This year's Christmas is the first one I will be spending without my family-- away from home. It would be a brand new experience celebrating the holiday season on my own but I know I can manage. Bing Crosby's I'll be Home for Christmas fits me well; so, I decided to do a ukulele cover.
I have been looking forward to seeing Kimbra perform live since I came here to New Zealand. She had a show earlier in August that I missed for some reason. I decided that I would be on the look out if she ever comes back to promote her latest album, The Golden Echo.
Lo and behold, a pre-sale of tickets to her show on 18 November was popping in my Ticketmaster notification. I became undecided at first because my circumstances that time didn't seem to be favorable to me watching concerts. I visited the Ticketmaster website everyday to keep updating my cart; always clicking the "remember for later" button as to the purchase of the concert ticket.
Exactly a week before the concert, I finally decided to hit the "Buy" button. There's no turning back, I'm seeing Kimbra-- finally!!! I have been listening to her ever since her Vows album, long before Somebody That You Used to Know hit the worldwide charts. That video posted on Tumblr by Sirens' Songs of her live Two Way Street performance at Sing Sing Studios won my heart. Since then I got caught in the web of Kimbra's awesomeness. Whoah!
The venue was The Powerstation. It was perfect for the performance-- standing right next to the stage was right where I wanted to be.
The event was a promotion of her new album hence most of the songs she performed were from The Golden Echo. She opened the show with Teen Heat, which was the first song in the record as well. Settle Down, Two Way Street, and Cameo Lover were the ones she played from Vows. After performing Miracle, Kimbra and her band exited the stage and we were all surprised that that was her last song. We were screaming and shouting her name asking for an encore. She couldn't resist leaving us hanging. (You just can't do that to your fans, Kimbra. Hahaha.) She ended the night with Come Into My Head with incredible energy and passion.
Kimbra is commended for showing how passionate she is of music. Her live performances are proof. She always gives her best, bringing so much energy and vibe in every song. In that concert, I witnessed that and it's spectacular! Artists that project their burning love for the music they make are those that strike me the most. Kimbra is one of those artists. I can see how she's doing a splendid job.
I am looking forward to another Kimbra concert. In fact I'm still hung up on that show. Can't help browsing my gallery from time to time for the pictures and videos of that night's performance. You can't blame me though, I just love Kimbra. She's simply amazing!
My shots from the show:
Watch a few videos I took from a few chosen songs (they're shaky; I was actually moving to the beat. Hehehe.)
I found St. Vincent (Annie Clark) by browsing through my Tumblr dashboard a few years back. By the time I played the song, I loved her right away. Some more internet rummaging for her other tracks followed. Hearing the rest of her music is like visiting a contemporary art show.
Her mystifying lyrics, elaborate arrangements and use of multiple instruments are perfectly blended in to produce beautiful and extraordinary tunes. St. Vincent is a gem in the world of music. Her sound, in two words, is auditory frenzy.
2014 is a good year for St. Vincent; her fourth album released on February 24 received universal critical acclaim. Annie declared that this record is "more confident" and "is very extroverted" and described it as "a party record you could play at a funeral".
I first listened to the whole album earlier today and... yes, I love it! Prince Johnny, Digital Witness, I Prefer Your Love, and Regret charmed me right away. It's still the St. Vincent that I'm used to take pleasure in feasting my ears on. She remains to deliver exceptional art rock music.
I first heard of this rockin' band in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World original soundtrack, featuring their song "It's Getting Boring by the Sea". But it was really through L that I fully appreciated them and they're now one of my favorite bands. L made me listen to their other tracks where I immediately fell into a lullaby of raw unpretentious alternative rock. I need this kind of music these days. It puts me back to that era during my childhood where rock and alternative genres dominated the radio and music channels.
Their upbeat and headbanging sound can't be missed, it's catchy that it makes me wanna dance my heart away. Grunge and punk is evidently mixed together in their music. Well, that's no surprise since their influences include Nirvana, Fugazi, Blur, and Sonic Youth to name a few.
One good news is... Blood Red Shoes released another full length album earlier this week. Their fourth record is entirely self-produced and engineered by the members themselves-- Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter. Steven states, "It came out as our rawest, heaviest, sexiest and most confident sounding record so far."
I absolutely agree with Steven. I love this new record, no doubt about it. I can't help but pick favorites: Cigarettes in the Dark, Behind a Wall, The Perfect Mess, Grey Smoke, Speech Coma.
Here are the first two singles from the new self-titled album. Enjoy!
The Perfect Mess
An Animal
Take a preview of the rest of the album at their official website.
Oh those long drives are really tiring but worth it when spent with friends. My best friend and I went on a trip to the other side of the island to attend the Christening of our buddy's little boy. The travel time took a lot of the day but it was good since we got reunited with our two friends who we haven't seen in a while. We get to catch up and talk about a lot of different things. On our way home after dozing off a bit, I woke up to a beautiful scenery of the ocean. The trip took the coastal route so our eyes were feasting on the beautiful view of the horizon. Aside from the vista and good company, music makes the long drive even more tolerable.
Let me share yesterday's road trip playlist (live versions):
I haven't made a music post since December last year, so here goes my first music entry for 2014.
I am very fond of female musicians especially if they are genuinely talented with refreshing atypical sound. These women listed below are worthy of a huge amount of recognition but they're not given as much attention than what they really deserve. Not just yet. They don't get much playtime on the radio or music channels as their female counterparts who bare a lot of skin in music videos. Most of them are underrated and overlooked in the industry despite their exquisite skills maybe because their music is not for everybody. They remain true to the sound they intend to play, which makes me love them even more. Absolutely true musicians at heart-- I hope they remain that way. Kudos to these women in music.
Get a listen to some of the solo female musicians in my playlist. Enjoy...
I took a road trip to the town of one of our bosses at work. He passed away earlier this week. My co-workers and I visited his home, where his wake was, to pay our last respect and offer sympathy to the family he left behind. The town is approximately 2 hours away. What else could be a good company on the road other than a trusty ol' playlist? Besides, I find it more interesting to listen to music than hearing the same conversations over and over again (Haha!). Thought I'd share a few songs of what went through my "auditories" during that long drive. Here goes...
Calm, soothing and putting me in the zone-- †††(Crosses). I could listen to their EPs all day and feel like I came from Utopia. I love listening to music that has easing and palliative elements since everything around is all but muddled there should be room for some standstill. I'm glad L introduced me to this band.
Once you hear the vocals you'll know who's the one singing-- Chino Moreno of Deftones. His voice is perfect for the electronic rock sound. He claims "it's sort of like the stuff I like listening to when I'm not screaming my head off." With him in this side project are Far's Shaun Lopez and Chuck Doom.
The band released their first EP on 2011 and the second on 2012. A full-length album that includes tracks from the two EPs and a few new songs is set for release this year but pushed back to 11th of February next year. I can hardly wait to hear everything else in their coming self-titled album.
Meanwhile, here's a sneak peek of the upcoming record:
Way back in high school, I tried to learn the guitar but I had no luck. I didn't have the perseverance to memorize all those chords and tabs. Also my fingers were too stiff to shift from one chord to another, taking me about 3 seconds to transfer. I got discouraged right away.
With the ukulele, it's a different story. I started strumming the four-string wonder last year after I got a hold of my friend's ukulele (Thanks, Zapie!). One thing that attracted me to this little instrument, other than its cutesy size, is its sound. There's a cheerful vibe to it-- often reminding me of a fun laid-back island life.
I have convinced L to buy one just for practice and I've been having so much fun playing it. Trying my best to strum a song or two everyday; however, I still have a lot of chords to master. Forgive my slothfulness but I always choose to play the easy songs. Haha. Anyway, here are a few cover attempts (I hope I'm not making a fool of myself). ;]
Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People (Ukulele Cover)
Tennis Court - Lorde (Ukulele Cover)
Hopefully I didn't make you squirm while watching these videos. Haha. I'm off to practice other covers and maybe post some more.
I've seen Pitch Perfect and the movie made me appreciate a cappella even more. The creativity injected into the covered songs made them sound way better than the originals. One day while scanning the news feeds of a social media account, one of the blogs I'm subscribed to posted an entry claiming that a cover by Pentatonix surpassed the original-- the song was Royals by Lorde. I'm currently hooked on the latter so I was really curious. As soon as the video played, I had goosebumps all over.
Pentatonix - Royals (Lorde Cover)
Pentatonix hails from Arlington, Texas naming their group after the musical mode with five notes in an octave-- the pentatonic scale. They are the winners of NBC's a cappella singing competition The Sing-Off during the third season. Their first two EPs PTX Vol. 1 and PTXmas were released in 2012 and the third is to be released this 2013 with covers and original songs.
The group posted several renditions in their YouTube channel; some, if not most, are viral. I must say they recreate the songs impressively. I'm not surprised how they became the champions of The Sing-Off Season 3, they absolutely deserve it. Pentatonix gives each one of their covered songs a certain flair that wasn't there in the original. These guys know what they're doing and they're doing it real good. They are catching a lot of attention in the biz with their remarkable blending techniques and phenomenal bass and percussion. Kudos to this exceptional ensemble.
You SHOULD listen to these as well; get ready for goosebumps:
Pentatonix - Evolution of Music
Pentatonix - Somebody that I Used to Know (Gotye feat. Kimbra Cover)
Pentatonix - Since U Been Gone/Forget You Medley (The Sing-Off Performance)
Pentatonix - Video Killed the Radio Star (The Sing-Off Performance)
Grasping more of Anthony Green's musical creativity through his solo career is nothing short of awe-inspiring. His poetic lyrics, laudable rhythms and melodies are sure fire to auditory bliss. The good news is he is about to release his third album, Young Legs, on November 12, 2013. Good Old War works with him as his backing band for this record which is a great heads up as these guys also played in his previous album Beautiful Things as well as with Circa Survive. I know I'll be swept away by the time I get to hear everything in Young Legs-- Anthony never fails to impress. Come on, the guy is way too awesome in making music. Anyone who wants to contest that? I don't know about you but he's a prodigy to me.
While we wait, here's the first single from Young Legs and tracks from Beautiful Things and Avalon. Yup, these'll put you to musical euphoria.
I came across one of Yuna's music videos about a year ago while watching one by Zee Avi. Youtube has this thing of displaying similar artists which was an advantage to me; if not for that, I wouldn't have known up to now about this exceptional musician. I was curious especially because of the headscarf she wore-- it kind of reminded me of Erykah Baduh but I was actually clueless as to what her music would sound like. I loaded the video and as soon as I heard her voice I knew I was gonna love the rest of her songs.
Yuna is a Malaysian singer and songwriter. At 14, she began writing her own songs. Myspace was a key element in the discovery of her potential as an international musician; she publicized her tracks on the site back in 2006. With three international releases (Decorate EP, Yuna, Sixth Street EP) up her sleeve it won't be long until her next step to success in the music industry. Her next album Nocturnal is on the works and will be ready for our appreciation on the 29th of October this year. I'm excited as to what beautiful melodies and rhythms she cooked up.
I'm glad to have come across another budding musician with exceptional sound. These days it's hard to find genuine musicians with something striking and unique to offer.
I'm talking about Lorde. This 16 year-old kiwi has been topping the charts with her hit single Royals. I'm amazed that at her young age she had come up with great tracks (yeah, she writes her own songs). The Love Club EP is a collection of equally awesome electro-pop songs I can't seem to choose a favorite. This 30th of September, her debut album Pure Heroine is scheduled for release. I'm looking forward to hearing more from music's next big thing.
How about we listen to something new and different. I just learned about this sibling duo, Wild Belle, through my favorite blog Messy Nessy Chic. Their debut album, Isles, was released early this year last March. Members Elliot and Natalie Bergman grew up in a family of musicians-- no wonder where they got their talent. This brother-sister collaboration fused their jazz, reggae and soul influences into a musical style they can call their own.
Their sound is light and laid-back but in a way edgy which is a breathe of fresh air. Thought I could enjoy their music while chilling and relaxing wherever (but of course I'd choose the beach or somewhere near the ocean sipping a nice cold drink and soaking up sunbeams). You might think the same when you hear them so have a listen.
Visited a friend, who lives a few towns away from my city, last Saturday. While on the trip back, I had my playlist on shuffle to divert myself from the lagging transit. The bus we took was on the slow side and made one too many stops. The ride took twice as long as it should. Music and good conversation saved the day-- at least I was entertained.
Here's a glimpse of my playlist; you might find it helpful when you're on tortoise-like trips too.
