Tea Leaves



There are at least two artists with the name Ladysmith 1) A Danish rock band (active from 2009 to present). 2) A male choral group from South Africa know as Ladysmith Black Mambazo (active from the early 1950s to present). 1) In 2008, Anders Cederblad and Nikolaj Dalsgård started sowing the seeds for what was to become Ladysmith. In a small one-bedroom apartment in Copenhagen, the first sketches began seeing the light of day, and the wish steadily increased to put together a committed band. After a lengthy search, this was finally achieved in early 2009. Their first demo, “Where Should We Go?” was recorded at Vibe Factory with Jacob Winther in the late summer of that year. In the following year, equipped with sparse equipment and a healthy dose of patience, the band recorded their first self-produced demo “Golden Waste” in their own recording studio (The Foxhole) in the Nørrebro neighbourhood of Copenhagen. In December 2010 Ladysmith released their first EP New Year Same War. The sextet performs melodic alternative rock, containing strong and meaningful lyrics, with particular focus paid to the melody. The lyrics contain poetic and abstract imagery, and are a mix of seriousness and profound dreamlike melancholy. The acoustic image is characterized by simple, emotional, pensive passages, as well as enticing and imposing rock structures, where the compositions make their way from darkness to light. In March 2010 the band won a first place in the music competition Playmakers, where about 40 bands from the Copenhagen underground participated. 2) Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal style of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards. They were formed by Joseph Shabalala in 1960 and became one of South Africa's most prolific recording artists, with their releases receiving gold and platinum disc honors. The group has now become a mobile academy, teaching people about South Africa and its culture. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.