Marvelous Music: Lucy Rose

Lucy Rose is a lovely singer/songwrite who's done a lot of backing vocals for the previously-blogged-about Bombay Bicycle Club. She's currently recording her debut album, but thankfully the internet is full of awesome songs to listen to already.

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Though she never played her music for people until she was 18, she doesn't seem to be lacking any stage-experience. In fact she was very good live. And I love that she even had a friend with her that played the cello.

At the Bombay Bicycle Club gig she did both the opening act as well as a lot of the backing vocals. You can, or hear, her collaborate with them here too:

Though I have a small EP of hers I can not wait till the actual album. In the meantime, YouTube it is.

Marvelous Music: Bombay Bicycle Club

One of my early morning favorites is the Bombay Bicycle Club. I just love the calm and magical vibe and Jack Steadman's creaky voice.

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A while back I went to see them live. If you're used to hearing calm songs while watching the sun rise, but suddenly feel the need to press your hands to your ears because it is SO loud, you feel a tad bit surprised to say the least. It was still good though.

But it just goes to show that you can't judge a show by it's cd. It's not the first time I expected a quiet gig yet came back completely deaf.

Either way, it's a lovely band, the guys are all nice and their music is lovely. Enjoy!

the Staff Benda Bilili Concert

The most incredible documentaries often get broadcast very late at night. As was the case with the film about Staff Benda Bilili, an African group of disabled street musicians. It was so captivating and inspiring that I gladly missed an extra hour or so of sleep.

Whereas most of the able-bodied people in their city aren't half as motivated and often turn to crime, these men kept practising in the local zoo because they were confident it was the only way to save their families. Their hard work has paid of and not only do they make money nowadays, they have created a truly unique sound.

The documentary makers found a boy on the streets with his self-made instrument and introduced him to the band. Now about 12 years later he's touring the world with them.

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the documentary again, followed by their concert! It was amazing! They are world class musicians, extremely positive and really know how to put on a show. One of the guys in a wheel chair even turned out to be a truly amazing dancer! Which just shows you no matter what you can make something of your life and find your own unique ways to enjoy yourself.

If you ever feel down, just watch the documentary or put on their music, it is impossible to be in a bad mood when you're influenced by their upbeat tunes and attitudes.

Just a Little Update

I have been one busy bee these past few weeks: my portfolio, Etsy and trying not to completely neglect the friends I have that aren't currently travelling the world. However I really miss blogging and will try to fit it into my new and busy lifestyle, so please bear with me while I am trying to make a new schedule for myself.

This post will be all about catching up, first off Justin Nozuka's concert.

He is really good in concert and you can tell he's a nice guy too. After the show he was signing, but left really early. Over the years I've really learned to be less shy, so I ran after him and asked him to sign my guitar strap, which has been signed by some of my favorite artists. It had to be done really quick, and there was some trouble with the pen but in the end he scribbled a little something, which most likely wasn't his autograph, but when he was done he gave me the sweetest smile, so I guess he didn't mind to much. My mom took this picture, while he was signing, and yes the cheek and bangs you see on the left are mine.

I love this next picture by the way, it really shows how mess-ups can be quite cool. And to me it looks like what often happens on stage, the feeling the music takes over the person or something.

Then there's this Japanese dessert I made, a black sesame pudding/jelly sort of thing. It was easy to make and tastes very good.

The box looks like this, so if you ever want to try it, look for this:

I'd like to end with a bit of Etsy news. Since father's day is coming up, I've been trying to make a few masculine/unisex designs. First new design, Batman:

There will be more very soon, including a cute one that's really feminine again. So keep your eyes open for that.

I hope you are all doing great and I'll do my best to post again soon!

Nikon Time

There's a lovely giveaway over at Goodnight Little Spoon. Bianca's giving away a one year Flickr Pro account. It's an amazing prize, something I've been wanting for a while actually. You can join in too here.

What you have to do to join is send in a photo of something that makes you happy.

Timing's great because I just went to a concert yesterday that made me really happy. Of course I shot some pictures.

I was supposed to go meet someone at the concert, but she couldn't make it so I ended up going alone. To be honest I didn't really knew Amanda Palmer's music (although I had heard of her), nor did I ever hear of Jason Wembley. But I looked it up, gave it a listen and immediately fell in love with their latest project.

They are currently on a world tour as the conjoined twins Evelyn Evelyn and they're doing one hell of a job. Not only is it a great show, with great humorous as well as a few sensitive songs, but can you imagine one instrument being played by two people? One holding the chords on the guitar while the other strums, that's just really hard.

After the combined show they each did a solo show as well. And there was also an opening act, so it got pretty late.

It was one of the best times I ever had and even though I was there on my own, I had some nice small talk with strangers and also got to meet the artists. There was a nice photographer waiting in line so I asked him if he could take a picture of me and the artists with my camera and he did.

Here's a little video so you can see what their shows are like:

The host is Sxip Shirey who also did the opening act. He was really nice and signed and decorated the cd I bought. It was just such a fun night.

And another fun day tomorrow, because it's Queen's Day, but more on that later.