Music: Kimbra – Settle Down

Yes, I know, its been a while. However, with my small disappearance, I come bringing posts!

Took some time to listen to some music for the past couple of weeks, and I came across a few new artists that I fell in love with.

One in particular is Kimbra Johnson, better known under her stage name of Kimbra.

Hailing from New Zealand, Kimbra has been a growing and developing musician since the age of 10, having competed in national competitions for several years and giving public performances, including singing the New Zealand national anthem at age twelve before 27,000 people.

After winning an award for best breakthrough music video for her second single “Simply on My Lips” in 2007 at the age of 17, she caught the attention of ex-Independiente Records boss Mark Richardson. Having formed a new management company/independent label called Forum 5 in Melbourne, Australia, he asked for Kimbra to work with him. She signed and moved to Australia to begin working on her debut record.

The first single off the debut album, “Settle Down,” was released in June 2012, but was re-released in November 2011 to help aid in the promotion of her debut album, Vows. The song peaked at number #37 on the New Zealand charts, but has began to catch the attention of international listeners.

After having appeared and voiced a part in “Somebody that I use to Know,” a song by Gotye, her fame grew from the song’s major success.

Her album debuts in America in May 2012, so I plan to give it a full listen when it is released.

But, for a taste of what her voice sounds like (and why it won me over so quickly), check out her music video for “Settle Down” below.

I now have a slight fear of baby dolls…

Televison: REVIEW – Radio Free Roscoe

Radio Free Roscoe

I’ve been in love with the series since it was showing on The N around the years of 2003 and 2005. One of my favorite shows to watch, however I know it could not last long, as it was canceled after its fourth season. The cast was wonderful, the plots and stories for each character were well thought out, and the music was overall fantastic. It was a realistic series for anyone progressing through high school.

It shows the way the characters develop friendships and relationships, break ups and parental issues, shed their problems with confidence and learn to grow. It was a very intelligent series. And they fight for a cause. The idea of forming an underground radio station to have some freedom is a wonderful niche to the show. It’s a fantastic show for anyone looking for something enjoyable to watch, to catch a few laughs and relate to.

Main Cast

Main Cast

Ray “Pronto” Brennan – Ali Mukaddam
Robbie “Question Mark” McGrath – Nathan Stephenson
Lily “Shady Lane” Randall – Kate Todd
Travis “Smog” Strong / Miss Communication – Nathan Carter

Supporting cast

Kim Carlisle – Genelle Williams
Principal Daniel Waller – Hamish McEwan
Mickey Stone – Kenny Robinson
Audrey Quinlan – Ashley Newbrough
Ted – David Rendall
Ed – Garen Boyajian
Parker Haynes – Victoria Nestorowicz (Season 2)
Megan – Hillary Kourkoutis (Season 2)
Bridget – Lara Amersey (Season 2)
River Pierce – Steve Belford (Season 2)
Grace Sutter- Julia Alexander (Season 2)

One other bonus to the show was that it had awesome music. So many independent musicians were played as cut-scene music, background music and so much more. I actually own the soundtrack to the show, which has artists such as Stirling, Reverie Sound Revue, The Pettit Project and many others.

The only DVD collection for the show is the Radio Free Roscoe – Season 1: Greatest Hits, consisting of a collection of main plot driving episodes for the series for that first season. If you look around hard enough, some website online actually have all of the episodes for the series for downloading pleasure. Honestly, I think it would be best to release the series as a DVD boxset for fans who really loved the show. But the selected episodes are great and show the series’ potential.

If there were ever an option to have the top ten voted shows back on the air or continued, Radio Free Roscoe would be my top pick.

Vernal Moments – 2010 In Review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,400 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 35 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 40 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 3mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was September 30th with 92 views. The most popular post that day was Movie: *Review* (500) Days of Summer.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, slashingtongue.com, last.fm, sekai-kitai.livejournal.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for 500 days of summer, the morning benders, brady corbet, chris chu, and morning benders.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Movie: *Review* (500) Days of Summer March 2010
1 comment

2

Fashion: Plaid, Dresses, and Boots January 2010
7 comments

3

Movie: *REVIEW* Mysterious Skin March 2010
2 comments

4

Music: *Spotlight* – Epik High February 2010

5

Thoughts – Women vs. Men (Part One) March 2010

Interesting… So, now that I’ve  gotten a lot of views, I know what to bring to the table and what people really like. I’ll try my best to keep it up in this new year, as long as you guys keep viewing.

Music: *Spotlight* – Twin Sister

 

Twin Sister

 

 

I had to do an entry on this band.

Having only heard them once, and live for that matter, I instantly fell in love with their style. Very dream-like theme & feel, with mellow and gentle use of voices, very creative melodies and lyrics, Twin Sister is an impressive Indie band.

 

Color Your Life Album

Vampire with Dreaming Kids EP

Currently, this band only had one EP and an album. The band consists of 5 members: Andrea Estella on vocals, keyboardist Dev Gupta, bassist Gabe D’Amico, guitarist-singer Eric Cardona, and drummer Bryan Ujueta. They formed in 2008 on Long Island, but have since moved to Brooklyn. They are currently on tour.

They have a solid band and the use of instruments is amazing. Considering that they have only such a short amount of songs, all of them are just wonderful to listen to.

4 Songs I Recommend:

- I Want a House
- All Around and Away We Go
- Phenomenons
- Ginger

Pay them a visit at their website. They’re a real treat of a band.

Music: Special Review – The Morning Benders Concert (Wednesday 3 November 2010)

The Morning Benders

Oh YES.

Having missed the first round of tours due to the fact that they didn’t come anywhere near my state (And who could blame them… not much to see or do here, really), they surprised all of their fans by doing a second tour for the year. Lucky enough, they hit two cities in the Ohio/Kentucky area: Newport and Columbus.

Now, I would’ve went to both, but I had just gotten back from out-of-town (Went to the Rally for Sanity/Fear in DC, which I will blog about later) and had a small family emergency while being gone, so I could not hit up both concerts. However, I was lucky enough to hit Columbus and I was certainly quite glad that I did.

The Basement is in downtown Columbus, not far from the renowned campus, The Ohio State University (I still have no clue what the hell “The” is in there for). It was a pretty cold night and a random, middle of the week concert at that. When a close friend of mine and myself arrived at the venue, we were pretty damn surprised at the fact that it was somewhat empty. I, having not been to the venue before, was surprised at just how small it was. It was, literally, in a basement. Concert posters were plastered over the walls, while a bar rested towards the middle of the room, the stage being placed towards the front of the entrance. The stage, itself, was up close and personal. The band was there for all to see. Considering that we got there pretty early, I had the perfect chance to get up front, as that had been my goal along, for this concert. I was happy that I did.

Oberhofer

Starting off the concert was a band called Oberhofer. I’ve never heard of the band before, but let me tell you that your ears are in for a very interesting mixture of music if you look them up. The sound is a mixture of wails and creative rhythms and melodies. It has a certain kind of innocence, yet truthful reality to the lyrics as well. The band is pretty friendly and loving towards the crowd from what I can tell. Jokes were made and the guitarist near the xylophone was talking to the crowd like it was normal. It was an interesting opener to watch.

Twin Sister

Now the next band was a bit of a surprise. I had heard so much about this band from many other fans, but I had never looked them up. After seeing them in this concert, I must say as soon as I got home, I looked them up all over the Internets. Twin Sister is a treat of an Indie band. Lovely voice from the lead singer, Andrea, with her range of vocals for each song, and the solid sounds from the band itself made me instantly fall in love. The sound was fantastic and definitely lovely to listen to. I hope they return to have their own tour, as I would gladly attend. My friend said the same.

Explains Itself...

Don’t get me wrong. The previous bands were quite nice and cool to see, even with not knowing much about them. But the whole purpose of me buying those tickets was strictly for what I have called my all-time favorite band, The Morning Benders.

If you haven’t looked them up, seriously. Do it. Since I reviewed their album that was released earlier this year, Big Echo, and having fell in love with them on the spot, it would only be enviable that I would try my damnedest to see them in concert before I died.

To give myself a personal surprise, I refused to look at any reviews of previous concerts that they have done. I was already in shock that I was able to actually see them so closely. I mean, I was right up front. If I wanted, I could’ve reached out and touched Chris Chu’s shoe, but I figured that would be uncool, so I held in my urge. They put on a wonderful show. They chatted with the crowd, had pointed out that they had seen some familiar faces from the Newport concert, asked for a bottle of water and got it from a fan, and enjoyed our ambiance.

Not really wanting to focus on any of their pervious works, this concert stayed on course with playing mostly songs from their Big Echo album. Two treats from Talking Through Tin Cans was put in that mix, Waiting for a War and Boarded Doors, with a new song called Virgins for an encore and an awesome cover of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.

The Morning Benders

I must say that I was a happy camper that whole night. I sang along to pretty much every song, nearly had a heart attack when they played my favorite song off the of the album, Stitches, and I mean…. who would not nearly faint like some chick back in the 50s & 60s at a face like this?

Look at that lovely, yet tired face!

They ended off the concert with their well-known song, the song that pretty much made them famous all over the world, Excuses. It was a wonderful experience. Chris asked the whole crowd to sing along, using a maraca to single when we were all suppose to join in with “La La,” everyone pretty much singing along even after the song ended. He enjoyed the crowd so much that he proclaimed that they would return to Columbus for their next tour, and I pray that they do indeed keep that promise.

Taking a quick look back into the crowd, as I was curious to know just how many people were there, I found that it was packed. It having started off an empty venue and then a random explosion of people appeared after about a good hour. This picture explains it all:

Such a lovely crowd

It was a pretty well-behaved, chill and active crowd. Mixed with some pretty neat age ranges. There were humans from ages 16 to 35. That made it even more of a pleasant experience. After the concert was done, the bands headed towards the back of the venue to sign posters, take pictures, pass out music and t-shirts. I was able to snag a Morning Benders t-shirt, signed poster from Chris and a photo. I haven’t taken pictures of the shirt and poster yet, but I will update this as soon as I do. As for the photo with Chris, well… I need to get my friend to send me a copy of it (YOU HEAR THAT, STU?!).

A night to remember, I must say.

(Pictures were taken by a girl who also attended the concert, Ada G. Matusiewicz. She was a cool looking chick quietly maneuvering through the crowd with her fancy camera. She captured my views of the concert without me having to ask. I don’t even know the girl and I must say that she had to be reading my mind or something. Lovely pics, dear).

Music: *REVIEW* Born Free – M.I.A.

First off: I do not like the song. The “Born Free” is the only part of the song that I can tolerate. I know M.I.A. is creative and vibrant, but this does not seem like her at all. And you can’t tell me that I don’t know what she sounds like. I own both her albums.

Second: Someone is going to have to explain some parts of the video to me. I mean, I get the overall concept of the video (Which was that of illegal immigrants coming into America, etc.), but why the use of red-headed children and teenagers? I just… found that a bit odd.

Third: She needs to release a new album pronto.

But this better not be on it.

Music: *REVIEW* Solider of Love – Sade

2010 is seriously the year for great music right now. I cannot help but make reviews and comments towards some of these fantastic artists. And its only April!

I grew up listening to Sade. My mother is an avid fan of her work and the band and I own all of the albums. My first song I heard as a child was “Is it a Crime?” and that is still a song that I play on my IPod from time to time.

I was not expecting Sade to drop an album this year, really. I plan to review it because it is just so good that I would be crazy not to.

This song, however, if impressive. My goodness, since it’s the title track, I wasn’t expecting much but this song is cleaver and wonderful as hell.

The instrumentation is unbelievable and the lyrics are very quirky and simple, but convey the message perfectly. Video is even pretty amazing. She is a very beautiful lady and always has been. Her voice is just so smooth and sexy, that I can’t help but swoon when I hear her sing.

It follows so well with the rest of the album too. The album is great and it’s already sold over a million copies. That’s highly impressive.

I’m not sure if I’m gonna have any money left this year, really because there are so many artists coming out with music that I just have to buy them. This one from Sade was a very unexpected surprise, but I’m glad it appeared. I will always be a fan of her.

Music: *REVIEW* Window Seat – Erykah Badu

A lot can happen when school starts. You miss out on so much stuff, but I’d rather miss it and find it than not at all.

First off, I’m going to review the song before I do anything else.

This song is beautifully composed and the lyrics are fantastic. I haven’t been listening to Erykah for a while, and I must say that I am very disappointed in myself that I haven’t. She is a wonderful artist with so much talent and her music is always so great and enjoyable to listen to. I’m gonna have to see if my mother still has most of her music and get it from her because I need to add her back to my music library. I’m really wondering what the rest of this album sounds like now.

As for the video itself, well I’m not sure how to take it. Overall, I’d have to say that I support it.

The concept behind it is very clear if you watch it all the way to the end. “Groupthink” appears and is stated in the video as well, along with the explanation of the idea behind it. The theory is very interesting to ponder over:

They play it safe. Are quick to assassinate what they do not understand. This is what we have become. Afraid to respect the individual.”

The controversy surrounding this video is what makes her point valid. However, I will say that there were some small concerns that can also be valid with the other side of the argument (Children being around, not having a permit, and the symbolism with JFK which I still think are all very silly things to consider in this video and I can argue why they’re ridiculous accusations), but there is an underlying point to this.

Groupthink is indeed what we have become. We cannot think for ourselves. We have to follow the crowd and try to find some place to fit into or try to understand the point behind things in a blinded view instead of seeing the truth. I’ve felt that our society has been this way for many, many decades and its about time that someone has finally made a statement about it in the best known possible way: Through Music and Art. Quit all the crap about how it traumatized children and how it involved nudity and such. Tell me why this video was bad without information that has already been spewed by other sources.

And Lady Gaga and her Telephone video shows that she is a musical genius… yeah, right. That was sarcasm in case no one caught that.

As for her body, hell, I saw nothing wrong with it. After having some kids and getting a little older, I think she still looks good for her age. Take a look at your mother’s nude body and then comment. I wonder if you’ll feel the same about Erykah’s.

Everyone has seen this video by now, and if they haven’t, then I’m quite sure that they will. Maybe it’s because I think outside of the box, but I thought it was a very creative and beautiful video and a fantastic song. Get rid of the controversy, people. Move on.

Music: *REVIEW* This Too Shall Pass – Ok Go

Ok. I know I’m late on this band. Don’t chew me out too much about it.

A cool guy sent me a link to the video above and I was shocked and awed the whole damn time I watched it. It’s creative and mind-blowing.

However, the actual band themselves is very amazing.

The song itself is wonderful, very inspirational and moving. And freaking composed like a storm! It’s great. Starts off strong and booming and keeps up throughout. This video is actually one of the most watched videos on Youtube, with their other video for their song, “Here It Goes Again,” being the highest.

Ok Go is a very creative and active group, doing the videos for their songs themselves and their music is very phenomenal.

Give them a look on YouTube and buy their albums. I plan to review their most recent album, Of The Blue Colour of the Sky, a little later this month.

Makes me wanna build something myself…

Movie: *REVIEW* Mysterious Skin

I will openly admit that I am on a Joseph Gordon-Levitt kick at the moment. I go through a phase where I become a little too focused on just one actor that has impressed me (Edward Norton, Christian Bale and ESPECIALLY Matt Damon. I have a huge school-girl crush on him….). With that in mind, I am prone to look at their work to analyze their overall acting talent.

Well, Mr. Gordon-Levitt has impressed me after having seen (500) Days of Summer, which I have also reviewed here in this blog. I had to see what he was made of, so I took the time to look up his previous roles in movies. I’m quite glad that I did.

Mysterious Skin

I will say that I was not prepared about the topic in the movie. However, that did not stop me from completing it. Considering that I didn’t know the background of the director, Gregg Araki, I went into it open and curious and left very shocked and amazed.

Here is the cast for the movie:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil McCormick

Brady Corbet as Brian Lackey

Michelle Trachtenberg as Wendy

Jeff Licon as Eric

Michelle, Jeff, Joseph, and Brady - Main cast of Mysterious Skin

Mary Lynn Rajskub as Avalyn Friesen

Elisabeth Shue as Mrs. McCormick

Chase Ellison as 8-year-old Neil McCormick

George Webster as 8-year-old Brian Lackey

Bill Sage as Coach

Lisa Long as Mrs. Lackey

Chris Mulkey as Mr. Lackey

Richard Riehle as Charlie

Kelly Kruger as Deborah

Pretty interesting and varied cast. Some well-known while there are others that are not. There are a few that I recognized and was not expecting the roles that they did play for this movie based on their previous work.

The movie touches on the very sensitive topic of sexual abuse of children. Based off the novel written by Scott Heim, the movie does a great job of handling the displays and actions of the two main protagonists, which are two males who are drastically affected by the sexual abuse they received by their baseball coach at a young age. The story is set up through the eyes of both boys, Neil and Brian, and their views on how they were affected by this event and their lives afterward. Brain is probably the most traumatized out of the two, having horrible nose bleeds and blackouts when trying to remember certain events and has come to the conclusion that he was abducted by aliens because he cannot recall any of the events. Neil, however, has come to embrace the event in aiding his confirmation of being a homosexual, along with his fascination with older gentlemen.

It is visually stimulating, heartbreaking, yet wonderful and brilliantly preformed. Joseph and Brady both portray the characters of Neil and Brain so greatly, that it almost outshines the other actors and actresses in the film. It’s fantastic overall and it does not sugarcoat the main issue of the film. It will make you a bit unsettled, but it will also have you on the edge of your seat. It shows Joseph’s acting talent in full and how immersed he can be when playing a certain role.

If you are in the mood for a thought-provoking, attention catcher and a movie that will leave a long-lasting impression, this is a great film to accomplish that for you.