I swear it was but yesterday that I was knee deep – nay, waste-deep – in dushbara and dolma as the Eurovision extravaganza rolled into Baku Azerbaijan and after much singing, dancing and Russian babushka-adoring, crowned Loreen the musical queen of Europe with her hauntingly evocative get-and-and-dance-Kate-Bushesque song, “Euphoria”. Continue Reading
Music
Music review: “A is for Alpine” – Alpine
I love accidental discoveries. The joy of finding something utterly unexpected when you’re digging around for something else entirely, or perhaps not even looking for anything at all, is what keeps life interesting and elevates unremarkable moments into the pantheon of memorable points in time. And so it was Continue Reading
Phoenix rise with new album “Bankrupt!”
One of my favourite bands in the entire world – it could be the universe but having failed to leave orbit, I can testify to the complete veracity of that claim; although as a child, I had no such reticence, and proclaimed everything to be “the best in the Continue Reading
Swede Jonas Oakland dazzles with new single “When the Music Dies”
We all know the feeling. You’re enjoying a luminously transcendant night out with someone special, enclosed in your own perfect bubble of a world and quite naturally enough, you don’t want it to come to an end. It’s an odd mixture of exhilaration and melancholy as you’re carried away Continue Reading
The 5 big pop culture moments I can’t wait for in 2013
It’s a tricky thing predicting the future. H G Wells and Isaac Asimov, and reputedly even Nostradamus and The Bible have all taken a crack at it to varying degrees of success – and who exactly predicted we’d have flying cars by now? Yup that totally didn’t happen – Continue Reading
Get up and dance! Or not … My 5 favourite songs of 2012
I love music. That much would be clear when you check my blog which is littered – thoughtfully so I might add – with Sonic Bliss posts which group together my favourite songs for that particular point in time. (Another tip-off may be my fervent declarations of love to Continue Reading
Merry Christmas to all … and to all a good night (of TV/music/cinema/reading)
Merry Christmas everyone! I have had a wonderful year writing what feels like a million and one enthusiastic posts about pop culture and as I permit myself to relax a little (from blogging at least) while I race around the east coast of Australia visiting family for Christmas, I want Continue Reading
On the 9th day of Christmas … “CeeLo’s Magic Moment”
When I first decided to include a review of CeeLo’s new Christmas album, Magic Moment in this blog’s 12 Days of Christmas series, the intention was to provide a well rounded, thoughtful review of his festive effort, citing the smooth R & B sound throughout, CeeLo’s undeniably emotive voice Continue Reading
On the 5th day of Christmas … Jingle Bell Rock: The Sonic Bliss festive edition
It must be as obvious as the blindingly red nose on Rudolph that I am a huge lover of Christmas music. It plays when I am decorating my tree, when I am wrapping presents, on my way to work in the weeks leading up to Christmas – the right Continue Reading
On the 1st day of Christmas … “Christmas Rules” aka “Holiday Rules” (music)
This album, released in the USA as Holidays Rule (a culturally appropriate title since the “holidays” period in the USA covers Hanukah, and Kwanzaa in addition to Christmas), but as Christmas Rules internationally, was the brainchild of “producers Sara Matarazzo, Chris Funk and executive producer Randall Poster of bi-coastal Continue Reading