Devendra Banhart, At the Hop
(which is runner up for the award of cutest song ever, second only to "We're Going To Be Friends" by The White Stripes)
It's finally summer! Another year is done and dusted, and I'm equal parts exhausted and excited. I kicked off the holidays by attending The World's Greatest Fashion Sale (gotta love hyperboles), where I bought a super cute gingham dress, and by thrifting for vintage Nat Geos with a friend (shout-out to the lady who runs the second-hand bookstore at 44 Stanley for pricing them so cheaply lol).
On Sunday I watched Free Angela and All Political Prisoners at the Bioscope - a fantastic retrospective doccie on Angela Davis' arrest and her subsequent trail.
Totally recommend it for any Black power movement enthusiasts out there! (And, you know, everyone else!)
This Thursday, I had the pleasure of seeing Dear Reader play a live set at the Play Station Theatre in Parkhurst, as part of her Blue Met Blue tour. She played some of her older work, in addition to songs off her stunning 2013 album Rivonia (though, disappointingly, she didn't play my personal favourite: "Teller of Truths"). As was expected, MacNeil, dressed in a wispy black dress and a pom pom headband, was her charismatic, playful, breathtakingly talented self. The encore of the evening (truly la pièce de résistance) was the phenomenal track "Left the Ground".
What was unexpected was the enchanting supporting act cherry-picked by Dear Reader: Frankie Beagle. I tend to remain pessimistic of supporting acts. In my eyes, they usually appear as some sad afterthought, a last-minute footnote to the main attraction. Frankie Beagle certainly opened my eyes.
Frankie Beagle, Sailor Song
Jo'burg based, the multi-instrumented duo's sound echoed Grouper's Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill - their songs having the similar message-in-a-bottle, long-distane-call feeling. Lyrically, they reminded one of Cat Power circa-Moon Pix, but with an underlying playfulness. Combined, these elements created an ethereal, other-worldly effect.
The front woman, Frankie, definitely added to the mysticism of the band. Enchanting in a dazzling sequin top, she makes one envious of women who exude seductiveness (no, too crude of a word - it is an Eartha Kitt-esque sultriness) as easily as everyone else breathes.
