Music
Press
The Boabab Outbreak
by Saint Martin
"In the last days there will be wars and rumours of wars, people will marry and be given in marriage, there will be a famine in the land of Gauteng…
…and from nowhere will come a pumping art rock band that will shake the hibbies off your jibbies."
Boabab had their Code 14 CD launch this past Saturday the 1st of April 2006 at the Foundry Fly Lounge in Pretoria East. For a small cult following this band is a jewel in the dust of contemporary music, but for the majority no one knew what to expect. Rumours on radio waves and freaky flyers brought curious cats from hiding places all around Gauteng. A two hundred strong crowd waited in anticipation to find out what all the hype was about…
The lights dim and the band walks onto stage to set up: a keyboard, a rhythm, a lead, a bass, a sax, drums, and a microphone.
A red light flashes… smoke…
The keyboard synthesizes a church organ backed by an old school lead guitar solo: 'Do you love me? Do you really love me?' The music forms a thick atmosphere latent with creative energy. The audience is enveloped by a sound they have never heard before. The journey begins.
The arrangement is a symphony of rock, a dance where each instrument is a star. Sometimes the lead waltzes with the keys and other times the bass grooves with the sax. The band is tight, the rhythms strong.
The crowd is drawn from their seats and become active participants in the pilgrimage home.
In the center is a composer lost in the music calling on a megaphone.
He takes them the scenic route. They are soldiers, lovers, lords, lunatics, poets. They travel through war and peace, night and day. At the island of Zanzibar they stand on the beach and watch a fireworks display as meteors light up the dawn- "Space Rocks". In Addis Ababa they stop for a burger at the "Burger Queen".
Time seems not to apply here, only the music and where it takes them.
The set ends with an encore. The fans are infected. - samusic.co.za
Die naam is opsetlik Boabab pleks van Baobab. Ja, hierdie boom is half lelik en kalerig. Vreemd bleek. Maar hy’s van Afrika. Kunstenaarsvryheid en asprisgeid – en dan’s jy nog net by die naam. Ed Lewis, komponis en voorsanger, is deurgaans besig om jou met verskillende vlakke en kleure in elke liedjie te betoor. Hy klink lakonies – maar ook beslis met ‘n goeie skeut sensitiwiteit en passie vir dit wat hy vir jou skryf. Saam met die res van sy groep is hulle sewe musikante uit Gauteng wat Code 14 (ja, hierdie is “heavy duty” musiek) moeiteloos vir jou op die verhoog herskep. Jy word sommer dadelik met die ongewone “Please” aan die bek geruk – wat nogal baie te doen het met Delta Blue se Henry Steel wat as gaskunstenaar kom kitaaraksie pleeg. Ed krul sy stem op in hoekies wat jy later weer sal gaan opsoek.
Nothing stays the same
It will be a mistake
We all need the break
Every now and then …
Please please plea-plea-plea-please, plea-plea-plea-plea-plea-plea-please …
Vernuftige ritmewisselings, spesifiek in “Luza” en die lieflike “Salty Waters” wat met ‘n skaars hoorbare fluister deur Lyudmila Rukavitsyna begin. Die genotvolste ritme-omswaai is egter in “Burger Queen”. Dis asof jy geblinddoek agteruit dans - tussen ‘n koor kunskitare en blink nuwe simbale. G’n wonder jy sien meestal vir Ed agter ‘n outydse Shure 55SH nie. Boabab maak nie musiek vir ploerte nie.
***Kry die album by hulle optredes in Gauteng. Jy kan ook meer oor hulle lees en aflaai by www.boababband.co.za. - Kat Vrou
The band has good lyrics and strong rythms and sounds like a combination between James Blunt and green Day. The song Fidelity definitely deserves alot of airplay. - You Magazine
Discography
Label: Montana Music and Media
http://www.montana.za.com
Type: Album
Review
Code 14 is jam packed with 13 songs ranging from songs for the more sensitive to songs pumping with energy.
The Cd also has a music video of the song 'fidelity' which airs on South Africa's music channel- Mk89 and can be able to be downloaded off google video and other internet sites.
Tracks
1. Please
2. Million Eyes
3. Charis
4. Family Man
5. Fidelity
6. Slow Sensitivity
7. Space Rocks
8. The Colour Of Chocolate Hair Girl Volume 1
9. Luza
10. Salty Waters
11. Sane Side
12. Burger Queen
13. Do You Love Me
Photos
Bio
Boabab has been going since 2000 when they started out in Stellenbosch. Eduard Stakesby Lewis and Barry Steenkamp got together and started this cult band without realising the full impact it would make in the Boabab community. The band does not have a huge following because the sound is something obscure and out of the ordinary and is usually appreciated by audio connoisseurs looking for that special sound in the background no one hears, interesting chord progressions and well versed lyrics about fundamental foundational ideas like chess computers, family men and shiny shoes. It catches the inquisitive and the poetic at heart- their biggest fans are generally other musos.
The CD they recorded in 2004 was launched after much fine tuning and deliberation in April 2006 at Foundry Fly Lounge in Pretoria where the band is currently based.
Here is an incomprehensive list of venues they have played:
The Bohemian, The Mystic Boer, Independent Armchair, Hidden Cellar, Dorp Straat Teater, Mercury Lounge, Songwriters Club, Sidewalk Cafe, Nile Crocodile, Tings n Times, Tanz Cafe, Squirrels, Back 2 Basix, Amber, Zanzibar, Grahamstown Festival, Hatfield Square, KKNK, After Hours, Steak n Ale, Cafe Barcelona, Arniston, Joburg Bar, Hectic On Hope, Roxy Rhythm Bar, The Blues Room and more
Boabab is currently working on a new album which is a must have- 3 years of songwriting maturity added to the previous one which is already oozing with creative energy and just all round strangeness- cant wait. It's been recorded at our own hi-tech studio so they will have a lot of time to work on and fine tune every last minute detail.
Add them to your my space account at http://www.myspace.com/boababband
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