Celebrity Skin
Louise Carver
In this edition we bring you the new, the good, the bad, the sad and the ugly!
Author: estelle.vent@gmail.com
Warrior!
New is not always good, but in the case of Capetonian Louise Carver, this is definitely not the case. Although the sound on her latest album does take a little bit of getting used to, her new direction leaves you feeling refreshed: the tender honesty of Carver’s mostly self-penned lyrics is touching and inspiring.
Carver titled her third offering: “Look To The Edge” to serve as a reminder to never compromise and to always be the best one can be. According to Carver she was constantly outside of her comfort zone recording this album because of the major shift from her previous artistic direction. Don’t fret though, this album still contains the acoustic ballads that Carver became known and loved for. The most capturing aspect of this album is the raw honesty; the purity of the sound and lyrics: this album feels like the next step in an intense relationship – yep, this girl still gets to the audience!
One of the tracks that drew our attention is “Warrior”. This track is a collab with Zulu Boy and is currently receiving extensive airplay. The track was composed with a particular rhythm in mind, and the Zulu drum created that rhythm. Says Carver: “I am so proud of Warrior. I wrote it to empower myself and anyone else who have felt humiliated or disempowered. The lyrics come from an inner strength and self awareness I’ve developed as a musician and having Zulu Boy feature on the song just takes it to a new level. I hope Warrior will become a war cry for everyone who wants their voice heard!”
Apart from many achievements such as 3 SAMA Awards, 10 hit singles from 2 albums, performing at 46664 and opening for Michael Buble, Carver is also a jewelry designer and her debut jewelry range: Jingle and Chimes is receiving a very positive response in the fashion world. She named the range after the sound jewelry makes when moving against your body. You can have a look at this stylish range on www.louisecarvercollection.co.za.
Look To The Edge was produced by Brian O’Shea and Marius Brouwer at Pop Planet Studios in Johannesburg and is available at all good music stores. In the meantime check out “Warrior”. Brilliant stuff!
I’m In The Mood…
OMGosh, don’t you just love Stereomood.com? When I have to choose a track to play it usually starts something along the lines of: “Hmmmmm, what am I in the mood for…?” And it is exactly that question that got the clever peeps at Stereomood thinking to tag songs by mood and not genre or artist. So, depending on the mood you are in, or even the activity you are busy with, you can select a playlist and Voila! Bob’s your uncle!
To use the service, simply go to www.stereomood.com and select your mood or activity and then sit back and enjoy! What I love about this is that it feels like a lucky packet; selecting a mood and not really sure what track you’re going to get.
We at Streetlamp loved the “hopeful” playlist. And “epic”. And “vintage”. And “road trip”. Oh crap. Totally awesome!
You’ve Been Rickrolled
Eighties pop sensation, English singer/songwriter Rick Astley is staging his big comeback this month with the release of his single: “Lights Out”. Even though Astley has been in the media for the past couple of years as the unwitting subject of a popular internet prank: Rickrolling, he has been laying low for the most part of the past 13 years. Although there have been some releases it wasn’t with much success – there was never any big media bang and the public wasn’t too crazy about it either.
According to Astley, he expects this release to have much of the same welcome as the previous during the past few years and adds that he does not expect a repeat of his 80’s success. But don’t let this fool you: his latest release: “Lights Out” is not at all inferior to any of his Eighties releases such as “Never Gonna Give You Up” or “Together Forever”. As a matter of fact I don’t think you can compare them: its apples and pears. Where his style at the height of his fame was pretty much synthed up, typical eighties pop, this latest single has much more substance, his voice has also developed much. We suspect this single might just put Astley on the map again. Although, if you are after the Eighties Rick with that cheesy dance move, you might not like this.
Astley’s last release was in 1993, whereafter he has kept himself busy with raising his daughter, writing music for films, writing a musical and investing wisely. Business comes easy for Astley as he comes from a family of entrepreneurs, and even though he was a millionaire at the age of 21, he bowed out of music very early on, but still today lives a financially comfortable life – much of this finances still from his initial success and his subsequent investments.
No talk of an album yet, but check out: “Lights Out” or get it on ITunes.
Snippets
- Paul Gray, 38 year old Slipknot guitarist was found dead in his hotel room in Urbandale last week. Gray, also known by his number in the band, #2 (or “The Pig”) is survived by his wife who is expecting their first child. According to police no foul play is suspected, but the autopsy should shed some more light onto the matter. Police have also confirmed that no human sacrifices (unless you count Gray), satanic signs & messages (apart from the very evil message if you play Soothing Music for Expecting Mothers backwards) or swords (those are in Krugersdorp) were found on the scene. Bad for Gray. Their music still sucks.
- Rap music mogul and co-founder of Death Row Records, Suge Knight, was arrested last week for assault with a deadly weapon. Knight, who gave many West Coast rappers (such as Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur) their big break, is no stranger to the long arm of the law: he spent time behind bars in 1997 as well as 2003 for assault charges and in 2008 for drug related charges.TV stations broadcast this latest drama live while Knight was arrested right next to his very kick-ass white Cadillac SUV. Rock n roll, baby! Or should we say, rap n roll?
- Have you heard the Lolly Jackson song? The song, by DuPreez Strauss, is true to Lolly’s life: it’s sad, pathetic and low class. See, even fast cars, lots of bling, and Russian girls can’t give you class. Strauss must’ve done something right though, this song was played on a couple of radio stations including Jacaranda 94.2, 5FM and Y-FM – people seem to love it, maybe not love though, maybe it’s the car crash effect: it’s so bad you have to look.
- Our favourite cheeky Brit, Lily Allen, scooped up 3 awards at the Ivor Novello Awards. This ceremony honours songwriting excellence. Not only was Allen named songwriter of the year (along with songwriting partner Greg Kurstin) but her track: The Fear won the prize for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, as well as Most Performed Work. In the meantime, Lily’s collab with Professor Green has been released. “Just Be Good To Green” is a fresh rework on an old favourite. Love It!
- Another band we love: Welsh alternative rock band: Manic Street Preachers. This band has not released one track that we have not found lyrically captivating and musically brilliant! The good news is the band’s 10th studio album should be released later this year. According to the band’s website the album will probably be titled Its Not War, Just The End Of Love. But it’s not only the band’s music that is captivating, their story is just as interesting: The band was originally a quartet, but in 1995 their lead singer: Richey Edwards mysteriously vanished from The Embassy Hotel in London. His car was found abandoned 2 weeks later at a bridge which is notorious for being a suicide spot. Although the band has kept his share of royalties for him, Edward has never appeared and was declared presumed dead last year. While you wait for the latest, check out some sizzlin’ oldies – the reason why we love this band in the first place: If You Tolerate This (The Your Children Will Be Next), The Everlasting, Kevin Carter and Australia.
I R Baboon
“I’ve got taste. It’s inbred in me.”
“Drugs have nothing to do with the creation of music. In fact, drugs are dumb and self-indulgent. Kind of like sucking your thumb.”
Sources
www.latimes.com; www.wikipedia.org; www.channel24.co.za; www.news24.com; www.mio.co.za; www.music-news.com; www.sowetan.co.za; www.youtube.com; www.rickastley.co.uk; www.news.com.au; www.mirror.co.uk; www.louisecarver.co.za; www.stereomood.com;