Concert Review: Rumer, Oxford New Theatre, March 2011

Well, last night's Rumer concert was absolutely amazing.

I've poured out my heart over on my main blog, Lord Celery, and there's little to add here. So take a trip over there and have a look.

Janet

I'm About to See: Rumer

Time for a cross-post, I think.

I've just written a post about singer/songwriter Rumer on my main blog, Lord Celery.

I'll write more here once we've seen her perform tonight!


Janet

I'm Listening To: KGSR in Austin

I just posted an item on my main blog, Lord Celery, which belongs here, too. It's about what I'm listening to on my new internet radio.

Here's the post.

Believe it or not, we now have a total of four internet radios in our home. Three of them, Roberts units, plug into the wall. So they aren't exactly "portable". But they have wonderful sound, whether through their own speaker or linked into to a larger stereo unit. John gave me the first one last Christmas, and it's plugged into our living room stereo. I then got a second one for the guest room upstairs (which also doubles as "my room"), and then John decided he wanted one for his own bedroom as well. (We do actually share the master bedroom, by the way; we also each have a room for most of our own things. Call it a sanity-saver for a couple who married in middle age!)

Recently I discovered that Pure makes a portable indoor/outdoor digital and internet radio. I just got myself one, and it sits on the windowsill of my bathroom. As UK bathrooms don't have power plugs (apart from plugs for shavers), I didn't have access to digital or internet radio from my bathroom. I listen to a lot of radio in there, too, and now that can even include internet radio! And, as I wrote in my Lord Celery blog, it also means that this radio can go outside with us.

So I can listen to nice-quality internet radio outdoors, as long as I don't stray too far away from our wireless box! And what a joy it is to be listening to Austin, Texas radio as I'm sitting on my patio in North Oxfordshire. I just love technology!

Janet

I'm Listening To: The Wailin' Jennys, "Bright Morning Stars"

I've been a big fan of The Wailin' Jennys since I first heard one of their songs on a Bob Harris' BBC Radio 2 program back in 2003 or 2004. And since I used to travel to Canada a couple of times a year for work during that time period, I bought my first Jennys CD at my favorite shop in Calgary.

The Canadian trio's latest CD, "Bright Morning Star", doesn't disappoint. Bob chose to play "Across the Sea" on his radio show, and it's a favorite from this new release. My absolute favorite, though, is "Storm Comin'", written by Ruth Moody. (Although Moody was born in Australia, she got to Canada as soon as she could...as the saying goes.) When I first heard it, I wondered if it was a traditional song with a Jennys arrangement. It has a wonderful gospel feel.

While "Bright Morning Star" isn't quite a match for my favorite Jennys CD "40 Days" (that CD's beautifully haunting "Arlington" is one of my all-time favorite songs), I would still recommend it to anyone who enjoys folk and "Americana" music.

Given that the Jennys are Canadian, should I have referred to that as "North Americana" perhaps?

Janet