L o b a B l a n c a {dot} c o m

Watched this last night OnDemand and it’s been stuck in my mental theater ever since. I think this is one of the most wonderfully weird music videos ever made. All thanks to Christopher Walken.

This one’s from the not-too-distant past, denizens. But it’s the conclusion of more than a year’s worth of research and perseverance that has left me incredibly happy today.

When I last visited London in September 2008, I took my cousin to a classical music concert at St. Martin-in-the Fields. Of all the things I love most about London, concerts at St. Martin are at the very tippy-top of the list. It’s no secret that I’m not a highly religious person, but sitting inside that beautiful church, ensconced in the glow of candlelight, the serene silence of history and devotion almost palpable around you…you can’t help but feel the flicker of kinship with whatever greater universal powers might be out there. I hope that my cousin felt something close to the same delight I feel whenever I go to St. Martin.

This concert, however, provided even more delight than any previous concerts. On this particular evening, the Locrian Ensemble of London, featuring renowned cellist Justin Pearson, gave the world premier performance of a piece by British composer Julie Cooper. The piece was “Cariad,” which is the Welsh word for “Love.”

I wish I had the words to capture the overwhelming joy that this piece brought to my heart. Tempered in style and cadence, it pulls you in slowly, softly, and carries you upward as it soars and swells to glorious heights before bringing you once more earthbound. It is rapturous and exquisite, and all other music from that evening’s performance melted away under the memory of this one composition.

I left St. Martin that evening with “Cariad” still playing in my head and heart. The piece was not on the evening’s set list, so I didn’t have the title on hand. But I couldn’t forget the music. So when I returned home to the States, I set about doing my best impersonation of Mrs. Columbo that I could muster since Loba Loves a Mystery, too (somewhere, a Kate Mulgrew fan is smiling right now).

My investigation led me first to Justin Pearson and then to the composer herself, Julie Cooper. Ms. Cooper has very kindly kept me informed about the recording schedule for “Cariad” ever since my initial query. And then, two nights ago when I arrived home and checked my e-mail, there was a message from her, informing me that “Cariad” was finally available for purchase!

I am now the very proud owner of this magnificent piece of music. And it is still as wonderful as it was the first time I heard it. So I’m encouraging all of you to visit Ms. Cooper’s page at CDBaby.com and listen to the preview of “Cariad.” If you like what you hear, by all means, purchase your very own MP3. I promise, you won’t regret it.

And, as a bonus, here’s a photo I snapped of St. Martin-in-the-Fields as my cousin and I sat on the steps of Trafalgar Square. Before you ask, I didn’t do a thing to this shot in PhotoShop. That glorious sky behind the church is all Mother Nature this time.

Remember all the times that I’ve talked about the English singing sensation known as Craig Bevan?

No?! Why not? What, do you think I type things here for my own personal amusement?

Okay, don’t answer that. Just go here and here so you can catch up with the conversation.

Finished? May I continue now? Okay, good. So this is what’s happening now with the Fabulosity Known As Bevan:

Local talent shines in the UK’s biggest original music competition.

Craig Bevan from Leeds has wowed the judging panel and sailed through the audition stage of Live and Unsigned. Craig will now be competing against the other most talented bands and artists in the country at the live shows of Live and Unsigned 2010 – all in a bid to be signed!

Craig battled against hundreds of auditionees to secure a spot in the live shows and now has the opportunity to prove that he is the best in the region. Acts that have made it through auditions will now take part in a live head to head battle in front of thousands of spectators and a professional judging panel to progress to the Live and Unsigned Festival at the 02 in London.

Live and Unsigned is the biggest original music competition in the UK for unsigned bands and artists. Attracting over 30, 000 entries in the past three years, it has set itself apart from its predecessors by offering and promoting originality. It’s now established as the definitive music competition for original acts and is open to all genres of music from Heavy Rock to Rap.

Chris Grayston, Events Director of Live & Unsigned explains “This competition really is worlds apart from X Factor and other TV talent contests – we’re all about originality, Live ability and credibility. We don’t accept demos or submissions and everyone auditions live. We’ve got some fantastic prizes up for grabs this year in a £60, 000 prize pool so there’s a lot of opportunity for everyone entering and not just the winners – that, along with the Festival means 2010 will be the biggest competition yet!”

All the acts that audition in the competition are battling it out for the chance to play at the Live and Unsigned Festival at the 02 in London! Which gives acts the chance to perform at the ultimate live music venue in the country. The overall winner of the competition is offered a recording and management contract with Future Music with an investment of up to £30, 000 to release their single. The winners will be crowned the UK’s best unsigned act in front of a capacity crowd on the main stage of the festival. A&R and celebrity judges last year include former Sex Pistols Manager Malcolm McLaren, pop RnB star Dane Bowers and Radio 1’s Annie Nightingale. Radio 1 DJ Greg James has already confirmed for 2010.

Acts will of course be competing for two main prizes, which include a management contract with Future Music and the opportunity to design and develop their own clothing range with Extreme State. On route the competition offers a comprehensive winners prize pool and acts will have the opportunity to win some fantastic prizes including Marshall state of the art amps, development through recording studio time in some of the UK’s finest studios and seminars and courses with ICMP. Other goodies up for grabs include an Extreme Element experience day, a year’s worth of Extreme State clothing and MUZU.TV will be contributing an all expenses paid trip to Dublin to film a music video and play at a festival.

Previous winners of the competition include Kiddo 360 who went on to pick up a Vodafone Live Award, B-Kay and Kazz who broke into the top 30 charts and last year’s winners from Glasgow The Detours who have just signed an exclusive clothing deal with Extreme.

The winners of 2010 will be thrust into the media spotlight through television, radio and the press and will have the opportunity to tour the UK. The tour involves as many as 100 gigs across the UK including the chance to perform live at some well-known festivals. One contestant who has caught the judge’s eye this year is local talent Craig Bevan, now competing in the Regional Final. Craig made it through the auditions at The Willows in Salford, Manchester amongst hundreds that queued for their turn in front of the judges. Craig is now preparing for the live show on the 7th of March at The Willows for the opportunity to progress towards the Live and Unsigned festival at the O2 in London.

For more information go to the website www.LiveandUnsigned.UK.com. Or better still come down and support local talent; you can purchase tickets on the door or from Craig personally.

See? I told you that Craig was destined for wonderful things. I have unwavering faith that he is going to rock this contest like it has never been rocked before. His voice is pure wonder and his soul is pure gold. He’s going to give incontrovertible proof that nice guys can and will finish first.

So what can you do, dear denizens? If you’re across the pond where all this excitement is going down…well, first off, the white wolf is an unflattering shade of green right now. Since I can’t be there to support Craig, I’m putting it to you: Go, get your tickets, and watch him perform. Scream for him like the groupies you know you are. And if anyone tells you to pipe down, you tell ‘em LobaBlanca sent you. That and a 20£ note will hopefully get the bouncers off your back (I’ll pay you back later, I promise).

Seriously, though, if you can support Craig when he performs on March 7, please do. He is all-around amazing in everything he does, but especially when he sings. And he is one of the kindest, funniest, sweetest guys out there. If anyone deserves this, it’s Craig.

So sayeth Loba. And you know Loba would never lie to you when it comes to Bevan.

That might possibly be one of my favorite song lyrics EVAR, from an artist who has somehow made her way very high on my list of music awesome: P!nk.

To be honest, I’m not really sure how this happened. I remember barely registering her arrival on the music scene back in…good grief! 2000? That long ago? “There You Go” was probably the only song I heard from her debut CD. It was okay, but I wasn’t really sure how to process her or her music. Honestly, I don’t really think her record label knew what to do with her then either.

Thankfully, someone let her evolve naturally, and what she’s been coming out with in recent years has grabbed me in ways that most mainstream music simply doesn’t anymore. What really rocketed her into my consciousness was her video for “Stupid Girls,” which, simply put, is exactly how I feel about what’s happening with girls today. When did it become law that girls had to sacrifice their intelligence and their dignity in order to be popular? Oh. Never mind.

I’m so glad that I’ll never fit in
That will never be me
Outcasts and girls with ambition
That’s what I wanna see

So, yeah, P!nk. Let me say here that it should drive me crazy that she spells her nom de musique with an exclamation point, which is a bit too cutesy for her own damn good. But she’s just so adorably bad-ass that I can let this one slide. I love her voice as well. It’s got a Janis Joplin-esque rawness that she can temper into a surprising tenderness. Plus, she rocks the catchy hook like no one’s business.

And her music videos are fun. I find videos in which all they do is show nutrient-deprived, lethargic pretty people pouting their way through a bunch of boring undulations and lip-syncing….well, boring. P!nk is definitely not boring. Her latest video to make the OnDemand rounds is for “Funhouse,” the song from which the eponymous lyrics of this post come. Watch her bounce and kick her way through the remnants of a burned-down relationship. Watch her hair. Watch out for the evil clowns.

Actually, most of her videos are fun to watch. I’d highly recommend heading over to YouTube and checking out some of her others, like “So What” or “Sober,” which puts a whole different spin on the familiar message that you can’t really find true happiness unless you, um, love yourself.

And there you go. To quote Aerosmith, “P!nk is my new obsession.”

Heh.

Craig Bevan revisited. Like what you hear? Then visit his YouTube channel to hear his other covers, including a very fun cover of Montell Jordan’s “This is How We Do It.” Love the hat flip, by the way, Big G

And if you’d like to hear something original from Mr. Bevan, listen here. These are his songs, posted to his MySpace page. I love all these original songs, but I think my favorite is “Every Day She Told Me.” Although I love the richness and layers presented in “I Think We’ve Made It.” They’re all wonderful, really. Listen to each one. You won’t regret it.

I’m very lucky to have some incredibly talented ImagiFriends^TM. I come now to praise the efforts of one such talent. His name is Tony and he’s a rockin’ musician/poet/podcaster from the Land of 10,000 Lakes (and a million mosquitoes).

Last year, Tony’s sister Jenny passed away from ALS, “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” To honor his sister’s life and strength, Tony gathered together some ultra-fine musicians from around the world and created a tribute CD, Songs for Jenny. I’ve been listening to my copy for several days now. I’m listening to it right now, actually. It’s a tight collection of songs that weaves a beautiful pastiche of love, hope, honor, and remembering.

Even greater is the fact that all the proceeds from the sale of this CD will go to the ALS Association of Minnesota, to help further research that will hopefully one day find a cure for this disease.

So, enough of my blathering. Head on over to SongsforJenny.com and order your own copy. You’ll be buying what I can assure you is a great compilation of music and you’ll be giving money to a very worthy cause…double karma points, my friends.

Ah, look at that androgynous sexyback of Jareth the Goblin King. This, for years, was my only exposure to David Bowie. Somehow, he fell completely off my musical radar. I even missed the Ziggy Stardust years!

However, a while ago I found a David Bowie CD at our library, so I decided that it was time to fix this gap in my musical knowledge. Let me rephrase that…my musical exposure. I have no musical knowledge beyond knowing what I like (which many will argue is a truly subjective cross-section of music ).

So I burned the CD to my iPod…and subsequently proceeded to forget about it. Until today. It was another long-stretch roadtrip for Sammy and me. I listened to podcasts for a good chunk of the journey, but I needed a musical interlude along with a granola bar and some cold air to shake off the unexpected sleepiness I experienced from those lovely, lulling British accents to which I was listening. So I started searching through my music lists…and there was David Bowie. The CD from the library was his 1997 release Earthling.

I really enjoyed it! I realize that this is far enough into Bowie’s career that it’s probably not considered to be one of his great releases, but I thought it was a solid collection of music. It’s only nine songs, which I dig. So many of today’s artists release CDs with a gajillion songs on them, and only nine of them are usually worth listening to. This showed me that Bowie knew what he was capable of and stuck with that number. Good call.

The music has a sound that I very much enjoy, what some might describe as the sound of a “clanking, clattering collection of kaligenous junk.” Drums, bass, electronic enhancements…I love that stuff. I think I liked “Dead Man Walking” and “I’m Afraid of Americans” the best, but each of the songs was listenable. I have to say, though, that I was already in the mood for something heavy, so this fit the bill. Had I not been in the mood for lots of bass, this might have fallen far from the mark of enjoyability.

So, here’s my question to you: Where should I go next in Bowie’s oeuvre? I’m intrigued and would like to hear more. I trust you won’t steer me wrong…

I first read about this video on Wil Wheaton’s blog, but I didn’t check it out at the time. Now, I’m sad that I missed out on watching it more times than I have since I rediscovered it this morning.

To anyone who has spent as much time “living” online as I have, this is so very funny. Funny because it’s true. What better way to release the creatively deceptive (or deceptively creative) fires within than by coming up with avatars that resemble the you on the inside? Yeah, you might be a boring government contractor IRL, but online there are no limits. You can be whoever, or whatever you’d like, whether it’s a a nameless lupine lover of locution or perhaps an ever-intoxicated alien officer with an anger management problem.

…

Whatever. Just watch the video and shut up.

That heading sounds disgusting, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, that’s what I’m about to drop on you now. I promise it won’t be too messy though. I’m just in a bit of a work maelstrom right now and am finding it difficult to surface for long periods of time. For those familiar with my mirror universe existence, this time of year is always one of the busiest work-wise. It’s one of two major drawbacks to a job that I’m still mostly loving (those of you who know the mirror universe me also already know what the other major drawback is, but that’s not for public airing ).

So what’s been going on since we last chatted? Well, first off I spent a wonderful weekend in the company of a great friend who flew in to spend a few days in Lobalandia. She moved to the cold nether regions of the American heartland a bit more than a year ago, which I have to say stinks for us here. However, this weekend was solid evidence that great friendships are like your favorite University of Maryland hoodie: Even though you don’t get to wear it as often as you’d like, when you do slip back into it, it’s just as warm and comfortable as you always remembered it being (and it smells Downy fresh, too!).

The highlight of the weekend (and the reason for my friend’s return) was the Tori Amos concert on Saturday evening. In case you’ve missed this, I love Tori. This was concert number 9, I believe, and it was wonderful. Truth be told, the last few times I’ve seen her haven’t been stellar because of poor sound quality at the last one and poor sound and fan quality at the one before that. But this concert was market-worthy, it sounded so pristine. Plus, it’s an extra special treat to see her when she comes to D.C., because that means she’s come home (face it, Tori…it doesn’t matter how far away you move, your heart belongs to the Dirty City). The set list for the evening was as follows:

1. Give (Abnormally Attracted to Sin)
2. Body and Soul (American Doll Posse)
3. Cornflake Girl (Under the Pink)
4. Flavor (Abnormally Attracted to Sin)
5. Space Dog (Under the Pink)
6. Hotel (From The Choirgirl Hotel)
7. Jamaica Inn (The Beekeeper)
8. Icicle (Under the Pink)
9. Carbon (Scarlet’s Walk)
10. Mary Jane (Abnormally Attracted to Sin)
11. Gold Dust (Scarlet’s Walk)
12. Pretty Good Year (Under the Pink)
13. a sorta fairytale (Scarlet’s Walk)
14. Fast Horse (Abnormally Attracted to Sin)
15. Precious Things (Little Earthquakes)
16. Strong Black Vine (Abnormally Attracted to Sin)
17. Bouncing off Clouds (American Doll Posse)
18. Raspberry Swirl (From The Choirgirl Hotel)
19. Big Wheel (American Doll Posse)

As you can tell, it was a pretty solid set with lots of perennial favorites mixed with some of the stronger offerings from her latest CD. I wish she had done more than just “Precious Things” from her first CD, but I was happy to hear so much from Under the Pink. Noticeably missing were any songs from Boys for Pele and Strange Little Girls, two CDs that I consider to be weaker links in the Tori musical chain.

I think the only major criticism I have of this concert is fan-related: I hate when people stand/sway/dance. I get that some people simply cannot resist the pull of the rhythm. But, dammit, I paid for a seat. Seats are for sitting so that I can comfortably listen to the music. Seats are not for getting an eye-level view of the woman in front of me pulling her underwear out of her bum crack as she stands dancing to practically every song (yes, I am talking about you with the navy blue pleated skirt and matching button-down vest; perhaps if you fed your ass before a concert, it wouldn’t get so hungry and try to devour your underwear every time you got up).

Small complaint, I suppose, for what was otherwise an excellent concert. If you’d like to see what I saw and hear what I heard, head on over to Undented.com’s review of the show. This is where I got the set list for that night; I personally don’t see how Twittering, texting, snapping photos, and recording video makes for an enjoyable concert experience, but obviously there are lots of people out there who don’t feel the same.

Okay, I need to split now. Hopefully, I’ll be back later this afternoon to make my latest 50BC09 entry. Finally, halfway there!!

I came here to the den early this morning with a completely different mission in mind. And then I became so wonderfully sidetracked by this video. This is Craig Bevan. He’s a singer, songwriter, and podcaster from jolly old England. I know that one day I’m going to point at a poster for his latest international tour and tell everyone around me, “I’ve been his fan from the beginning.” Of course, they will all roll their eyes because it will have been the umpteen-bajillionth time they will have heard me say this. But I don’t care.

This is the voice that gods summon to soothe their weary hearts. Here, the talented Mr. Bevan is covering a trance song by iiO that I’ve heard a hundred times before if I’ve heard it once. I love trance. I love Craig’s cover of this song WAY more.

So listen. I’d say listen and enjoy, but I already know you’re going to enjoy this. Yes, he’s just that awesome