Sooooooo … You’ve run another marathon-like race with all the rats, you’re so full of caffeine form trying trying to stay awake that you feel like a giant walking expresso, and need to just sit down, smell the flowers and take some time to realign your chakras, fix your Continue Reading
Music
Star Wars medley: The musical Force is strong with Lindsey Stirling and Peter Hollens
Ever since Zja, a friend in my writing group, a woman of expansive, adventurous and impeccable musical taste introduced me to the amazing talents of violinist Lindsey Stirling, I have been hooked. The music that this talented independent American artist (who is also a dancer, composer and performance artist Continue Reading
In concert: P!NK – The Truth About Love tour, Sydney, Wednesday 7 August 2013
“Love is sunshine and puppies, flowers and nipple clamps” (Rubix Von Füchenhürtz aka P!NK’s concert host Jimmy Slonina) It’s a rare thing to turn up at a concert of one of your favourite music artists and feel like you really matter to the performer on stage. (Beyond, of course, Continue Reading
Cookie Monster? I love him! (And he loves Icona Pop … and cookies)
Cookie Monster is back, cookies naturally enough in hand! But this time he is willing to wait for his tasty treats … well longer than normal at least. As a prelude to their 44th season, which launches on 16 September, Sesame Street has unveiled its latest parody song, a Continue Reading
A round of “Applause” for Lady Gaga’s new single (+ album)
She has been uncharacteristically quite of late – a combination of lull between albums and time out for major hip surgery – with her only major appearance the singing of the US national anthem at a New York pride rally on 28 June this year, but all that is Continue Reading
Now this is music #11: 5 awesome songs – Kill Paris, Cape Lion, Janelle Monáe, Ralph Myerz, Goldroom
I am not a man of half measures. If I decide to take something on, it must be done as fully and completely as possible, or I don’t see the point in bothering at all. While this gung ho, take-no-prisoners does get lots done, it can also mean I Continue Reading
Yum! Imogen Heap is cooking up a deluxe treat for her new album
It is not many artists who use a slinky and a blender to herald the arrival of the deluxe version of their next album. But then not many artists are as delightfully out-of-the-box, and artistically-visionary as Imogen Heap. Via this series of tweets and the video featured below them, Continue Reading
Now this is music #10: My 5 favourite songs right now – Washed Out, Bat For Lashes/TOY, Midnight Juggernauts, MØ, CHVRCHES
“It All Feels Right” by Washed Out There is a wistful, folkish, almost otherworldly sound to the songs of Georgia (USA) native Ernest Greene who records under the rather world-weary-sounding moniker Washed Out. Rather aptly named “chill wave”, his music is a languorous excursion into lazy summer Continue Reading
Queens of the Stone Age and Fred Armisen of “Portlandia” unite!
I am a huge fan of Fred Armisen (Saturday Night Live, Portlandia), a gifted comedian who is able to inhabit all sorts of guises with aplomb and bring characters to life with believability and a straight face (hard when they’re as funny as they usually are). One of those characters Continue Reading
My 5 favourite modern TV theme tunes
The untimely, enormously sad death of James Gandolfini a couple of weeks ago while on holiday in Italy, prompted me, by way of a tribute, to repeatedly play “Woke Up This Morning” by the Alabama 3, the devastatingly evocative, haunting theme song to the show that brought him fame Continue Reading