I made the decision today to unlist my YouTube videos and work on re-recording them now that I have means of producing a better quality sound and a decent picture. Will start work on this later this week but in the meantime I'm working putting together voice acting demo reels as it's something I have been planning for a very long time. I've been very distant from online presence the last few months for various reasons - particularly including lack of self confidence for my musical abilities alongside illness and college work- but returning and seeing how I still have so much support on Twitter and Reverbnation in particular has made me realise that I just need to keep learning and improving and NOT giving up. Thank you to those who have been with me from the start; my amazing family and friends, and to those who haven't who have purely come across me due to my music or my blog. We're well into 2013 now and it's time for a change in me and the way that I 'market' myself, so to speak. A new, more confident, more ambitious, more hard-working and more flamboyant Astrid has been born, and I hope that she will do you proud. This will be posted across every social media platform that I use because I feel it important to say thank you for your continued support and being such an inspiration.
- Kisses! xx
Music, fashion and rants about the peculiarities in the life of a musician.
Monday 11 February 2013
Sunday 10 February 2013
The Sunday Review: Portrait (Josephine)
I mentioned in a previous post about Paloma Faith's 2013 tour, and her amazing support act Josephine. Since then, as I said, I have been constantly playing her album so I figured that this would be my review for the week.
Josephine (Oniyama) - Portrait
Amazon | Itunes
Rating: 5/5
It's safe to say that this album has been very well put together. I don't think her music could be pidgeonholed into a specific genre so to speak but all of the songs compliment and contrast each other perfectly, and you could certainly not accuse the her of writing to a formula.
What I really love about this album is the use of real acoustic instruments and the way that everything compliments each other to create a really natural yet overwhelming musical experience. The mixing is amazing - I've yet to find out who was the technician behind this masterpiece, but what really is the most important for me is Josephine's natural talent and how she is so simply brilliant.
In all honesty I can not stress enough how beautiful I find the voice of Josephine Oniyama. It is the perfect mellow tone without being lifeless and is full of sparkle, and it's completely unique. I have never heard another voice with a combination like hers. If anybody could link me to one, go ahead and I'll stand corrected, but it won't take away from her amazing talent.
This album will undoubtedly be a February hit for me because there is a song for every occasion on it. There are melancholy songs that haunt you and make your spine tingle- 'When We Were Tresspassers', 'Pray That I Move', 'House of Mirrors' - there is a fantastic feel-good song, 'A Freak A', and songs that just make you want to get up and move such as 'Pepper Shaker' and 'What a Day'. All in all, this is an album you can keep coming back to and I think that everybody who appreciates raw talent should have a copy of this album.
Josephine (Oniyama) - Portrait
Amazon | Itunes
Rating: 5/5
- When We Were Trespassers
- A Freak A
- Portrait
- Original Love
- I Think It Was Love
- What a Day
- The Last Minute
- Pepper Shaker
- Pray That I Move
- House of Mirrors
It's safe to say that this album has been very well put together. I don't think her music could be pidgeonholed into a specific genre so to speak but all of the songs compliment and contrast each other perfectly, and you could certainly not accuse the her of writing to a formula.
What I really love about this album is the use of real acoustic instruments and the way that everything compliments each other to create a really natural yet overwhelming musical experience. The mixing is amazing - I've yet to find out who was the technician behind this masterpiece, but what really is the most important for me is Josephine's natural talent and how she is so simply brilliant.
In all honesty I can not stress enough how beautiful I find the voice of Josephine Oniyama. It is the perfect mellow tone without being lifeless and is full of sparkle, and it's completely unique. I have never heard another voice with a combination like hers. If anybody could link me to one, go ahead and I'll stand corrected, but it won't take away from her amazing talent.
This album will undoubtedly be a February hit for me because there is a song for every occasion on it. There are melancholy songs that haunt you and make your spine tingle- 'When We Were Tresspassers', 'Pray That I Move', 'House of Mirrors' - there is a fantastic feel-good song, 'A Freak A', and songs that just make you want to get up and move such as 'Pepper Shaker' and 'What a Day'. All in all, this is an album you can keep coming back to and I think that everybody who appreciates raw talent should have a copy of this album.
A link to Josephine's single, What A Day, on Soundcloud for those who have never ecountered her before.
Saturday 9 February 2013
Sunday 3 February 2013
The Sunday Review - Paloma Faith's Fall to Grace Tour
Last week I had the privilege of attending Paloma Faith's York performance of her Fall to Grace tour, and it was absolutely amazing. It was so much more than just a concert because of the way that it put together music with lighting, setting, wardrobe and movement. It wasn't just music and it wasn't just theatre but it was certainly art. I'm going to start off by running through the basics of what happened in the show before evaluating it - not that I think I'm going to be able to find any flaws, so to speak.
To begin with, the support act Josephine really set it off with catchy tunes and quite simply an astonishing voice. She kind of reminded me of Tracy Chapman crossed with Heidi Herløw with a soothing and deep mellow tone but an incredibly wide and beautiful vibrato. I have to admit that I'd never heard of her before but since the concert I have practically had her album on repeat 24/7. She certainly has some amazing talent both vocally and instrumentally and has a very flattering dress sense as well as a brilliant stage presence. My only two slight criticisms were that some of her songs were a little repetitive for live performance - still brilliant, but I did find myself getting kind of lost in the meaning and forgetting as my attention span isn't really so good, and her bass player looked like he was really, really bored and didn't want to be there. Altogether though, I really enjoyed listening and would absolutely encourage you to go and buy Portrait, the album.
The next thing that happened was an unbearable break, as usually happens in gigs. It was that point when I felt very, incredibly lucky that I'd managed to get a seat instead of having to stand. That being said, though, standing certainly would have been worth it were I not sick.
When Paloma finally did enter the stage, she did so by coming through the centre of the curtains and honest to the Lord, I have no idea how she did it in those shoes. Any other woman would have tripped over and fallen flat on her face, and that's without worrying about having two huge fans strapped to your arms. Nonetheless, there was no falling done by Paloma that evening which is probably due to the intense amount of practice that she has had over the years.
She entered to a mix of instrumental and her own voice talking about where she'd come from etc. and this was a recurrence throughout the whole show, just with different words, obviously. A spotlight focused in and it was just her in front of the curtain as she began to sing and wave her fans around in a very artistic manner. A few further songs were done like this before the curtain pulled back to reveal the musicians behind her, at which point the continuous flow of songs did still not stop for a while. I loved these transitions where she would finish the song, the lights would go off and then come back on after she had taken a sip of drink to stop her throat from drying because it made it clear that this wasn't just a concert where musicians frequently do that, but more like theatre where you would never see the actors take a break. It just made the performance somehow more captivating and special. Her final song ended with what appeared to be petals falling from the ceiling, a truly sophisticated and beautiful touch.
The songs that she performed were obviously all from her 'Fall to Grace' album, but she also had a small section in the middle where she performed her most famous songs from her previous one,'Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful?' The mix proved nice, as did the contrast of the set because it wasn't all the same.
Paloma is undoubtedly one of the funniest artists around at the minute. She seems to be willing to make a complete fool of herself in the name of art and because of that she can completely get away with it. Some of the things she said were absolutely priceless, and her opening line was 'I'm not talking too much because I get carried away, and I ruin it all by talking. People just think: Get back to the Queen Vic!'. No Paloma, you do not ruin it at all, and please, come and perform for us again.
Outfit. Well, this is probably a big one here, prepare yourself. If you would like to see what she was wearing, click here, but if you're happy with a description, well, she was wearing a red/pink (It's hard to tell under stage lights) and white striped maxi skirt, a white camisole and some bright pink/red shoes which I reckon could probably be from eveninglady.co.uk as she's said before that they are her signature shoes, along with the most enormous pink feathers on her head. I have to say, not many could rock that look without looking odd but she certainly did - even if she admitted that it was uncomfortable.
Onto my scoring. (Marks out of 10)
Support Act: 9
Music: 10
Transitions: 10
Lighting: 8
Pyrotechnics: 10
Fan service: 11
Constume: 10
.......................................................
Total: 67/70 (68)
If you ever get the opportunity to see Paloma live, I highly recommend it and I pray that she will come back to York someday.
To begin with, the support act Josephine really set it off with catchy tunes and quite simply an astonishing voice. She kind of reminded me of Tracy Chapman crossed with Heidi Herløw with a soothing and deep mellow tone but an incredibly wide and beautiful vibrato. I have to admit that I'd never heard of her before but since the concert I have practically had her album on repeat 24/7. She certainly has some amazing talent both vocally and instrumentally and has a very flattering dress sense as well as a brilliant stage presence. My only two slight criticisms were that some of her songs were a little repetitive for live performance - still brilliant, but I did find myself getting kind of lost in the meaning and forgetting as my attention span isn't really so good, and her bass player looked like he was really, really bored and didn't want to be there. Altogether though, I really enjoyed listening and would absolutely encourage you to go and buy Portrait, the album.
 |
| An image from my seat at the concert. Not the best quality in the world. |
The next thing that happened was an unbearable break, as usually happens in gigs. It was that point when I felt very, incredibly lucky that I'd managed to get a seat instead of having to stand. That being said, though, standing certainly would have been worth it were I not sick.
When Paloma finally did enter the stage, she did so by coming through the centre of the curtains and honest to the Lord, I have no idea how she did it in those shoes. Any other woman would have tripped over and fallen flat on her face, and that's without worrying about having two huge fans strapped to your arms. Nonetheless, there was no falling done by Paloma that evening which is probably due to the intense amount of practice that she has had over the years.
She entered to a mix of instrumental and her own voice talking about where she'd come from etc. and this was a recurrence throughout the whole show, just with different words, obviously. A spotlight focused in and it was just her in front of the curtain as she began to sing and wave her fans around in a very artistic manner. A few further songs were done like this before the curtain pulled back to reveal the musicians behind her, at which point the continuous flow of songs did still not stop for a while. I loved these transitions where she would finish the song, the lights would go off and then come back on after she had taken a sip of drink to stop her throat from drying because it made it clear that this wasn't just a concert where musicians frequently do that, but more like theatre where you would never see the actors take a break. It just made the performance somehow more captivating and special. Her final song ended with what appeared to be petals falling from the ceiling, a truly sophisticated and beautiful touch.
The songs that she performed were obviously all from her 'Fall to Grace' album, but she also had a small section in the middle where she performed her most famous songs from her previous one,'Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful?' The mix proved nice, as did the contrast of the set because it wasn't all the same.
Paloma is undoubtedly one of the funniest artists around at the minute. She seems to be willing to make a complete fool of herself in the name of art and because of that she can completely get away with it. Some of the things she said were absolutely priceless, and her opening line was 'I'm not talking too much because I get carried away, and I ruin it all by talking. People just think: Get back to the Queen Vic!'. No Paloma, you do not ruin it at all, and please, come and perform for us again.
Outfit. Well, this is probably a big one here, prepare yourself. If you would like to see what she was wearing, click here, but if you're happy with a description, well, she was wearing a red/pink (It's hard to tell under stage lights) and white striped maxi skirt, a white camisole and some bright pink/red shoes which I reckon could probably be from eveninglady.co.uk as she's said before that they are her signature shoes, along with the most enormous pink feathers on her head. I have to say, not many could rock that look without looking odd but she certainly did - even if she admitted that it was uncomfortable.
Onto my scoring. (Marks out of 10)
Support Act: 9
Music: 10
Transitions: 10
Lighting: 8
Pyrotechnics: 10
Fan service: 11
Constume: 10
.......................................................
Total: 67/70 (68)
If you ever get the opportunity to see Paloma live, I highly recommend it and I pray that she will come back to York someday.
Saturday 2 February 2013
Hits and Misses #1 ~ January 2013
Yes, I'm beginning a new series! In this series I will be posting a monthly roundup of what I've found brilliant and what I've been disappointed in with the hopes of finding like-minded people - or people to prove to me a reason to like something that I don't.
Without further ado, let us get to the list~
Without further ado, let us get to the list~
MUSIC
Hits
- Paloma Faith's 'Fall To Grace' tour - I went to see this the other day despite my illness and I'm so very, very glad that I did. The whole show was so much more than music because of the way that it was ingeniously put together. I'll do a proper concert review within the next week so I won't spoil it, but I will say that anybody who hasn't been or isn't going is missing out big time because it was a work of pure art.
- 'Breakaway' album by Elizabeth Mis - Okay, this might not be that new since it was released in October but I've been really super addicted to it this month. A friend introduced it to me and that was it, I was hooked. I mean, electropop and jazz, what could be more perfect? It's certainly a feel-good album that's ideal if you want to get your butt into shape or have something to groove to. Not that I'm doing that being ill but, I'm enjoying imagining to groove and exercise.
- The announcement of Tegomass' new single Sayonara ni Sayonari! Yes, you have permission to call me a crazed fangirl as it hasn't actually come out and I'm already excited, but this news has really cheered up my January and I did my happy dance right around the house when I found out.
Misses
- 'The Big Reunion' on ITV2 - I started watching this programme thinking that it would be good because some of the bands starred I knew from when I was growing up. Unfortunately, it just made them look like wankers, if you'll please excuse my language. I thought it might be insightful to watch as I thought it would give an impression of little mistakes that they made that caused them to crash and burn. Unfortunately it turns out that they weren't all so little, especially in the case of Five who were just complete and utter arseholes. I don't normally speak like this of people, but the programme just made me quite exasperated at the fact that people actually looked up to them despite the way that they behaved. Also, I was not impressed with the way that Simon Cowell was portrayed (As I said, I try to reserve judgment). If that was really him praising them for burning down a hotel room etc. then I'm darn well out of the music business as fast as possible. However, I will be watching the next episode but purely because I want to see how Atomic Kitten will portray themselves.
Reserved Opinion
- Sitti's move from Warner Music PH to Universal Music PH - I truly believe that there are both pros and cons to Sitti's move. With her new label, I think that she will go back to her roots in Bossa Nova and do what she loves which is probably the best thing for her happiness and will definitely mean that she produces some brilliant music, but I'm not sure if this change back to her previous style will necessarily mean that she keeps all of her fans in the younger generations or worldwide as I think there is a lot of love for Pop-Bossa diva Sitti. Personally though, I'm looking forward to hearing what she'll do next and will support her all the way.
FASHION/BEAUTY
Hits
- SCARVES - As people may well be aware, my non-pseudonymous self is a full time headcovering Catholic and as Astrid-Gwynedd on a super low key lazy day, the same applies. Normally I wear enough of a covering to be symbolic and fashionable but still retain my modesty (which is hard with bright pink hair), but recently I've learnt to appreciate the beauty of a full covering to keep me warm, remind me to be close to God and cover my roots. Needless to say, the rest of the things on my hits-list will be all scarf related. If you're not interested in scarves, kbye skip to the 'misses' below.
- PrincessRockz online store - If you're a devout Catholic, don't have a go at me for buying from stores aimed at Islamic women because this is England and it's very hard to find wide scarves at a decent price that you can cover your head with without looking for Hijabs. Anyway, this store has such an amazing variety of scarves and they are so quick to respond to your order and ship your items that I'm going to buy from them again and again and again, and would encourage anybody to do so.
- PinzPinzPinz online store - I won't go into detail too much here as I've been preparing a review to kick start my SugaryTwinkle Youtube channel, but I will tell you that if you're looking to add a little va-va-voom to your scarves or even clothing for whatever reason you should absolutely check out the brooches and general sparklies here.
Misses
- The obligatory 'GEEK' shirt - I'm not going to turn around and say that these don't look good because that would be lying, they do on certain people, it's just more of a 'WTF WHY???!'. I don't understand the obsession with labeling yourself with what has been a derogatory term for the last goodness-knows-how-long. It doesn't make you look self-respecting, and the word itself is the opposite of cool so, why do it? If it's supposed to be 'standing up' to bullying, well why not stick a label over your chest that says 'I AM AGAINST BULLYING.'? It just strikes me as being another hipster inspired thing that has infiltrated pop culture so I'm afraid it's a miss for me.
Here endeth the post, I hope that if you've read all of this it's been some use to you, or interesting, or stupid, or comedic, or at least provoked some reaction like 'omg she's a lunatic *__*'. Whatever you thought, feel free to bitch or be nice about it in the comments until next time! :)
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