#dave knowles

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Jack Hargreaves explains how to know when you are old

In this fascinating episode of Old Country (formerly Out of Town on Southern Television), Jack Hargreaves visits a farm sale of items collec

Jack Hargreaves on how you know when you are old.

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Londi Gamedze + Dave Knowles at Obviouzly Armchair (9 June)

Last Saturday, the ukelele-wielding minstrel of Cape Town and a one man wolf pack capable of releasing a century of epic noises gathered at Obviouzly Armchair to tell a story of the city’s folk scene.

Londi Gamedze welcomed Americans and non-Americans alike into the Armchair with a far groovier ballad of Tony Soprano than even the gods of ukulele-story telling Belle & Sebastian or They Might Be Giants could have whipped out.  Someone would be doing Diablo Cody and Wes Anderson movie-enhancing favors (of already awesome flicks) by introducing them to Londi.  But it would be unfair to label Londi’s tales under the same category as neo-folk acts like the Moldy Peaches; the difference is that while their music is appreciated for its quirk value, Londi’s is the kind that can give a listener the good feeling musical butterflies as they’re treated simultaneously to the soothing sounds of the uke and Londi’s goosebump-inducing with chillness tones (tones which could tell stories in themselves).  Lyrically, Londi has a knack for storytelling that makes me wish I could have that voice and ukulele around me at all times to narrate my life (kind of like those dudes in ‘There’s Something About Mary’).  As tales were sung about Devil’s Peak and Scrumpy Jacks (right across from Armchair), I found myself reflecting with smiles on my adventures through Cape Town.

Dave Knowles soundtracked an entirely different sort of story, though one I would similarly want to watch again and again.  The solo guitar player makes sounds with the most epic eccentricity.  Picture Chris Cornell trying to hold that ‘Like a Stone’ energy to the utmost degree for an entire set.  Ingenuity with musical technologies and forms I knew nothing about before coming to Cape Town (loops & busking-influenced guitar-drumming/playing) enabled Dave to tell a story of “a century of rock & roll”.  A cover of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ got me sitting more upright than the Jose Gonzalez version that was once remained on my repeat.  Since living in Cape Town I don’t think I have cried once; but hearing the ‘House’ theme song brought to life in the comfort of Armchair brought me to a few tears.  There were points throughout the night where my eyes opened wide and my jaw simultaneously dropped at the combined youtube viewing uniqueness and itunes listening satisfaction of Dave Knowles’ musical style.  Another cover, this time of Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’ (one of my all time favorites) left spirits by way of beatboxing once again floating all throughout Armchair.  The goosebumps I accrued throughout the night told the story of two talented characters (talents I hadn’t really known existed until coming to CT) capable of inflicting an entire city with musical chills+