The Regina Spektacular Rolls Through Australia

My love for Regina Spektor is unbounding, I’ve seen her in concert on a couple of continents, own every album – including her early demos – and am constantly amazed just how intune her songs are with the varying moods of humanity.Quiz Ms Spektor on the kind of music she makes, and her response is a flippent look and a few choice words.

“I play songs that I write on my piano”

Hmmm clearly, but in the musical world of this divine Russian-born New Yorker, the reality is far more complicated. She certainly does play the songs she’s written on her piano, she’s also been known to belt out a tune on a wooden chair, use unorthodox vocal techniques – turning her microphone into wonderfilled rhythmic talking drum – and she also turns-out the odd verse in her native Russian. Spektor’s quirkiness is divinely divided by her still-exuberance, talent and outright passion for what it is she does  :: Read the full article »»»»

UPDATE! SNOOP LION JAH!

At the beginning of this month I ran a snippet on one of my most favourite musicians – Hip Hop superstar Snoop Dogg - and his rediscovery of his Rasta roots. Mr Dogg now wishes to be known as Snoop Lion.

This morning I have been humbled, Snoop Lion has launched his new Myspace page and we got an early friend-request! Mr Lions new tune – La LA La – is available for download from iTunes or Amazon.

Original Post: The mult award - including AVN, MTV & Stony’s - winning rapper told a press conference that he’s been inspired to change his stage name to something a little more Jah inspired.

While on a recent visit to a Rastafarian temple in Jamaica Snoop was apparently hit by a very puffy epiphany.

“I want to bury Dogg and become Snoop Lion,” the singer, wearing a Rasta knitted hat and dark glasses, said at a press conference on Monday.

Snoop said he went to Jamaica to get close to reggae legend Bob Marley’s roots. He said that while visiting a Rastafarian temple, “the high priest” told him his name was no longer Dogg.

“He looked me in my eyes and said, ‘No more. You are the light, you are the lion’,” Snoop told reporters. ”As a forty year old man in the music industry… you know the artists call me Uncle Snoop, I gotta give them something, I’m a wise man in this industry”  :: Read the full article »»»»

Reports Celebrated Author, Playwright and Social Commentator Gore Vidal Dead at 86

The Los Angeles Times is reporting Vidal died on Tuesday (local time) at his home in Hollywood Hills of pneumonia complications. The paper wrote: Gore Vidal, the iconoclastic writer, savvy analyst and imperious gadfly on the national conscience, has died. He was 86. Vidal died Tuesday at his home in the Hollywood Hills of complications of pneumonia, said nephew Burr Steers.

The Associated Press has tweeted that Vidal’s nephew has confirmed his death to them. Vidal’s official website Gore Vidal Now is also reporting his death.

Born in New York and raised in Washington D.C., Vidal began a career in writing at the age of 19. His first novel Williwar focused on World War II, and he then went on to write a mystery series. In total Vidal authored 25 novels, including historical works Lincoln and Burr, many of which he wrote from a house built on a cliff ledge at Ravello, along Italy’s breathtaking Amalfi coast.

Vidal also wrote Broadway hits, films and television shows. In the US Vidal is more respected as an essayist than a novelist, his bright sharp mind will be missed, his social commentary was a large contributor to the conscience of the US. In 2009, Vidal won the annual Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book foundation, which called him a “prominent social critic on politics, history, literature, and culture”.

Anna Funder Scoops Miles Franklin Award

Sydney author Anna Funder has won this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award. Ms Funders debut novel All That I Am was chosen from a shortlist of five entries. The book tells the story of an elderly woman living in Sydney and her recollections of Nazi persecution in pre-war Germany.

All That I Am, also won both Book of the Year and Literary Fiction Book of the Year aat this year’s Australian Book Industry Awards. And NO this isn’t a Funder Fan Site, well perhaps a little…

The annual award – one of Australia’s most prestigious literary awards –  which carries a $50,000 prize, was announced at a ceremony in Brisbane last night :: Read the full article »»»»

Austrian Director Michael Haneke Scoops Cannes Film Festival’s Top Honour For A Second Time

Austrian director Michael Haneke has picked up the Cannes Film Festival’s top honour for the second time with Amour – Love -  the story of an elderly couple facing the inescapable march of death.

Haneke joins an elite group of two-time winners of the coveted Palme d’Or at the world’s biggest film festival following his 2009 triumph with The White Ribbon.

Haneke’s moving tale, set inside a Paris apartment and following a man caring for his ailing wife, reduced audiences to tears. The award underlined the 70-year-old’s reputation as one of the greatest directors working today :: Read the full article »»»»