Charlotte Church: Live in Cardiff Concert

Words cannot EXPRESS how dorked out I am for the moment that someone uploaded Church's BBC special that highlights many songs from the 4 EP as well as some of the fantastic tracks from 1 including "How Not to be Surprised When You're a Ghost" (which seems to be my theme song on some weird level) and "Nerve." While I am sad that some of my more underrated favorites like "The Rise" (which Church has a remarkable attachment to) and "Lasts, or Eschaton" or even "Magician's Assistant" isn't on here, I am more than happy that all 39 minutes are uploaded. So how's about a DVD with more songs or is this all that we have? Oh hell, I'd be happy with a DVD with a lot of interviews.

Tatiana Maslany Continues to be Utterly Awesome

She plays a pill-popping, gun toting house wife, a Ukranian terrorist, a female-lovin' scientist, and even more clones to boot on "Orphan Black" so what else could Tatiana Maslany possibly do to one-up her awesomeness? Possibly having a "Shaun of the Dead" inspired photo shoot for Comic Con including an interview for The Hollywood Reporter .  Can she seriously be any more amazing? Stars Unleash "From the Night" 

At this point, my love for Canadian Indie-Rock band Stars is pretty apparent as fall approaches, their wonderfully moody and ambient music is like an Autumn lullaby to my ears as the Sun God begins to die. But Torquil Campbell, Amy Millan, Evan Cranley, Chris Segliman, and Pat McGee always has had a degree of unexpectedness in their wide genre-spanning music. What was once lyric-conscious rock turned to occasional pop with the occasional symphonic sound and now... disco? "From the Night" is a letter to those of you who stayed home and didn't take a chance on the possibility that a bassline and a hi-hat rhythm might save your life," thus spoke Stars mastermind, Torquil Campbell to NPR, "We just wanted you all to know that it's beautiful out here; that everyone feels like time won't end and we will all be alive forever. Oh, and one other thing: it's lonely. There is no lonelier feeling in the world than watching the sun rise as you walk home. Go back to sleep. And dream..."  I just fucking love this band so much! No genre is too obscure for them! But apparently "No One is Lost" is going to be one huge dance party and it will be landing October 14th which cannot get here fast enough!  Le Kid Doesn't Dance and Makes it Sound Danceable

I suppose there was one more song deep within the small discography of ABBA's modern electropop cousin, Le Kid, that managed to escape me. And with good reason, since Scandipop themselves explain that Germany is a bitch to get music out of, which leads to only a two minute snippet of a wonderful electronic dance party despite the lyrics. And really, did we expect something less from this fantastic band? Can we please get this released in this hemisphere so that I can have a dance party in my head since obviously, this girl doesn't dance (in public anyway).  Sharon van Etten is Touring Her Way Back to Me *happydance happydance happydance*
Again, I can't lie that Sharon van Etten is seriously my home girl. I know there's not much chance of chasing her down the moment she gets off the stage like last time, but, I will be mentally hugging her the whole time as she is coming back to Iowa City October 13 as she begins her "Are We There" tour. 

 

 

Beatles and Celebrities "Come Together"

for one Big Beatles-Love Fest

(And it was AWESOME!)

 

 

Last night was the 50th year anniversary of when the Beatles first premiered their sound on the TV airwaves on Ed Sullivan. What did it all entail exactly? Well, Paul's 70s wail, Ringo bopping along, Dhani just being plain awesome and an 80 year old Yoko danced! Yoko danced a lot...

 

... And that made me a very very happy girl.

I will never understand the Yoko Ono hate -- a pioneering feminist/poet/artist had
one of the greatest love stories with a HSP revolutionary as John Lennon was.
Stop believing that this amazing woman was the cause of the Beatles breaking up!

It really was the perfect definition of a Love-Fest leaded by Dave Grohl, the perfect Beatle fan who collaborated (and help create) my favorite non-reunion moments of the nights with a lesser known Beatles rock tune, "Hey Bulldog" ("...it's a quintessential Beatles rocker," He explained his song choice, "Paul's rolling bass line. The trademark Ringo drum fills, George's gritty distorted guitar. And that sound that only the back of John Lennon's throat could produce." Backing him up on "Hey Bulldog" included ELO front man and close Beatle-friend Jeff Lynne and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" included mind-numbing and breathless rock n roll courtesy of Grohl on drums and mind-altering dueling solos by Joe Walsh and Gary Clark Jr. (I'm still not over that solo..)

 

And then "the great reunion" with a bevy of standards coming from either Starr or McCartney individually or together: "I Saw Her Standing There," "Hey Jude," "Get Back," "Yellow Submarine," and my absolute favorite moments in "Matchbox" and the infamous Shirelles cover "Boys." It was during somewhere in the middle of Ringo's set that all the charisma that is known as the Beatles became truthfully hypnotic with the whole room's arms up in the air making the peace sign. The Beatles are apart of us, and I sobbed like a little girl. It's truly something when we say we love The Beatles, but it's another thing to truly see it displayed on camera with close ups of your average celebrity enraptured by the music. The Beatles are apart of us. The Beatles music speaks to us like nothing else. It was then I realized that this little scuffle band from Liverpool speaks such volumes because they happened at a time when the human race was discovering themselves and from that, they were in the right place at the right time to design pop culture and rock-n-roll as we know it complete with sobbing pre-teen fans.

Thank you, Paul and Ringo for a majestic night.

 

....My only question is where the hell was Freda Kelly (their fan-club secretary and close friend) to enjoy this night with her, as she called McCartney and Starr back in the days, big brothers?

 

....Why am I learning about Ed Sheeran just now? This guy is amazing!

 

 

 

Josh Groban *HAS* been the Greatest

Philosopher of All Time, Where

Have You Been, Huffpo?

 

 

 

No complaints though, really, but this is so much win.

SO.

MUCH.

WIN.

 

 

 

 

 

Charlotte Church Continues to

"Glitterbomb" and Melt My Face

With the New Look!

 

 

 

Annie Gives Us (but mostly Russia)

a Big "Russian Kiss"

 

The only way to retaliate against politics is a good song. So leave it to one of my favorite people, Norwegian songstress who-simply-cannot-suck Annie to stick it to Russia. I was surprised when I saw the song's objective (and the video!), I half suspected this is something that Peaches or someone else more bent on the shock factor would take on but in a way, this makes me respect Annie SO MUCH more than I already do. Plus, I love that haircut!!!

 

Anyway, "Russian Kiss" is a great collaboration with visual artist Bjarne Melgaard and Annie's frequent lover in song, Richard X. Based on a 90s club song "French Kiss," Annie's embellished tune has been turned around to be a magical retaliation against Putin's anti-LGB Legislation. [I leave the "T" off because they are not the ones attacked for the moment...] And while I'm a person who keeps bedroom things in the bedroom without a double standard; I think what had to be done to get a message to Russia was bad-ass but for me personally, the video didn't do much for me. But I absolutely love that Annie did this... once my surprise wore off and the male groans left my ears. I like girls, I don't need to hear that. =) 

 

 



For lack of a better blog post title, I didn't know how to lump all of these majestic wonderful things (Kishi Bashi, bitches!!) together, so there you have it.

 

And here's a picture of last week's episode of Community...

 

 

 

Charlotte Church is back and

No One Told Me?!

Apparently the original pop and classical opera singing pre-teen has been back and I didn't know until I was going through my Spotify for songs that I lost in the lieu of deleting a dropbox folder (nice going, B). So, I downloaded the songs that I lost from Charlotte Church, yes even some from that horrible pop album she made after she lost her voice and then I noticed new albums! I listened to all of them and Charlotte Church is indeed back, after four years of good throat rest. Her voice will never be the same but the strange Kate Bush meets Sarah Brightman-like trance works wonders with what voice she has now! And, she's still stunning. #teamWales

 

 

 

 

Essie Spring 2014 Preview

 

I don't know about any of you, but, I am kind of intrigued by testing what "Hide and Go Chic," "Fashion playground" and "spin the bottle" would look like against my skin tone... And hopefully it would look good! But then, you never know...

 

 

 

Mission Creek Festival: Second Wave

Announcement

 

S. Carey! Kishi Bashi! The Head and the Heart! Of Montreal! Wolf Eyes! Caroline Smith! It's like the Indie Rock Playlist up and vomited happy colorful rainbows all over this year's Mission Creek festival and I seriously could not be more pumped for anything in my life! Mission Creek is the best time of year... next to Revival's annual 50 percent off sale...

 

 

Happiness is a Dickens Bio Pic:

The Invisible Woman

Unfortunately, Simon Callow isn't playing him. Fail. (Doctor Who reference, folks. Yes, I have been converted...) But Voldemort is (Ralph Fiennes) and that's fine with me; Fiennes can play anything and make it look good. So can Kirstin Scott Thomas (the voice of my inner monologue) who plays Nelly Ternan's mother, one of the many people oblivious to Dickens and Nelly's 13 year secret affair. This is what bio pics were made for! Now the better question is when this movie going to be distributed in American theaters?

 

 

 



 Oscars 2014 Predictions Score Card

 

Best Picture:

 

It's a very tight race between American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity and 12 Years a Slave; but I don't have much investment in any of the movies so I'll let the Academy decide.

 

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

 



Once more, it's a tight race between Christian Bale (American Hustle), Chiwetel Eijofor (12 Years a Slave) and Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) but I would love to see Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street) finally get an award for a Scorsese film since it seems he takes his acting to another level underneath the cinema legend.

 

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

 

Chances are between Amy Adams (American Hustle) and Cate Blanchett but I'm really holding out for the veterans in Judi Dench (Philomena) and Meryl Streep (August: Osage County) but especially Meryl Streep!

 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

 

Jared Leto, Jared Leto, and Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club). There's no competition. NEXT!

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:







It's definitely a tight race in my mind between Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave) and Julia Roberts (August: Osage County) but clear chances are that Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) or Nyong'o will be taking it home.

 

Best Animated Film:

 

Frozen, no doubt. But it would be nice to see Despicable Me 2 win since they did create the minions!

 

Best Directing:

 

It's definitely a tight race between David O. Russell (American Hustle), Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) but damn it, I just want the adorable little muppet otherwise known as Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) to win his second Oscar (AND ONLY SECOND??!!)