When Awesome Music Artists Remain Undiscovered: Merry Ellen Kirk

When I review an album, I usually give myself at least a week of blasting it so I am familiar enough with it that I can write with at least a little authority.

This morning, I downloaded Merry Ellen Kirk's FREE EP, Feathers & a Leaf. I feel bad, because Alberto Albis recommended her to me a long time ago, and continued to remind me until I finally got round to downloading - now I REALLY understand his persistence.

I've listened to each track once, and already I am desperate to talk about it. I can't call this a real review yet, but what I can tell you is that Merry Ellen Kirk's voice is like liquid gold. I feel like I've been transported into another world, of magic and beauty, and ...argh. I can't even explain. Her music is almost ethereal... I've not heard anything really like it before, and yet it's... familiar.

Merry Ellen reminds me in a strange way of fairly old singers, the song "Maybe Someday" in particular reminded me a bit of Ruby Murray in the sense that it has very pretty, very gentle lyrics and a soft melody. It's a very classic sound BUT that's just one song. There's so much variety,  yet it all fits together. If you listen closely, there are occasional hints of Kate Bush (if you're not a fan of Kate Bush, don't let that put you off. They really are only tiny hints - Kate Bush makes me want to rip my ears off, Merry Ellen makes me want to turn the volume up and drift away on her lyrics.)

If you want something mellow and beautiful to listen to, I'd suggest following the link above, and downloading. I realise this isn't the kind of music I usually talk about on this blog, but I'm willing to go out on a limb and praise the hell out of this EP because it's THAT good. And when I have listened to it a little bit more, I will try to gather my thoughts and write a proper review! 

Review: Hashtag Alice - Evolved

Now and again, Twitter has its uses. Namely, stumbling across great bands by mistake. I happened to be scrolling through my news feed one day, when I saw someone I follow tweeting a band named HashTagAlice. That name was too cool for me to ignore, so I took a chance and looked them up on Reverbnation. I was instantly intrigued, so when they put the call out for people to review their upcoming album, Evolved, I leapt at the chance!

HashTag Alice is made up of Amalia May, Ben Linus (no, not the guy from Lost, he is WAY nicer!), Tom Worth, and Richard Mason-Jones. They come from Oxford, UK, and after just two years on the scene, they are already starting to get noticed - especially in the U.S where they will be heading out on tour next month (Check the dates in the Reverbnation link above).

So... is Evolved worth listening to?

Well, it's quite unusual for me to love an album on the first listen, but that's what happened here. My first impression was that this is music you can listen to anytime, anywhere. You wanna take it on a roadtrip? Hell yes. You want motivation to do something? This will get you moving. You want something you can play in the background while you chill out? It works for that, too.

HashTag Alice rock hard, but not so hard you'll have the neighbours begging you to turn it down. More likely, you'll have them shouting over the fence, "Hey, who's that band you're playing?" 

What makes these guys so interesting is their sound. I wouldn't say it's absolutely unique, but they have reached a stage where you could easily identify their songs if they played on the radio - due in part to Amalia May's vocal (more about that shortly.) Think Avril Lavigne, but with more punch. That punch - I have it on good authority - comes from the varied range of ages within the band. The younger members bring current music styles, while the influence of the more mature adds a touch of classic rock. Who doesn't love a bit of classic rock?

My personal favourite tracks on Evolved are, "Piece of This,"(VERY Avril Lavigne, and maybe almost a bit of Pink thrown into the mix for good measure.), "Danger," "A Little More Time," (I really relate to it, and it's a definite earworm), "Wolves In Central Park," "Never Never," and my absolute favourite, "Ignorance Is Bliss."

Amalia May is an enormous talent. Her voice is perfect, soft but still edgy enough to work a rock vocal, and she really shines on "Ignorance Is Bliss." Amalia is exciting because I'm not sure we've even got the best of her yet. She's amazing now, and I can't wait to hear what a few more years brings out of her.

Evolved is a great introduction to what HashTagAlice can do, and this is only the beginning. Mark my words, people, these guys are going to be huge.

To pre-order Evolved, click here.

Heels In Pink - The Jewellery Site for Girls (and Boys) In The Know

So, ladies... who doesn't love jewellery? Well, lucky for you, I've just heard about a brand new site AND made my first purchase, because it's just that good!

Heels In Pink was created by a super talented lady here in the UK (a super talented lady I met through Twitter, and met in person recently at a Fozzy concert!) who has designed some fun jewellery for fans of WWE! The collection isn't just for those who like wrestling a bit, it's for those who REALLY get it, and know all the catchphrases and nicknames. Amongst the designs are "Why Too J" necklaces, inspired by Chris Jericho's legendary sparkly jackets, and earrings with such sayings as "Yes, Yes, Yes," and even a pair in the likeness of Sheamus! The designs come in a variety of colours, and keep watching the website because WWE hair bows are coming soon!

If you want to check out the site for yourself, the link is here: www.heelsinpink.com/ It's SO worth a look!

Music Snobbery

Music. Gimme pop, gimme rock, gimme dance, soul, metal, jazz, good old fashioned rock n' roll. I'll take it all. And any other style in existence, because I LOVE music.

One thing that makes me want to strangle people with their own "hipster" skinny jeans is music snobbery. My head almost exploded a moment ago when someone who shall remain nameless made a remark about who is worse, the people who make (insert music genre) or the people who listen to it.

Well, I can answer that. The worst people are the ones who make pissy judgements about people based on their music tastes. Who lash out because they think they know best. Who think that someone who likes rap can't possibly have a brain in their head because it's not what they themselves consider "cool" music. Bite me. I still have Steps albums, and I still know all the words to every S Club 7 song ever released (leave me alone, when I was a kid they were cool!), but that doesn't make me any less of a person than someone who listens to Ed Sheeran, or any big name of the moment who won't be remembered in ten years.(No disrespect to Ed Sheeran, I don't consider him someone who will be forgotten easily, his was just the first name in my head!)

Judge people on who they are, not what they listen to. Listen to the music you love, and encourage others to do the same. What matters is not WHAT a person listens to, its the fact that they are listening. You wanna make judgements about other artists? Don't be crying on your Twitter account when people do the same about you. There is no room for music snobbery. Just enjoy the damn  music, whatever the style because, guess what? It all has value whether you like it or not. 

Andre 3000 and Beyonce Cover Amy Winehouse - Oh Boy...

This morning, I was indulging in one of my favorite Sunday morning hobbies - trawling entertainment news on the internet (don't judge me, it's what I do :p ), and I found this: Andre 3000 x Beyonce "Back to Black" in full.

Naturally, my interest was piqued because Amy Winehouse was a freaking genius, and anyone daring to touch her music will always make me a bit sceptical. Covers in general make me sceptical, because anyone who is brave enough to take one on, can't really win. It's either too similar, or too different, and for the most part, it can never stand up against the original.

 This re-recording of "Back To Black" was made for the soundtrack of "The Great Gatsby," and, regardless of whether the cover fits the tone of the movie - my first impression was - it's a pile of crap.

Andre 3000's monotonous voice on such a great track made me flinch because it sort of sucks out every bit of life there ever was in the original. BUT, then I watched the trailer for the movie, and suddenly, it worked.


Once you've seen the trailer, the song sounds different. Edgier. Not crap.

When Beyonce steps in, a little of Andre's damage (Yes, I still sort of consider it damage) is repaired. The former Destiny's Child star brings a haunting quality to the track, and although different to Winehouse's version, it actually works. Of course, Beyonce could sing the phone book and it would sound awesome, but this is particularly stunning.

Genius as it is, I can't see how this will be well received by Winehouse fans, just because it's SO different. But it serves a purpose in the movie it was made for, so I do hope people give it a chance.

The Fan vs. The Professional

So... I've been mulling this post over for a while. At least a week, maybe more. The reason I didn't post right away is because it's a little more personal than I tend to allow myself to be, especially on this blog. I want to keep this place fun, and happy and exciting, not drag it down with momentary insecurity. However, most of the thoughts have to do with what this blog is all about, or what I wanted it to be about when I started it. So... here we go!

The idea behind Word On The Street was to talk about entertainment news, shows, music and movies I like to think I'm fairly interesting. Quirky. Enthusiastic. BUT when I happen to be meeting people who are cooler than me, everything starts to go wrong.

It is HARD to balance being myself and my professional side. Because, yes, I do have a professional side! It's just that sometimes I feel like Su Pollard in Hi-De-Hi, chasing the dream of becoming a Yellowcoat but remaining the maid forever! (Very British Reference - have a Wikipedia link)

I once interviewed John Cho (the interview was another casualty of Yahoo's great article purge - I should republish it here sometime!) That actually happened. And the interview in reality was way longer but I had to trim it down to what was most important. The conversation we had was kind of epic, and I still have the recording, mostly to remind myself that I really did talk to John Cho! :p

And then there's the topic of tweeting celebrities. I try not to do that on my writing account because I don't want it to come off as too fangirly. But then, isn't the point of Twitter that you CAN tweet the people you like? Isn't that how connections are made? In "professional" mode - I tell myself not to do it. How can you be professional if you're geeking out over people? And how do other people view it? If you tweet the same person more than once, does it come off as desperate? In the past, it's happened. If I've tweeted someone more than once, I start to panic that it's too much. Too over-enthusiastic. In my head, tweeting someone twice feels like the equivalent of a non-anxious person tweeting someone 800 times.The truth is, though, when I look back at my entire feed - I tweet with my friends around 90% more than I tweet any celebrity. The balance is good.

I guess the main point of all this is to say... I'm not that cool. Not nearly as cool as all the other people who interview kickass people. I like cheesy pop, still listen to the occasional boyband,  and I remember all the moves to Macarena. But that's not all of who I am. Gimme full on headbanging, bouncing off the walls metal, and I'm there too. And serious stuff? Sure, I like to inject some humour into my work, but don't think I can't get out there and stand up for the things that matter. Occasional rambling aside - I'm pretty good at what I do. So, if I sometimes have a crazy, "OH MY GOD, THIS IS SO AWESOME" moment, or I over-tweet, or I stumble over my words, or giggle, or talk too much... that's because I have a lot of enthusiasm for the people I believe in. I want everyone to know. I want to spread the word with as many people as possible.

But when it comes to conducting interviews... I got it covered.

Reasons I Love... Reby Sky!

I can't recall exactly when I first became aware of Reby Sky, or even why. I just know that at some point, I followed her on Twitter, and it didn't take long for me to see why so many people love her.

For those who don't know who Reby Sky is, here's a quick breakdown (though I confess this is downplaying her skills a bit, she has done LOADS of stuff!) Reby is a dancer, model, TV host, and currently a pro-wrestler, which earned her the name "Diva Overachiever" for her fast climb up sport's ladder. Reby also recently got engaged to former WWE superstar, Matt Hardy, and if I may say so, they make the most adorable couple!

So, why do I love Reby? Holy crap, let me count the ways! I've never been lucky enough to see her wrestle live, but I have seen some of her videos, and she is FIERCE. Her drive for everything she does is inspiring, as is her "take no shit" approach to any abuse she gets.

Her YouTube channel is guaranteed to always make me smile. Whether she's posting make-up tips, or cute videos of her and Matt, there's always something on there that will probably make me laugh out loud!

More than anything else, I love that you will always get 100% honesty from Reby. When she says you can "ask anything" she's not kidding! Don't expect any tiptoeing around. Reby will tell it like it is, and if you don't like the answer... suck it up, buttercup!

Of course, I don't know Reby personally. I base this on what I see, and mostly, I see a badass chick with a big heart and a great sense of humour.

It's all this and more that first led me to Reby Sky's website, which is home to the coolest shop ever! Along with all the usual t-shirts etc, Reby also sells collector's items, such as clothes she's worn in the ring and on photo shoots. A while ago, I fell in love with a satin dress she had for sale, and at only $50, I couldn't resist. Now, I knew there was no way I'd ever fit into it, but that isn't the point. It's pretty, and I wanted it! :p

Honestly, how anyone ever has the audacity to say that girl is fat is beyond me! 

Now, because Reby has been so very busy lately, the dress came a little later then I expected, but to make up for it, I got some extra Reby swag:

and this very sweet note:

Thanks Reby!  

And that, my friends, is the kind of awesomeness you get when talking to Reby Sky! 

Still not convinced? Follow her Twitter feed - trust me!