Jax Panik News

Independent Release:

Authentic Indie

Jax Panik exploded onto the South African music scene with the release of his first single and video, Cigarettes & Cinnamon. Tracks like Russian Roulette, Don’t wanna dance, and Hit or Miss soon followed, with huge success on local radio and TV.

Jax started out releasing his tracks online only, but due to popular demand independently released a physical disc in December 2008, aptly named Cigarettes & Cinnamon.

The album includes all the popular tracks off his debut EP as well as 3 brand new songs and two cool remixes. Contributors included Johnny de Ridder (Fokofpolisiekar, Die Heuwels Fantasties), Ryan Johnson (ex Dirty Skirts bassist), and Ruan Botha. The album was mixed by Jurgen von Wechmar (Sunset Studios).

Cigarettes and Cinnamon can be downloaded from MXit, Rhythm Record’s online store, and various other web-based platforms. The physical disc is available at Musica outlets nationwide, and various other CD stores throughout the country.

When is Jax going to perform live – EVER?

The elusive Jax Panik started out by doing online video performances only.  These can be seen on his website, and also on his Youtube, Myspace, and Facebook pages. Will we see a crossover in 2009 from online-only to actual live performances? Only time will tell. For now all that can be revealed is that Johnny de Ridder and Jax have been chatting about a possible live collaboration. Let’s hold thumbs…

Who likes Jax

2008: MTV Africa – Listeners Choice

Beeld Plus – listed under Top Local Albums for 2008

MFM – Top 100 songs: #10

MFM – Top 10 Local Artists: #6

2009: MK Awards – Nominated for ‘Best Solo’ and ‘Best campus Hit’

Jax has been featured in many of SA’s top publications and TV shows, and his music is gaining popularity on a host of local radio stations.

Apart from claiming number one spots on 5FM and many campus stations in the country, Jax is also one of the most downloaded performers on MXit and enjoys thousands of views and fans on Facebook, Youtube, and Myspace.

Jax is sooo hot right now!

Moving the SA music scene forward one Indie hit at a time.

Steyn du Toit – Cape Times

“If he carries on like this, South Africa’s electro pop web-star can make pop cool again.”

Sneaker – Speakerbox

He is playful, innovative and highly original.  Here is some music bursting with energy and character that should really stand out among our local talents.

David Jenkin The Citizen

…”is dié maar een album wat jy met trots kan uitstal.  Maklik om te luister, moeilik om te vergeet, met lirieke wat soms jou wind uit, met lirieke wat soms jou wind uitslaan.  Lekker.  Draai die volume oop. ( … is this one album you can display with pride.  Easy to listen, hard to forget, with lyrics that sometimes punches you in the gut.”

Leon-Ben Lampreght – Burger Jip

What next?

Jax is always looking for new and interesting ways to produce, package, promote, and perform his music. So stay tuned for more cool tracks, behind the scenes info, new performance vids, and much much more…

Catch him if you can!

Press Contact: Louise Crouse | (021) 447 877 | 076 705 1642 | suukiemusic@gmail.com

Starsailor

“Starsailor, an indie rock quartet, was formed by music students James Walsh (vocals/guitar), James Stelfox (bass), and Ben Byrne (drums),  and the band went through several guitar-heavy changing lineups before the arrival of Barry Westhead (keyboards) cemented their sound.”

As I was looking for the band Starsailor’s biography, I naturally  checked out their myspace and found that they had played in South Africa recently with The Parlotones.

Here’s what James (the bassist) wrote:

“Well here I am just off the flight from Johannesburg following our highly enjoyable jaunt round Africa with The Parlotones.”

hello? Why didn’t it get broadcast that they were in S.A? I’m in shock.

Enjoy a cool dance remix of their amazing song ‘Four to the Floor’ below.

Zebra and Giraffe

“Zebra & Giraffe is the name of a new force pressing itself into the hearts and minds of music fans and even on first listen it’s clear that Z&G’s debut, ‘Collected Memories’, is every bit as unique as the animals that its named after..”

When first hearing the name ‘Zebra and Giraffe’ people (who have never heard of the band) tend to start cracking jokes about zoo’s and such.

Once you play them a song, the jokes stop and they can only admire the musical genius that is Greg Carlin.

I got the opportunity to quiz Greg on all things musical (which I’ll feature at a later stage, so stay tuned)…

Right now the band are doing so well,  as for the new single that is being released, I personally hope its ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’, as it’s one of the stand out tracks on ‘Collected Memories’.

Enjoy the video for ‘The Knife’ below..

xx

yours in musical madness

“it’s myspace not yours”

I recently did an article for Hip2b2 on the founders of Myspace which was really interesting to research, and I discovered a lot of new things…

Now music being my favorite thing, it takes up a lot of my time (and cap), amd the shocking the thing I discovered about South African bands is many of them don’t have a Myspace page.

Sure they have a band page but no Myspace page? in this day and age it’s idiotic unacceptable!

Myspace music is international and its where you find the best new, upcoming bands and artists!

S.A bands (and artists) take a listen-get yourselves a Myspace page…

xx

yours in musical madness

The Beams

The Beams are brilliant, I love their music, they are not new to the Cape Town music scene (as they formed in 2005), but they seem to be making waves – not ripples – now…”The Beams are a dance-rock band straight out of Cape Town, started by fellow UCT students Amrik Cooper and Bosko Popovac in 2005 through a common love of eighties British rock like The Smiths, Joy Division and The Stone Roses. Scarcely a year later The Beams were fully formed and have been gigging prolifically across Cape Town, setting dance floors alight with punchy guitar, melodic groovesome basslines, piercing synth howls and brutally energetic beats. Its all brought together by frontman Paul who is nothing short of electrifying. “

Their first ever gig held on 1st February 2006 at Ke Pasa, Hout Bay and they have certainly come a long way since them. Be on the look out for an amazing band who are going to be huge.

My pick for the best songs on their myspace are : “Watch”, “Chemical Reaction” and “2 Degrees” (their other stuff is amazing too, but those are the stand out songs)

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

xx

yours in musical madness