The 23 Best of 2023

As another year fades out we have once again taken the opportunity to reflect on our favourite tracks of the year, as well as others that have caught our attention. We’ve included 23 new songs which capture a spectrum of South African musical styles.

Several of this year’s artists have appeared in our songs-of-the-year mixtapes over the previous three years and are back again: Stanley Sibanda (‘Clusters’), Julia Church (with a solo acoustic version of ‘Lullaby’, also released as an electronic track with PRAANA), Nakhane (‘Standing In Our Way’), Lucy Kruger & the Lost Boys (‘Burning Building’), We Kill Cowboys (‘Journey’), Alice Phoebe Lou (‘My Girl’), and the West Coast Wolves ‘Knuckles Tight’).

Two musicians who have been releasing music prior to the current century are back with new albums. Jonathan Butler released his first music as a solo artist back in 1975 and here we have included ‘Silver Rain’ from his Ubuntu album. Vusi Mahlasela released his first album with Shifty Records back in 1992, and returns with a new album, Umoya – Embracing The Human Spirit, from which we feature ‘Tsietsi La Letswalo’. In addition, veteran musician Gary Rathbone (with 1980s bands What Colours, Aeroplanes, and the Spectres) is back with his latest initiative, The Weathervanes (in collaboration with Nechama Brodie). Here we feature ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ from their debut EP.

We also include several musicians who have been on the scene for a while but who this year feature for their first time on our songs-of-the year list. These include East London-based Bongeziwe Mabandla (‘Soze’), Gauteng-based musicians Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (BCUC, ‘The Woods’), Acid Magus (‘Caligulater’), Shameless (‘Victim of Data’), and Tyla (‘Water’). Also included are Kwazulu-Natal based musicians Wren Hinds (‘Dream State’), The Lion, The Bear, and The Panther (‘Something Real’), and Jim Neversink (‘Man’s Best Friend’). We also include Cape Town-based musicians Bhex (‘Demons’), Ethyl Ether (‘Dead Conversation’), Beatenberg (‘Don’t Call Her Over To You’), Matthew Mole (‘Good Thing’), and Asher Gamedze (‘Wynter Time’).

Much has been made of Tyla’s ‘Water’ being the first song by a solo South African musician (or South African group) to reach the USA Billboard Top 10 since Hugh Masekela’s ‘Grazing In The Grass’ in 1968. It has been viewed over 100 million times on YouTube. Which is crazy (by comparison the Weathervane’s ‘Heart-shaped Box’ has less than 30 views). Popular musicians keep putting their music out there, regardless of what might happen to it, hoping that at the very least some listeners will enjoy it. We hope we have introduced you to something that connects with you. Give this mixtape a listen, and support the musicians who catch your interest. More than ever they need your support – buy their music, go see them live, and tell your friends about them! Enjoy …

  1. Soze – Bongeziwe Mabandla
  2. Clusters – Stanley Sibande
  3. Lullaby (acoustic) – Julia Church
  4. Dream State – Wren Hinds
  5. Tsietsi La Letswalo – Vusi Mahlasela
  6. Silver Rain – Jonathan Butler
  7. Standing In Our way – Nakhane
  8. The Woods – BCUC
  9. Demons – Bhex
  10. Burning Building – Lucy Kruger & the Lost Boys
  11. Journey – We Kill Cowboys
  12. Dead Conversation – Ethyl Ether
  13. Something Real – The Lion, the Bear and the Panther
  14. Man’s Best Friend – Jim Neversink
  15. Don’t Call Her Over To You – Beatenberg
  16. My Girl – Alice Phoebe Lou
  17. Heart-Shaped Box – The Weathervanes
  18. Good Thing – Matthew Mole
  19. Knuckles Tight – West Coast Wolves
  20. Caligulater – Acid Magus
  21. Victim Of Data – Shameless
  22. Wynter Time – Asher Gamedze
  23. Water – Tyla

SA Musicians Covering Overseas Songs

In our previous mixtape we featured South African musicians covering South African songs. This time we focus on South African musicians covering foreign songs. Anyone familiar with live performers in South African restaurants and pubs will be all too familiar with the countless musicians plying overseas covers for a trade. Many a South African songwriter shakes their head in desperation at the thought of all the cover artists, trying to mimic the singers of the songs they cover, and taking the performance spaces potentially available to more original musicians. However, covers are not always a bad thing. Several musicians who mostly perform their own compositions also include some covers in their live sets or even record them as singles and on their albums. Most often these are viewed as interpretations – where they change the emphasis of the song or switch the song from one genre to another. At times musicians simply cover a song which they think will be a big hit if they adapt it to what seems popular in the current climate, or among their specific fans.

There are examples here which fit into all those categories. Interpreting songs is a very personal thing, and so rather than explain every song’s inclusion here, and fitting it into a particular category of cover, we have just listed the songs here, for you to listen to, think about, and perhaps explore further. We have included the names of the original performers in parenthesis, so that (in case you are not aware of the original) you can go back and listen, and think about the way it has been covered here. In case this sounds like a Musicology 101 course, we won’t ask you to write an essay. But please do leave comments about anything that grabs your attention. In the meantime … enjoy!

  1. Down On The Corner – Miriam Makeba (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
  2. The Voice Of Rage And Ruin – Kalahari Surfers (Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Bad Moon Rising”)
  3. Build Me Up Buttercup – Mean Mr Mustard (The Foundations)
  4. Paint It Black – No Friends of Harry (The Rolling Stones)
  5. Into The Fire – Suck (Deep Purple)
  6. Fooled Around And Fell In Love – Julian Laxton Band (Elvin Bishop)
  7. Substitute – Clout (The Righteous Brothers)
  8. Why Did You Do It – Margaret Singana (Stretch)
  9. Living For The City – Disco Rock Machine (Stevie Wonder)
  10. Magic Carpet Ride – Buffalo (Steppenwolf)
  11. Take Me To The River – Mara Louw (Al Green)
  12. The Weight – Dan Patlansky (The Band)
  13. Fine Lines – Syd Kitchen (John Martyn)
  14. Somebody – Matthew van der Want (Depeche Mode)
  15. Walking In The Rain – Johannes Kerkorrel (Flash and the Pan)
  16. Wait – Chris Letcher (Lou Reed)
  17. Complicated Game – Peach (XTC)
  18. Beds Are Burning – TCIYF (Midnight Oil)
  19. When I Went Out One Morning – Tribe After Tribe (Bob Dylan)
  20. Ring Of Fire – Laurie Levine (Johnny Cash)
  21. Sugarman – Just Jinger (Rodriguez)
  22. Money Money Money – Karen Zoid (Abba)
  23. Sunday Morning Coming Down – Wonderboom (Kris Kristofferson)
  24. Control – Spoek Mathambo (Joy Division – “She’s Lost Control”)
  25. Heart Shaped Box – Goldfish & Julia Church (Nirvana)

South African Women Singers Volume 1

In the last mixtape we commemorated Women’s Day by selecting a variety of songs which focused on women and issues affecting women in South Africa. While working on that selection we thought it would be fitting to compile a further mixtape which features some of the women’s voices which have formed part of the South African soundscape since the 1950s. Our initial aim was to select songs by twenty women singers but we soon realised that our task would be easier if we extended our latitude and made way for two mixtapes, rather than one. So this mixtape features the first 20 South African women singers in this two-tape series.

Songs chosen do not follow any particular theme, rather we chose singers and then selected songs by those singers which we think showcase their voices. We include some early veterans of the South African popular music scene (Miriam Makeba, Nancy Jacobs, and Letta Mbulu) and some who appeared on the music scene in the 1970s and 1980s (Margaret Singana, Sathima Bea Benjamin, Edi Niederlander, Laurika Rauch, Rene Veldsman – of Via Afrika, Lesley Rae Dowling, Brenda Fassie, Tara Robb – of The Spectres, Jennifer Ferguson, Heather Mac – of Ella Mental and Busi Mhlongo).

We also feature several more recent singers, who released their first recordings in the 21st Century: Simphiwe Dana, Karen Zoid, Zolani Mahola – of Freshlyground, Shannon Hope, Tailor (Anna Wolf) and Julia Church.

Enjoy your weekend listening and take time to find out more about those singers on this mixtape who you have not previously heard or heard of. There are some interesting stories to be discovered …

  1. Babhemu – Busi Mhlongo
  2. Isiphiwo Sam – Margaret Singana
  3. Mahlalela – Letta Mbulu
  4. Ndiredi – Simphiwe Dana
  5. Windsong – Sathima Bea Benjamin
  6. Meadowlands – Nancy Jacobs & Her Sisters
  7. Pata Pata– Miriam Makeba
  8. Weekend Special – Brenda & the Big Dudes
  9. Hey Boy – Via Afrika
  10. (See Yourself) Clowns – Ella Mental
  11. Teddy Bear – The Spectres
  12. Aeroplane Jane – Karen Zoid
  13. I’d like – Freshlyground
  14. Shiloh – Julia Church
  15. Ancient Dust – Edi Niederlander
  16. Suburban Hum – Jennifer Ferguson
  17. The Spaniard – Lesley Rae Dowling
  18. Kinders Van Die Wind – Laurika Rauch
  19. Daylight – Shannon Hope
  20. Where The Boys Are – Tailor