Shifty Records

27/10/2024

Mac McKenzie's ashes were scattered earlier today by family and friends in a lovely ceremony in Kalk Bay on his 73rd birthday.

24/09/2024

Happy Heritage Day, Shifties (not Swifties, but if any of you are here due to a typo - Welcome!). Excuse the general lack of comms, just to say there are plans to remedy that with a series of weekly-ish classic album deep dives. Keep an ear out for that. In the meantime, there are 10 x these Kalahari Surfer hot off the press rarities going for R500 + courier cost. Some cassette loving Brit who’d heard Warrick’s earlier output (on cassette) and loves turning cassette releases into vinyl got hold of him and proposed manufacturing this compilation. Available from Warrick directly [email protected]

26/08/2024

Really glad I got to see Lee on his final lap a fortnight ago at the hospice in Christchurch, 2 hours on British Rail from London. I'm happy to say that I found him with his mental faculties fully intact and impressively zen about the moment we will all have to face in our indeterminate future. It was actually by far the best time that I had ever spent with Lee, we having had our silly faribles in earlier days. If there's one positive thing that accumulated years in this life can do for us, it's clocking the bigger picture and how we fit into it. I reckon Lee did that and was at peace with what he found. Hamba kahle boetie.

12/07/2024

Recorded at the River Club, Cape Town in 1995 on the occasion of James Phillips memorial. Hamba Kahle Briefie!Thank you for watching, please subscribe to sup...

12/07/2024

Just heard that Aletta du Toit left us yesterday. Hadn't seen her for quite some time, but such a strong presence was she that it still feels like yesterday. Here she is closing out the 1995 ;Concert for James", Cape Town version. Hamba Kahle Briefie.

Recorded at the River Club, Cape Town in 1995 on the occasion of James Phillips memorial. Hamba Kahle Briefie!Thank you for watching, please subscribe to sup...

14/05/2024

A little tribute to Mac McKenzie, recently passed, forever remembered. If you knew him, it couldn't be any other way.

Shifty recorded two albums with Mac McKenzie and his band The Genuines, Goema (1986), & Mr Mac & the Genuines (1987). They were the hardest rockingest, sexie...

06/05/2024

Book today to secure your spot on our rooftop enjoying Robin Auld live on Mother's Day - more details available thetroyeville.co.za/events/robin-auld/

Robin Auld, renowned for his soulful sound and captivating performances, is set to grace The Troyeville rooftop stage on Sunday, May 12, 2024. Accompanied by the talented Andrew Joseph on bass and Andrew Cleland on drums, Auld promises an afternoon filled with his classic hits such as “All Of Woman”, “Baby You Been Good,” and “Perfect Day” alongside a contemporary blend of roots and blues. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable musical experience! Secure your tickets now and mark your calendars for a Sunday afternoon filled with incredible music.

30/04/2024

https://www.furious.com/perfect/goema.html

Goema music of South Africa explained

29/04/2024

It's with great sadness that I see that the inimitable Mac McKenzie has gone to join his dad Sammy in the great goema troep in the sky. Rarely did I come across such an extraordinary character in our Shifty daze...or before...or I would imagine, hereafter. Go well my friend. I know you are already sorely missed, most notably by Angy, Hilton and I'm sure many others.
See in comments below for a little unreleased philosophy from the maestro, recorded @ the Free Peoples Concert circa 1986

29/03/2024

RIP Brian Rath - first Kalahari Surfers drummer and high school buddy. (we were the first to start shaving) Play it Backwards dude:https://kalaharisurfer.bandcamp.com/track/play-it-backwards

28/03/2024

To Brian Rath, drummer & Shifter of old, aka Gene Parkering of the Loose Forwards, hamba kahle (he's the guy with the bottle top).

A very, very sad country song recorded at Shifty Studio by Tighthead Fourie & the Loose Forwards, featuring Ray Stadig, Gene Parkeering, Slim Gedagte & Ben Z...

03/03/2024

If you’re looking for something, like, amazing to do next weekend 8th March, you could do worse than take a trip out to Barrydale to hang out at the Karoo Arts Hotel. Rian Malan, Guy Tillim, Hannah Loewental and yours truly will be hosting a weekend of music, dance and film. Film info below the schedule:

Friday 8th March
- 17.30 Soweto Beach Party (20min), discussion between collaborators Rian & Lloyd, plus Q&A
- 19:00 dinner break
- 20:30 Die Geheim van Slangfontein (64min), plus Q&A
Saturday 9th March
- 9:00 Dance/Movement with Hannah
- 11:00 The Splintering Rainbow (44min)
- 12:00 Photo exhibition and walkabout with Guy
- 13:00 Lunch break
- 14:00 Silver Fez (86min)
- 16:00 Pluck (70min)
- 18:00 Dinner break
- 20:00 Was Daar performance
Sunday morning 10th March
- The Voice Behind the Wall (98min)

FILM SYNOPSES

Soweto Beach Party (2007 - Dir. Lloyd Ross)
Author/journalist/musician Rian Malan is tricked into performing with his band, Radio Kalahari Orkes, at the Soweto’s biggest entertainment event ... but that’s just the subplot!

Die Geheim van Slangfontein (2011 - Dir. Lloyd Ross, starring RooiJan Malan)
A desperate man searches for a mysterious town in the Kalahari outback. To find it, he follows the signal of a phantom radio station to the heart of a boeremusiek Utopia that's "...honderd jaar agter the tye, maar steeds op die spoor".

The Splintering Rainbow (2009 - Dir. Lloyd Ross)
A wry journey through the state of South Africa just prior to the 2009 elections when Jacob Zuma came to power. Rian Malan discovers that modern South Africa’s best weapon is its ability to laugh at itself.

Silver Fez (2009 - Dir. Lloyd Ross)
Once upon a time in a city at the end of Africa, two men were possessed by a dream that could come true for only one of them. Kaatji Davids was a house painter with barely two cents to rub together…but he did have an old banjo, some loyal friends and the audacity to imagine he might be the one to topple Hadji Bucks, undisputed champion of Cape Malay music ...

Pluck (2017 - Dir. Joelle Chesselet & Lloyd Ross)
An alternative history of the New South Africa told through the lens of Nando's ad campaigns, which kept a nation both reflective and amused through the growing pains of its young democracy.

The Voice Behind the Wall (2022 - Dir. Gideon Breytenach & Riku Lätti)
An examination of the Afrikaans music industry and the racial imbalances that persist almost 30 years since the end of Apartheid, exposing the erasure of brown contributions to the Afrikaans culture.

08/01/2024

The Hanepoot Brass Band block the bar @ Shifty40 oppie Weskus koppie. There were no complaints.

Recorded by stereo mic at the Shifty 40 Oppie Weskus Koppie fest on 2nd December 2023.Thanks to Bibi, Robyn, Yoav & Jonathon for cellphone footage. Thank you...

07/01/2024

Nick Turner & Jannie van Tonder do justice to James Phillips' Polling Day, performed at the Shifty40 Weskus jol, prefaced by Robbie Thorpe's tale of his first meeting with James.

Performed at the Shifty 40 Oppie Weskus Koppie festival on 2nd December 2023.Robbie Thorpe tells of meeting James Phillips and introduces:Nick Turner - Guita...