Here’s to girl power! Paul Potts might have been the rage last year for ‘Britain’s got talent’, and this year also we have a budding opera singer (a 13 year old named Andrew Johnston) but it’s the electric string instrument quartet of Scala that’s impressing me.
No, this post is not about the disease but is about a new (curiously named) band that fuses Cambodian pop music with psychedelic rock (think Austin Powers) to produce a rather unique sound. When I first started hearing them online, I didn’t really dig the music. But now, after listening to them almost on a daily basis on Radio Paradise, I am getting addicted. Their tunes are catchy and the singer, Chhom Nimol (who only recently moved to the US), has an attractive voice and manner about her. Check their myspace page here. I won’t be surprised if Quentin Tarantino features their music in his next flick.
I saw the fabulous Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela at The Warfield in San Francisco earlier this month. They put on a very energetic show reminiscent of their metal background. We were sitting in the balcony but still managed to get a decent view and was able to record their encore performance with my small P & S camera. Here’s the video:
Ireland has given us many fabulous musicians over the years. Among them are luminaries such as U2, Van Morrison, Enya, Thin Lizzy, The Cranberries, and of course Sinéad O’Connor. Today, I read in The Wall Street Journal about another Irish band called Bell X1 (X one and not eleven) about to release their first album in the United States. This album, called Flock, was first released in Ireland in 2006 and went on to become a multi-platinum selling one vaulting them to superstardom in the Emerald Isle. I had never heard of the band until today and curious, checked them out online. They sound awesome and are like a cross between Coldplay and Radiohead, if that’s even possible.
There are many of their songs on youtube (including some from Flock) but the following from an earlier album stood out for me. It’s called Tongue and is a high rocking number. Wear headphones if at work.
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Earlier this week, the Indian government was having a tough time figuring out the correct protocol of dealing with a visiting head of state’s girlfriend. French president Nicolas Sarkozy was coming to town and the rumor had it that he was bringing his new found love, former supermodel, Carla Bruni. One moment she was coming, the next, not. And now apparently she is going but separately. This is less troublesome but still a spot of bother for the protocol keepers as the couple are planning to visit that old monument of love, the Taj Mahal.
The global media has been all over the Sarkozy-Bruni romance as it’s not often that we get to see heads of state in the same predicament as a Hilton or Spears (please, I beg you, let’s leave Bill Clinton out of this). Even the bastions of serious journalism, The New York Times, The BBC, and horror of horrors, The Wall Street Journal (Rupert Murdoch is already showing his true colors at the newspaper) had lengthy articles on the relationship.
Bruni is quite familiar with this sort of attention having dated a who’s who of bad boys (Eric Clapton, Sir Mick Jagger, Vincent Perez, and even Kevin Costner). She retired from a lucrative modeling career (apparently she appeared in around 250 magazine covers) at the age of 30 and is now trying her hand at singing when she’s not visiting ancient monuments with Sarkozy. Lovers of French cinema will probably know that Bruni is the sister of noted French actress, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi. Today, the Journal even compared her to Norah Jones. Curious, I dug up a video of the woman singing on youtube and I have to admit, I am impressed (see below). Too bad the Sarkozy tie might actually hurt her singing career. Though, let’s hope not.
Aleksey Igudesman and Richard Hyung-ki Joo met when they were 12 years old at the Yehudi Menuhin music school. Their goal of bringing classical music to the masses is now a reality after premiering their unique show called “A Little Nightmare Music” in 2004 at Vienna’s esteemed Musikverein. They seem to combine humor with real talent in their show. There are many clips of their performances on youtube. Among the best are “Rachmaninov had big Hands,” “I will survive” and the following medley of Mozart and the James Bond theme:
[Thanks to Jonathan Adams for the facebook post]
A little late for the holidays, I know; I only just saw this (apologies for not being able to embed the video - my HTML is weak) yesterday, but I’ve been cracking up ever since! :) Boymongoose, who appears to be the brainchild of a group of Australia-based Indians, has an entire album of re-worked Christmas carols, but as yet no further “videos”. I’m looking forward to more!
Hat tip to my friend Joe for the link.
It’s a cold (by CA standards), wet, winter day here in the Bay Area today and it’s as good (huh?) a miserable time than any to go into some of my pet peeves:
People from around here are so used to sunny weather most of the time that at least 75% of them have no frigging clue about how to drive in the rain. 101, generally a lousy freeway (it’s the main thoroughfare in Silicon Valley), comes to a creepy crawl even after the first drops of rain. Add to that a rush hour that begins in the dark as in winter, and all hell breaks loose. These are the days when we are thankful for being able to work from home once in a while.
If it were up to me, I’d levy a fine of $281 (the same as for abusing the diamond lane) for the clueless nincompoops who drive on the left lanes as if their fathers-in-law owned the bloody freeway. Nothing gives me road rage as much as the left lane slackers. And in the process of passing them (on the right), if I happen to see them holding a phone in their hands, only soothing music from Metallica can prevent me from cutting them off. Serenity now, serenity now. Of course if it’s raining, then this doesn’t really matter as we have other things to rage about.
I’d like to meet the person who invented the wrapping for CDs (and to a lesser extent DVDs): I have some choice words for him or her. Why do they make it so difficult for us to relieve a brand new CD of its packaging and start enjoying the music? It takes a special sort of skill and incredible patience to do this. There is a clearly marked tab that says “Pull.” But I am certain that this is an inside joke among the packaging people. Out of the hundreds of CDs that I have bought in this country, only a handful have I been able to open cleanly by pulling on the damn tab. For the others, I have had to use industrial strength Gerber knives to do the deed. You’d think that not only does the RIAA not want you to share music that you own but they don’t want you to listen to it yourself. I have similar feelings towards the clamshell packaging found on items such as small electronics goods (and even my shaving blade). I just don’t buy the fact that this really protects these items from theft.
I am going to stop here before I blow off the lid just writing about my pet peeves.
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