Noisettes OVERLOAD

Performing "That Girl" from their new album. I'm glad Dan is doing solos again.

Sondre Lerche does Beyonce

Happy 2012 everyone. I hope the new year is living up to your wildest expectations. Let's get right into this shall we? My favourite Norwegian artist Sondre Lerche decided to do a cover of Beyonce's hit song Countdown. The result? EXPLOSIVE. I absolutely love his indie interpretation of such a classic r/b song. Below is a clip of Beyonce performing Countdown on Jimmy Fallon live. Sondre's cover



Brilliant ain't it? soothes the soul like warm tea. To download a free copy of the song on Sondre's website, click here...and that's all folks, for now anyways. I spent the last month in THE MOTHERLAND aka mama Africa so I will be back soon with some proper travel posts.
Cheers!

In my little Bisayan town, the guitar strings are loose...

Christmas at my sister's and I can't stop fondling with her guitar. I've been trying all day to play "Wonderwall" by Oasis and "Save Tonight" by Eagle Eye Cherry to no avail *shrugs* Happy holidays!!









"in my little Bisayan town
the guitar strings are loose
and the sound
becomes musically challenged...

surprisingly
i can sing alone and yet
still be in tune
without things
without so many people

yes, it is this solitude
and the rest becomes mere surplusage"

- Excerpt from "learning to live alone and be happy" by Ric S. Bastasa

Noisettes LIVE

My favorite band Noisettes performing two of my favorite songs "Kilimanjaro" and "Never forget you." I have to say Shingai and the boys absolutely blew me away with their rendition of "Kilimanjaro." I really hope they achieve widespread commercial success with their next album, they deserve it. Here is the original video of Miriam Makeba singing "Kilimanjaro" live.



Phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. Rest in peace Mama Makeba. As a bonus treat, here are some sexy pictures of Shingai and Dan I found online courtesy of kennaland.com

The Brothers Bloom

So I finally got around to watching the movie The Brothers Bloom written and directed by Rian Jackson and distributed by Summit Entertainment. It wasn't a box office hit but it is an incredibly enjoyable movie which deserves more attention than it received. Quirkily written and beautifully acted, it left me thoroughly intrigued and genuinely inspired.



Below is an audio clip of the main theme song of the movie written by Nathan Johnson and aptly titled "Penelope's theme". Penelope is a character in the movie played by the lovely Rachel Weisz. The song does a good job in capturing her vulnerable yet subtly adventurous spirit. Anyways, please listen to the song. There's something indescribably magical about it...



Lovely ain't it?? if this doesn't inspire you then hell, I don't know what will. The movie also stars the massively talented Japanese actress, Rinko Kikuchi, who should have won an Oscar for her riveting performance in Babel.



Adrien Brody is also brilliant in this and Mark Ruffalo, who plays his older and conniving brother, is effective and complements the rest of the cast. I should warn you, the movie is slow at certain parts. It does pick up steam every time it slows down so if you are patient, the overall experience won't be a disappointment.

Shingai Shoniwa

So I decided to feature Shingai Shoniwa because she is the most gorgeous human specimen my eyes have ever seen lol. Seriously! this girl is bangin. In the next life, she would be my wife ( I'm sorry Beyonce but I couldn't resist). Shingai is the bassist and lead singer of the talnted London Indie band Noisettes. Born is 1980, she is a Brit of Zimbabwean descent.



Shingai is massively talented. With an edgy rock/soul-flavored voice, she hits all the right notes. Second of all, she is an amazing performer and her showmanship is evident on stage. Her onstage antics vary from skipping, crawling, climbing and pretty much everything unpredictable.




Shingai's natural hair should be one of the great wonders of the world. I must admit that growing up, I never found natural hair to be sexy or even appealing. Yes! I admit the self-hate. Like many other people of color, I had been brainwashed into believing that Western features were ideal ya da ya da ya you know the rest of the story. Suffice to say, my perceptions have clearly changed and natural hair to me right now is the best thing to ever happen in this world since fried chicken. Shingai has taken the concept of natural hair to the next level by making it bold, fun, daring and modern. With her afrocentric style, she truly embodies the concept of a confident black woman proud to be in her own skin.