My Top 10 List For 2010

Seeing as a lot of people are doing Top 10 lists this time of year, I suppose I have to follow suit.

 

THE HELIX KID'S TOP BEST CHART OF FAVOURITE LIKES AND THINGS: 2010 4EVA!

 

Top 10 Songs:

 

Games For Days - Julian Plenti (Julian Plenti...Is Skryscraper)

Runaway - The National (High Violet)

Disc Wars - Daft Punk (Tron: Legacy OST)

Many Of Horror - Biffy Clyro (Only Revolutions)

We Used To Wait - Arcade Fire (The Suburbs)

Runaway - Kanye West (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy)

Waiting For The End - Linkin Park (A Thousand Suns)

Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear (Veckatimest)

God Only Loves You - Skunk Anansie (Wonderlustre)

Silver Rider - Robert plant (Band Of Joy)

 

Top 10 Albums:

 

The National - High Violet

Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti...Is Skyscraper

Daft Punk - Tron: Legacy OST

Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions

Get Well Soon - Vexations

Florence & The Machine - Lungs

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

My Chemical Romance - Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys

 

Top 10 Films:

 

Inception

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

The Social Network

Shutter Island

It Might Get Loud

Youth In Revolt

Harry Potter & The Death Hallows: Part 1

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Iron Man 2

Despicable Me

 

Favourites:

 

Hangout: Brazen Head/Aandklas

Restaurant: Mamma Roma/Gino's

Music Venue: The Assembly

Clothing Brand: Markhams

Shoe Brand: Cignal

Website/blog: www.comingsoon.net

 

That's it. A lot of things excited me this year, but I still think 2009 delivered it in spades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted via email from The Helix Kid

Delays En Route To Work

There was a heavy accident on the N2 this morning. I was stuck in traffic for two and a half hours. Not fun. Still want to know the cause of the accident. 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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A Seaside Rendezvous

On my way to rehearsals I stopped next to the beach and started taking pictures of these awesome clouds. If you have been reading this blog you'd notice by now that I kind of have a thing for clouds.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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When The Wheels Come Off

So Friday night I was on my way to do a show in Cape Town, driving in the fast lane on the N1, when my car starts going crazy and swinging from side-to-side. Scary.

 

I take precautions whilst navigating my car to an off-ramp to go and check out what's happening at a nearby garage. As I cross the first robot, I feel the right-hand side of my car drop and I see sparks erupting from my car's rear end. With this celebration happening in the back I see my car's wheel roll across the road into the heart of suburbia. Awesome. Going to be late for my sound check.

 

As I navigate the car towards the other side of the yellow line, a car stops behind me. Two Samaritans get out and help me calm down and help me fetch my wheel from across the road. The guy assesses the situation and establishes that the wheel's bearing broke. Great.

 

So I call my uncle who is a mechanical engineer and he sends one of his technician's to come and help me. Not being able to find a bearing at that time of night, we had to leave the car there and wait until the next morning to have it fixed. Anxious.

 

So I got to Mercury, had a few drinks, got onstage and had a great time onstage. Eventual success.

 

Needless to say, I was lucky. Sorry about the photos being crappy, but I wasn't feeling the urge to capture the aesthetics of an accident. Just wish I could film those sparks coming out of the back of my car. It would have made Michael Bay blush.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Blurring The Lines

A shot taken with a retro Little Orange Box app on my HTC Desire. Arty.

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Seems Like We Are Having A Cloudy Afternoon...

More photos from my window in Gordon's Bay.

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3rd World Spectator, Youth & The Lottery Tickets Live at Mercury Live 13 August 2010

3rd World Spectator, Youth & The Lottery Tickets

Where: Mercury Live, Cape Town Western Cape

When: 13 August 2010
Cost: R30
Time: 9PM
 

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Who Is This Guy?

This is my friend Herman.

 

He is also on Posterous.

 

Check out his page: http://gshm.posterous.com/

 

I hope he does the same for me.

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The View From My Window

I've been a bit quiet as of late, but I'll try and be more diligent with my posts from now on :)

 

I'm just showing off the photos from my new phone, the HTC Desire. I took some pics from my window in Gordon's Bay. The clouds look pretty cool!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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We salute you Bafana Bafana!

Yesterday Bafana Bafana won their group match against France 2-1, but unfortunately this was not enough to qualify for the next round in the FIFA World Cup. Our national team did us proud, and within 90 minutes they made 4 years of effort worth the while.

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Video Experiment: Next Stop - iKapa!

Download now or watch on posterous

Video0000[1].3gp (245 KB)

I took a video clip of a plane landing at Cape Town International Airport. This is more of an experiment to test videos out on Posterous.

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Band of the Week: Biffy Clyro

I have been a Biffy Clyro for about three years now. I was introduced to the band when I bought a Kerrang magazine with a compilation CD which included their song Get Fucked Stud. It was just such a brilliant piece of music that I decided to check out the album it came from, Puzzle.

 

After reading reviews about this band for years stating that they are the next big thing, I bought Puzzle on the spot. The opener Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies was breathtaking. So was Folding Stars and 9/15th's. They had such an epic sound for a three piece.

 

Late last year they released Only Revolutions, probably their most accessible, and in my opinion, most cohesive piece of work. The only evidence of my infatuation with some of the songs from this album can be found on my iTunes play counter. Mixing frenetic riffs and drumming with beautifully arranged strings, male choirs and horn sections, it sometimes sounds like a band consisting 8 members are knocking these songs out.

 

But I love it when Biffy slows down especially on songs like Many of Horror and God & Satan. Simon Neil's tender yet poignant vocal makes for goosebump induced listening, as his lyrics are vivid metaphors musing about religion and the loss of loved ones.

 

They are currently supporting Muse on a number of European dates and they are steadily doing justice to the hype that built up over the years.

 

Check them out at: www.biffyclyro.com

 

 

 

 

Posted via email from The Helix Kid

FIFA Public Viewing Area: Bellville Velodrome 16 June 2010

Yesterday me and some friends went to the FIFA Public Viewing Area at the Bellville Velodrome to go and catch Spain vs. Switzerland and South Africa vs. Uruguay. The atmosphere at the Velodrome was fantastic, with Vuvuzelas going ballistic at the mere mention of Bafana Bafana. These are some pics of the venue filling up before the game. Unfortunately we lost, but we'll be looking to next week's match against France as the defining moment for our national team.

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My Inner Geek Sometimes Smiles

Yesterday I visited Empire.com and came upon this. Now, to clarify, I am a geek. When I see something likes this, an excitement builds within me. Friday night I went to go and see Iron Man 2 with some of my friends and beforehand I read that there's a post-credits sequence. So we waited 10 minutes, to the dismay of my com padres.

And there it was - a moment to make my inner geek smile. If you have not seen Iron Man 2 yet I won't spoil it for you.

But it relates to this. The first picture of Chris Hemsworth as Thor. It looks pretty faithful to the style of the comic, but we'll have to see whether the movie as a whole holds up when it releases in May 2011.



www.empireonline.com

Rock 'n Rolla / Coca-Cola

It's been a while. I'll be making my illustrious cyber comeback soon. Been busy recording the band's album, moving from one house to another. Madness.

In the meantime check this out. I want to drink my Coca-Cola like this. The bottle isn't that amazing, but I really dig the cup.



www.thedieline.com

Band of the Week: Florence + The Machine

This is some of the strangest music I've listened to in a while. Not avant garde strange, rather peculiar. It features the chanteuse Florence Welsh belting it out like there's no tomorrow, sometimes aiming for high notes and failing to reach them. They use obscure instruments such as harps, accordions and "elevator shafts and bits of metal" according to their biography. Call it "baroque pop", if you will. They won Best British Album for Lungs at the Brit Awards last night, so they are going to be pretty huge. Check out the tracks Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), Kiss With A Fist, Dog Days Are Over and Falling. I'll keep saying it's strange, but I've been listening to this album for the last 3 days.

Buy Me A Valentine...Give Me A Christmas...I Want A Easter

With the yearly dredge of me ending up single on Valentine's Day for the last 25 years, I think I might be going for a record. Not to single (excuse the pun) myself out, but I really don't know why there's so much fuss about a singular (there I did it again) day of the year where one should celebrate the institution of love.

Hypothetically speaking - shouldn't you be loving your significant other EVERY day of the year? Isn't that the mystical, romanticised pursuit that we call love?

What excites me are the deviating groups of people who try and counter-act against Valentine's Day. People who have either become disillusioned, been disappointed or embraced the apathy towards LuvDay.

You have your Chocolate Bingers, Anti-Valentine corroborators, the Grey's Anatomy clan and the Anti-Monogamists.

Hopefully you know what I'm talking about. These people convulse at the thought of saccharine gestures such as picnics in parks, bottles of champagne being popped, strawberries being dipped in cream, adult contemporary music acting as an aural aphrodisiac or oysters acting as an oral aphrodisiac.

The Chocolate Bingers embrace the fact that they are single by indulging in their self-pity via chocolate. Not just your front-of-the-store Cadbury or Nestlé. No, they go all out as only Lindt or boutique Belgian chocolate would suffice.

Anti-Valentine corroborators are the infantile opponents of love. They either tell everyone how much they hate love, or they just burn Hallmark cards with hearts on them. That's their statement, and it's pretty lame.

The Grey's Anatomy clan snuggle up with their teddy bears, warm water bottles, a glass of wine and swoon over impossibly good looking medical practitioners. Usually a slow building ballad will play as someone dies of pneumonia or a car crash. The clan cries. They are concordantly satisfied.

Anti-monogamists just want to get laid and frown upon staying true to you one love. They are not polygamists. They are just looking to get laid. Really, that's all.

Then you see photos of couples in newspapers, holding hands, kissing, sending each other messages recollecting memories of how they met and why they are still together.

Have we become cynical because of the sugary sweetness of love, or perhaps the commercialisation thereof?

Today, 20 Years Ago

On the 11th of February 1990, South Africa changed. The day when Nelson Mandela was released from Robben Island marked a significant change in the political landscape of South Africa and became a landmark moment in history as one of the greatest leaders of modern times went forth to become the father of a nation.

Zula Sound Bar - 5 March 2009

It's Justin, our guitarist's birthday on the 5th of March, and we'll be performing at Zula Sound Bar with The The Stremes. Entrance is R30, and the show starts at 9PM.

Band of the Week: Get Well Soon - Rest Now, Weary Head

Get Well Soon. A German alternative rock band, signed to City Slang Records. All I can say is this is just one awesome album. You can order it from Amazon or get it from iTunes. I've been listening to it non-stop the last day. Especially the tracks You/Aurora/You/Seaside, I Sold My Hands For Food So Please Feed Me and People Magazine Front Cover.



http://www.youwillgetwellsoon.com/

Classic Album Of The Week: Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head

It seems like only when I heard this album for the first time. I knew Coldplay from their debut album Parachute and hits like Yellow, Trouble and Don't Panic. In November 2002, I watched the MTV Europe Awards and I was dumbstruck by their performance of the first single from A Rush Of Blood To The Head called In My Place. The beautiful chiming delay coming from Johnny Buckland's guitar and the memorable chorus made me want to go out and listen to the album.

Getting to the music store, the cover struck me as very avant garde and I was afraid that the album might be that over-ambitious second album, rich with pompous arrangements and political grandstanding. This was after all recorded just after the September 11th attacks, and everybody was getting onto that bandwagon (here's looking at you Bruce Springsteen).

I asked for the album, went to the listening booth, and my fears were allayed the second the minor chords to the album's opener, Politik, started. The soundscapes on this album is huge, but the songs themselves are not over produced, which says a lot about Coldplay. They make do with what they have, and they do it well.

Clocks with it's instantly recognisable arpeggios was pretty much the song that cemented them as a band that would be around for some time, while Amsterdam positioned them as cerebral, yet sad souls. And then there's The Scientist, the big lighter ballad of the noughties. It's video was extremely innovative and the song itself became a mainstay on the charts and at weddings/funerals/any post-breakup happening.

Key Track: The Scientist - just for that last epic minute. All big guitars, big drums, big piano chords, big falsetto. Big.

Local is Lauded

People always compare the South African entertainment industry to the much more established and refined worldwide industry. You usually get comments like: "That's really sounds/looks/was good. For a local/South African band/film/whatever." I'm starting to think our industry is fast catching up to the rest of the world.



If you look at the output of quality products we deliver we can seriously pat ourselves on our back. In the last two days District 9 got nominated in Oscar categories (including Best Picture and Best Screenplay) and one of our own won a Grammy Award.


Yes, SA got a Grammy on Sunday night. Elza van den Heever was part of the eight vocalists part of the album that claimed the Best Classical Album award, a recording of Mahler's 8th Symphony.

Local is playing with the big boys now.

Some Women...

Yes ladies and gentleman, this is a woman. In Cape Town. Disgusting ain't it? Who drinks wine in a toilet? Who smokes in a toilet?

Yes, maybe I am a bit of a chauvinist by saying this, but some women revolt me when they don't act like "ladies".

Don't get me wrong - I love an intelligent, independent, beautiful woman who can stand her ground. I hate the treatment of women as subservient sex slaves and live-in domestic workers.But even if I saw a picture of a man smoking a cigarette and swigging wine on a toilet like that I'd be repulsed.

Yes, this is apparently the state of women in Cape Town.

Lord, give us proper women.

Classic Album Of The Week: The White Stripes - Elephant

I got this album as a present my friend Gert-Johannes, way back when I was in Matric. I still remember listening to it on my Grundig portable CD player, and listening to Seven Nation Army on repeat a couple of thousand times before actually listening to the rest of the album.

During a period in my life where my musical taste was solidly confined to either heartbreaking ballads (usually serving as milestones for heartbreak) or the angsty fervour of nu-metal to counterbalance the ballads, this album was something of a watershed moment.

The fact that it was recorded on analogue and had a different atmosphere and air to the other albums in my then collection. I learned that messy guitar playing could be cool, you don't really have to be able to pound drums like a demon to be regarded a drummer, and the essence of lyrics would always be essential to songwriting as an art.

Key Track: Indulge yourself in the garage/surf/post-grunge freakout that is Hypnotize. Still my favourite song after all these years.

Coco Avant Chanel

Arriving at home at about 22h00 last night, I finished up my day by watching Coco Avant Chanel, directed by Anne Fontaine. It stars Audrey Tautou (Amelie) as the prolific fashion designer who was the first woman to establish a brand.

If you like beautiful cinematography, costumes and soundtracks, this is definitely worth your while. It examines Chanel's rise to fame, whilst engaging in tumultuous love affairs.

Check it out!

Song Of The Day: The Big Pink - Velvet

This is currently my favourite song. I love the filthy synthesizers and lekker crusty tone on the guitars. Also, the melody is beautiful. This was definitely one of the better albums I listened to in 2009.

Check the video below.

THE BIG PINK - VELVET

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA3twi3iSNQ

A Few Designs. And Then Some.

I've been nocticeably absent since August 2009, and it's due to a very simple fact. The fact that I'm lazy. After the rush that happened last year and the start of a new year (and the presence of a kidney stone), I've decided to make my illustrious return to the cybersphere in 2010.

I'll be bombarding you with designs I've done in the last year, and I'll also be keeping you up to date with cool things that I see and read on the web, music I've listened to and movies I've seen.

Below are my latest designs for an upcoming show with my band. I decided to do a series of flyers, because I've always liked the appeal of collecting a series of promotional items.

I referenced the graphic designer Mark Weaver quite heavily in these pieces, but I love the aesthetical hybrid of kitsch Fifties design and ultra modern lines and typography.