We were very pleased and flattered to have been chosen by Esquire Magazine as one of “21 Essential Podcasts” in their “Best of 2013” review.
We’re delighted too that more people will be exposed to the vast and virtually untapped spring of South African music available to the world – which of course is our primary mission.
If you’d like to see the full list – and discover some other great podcasts – you can get the digital edition of Esquire via iTunes.
Sosaties roasting on an open fire, beach sand getting in your clothes… we do the holidays South African-style with two hours of festive music by South African artists spreading seasonal cheer and snappy tunes around the globe (particularly if you’re freezing your gramadoelas off in the snow)!
Do we know it’s Christmas? Jislaaik! Eish! Hell yeah!
But ag, this is the last episode of Tune Me What? for Season 1. We hope you’ll enjoy it and join us again next year! Until then, best wishes for the festive season and the new year from Leon, Brett and the TMW team!
In this very festive Episode 32, we feature the music of:
Our Gigs, Gossip & Grooves dates have now moved to the “Events” tab on the main menu. Check it out for South African artists playing and other events in your city.
You can find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TuneMeWhat
We really appreciate your feedback. We’re always open to suggestions and even requests! If you’re a South African musician living or touring internationally, do let us know about your concerts, album releases or tours – we’d love to give you a punt on the show. Our email address is yesno@tunemewhat.com
But most importantly, if you enjoy the show, tell your friends about Tune Me What?!
If you’d like to advertise on the show, drop us a line at adverts@tunemewhat.com
Trouble using the player? DOWNLOAD the show.
Capetonian singer-songwriter Matthew Mole’s debut album ‘The Home We Built’ has been chosen by iTunes as their Editors’ Choice – Album Of The Year in their Best of 2013 campaign.
Matthew Mole made South African chart history earlier this year when he became the first local artist to enter the SA iTunes album chart at No.1 beating off stiff competition from international superstars JAY Z, The Rolling Stones, Michael Buble and Robin Thicke, as well as the world’s biggest compilation series NOW That’s What I Call Music to top the chart.
Mole’s debut album, ‘The Home We Built’, produced by Matthew Fink (Shadowclub, Tailor, Nakhane Toure), is already attracting keen international interest on both sides of the Atlantic where he has already been chosen as Record Of The Day in the UK (twice) and A&R Worldwide’s ‘Artist Of The Week’ & ‘Video Of The Week’ in the US over the past few months.
Commenting on his album being voted iTunes Album Of The Year, Mole said: “This blows my mind. It’s so encouraging seeing how supportive people have been. Double thumbs up!”
Karl Anderson, owner of Mole’s record label Just Music, added: “It’s been an amazing year for Matthew Mole given that he was a complete unknown twelve months ago. This is the best Christmas gift we could have ever asked for! We’re incredibly appreciative of the support iTunes have given Matthew’s album since the release at the end of July.”
I spent a very enjoyable 90 minutes at the Orange Bull Bar in London on Sunday afternoon watching Rozanne Gewaar delivering her fragile and introspective tunes for a small but appreciative audience. She was in London just for the weekend on her way back to the States (where she currently lives) from Amsterdam where she played earlier in the week.
The intimate setting belied the fact that the Orange Bull is known more as a rowdy sports bar catering for South African expats and a growing number of London locals developing a taste for ‘braai’ cuisine (hopefully they’ll add a few vegetarian dishes to the menu soon as well) and rugby on the big screen.
However the venue has a fair-sized stage and ample stage-facing seating to make it a great venue for South African music, which the proprietor, Gunter, tells me is precisely what they’re aiming to do. Hopefully the knowledge of venues like the Orange Bull – which are geared up for live music – will attract more South African acts to London.
Gewaar performed a selection of tracks from her three albums, a mixture of English and Afrikaans songs, and was later joined by another guitarist, and then another, who added a more robust backdrop to her own gentle playing.
Rozanne kindly donated a copy of each of her three CDs to the Tune Me What? library so listen out for more of her music on future shows. The albums are all available via Bandcamp.
Visit Rozanne Gewaar’s website to find out more about her.
After the tremendous response to last week’s show featuring the music made by South African musicians celebrating and chronicling the life of Nelson Mandela we realized there was so much more to hear, so here is an extra-long episode playing even more. We’ve both been quite emotional this week and making this show has helped us feel in touch with other South Africans. We hope that spending 90 minutes with us will do the same for you. If you’re not South African, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating the life and legacy of a World Statesman and enjoy some of the diverse and thrilling music from his homeland.
Included in this special episode are messages from listeners with their personal dedications to Madiba.
In this episode we feature the music of:
We would also like to specially thank all those who phoned in and left voice messages to be included in this show.
If you have a hankering for even more South African music, start right here with this amazing video of the Soweto Gospel Choir surprising shoppers at a Woolworth’s store.
You can find us on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/TuneMeWhat
We really appreciate your feedback. We’re always open to suggestions and even requests! If you’re a South African musician living or touring internationally, do let us know about your concerts, album releases or tours – we’d love to give you a punt on the show. Our email address is yesno@tunemewhat.com
But most importantly, if you enjoy the show, tell your friends about Tune Me What?!
If you’d like to advertise on the show, drop us a line at adverts@tunemewhat.com
Trouble using the player? DOWNLOAD the show.
Next Friday, to honor the legacy of Nelson Mandela, we will be airing your personal reflections.
You have three ways to have your thoughts aired on the show:
Please make sure you state your name (first name is required) and city before your message. All messages must be in by Wednesday at noon GMT.
For memorial information from around the world visit our Gigs & Events calendar at http://TuneMeWhat.com.
It was with great sadness we learned yesterday of the death of Nelson Mandela, Tata Madiba, the father of our Country, South Africa. We had planned to bring you today a holiday season special, but we’ve decided to hold that over until next week. Instead, we have a very special introduction by our friend Toby Tobias after which he will perform a new song with his Ensemble dedicated to Madiba. This is the first public broadcast of this new work. After that we will run an edited repeat of our episode (first aired in June this year) dedicated to the music about Nelson Mandela by South Africans ourselves. But before we hear from Toby Tobias, we take a listen to the African National Congress Choir’s dedication to Nelson Mandela called Usilethela Uxolo, or Nelson Mandela Brings us Peace. Madiba certainly did and he will rest peacefully.
Sleep well Madiba. Thank you for everything. Hamba kakuhle.
In this episode, we feature the music of:
If you enjoyed this show, there’s more in Part 2.
We would like to say thank you to Toby Tobias for that special introduction and for giving us his new song to play first as a dedication to Madiba. Find out more about Toby and his Ensemble at tobytoby.com.
You can find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TuneMeWhat
We really appreciate your feedback. We’re always open to suggestions and even requests! If you’re a South African musician living or touring internationally, do let us know about your concerts, album releases or tours – we’d love to give you a punt on the show. Our email address is yesno@tunemewhat.com
But most importantly, if you enjoy the show, tell your friends about Tune Me What?!
If you’d like to advertise on the show, drop us a line at adverts@tunemewhat.com
Trouble using the player? DOWNLOAD the show.
Sleep well Madiba. Thank you for everything. Hamba kakuhle. Tomorrow, in honour of the passing of the Father of the new South Africa, we will have a special Madiba show with a exclusive musical tribute from the Toby Tobias Ensemble.
There’s a very interesting 10 minute TEDx talk by South African Ethnomusicologist Ingrid Bianca Byerly about the power of music to break down cultural barriers which is well worth watching.
Hosted by TEDxCincinnati: Sound Ideas, the talk is summarized as:
Ethnomusicologist Ingrid Bianca Byerly explains why the shortest distance between two cultures is music. In her provocative talk, she reveals how music is not merely unsurpassed in aesthetic and entertainment potential, but unparalleled as a defining, transformative and prophetic force of communication between individuals and societies.
Dr Byerly was born and grew up in South Africa but is now a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University.