Friday, November 30, 2012

Workout with the Right Music

Listening to your body when it comes to working out is important so you don't hurt yourself and  listening to the appropriate music depending on how you're feeling, physically as well as mentally can play an important role in getting through any given workout regimen. 

Try something with a fast tempo that's up-beat and fun to get pumped for an energized workout! Before I start  my warm up and streches I get ready and set to go by choosing only a couple of songs from a particular artist, doing this can ensure stretching for the recommended time which is  10-15 minutes. Some of my go-to's of fast tempo up beat tunes during my warm-ups include: Gwen Stefani's Holla Back Girl and What You Waiting For, Carry Out By Timbaland feturing Justin Timberlake,  a handful of various Beastie Boys tracks and Beyonce's Single Ladies, Diva and Video Phone.

Misery does love company so if you're at the gym (good job!) but still feeling down don't drown your sorrows with the Smiths put on your favorite good-mood grooves and get ready to get your endorphins flowing!




Strength training and weight conditioning can be stressful and they should be a challenge, now match that with angry, aggressive music and you'll find the strength to power though that last power lift! Nine Inch Nails, Eve, Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP Master  and Die Antwoord are just a few heavy hitting artists that I turn to and turn up while I'm pumping up.

 Maybe you had a bad day, you're stressing out and you need to get out some aggression, in that case this genre of music will make you push harder, sweating  that negativity right out and leaving you clear headed after your grueling workout!

Endurance activities such as running and cycling can push you to limits you didn't know you had and beyond! As with every type of exercise plan proper training, nutrition and adequate rest are key but being able to keep going when you've already gone an incredible distance takes a strong mind set, and  a good set of headphones won't hurt. Before I hit the ground running I decide what album I feel like listening to: some days the raunchy Teaches of Peaches makes my 3 mile run a breeze, other days M.I.A's Maya, Kala or Arular keep me going and those LPs aren't the only ones! I have number of albums and all sorts of genres of music I listen to when I go out for a run.

Playing an entire album during an endurance activity makes sense because you'll be focused on reaching you goal and you won't want to think about what song you're going to listen to next.
Choose an artist, album, press play and you'll be back in no time, or at least it will seem that way!

"When I workout I like to listen to Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder and The Rolling Stones." - P.O.T.U.S Barack Obama

The distance of your runs or bike rides will vary which is perfect because all albums are different lengths, too! Listen to a 16 track album like The End from Black  Eyed Peas on those long hauls or something like Treats from Sleigh Bells which has 11 tracks when you're not going all out, either way you're still going the distance!

Getting the results you want means changing up your exercise routine rather than doing the exact same exercises over and over, so why listen to the same music over and over? Chances are you'll get bored listening to the same playlist every time you hit the gym which could subconsciously cause you to cut your exercise routine short. There's a plethora of great music out there so there's no reason why the soundtrack to your workouts should sound like a broken record!





Monday, November 19, 2012

T'is the baking season!

Baby it's cold outside and with winter cheer in the air it's the perfect time of year to bake! Gingerbread and peppermint are delicious traditional holiday flavors but I wanted to bring something new to the table. What's a flavor that says happy holidays I wondered, then it hit me. . .

Fruitcake!
 (No, not you!)

I decided to put a tasty spin on the otherwise undesirable Christmas time dessert and my friend Krisa helped in the creation of fruitcake cupcakes.  We found a recipe online , got all of the ingredients and turned the dreary Sunday into a yummy Funday!
  We substituted the rum that the recipe calls for with 1/4 cup more butter, a splash of vanilla extract and a 1/4 cup of water which lighted up the otherwise thick mix, used dried strawberries, blueberries, apricots and dates and we placed walnuts on top of each cupcake rather than mixing them in.

1/8 cup chopped dried cherries
 1/8 cup chopped dried mango
 1/4 cup dried cranberries
 1/8 cup dried currants 
 1/4 cup dark rum 
 1/2 cup butter 
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
 1 egg 
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
1/8 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses 
1/4 cup dark rum
 2 tablespoons milk 
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts


 After about a half  an hour in the oven filling the apartment with the aroma of warm molasses our little creations were ready to be topped off with cream cheese frosting before their debut taste test!

Tasting the buttery goodness with the whisper of dark sweetness from the brown sugar and molasses I knew that Krisa and I had found success with our fruitcake cupcakes! The dried strawberries, blueberries, apricots and dates add a touch of  texture, flavor and natural sweetness to each cupcake and because cream cheese frosting itself is not too sweet it complimented our fruitcake cupcakes well!
Everyone on your list will want a fruitcake cupcake this year!















Thursday, November 15, 2012

FINALLY! Twilight's final finale

Team Jacob or Team Edward? I don't know about you but I'm on  Team soundtrack. 


Passion Pitt, St. Vincent, Ellie Goulding and  Green Day are just a few of the artists featured on the sound track to the last installment of the Twilight Saga and I can't help but wonder how the Twilight movie soundtracks can be so good while the movies themselves suck. 

Original Soundtrack - Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2  

Track listing:

 Where I Come From - Passion Pit
Bittersweet - Ellie Goulding
Forgotten, The - Green Day
Fire in the Water - Feist
Everything and Nothing - The Boom Circuits
Antidote, The - St. Vincent
Speak Up - POP ETC
Heart of Stone - Iko
Cover Your Tracks - A Boy and His Kite
Ghosts - James Vincent McMorrow
All I`ve Ever Needed - Nikki Reed
New for You - Reeve Carney
Thousand Years, Pt. 2, A - Christina Perri
Plus Que Ma Propre Vie - Carter Burwell





Wednesday, November 14, 2012

See Boys Noize Live!


To gear up for his first ever LIVE tour in the States  Berlin's Boys Noize is sharing a glimpse of what is being called "The Trail Of Rave" which is going down now in Europe on his
 Out Of The Black Tour. 


Are you ready to experience Boys Noize  one month from today at The Fox Theater in Oakland?!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

NARS make-up, Warhol's Pop Art & Blondie

 Blondie's Debbie Harry is the face of  The Andy Warhol Holiday collection from  NARS cosmetics featuring work from the iconic artist's Pop-Art silk-screen series and color palette's that compliment Warhol's vibrant style and Harry's punk edge.


  Inspired by  art which was inspired by the fashionable musician NARS founder and creator Francois Nars delivers this combination of  inspirational artforms in a completely separate yet just as creative outlet, make-up, and I think it's fantastic to see one passion stimulate another!

Capturing the infamous lips of  Warhol's muses, The "Kiss Mini Larger Than Life® Lip Gloss Coffret" carries five shades of lip gloss (hot pink, glittery, beige, sherbert and rose) and  is sold  in an ingenious keepsake pop art soup can.

  The Debbie Harry Eye And Cheek Palette  combines punk stardom with pop artist offering four daring eyeshadows and two new shades of blush. Inspired by Andy's use of diamond dust in his artwork and the essence of Debbie Harry's downtown scene this collection will make you shine with it's sensational shimmer and it's sparkling hues. 


 












Music itself is a form of art and it inspires and influences us in so many different ways:
 Get glammed up and ready to rock with the fun colors and collectible punk rock packaging from The Andy Warhol Holiday collection available now at Sephora.

"His [Warhol's] artistic point of view has always been so informative in my career as a make-up artist and as a photographer"
 - Francois Nars.




Thursday, November 8, 2012

Emily Wells at Bottom of the Hill 11/3/2012

Musician, producer, performer, songwriter, composer, Emily Wells brought her intriguing sound and soulful style to Bottom of the Hill Saturday night and she invited me inside for a quick interview before the venue opened it's doors.

Q: Have you been to Bottom of the Hill before?
A:Yes, I have, just to see a show though. I don't remember who it was but I remember having sort of a life changing conversation here but I don't recall the band that I was seeing (laughs) 
Q: Well that's cool, I'd say that's a sign of a good time. 
A: Yes. 

Q: Many people describe your music as a mixture of classical and hip-hop. Do you agree with this description of your music?
A: I think that I have made music that has been heavily influenced by those things but I wouldn't say that that's all I am interested in making, you know what I mean? When you're  a band...well who knows, I don't know... I think maybe people want me to keep doing that. (laughs) but, people think that's all I do but....
Q: but you  do more
A: (smiles) yeah absolutely and  I am influenced by so much music but those two (classical and hip-hop) have been pretty major for me so I think they find there way in more than anything else. 

Q: I read that you started playing the violin when you were 4 years old and that your first violin was plastic?
A: Yeah! (laughs) You did do some reading! Yes, it was from Michael's and I think my parents were trying to appease me and, it didn't work (smiles) so...then I started the  Suzuki method for kids and yeah. 
Q: I picture a pink plastic violin, was it pink?
A:  No it was actually like faux wood, ya know, tan. 
Q: Ah, gotchya, so it looked real. Ok ok, now I have a clear picture of a young Emily Wells playing a plastic violin. 
A: (laughs) yes. 

Q: You play a bunch of different instruments; violin, guitar,  banjo, analog,  synthesizers, toy pianos and I will probably pronounce this wrong, glockenspiels?
A: Oh! That was exactly right.
Q: It was? Oh yeah! Do you have a favorite instrument?
A:  Umm, the violin. Yeah. Or the loop petal I kind of feel like it is an instrument,you know. It's like a tool to get cross arrangements live and so that kind of feels like an instrument even though you know it doesn't have strings or keys or whatever. But I love the violin, it's the thing I feel most comfortable with. Everything else I'm like "oh! maybe I can sort of get that to work!" so yeah.
                                                                             
                                                                       

Q: Tell me a little bit about the LP Mama, which was released earlier this year.
A: Right, in April.Well,  I recorded it in Topanga Canyon. Most of it was done on tape and conceptually...it's about lose mostly, on a lot of levels and yeah. It's been fun touring it but I'm kind of ready to move on. Mama got a little delayed being released and I have a new record written.
Q: Wow, really?  That's pretty awesome! I've listened to Mama a bunch and I really enjoy it, it's a great album.
A: Thank you very much.

Q: You have been on tour co-headlining with Dark Dark Dark, how is that going?
A: It's good, yeah. It's really fun. I like them a lot. I like their music a lot. You know when you sign up to go on the road with a band you better like their music cause you're going to have it stuck in your head. I was turned on to Dark Dark Dark long before we met and they have a song called Bright Bright Bright that I love. I try to get them to play it every night but...

Q: Have you encountered any fanatics along the way?
A:  (laughs) yeah, yeah definitely. Usually every night there's someone who's a little overzealous (laughs) Sometimes you just need to walk away but most times if you pause and look deeper in to the person they're seeing something of themselves in you so you have to be careful with that kind of power.
Q: Sounds like you probably got a good handle of it if it happens every night.
A: (smiles) Well to some degree. I was once a very excited fan as a teenager so know what that feels like, it feels very important.
A: Very.

Q: Last question here Emily then I'll let you get ready for your set. Halloween just passed, did you dress up?
A: I did. I dressed up as Bruce Springsteen.
Q: Awesome!
A: It was a really easy costume. I do love Bruce and I like his style.
Q: And did you sing?
A: I was preforming so...
Q: So yes
A: Exactly (laughs) I didn't sing any Sprinsteen though.   I kind of want to do a whole cover album of Nebraska, so yeah.
Q: That would be cool, I want to hear that.


Q: Thank you so much Emily I know how busy show days are! Looking forward to the show.
A: Thank you.

"Alright let's do this!" Emily told the crowd after technical hiccups and ill-placed equipment delayed the unique modern genre hybrid set and she got the party started on her violin with an instrumental diddy.

Emily is a true solo- artist: behind mixers and synthesizers, in between drums and symbols one could not help but be spellbound. The allure continued as Emily exclaimed "YEAH SAN FRANCISCO!" as she picked up a staccato timpani mallet banged it on a symbol and jumped right into the traveling circus-esque song "Symphony 2 & The Click Click Boom". 


Emily's eccentricity and accompanying eclecticism continued as  she graced the crowd with tracks off of Mama, including the bluesy, trip-hop, slow-tempoed track, "Mama's Gonna Give You Love" . Experiencing  Emily Wells live I realized that the far fetched resemblance of Emily's vocals compared to those of  Lana Del Rey are inescapable on record and onstage only Emily's vocals don't sound contrived. 


On December 7th Emily's tour with Dark Dark Dark ends but there is no stopping Emily Wells: "Becomes the Color"from the Stoker soundtrack is already out for your enjoyment and as Emily waits to record her next album you can listen to 2012's Mama!














Tuesday, November 6, 2012

3rd Album from Crystal Castles is Crystal Castles III out 11/12/2012

Crystal Castles, quite easily the quintessential electronic experimental duo of the 21st Century is releasing their third album next week!

 Predictably and  appropriately titled, Crystal Castles III falls in line following the 2010 release of Crystal Castles II and the 2008 debut Crystal Castles,  Kath and Glass reunite us with their romantically melancholic chaos.


As if excitement needed to be generated for what may very well be one of the most ancipated releases of 2012 Crystal Castles has been showering fans with sneak previews of their new material since July! 

 The same day that Crystal Castles announced their North American Tour, they also began streaming "Wrath of God" an echoy, haunting dream-pop pure Crystal Castles track and as of October 8th "Wrath of God" is free to download.


Welcomed warmly on August 7th as a free download, Plague plays out like an emotional roller-coaster with it's eerie-whispered lyrics, dark beats, heavy synths and a shrill chorus, Plague definitely sets the standard for what to expect from Crystal Castles III!

 Created by Ivan Grbin, Plague's music video simply consists of a scene from the 1981 thriller, Possession, yet the combination of the scene's intense simplicity and  the song's effortless complexity gets under your skin and leaves you feening for more Crystal Castles III. 




The award for most comprehensible lyrics from a Crystal Castles song may go to "Not in Love"  featuring Robert Smith but 2012's "Affection" which is now streaming, gives "Not in Love" a run for it's money. Featuring both Kath and Glass on vocals "Affection" is appropriately short, sweet and in my opinion the sexiest song from Crystal Castles to date! 




We've confirmed the name of Crystal Castles next album, heard three songs off of it, the band has been on tour promoting it plus we already know the track list of Crystal Castles III, now  all we have left to do is pre-order Crystal Castles III and wait patiently for the official US release...November 12th we storm the Crystal Castles third album!

 
(III)
01 Plague
02 Kerosene
03 Wrath of God
04 Affection
05 Pale Flesh
06 Sad Eyes
07 Insulin
08 Transgender
09 Violent Youth
10 Telepath
11 Mercenary
12 Child I Will Hurt You






  

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Sweet St. Lucia



On the evening of October 23rd, as fans lined up down the street for the Two Door Cinema Club show at Oakland's Fox Theater I ducked inside the venue for a quick sit down with Jean Philip Grobler from the opening act St. Lucia




Q: I understand that you toured with Passion Pit this past summer is that correct?
A: We kind of toured…actually we did tour with them. We did this, um, Australian Festival like traveling festival. Um and then we had a support show with them back in ….May…or…no it was June! Which we didn’t actually make… because of a long story which I won’t get into but yeah.
Q: uh oh
A: But we made it up in Australia I think (laughs)
Q: Oh good, I’m sure you did!

Q: Awesome so you did some touring with Passion Pitt, you’re currently on tour with Two Door Cinema Club, I think I read that you were just confirmed for a festival next week here in Oakland? Or is it in San Francisco? Is it  The Wintersalt Festival?
A: OH! It’s uhh, it’s actually in December at the end of December.
Q: December, my mistake (laughs)
A: (laughs)
Q: I probably worried you “we’re playing a festival here next weekend?”
A: (laughs) I was like “next week?! Oakland?! What?!!” 



Q: you seem to be on the road a lot, is there a light at the end of your touring tunnel?
A: we, you know… we haven’t actually been touring that much, like, I’ve been spending…we’ve been touring a bit but I’ve been spending a lot if time finishing off the album, but I think that now that it’s basically finished we’re going to be touring a lot more then cause I mean…
Q: to push
A: Yeah, because you know cause there is so much music out there these days that I think the, the real way for people to notice you is you know a combination of things being on the internet and else where but also of just playing shows and people going to the shows and being like “wow this is great” 

 Q: Definitely. I don’t know if you have a say in what bands you do go on tour with but is that something you take into consideration to generate new St Lucia fans?
 A: Yeah yeah definitely. I think…..its important to think about the bands you’re playing with definitely. You know in terms of  who you want your audience to be  and that kind of stuff but at the end of the day I think if you, as long as you play with a band that’s vaguely similar in some vague way. It doesn't matter who likes your music you know? Its just good that people get into it in some way. But, and yeah I do, I have a choice. I definitely approve, like, like everything. 

Q: Gotchya, that's awesome. I was going to ask when we could expect the release of the full St Lucia LP which you alluded to earlier. So, we can expect the LP soon, is that correct?
A: Yeah I mean its basically finished like I said, um...but there's a lot of  label politics and things involved like, when the release date is and you know because we're on a major label they have all these other things that they're also releasing and that they've been planning to release for a long time and because we're like a new act we sort of have  to....somehow fit in between that and find...you know cause there are specific times if the year where less stuff is being released than other times of the year that's like a better gap for a new artist to release stuff so we'll probably look for one if those gaps, which I think should be early next year I would say, sometime. 
Q: Cool, looking forward to it!
A: Awesome (laughs)

Q: Have you ever visited the island of St.Lucia?
A:   I haven't. But, um, the band is actually named after the St. Lucia in South Africa.  I went there a lot as a kid and it's also kind of, sort of a sub tropical ocean-side town. 

Q: Has there been an album this year that you can't stop listening to?
A: Well at the moment I am really enjoying the Tame Impala album that just recently came out. Um, there's a few albums like, the Chairlift album I loved, The Chromatics album I really really like. I'm so busy making music and just being involved in it that normally the time I listen to musuc is when I have it on in the back-round while I'm doing other things and normally the music that's condusive to that sort of thing. It needs to have a certain quality and I find that The Chromatics album is really good fir that, just to be in the backround a create some sort of a mood. 

 Q: Very cool. All three of those bands have played in the bay area recently. I actually just saw Chairlift here at The Fox Theater last month. 
A: Cool, we were actually on that Australian tour with them.
Q: Oh really? Chairlift was on that bill ,too? Fun!
A: Yeah! it was so awesome hanging out backstage with all of these bands, and just be like "heeey what's up? What's happening?" 



Q: Would you ever consider doing work with St. Vincent?
A: I mean yeah, shes awesome. I really really like her music so yeah absolutely. The two islands are pretty close, so it's sort of inevitable I guess. (laughs)
Q: There you go, it'd be the vacation tour
A: Exactly. (laughs) a "vacation island tour..."

Q: What genre of music woud you say best discribes that of St Lucia and why?
A: Being so involved with it I find it sort of difficult to look at what my music is from a broader prospective, but I would say it's...I wouldn't say that it's super obvious pop but there are strong pop elements there and then there are elements that are a bit more unexpected and un-traditional. I  would say it probably fits into  something like indie-pop or electro-pop or just something like that.  I don't like to catergirize things that much but...
Q: It is what it is right?
A: Exactly. (laughs)

Q: Awesome. Are you excited for the show tonight?
A: I am yeah, This venue is amazing! its so beautiful. When we were soundchecking it felt like Led Zeppelin or something cause theres a huge like echo. When ever we would play anything it would just sound super cool. and all the Moroccan kind of decorative finishes and stuff is really really beautiful. 

Q: Yeah the Fox here in Oakland is one of my personal favorite venues to see a show and I can hardly wait to see your show here tonight! Thank you for taking time to talk with me before hitting the stage. 
A: My pleasure.


 No question, St. Lucia's touring efforts are paying off as the venue packed them in to see St. Lucia at 8:00pm, the first of three bands that night. In a pop of white pants and a cool pastel linen button up, Jean-Philip looked as if he were on a vacation island onstage under the splashes of gold stage lights.


Playing tracks, "Before the Dive", "Closer Than This" and "All Eyes on You" from the 2012 self titled EP, St. Lucia passionately and effortlessly soothed the audience into a  tranquil state with complex yet calming arrangements of synthesizers and calypso rhythms which sounded amazing at The Fox Theater.

After six songs Jean-Philip thanked and wished everyone a great rest of the night before announcing the last St, Lucia song of the night, the catchy single "September". 

St. Lucia will be touring the East Coast in December before returning to San Francisco the weekend of December 28th for a tropical holiday by the bay!












Thursday, November 1, 2012

MNDR in SF

Two years ago I struck gold when stumbled upon E.P.E, the four track EP from an artist I hadn't of heard of, MNDR. Since then MNDR has released her debut LP: Feed Me Diamonds but it wasn't until October 22nd, 2012 that I got to witness the tall, blonde, fashion forward social golden gal live on stage.


 MNDR was the supporting act of the night, sardined in between Of Verona and Shiny Toy Guns, Amanda Warner (MNDR her self) carried her act on her own. As she  paraded about in a goth-chic ensemble consisting of a short black pleated skirt, a shiny long sleeved industrial looking shirt, black suspenders and metallic cotton-candy pink loafers, MNDR was aaccompanied on stage by a mixer, small synthesizers and neon flashing lights and the first song of the night "Cut Me Out" attempted to get the party started.




Not struggling to dominate the stage but to captivate the growing crowd as The Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco filled to capacity MNDR was able to mesmerize the crowd with her intense interpretative Kirshna-ish dance moves yet she seemed to not know what to do with San Francisco's lack of dancing.

Good times rolled on as MNDR snuck behind her mixers and turned up the volume for the onstage remixed  version of "C.L.U.B", more recently known as "U.B.C.L" on the Feed Me Diamonds album. Her unique, nasally yet firm abrasive voice is unexpected because of  her doll like features but MNDR is no shrinking violet: her lyrics sing feminist feme fatal stories in a funky-fresh, disco-dancing, club-hopping way.

Before she sang it, MNDR told her audience that the chorus to the song, "#1 In Heaven": 'Tell them. I am smiling and send my greetings." is what Patty Hearst said after being arrested for robbing a bank where someone was murdered. " y'all know who she is?" "Let's get on with it then!"





Leading up to the end of her set MNDR was fully engaged in trying to pump up the crowd, high fiving people, giving fans a chance to sing with her microphone MNDR even tried to dance with a guy in the front row before letting him know that she knew that he could smile before she returned to the stage.

I personally love when a show ends with a bang and ending her set with the energetic electropop "Faster Horses" MNDR did just that as she galloped around stage grinning from ear to ear MNDR left people with a show they won't soon forget.

I for one hope the lack-luster support at her show at The Rickshaw Stop doesn't discourage MNDR from returning to SF soon and hopefully it will be for a crowd worth performing to.


                                                             ("#1 In Heaven" music video)