|
|
  |
| | |
|
» Features » Fiction » Reviews
| REVIEWS Anton Goosen
'n Vis Innie Bos
Goosen's several seasons old now, weather-beaten and wise yet still undisputed king of the Afrikaans folkie-meets-Africa-explorer vibe. This album is a history lesson, a record of the things some people miss and a note about the here and now, the sms-generation and the new great trek to distant continents. He's got good henchmen to back him up: Barry van Zyl (percussion), Schalk Joubert (bass), George Phiri (guitar) and Mike Rennie (violin) are just some of the quite illustrious posse you might recognise. On the vocal side, he's sometimes backed up by African choir sounds, giving his songs that characteristic continental feel. He's a bit like a happy Leonard Cohen, if Leonard Cohen was a) Afrikaans, and b) had ever been to Brits. Lyrically, some tracks here are nothing short of poetry put to the tune, and possibly some of his best to date. Take 'Kilimanjaro': "dis ou sneeukop wat aan die hart klop/ en als sal oopsmelt, oral binne en rondom
jou".While Goosen is very much 'of the old', it only serves to highlight the lack of young AOR Afrikaans artists who can do what he does here. For while times and styles change, there's still no substitute for the simple thing done to perfection, without the complication, so that one only gets the pure juice, the 100% proof mampoer. A great album not only for its fine playing and singing by all concerned, but also because it gives the old guys (Kerkorrel, Kombuis, Kramer) yet another break so that they can keep their lead in the medal race. One day though, young kids will steal their medals and the young kids will thank lyrics like "die hemel is my asem/ en die aarde is my fluit" in their acceptance speech. Some of those young kids are Beeskraal, who guest on the bonus track, the raunchy 'Stoute Boude'. Now Beeskraal, there's another story for another day.
| | |
| |||
