


The Internet is Killing the Record Company: Gatekeepers Be Damned
The Internet has killed the record company, writes Lloyd Gedye, who is revelling in sticking the boot into its commercial, flatulent corpse. But why are independent artists still hung up on getting released the old-fashioned way? The other day I was in the video store when I ran into Warren Cohen (aka Ampersand), Johannesburg’s songwriter-cum-noise […]

Heads Up: Ampersand Drops New Scuzzy, Psychedelic EP
Let’s get down to business. Ampersand’s I wish I were who I was when I wished I was who I am EP is the best thing he has recorded in his career, which has spanned more than half a decade now. It is sonically rich and musically challenging. Yet, buried beneath its epic guitar drones and […]

The Con Declares the South African Music Awards ‘Finish and Klaar’
Every year the South African Music Awards, commonly known as the SAMAs, becomes more of a joke. The whole blinged-up, banged-up event has mutated into a giant industry pat-on-the-back, skewed to favour the entitled. So, this weekend as the SAMAs come around for the nineteenth year, The Con will not be paying attention. Here’s why. The […]