, we’re all looking
forward to it!
18. ‘Merry-Go-Round’ - Wess-Lee [Scorpio] 
This may be cute-voiced, post-Madonna smooth pop, but Wess-Lee’s
debut album is still an impressive and entertaining piece of
work. ‘Merry-Go-Round’ was released on Joe Theron’s Scorpio Label
and benefited from Marius Brouwer’s slick production, a consistent bunch
of Kreesan-penned songs, and some sizzling guitar touches from Mauritz Lotz. This
11-track album has so far spawned a string of hit singles - the sing-a-longy
"aye-aye-ayes" of ‘Like A Holiday’, the broody
‘WhatThe Hell Did We Do’, and the best of the bunch, ‘These
Sparks Will Fly’. Don’t be deceived by the cover, Wess-Lee is not
your typical blonde kugel pop star, she is focused and ready to conquer the SA
pop scene. Sparks are definitely going to fly!
19. ‘Xero’ - Binary [Indie] 
2001 was the year that SA indie bands stepped up and embraced the marketing
opportunities that PC home studio software, recordable CDs, MP3’s,
websites, email and online music publications offered, aside from the
traditional gigging and selling CDs at the door style. Credit here to
Joburg’s Binary who made sure they had a strong album to promote before
spreading the word as wide as they could. ‘Xero’ is a short, solid
slice of brainy indie rock, moody and massive. Rough-edged vocals, chiming
guitars and a deft songwriting touch give songs like ‘Barefoot Girl’,
‘Come Over’, and ‘Cannonball’ lasting appeal, with hooks
that lodge deep, long after you’ve heard them. As the year closes, Binary
have clearly established themselves as one of the better SA bands to watch
closely in 2002.
20. ‘It’s A Small World’ - Mondetta [Sheer/SAFm] 
It may be a small world, as DisneyWorld, Mondetta (and those pesky aliens) keep
telling us, yet the ‘World Music’ sections in CD stores are growing a
lot bigger these days. But there was no thought of any recordings when these
five musicians "coincidentally" merged at Womad Benoni a few months
back, and quickly realised their collective musical potential. Still, the
group’s stunning debut album, one of the best out of Southern Africa this
year, arrived timeously for inclusion in our Top 20. The line-up alone promised
an intriguing musical fruit salad - imagine Tananas with Wendy Oldfield on
vocals, an Israeli (Elad Neeman) on assorted exotic percussion in place of Ian
Herman, and a Korean-Canadian called Julia Kim adding swathes of sweet violin.
Songs like ‘Yezzman’, ‘Sun’ and
‘Middleeasterngroove’ stand out on this big world album.
21. Mondmusiek - Breyten Breytenbach * [Rhythm]22. Memoirs Of A Clone - Watkin Tudor Jones Jnr [Chameleon] 23. Digital Inability - Benguela * [Rhythm] 24. Play My Way - Matthew van der Want [Bitchin Pitchin] 25. ‘n Vis Innie Bos - Anton Goosen * [Gallo] 26. Bongolution - Bongo Maffin [Sony] 27. Into The Universe - Eminent Child [Sarepta] 28. Oomblik Van Waansin - Mel Botes [Janus] 29. The Decoy - Jason Glover [Indie] 30. Sands Of Time - Desert Rose [Saville-McClowe]/ Mother's Daughter - Kate Normington [Sheer/SAFm] By Stephen Segerman and John Samson Buy these CDs by clicking on the album covers. *mp3s by these artists are available to download at www.SAmp3.com.
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