Author: Henno Kruger

Netflix, the world’s leading entertainment streaming service, has  announced a commitment of US$1 million towards the newly-established Netflix Creative Equity Scholarship Fund (CESF) for film and TV students in Sub-Saharan Africa. The scholarship fund forms part of Netflix’s global Netflix Creative Equity Fund launched in 2021 to be allocated to various initiatives over the next 5 years with the goal of developing a strong, diverse pipeline of creatives around the world. More info about the Netflix Creative Equity Scholarship Fund (CESF) The scholarship fund will cover the costs for tuition, accommodation, study materials and living expenses at institutions where beneficiaries…

Nomadic Orchestra is a five-piece brass dance band, based in Cape Town, South Africa. The primary goal of the Nomads, as they’re affectionately referred to, is to get people moving. The band plays an infectious kind of high-energy dance music guaranteed to get feet tapping and limbs flailing. Today sees the release of the video for their recently released single “Out & About”. The animated video which was done by Cape Town based illustrator Martinus Van Tee also responsible for the single’s artwork, fits the mood of the uplifting track perfectly. Nomadic Orchestra vocalist Gabriel Du Toit explains the inspiration for the track “Making…

Jann Klose recently released a new music video, “Never Fall” as a tribute to the legacy of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the TutuDesk Campaign. The music video’s documentary feel covers Jann’s multiple visits to Mpumalanga Province near Johannesburg, South Africa during the making of his recent solo album, In Tandem. Thousands of TutuDesks were handed out to students in need. Footage shows performances of the kids dancing, singing and playing and Jann singing and performing for them in return. Jann Klose comments on “Never Fall” “Never Fall imagines a world of connection, sharing and support. The kids sang along with me at the end…

Super Bowl LVI will be played on Sunday, Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and the event will once again feature a star-studded lineup set for the marquee halftime show. Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Mary J. Blige and Eminem will be sharing the stage for this year’s halftime show. The five legendary artists were announced for the event on Sept. 30. The Weeknd performed at last year’s Super Bowl halftime show (at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida). Super Bowl LVI will be the first Super Bowl to be played in the state of California since Super…

Park Acoustics is back! Yes folks, the first 2022 edition of Pretoria’s Most-Loved One-Day Music Festival will be happening on the 30th of January at Fort Schanskop (in the Voortrekker Monument Nature Reserve). The line-up for the first Park Acoustics of 2022 is Amazeballs This edition will feature performances by Reets (Featuring Bez), Pretoria rockers Ruff Majik, Stellenbosch Rockers The Man Motels, Joburg Rockers The Tazers, legendary Blues rockers The Black Cat Bones and the Kings of Afrikaans Rock Fokofpolisiekar. I don’t know about you guys, but this is a sizzling hot (and rocking) line-up in my books! It comes as…

Rest & Resurrection is the new EP from Johannesburg-based, South African blues-infused-hard rock artist, Ross Harding out now on Mongrel Records. Displaying a rich and versatile vocal tone as a singer, and accomplishment as a guitar Ross is known for his fusion of blues and hard rock with strong elements of classic rock, 90’s alternative and grunge. In 2017 Harding formed the blues rock band, Black Harbour, with fellow musician and friend Kevin Hughes, and made local and international progress performing, touring, and recording with the band. Since then, he has focused on his career as a solo musician, performing both as a solo acoustic…

American singer-songwriter, Baker Grace is branching out as an independent artist in her new partnership with Riveting Music, while staying true and authentic to herself.  Releasing her first single with the label, Baker now unveils the music video for “Midnigh t Thoughts”. Midnight is when everything turns. One day becomes the next. The anticipatory tenor of late evening becomes the reflective mood of early morning. Whatever was done in the yesterday can be put in the past. The blank slate of the next day is ahead, which is beautiful – and terrifying, too. And if one happens to be watching the…

Gewilde SAMA-bekroonde sanger, liedjieskrywer en akteur Valiant Swart en sy vrou kan getuig dat ernstige siekte, hetsy jou eie of die van ’n geliefde, ’n reuse impak op al die betrokke partye se lewens het. Lanelle, wat ook sy agent is, het twee jaar gelede ’n kankeroperasie ondergaan. Sedertdien het daar egter komplikasies ingetree en is sy onlangs gediagnoseer met limfedeem in haar regterbeen, wat moontlik ook later na haar linkerbeen kan versprei. Valiant Swart vertel ons meer oor Lanelle “Lanelle is ’n ystervrou en super-ma vir ons kinders. Sy het haar hele lewe lank ’n aktiewe leefstyl geleef en nog altyd…

Brooklyn, New York post-punk mainstays Savak have returned with “Cold Ocean” b/w “Adolescence Obsolete,” the latest in a string of ripping new singles. The A-side “Cold Ocean” and its accompanying video were debuted via Post-Trash, who said the track “continues the band’s wiry precision, a song that is really built on insistent bass and a darting guitar line that fully combusts during the hook.” The “Cold Ocean” video, directed by Rob Kassabian and starring Mark Weills as “Walker Slim,” was shot on a cold November day in various Brooklyn locales, including the seasonally bare Brighton Beach and Coney Island boardwalks. Weills as Slim portrays…

Indie/Alternative songwriter, author and podcaster Brett Newski returns to South Africa for his 10-year-anniversary tour. 10 years ago, Newski found himself living in Saigon, Vietnam. While touring South East Asia, he met Durban folk-punk singer Matt Vend at a show in Bangkok. The two collaborated on an EP and toured South Africa together in 2012. Disaster ensued, as the car broke down and both men got punishing food poisoning on day 4, leading to cancelled shows and a financially tumultuous tour. However, the tour sustained many victories and Newski’s obsession with South Africa was cemented, leading him to 7 more…

Doc MacLean is a weathered, wily, but infinitely likeable storyteller/performer. Writing from the dark side of the blues highway. Telling songs and singing stories. This blues came from the Mississippi delta. But before that, it came from Africa. Passed down from mouth to mouth. More than music. A placement of the human spirit. Doc’s early mentors were the grandchildren of slaves. And now: this continuing journey between the dreamscapes and the song lines: between the blurs of the Highway and the sounds of the wheels: Streamline. Doc MacLean’s fifth African tour kicks off on the 7th of January at the Alma Café in Cape Town…

Wat Dit Vat was pret, dit was plesier en dit was ’n malligheid op note. Toe die briljante musikant en musiekvervaardiger Loki Rothman gesê het hy gaan drie alledaagse mense kies om van hulle popsterre te maak, het heelparty gewonder of dit moontlik is. Nou, dertien weke later, het die deelnemers nie net ’n popliedjie agter hulle naam nie, hulle het elkeen ’n volwaardige musiekvideo, wat individueel alreeds meer as 10 000 klieks op Youtube het, om mee te spog. En die beste van alles? Dié liedjies is nou beskikbaar om af te laai en te stroom op Spotify, Apple…