Music: Ren Harvieu

Just last week I was complaining that I didn't feel like I had been inspired by music by new musicians anymore, and that I was just sticking with all my favourites. Granted, I have a lot of favourites, many of whom continue to release albums, so I am never short of new music to listen to. Just new musicians/bands/singers etc. I've been thinking about it all week since my last music-related post... You know, that feeling of listening to a song and immediately feeling a dozen different emotions at once, and then getting all excited about discovering a new, brilliant album that you will listen to over and over and over again, and subsequently force everyone else to listen to. I remember when that happened to me with Karen Elson a couple of years ago. I literally fell in love with her album on the first listen, listened to it over and over again for weeks, and was really excited when I got to see her play a show to a small crowd at the Studio at Webster Hall. I've been waiting for her to release some new material for a while, and noticed that there was a new video announced on her Facebook page... A duet with woman called Ren Harvieu.

So I watched the video (and loved the song of course), and then started looking up who this Ren Harvieu with this beautiful voice was. It appears that she is British, has an album coming out on May 7th, had an accident last year that should have left her paralyzed but that she managed to recover from and has an amazing voice. I have such a soft spot for strong female voices and characters, especially ones who send chills down my spine when they sing, with or without musical instruments accompanying them. You just have to listen to her over of my love Roy Orbison's Crying (see below) to see what I mean... Stunning. I couldn't stop listening to her and tried to find anything online that I could play via Spotify or download and put on my ipod... Nothing available in the US unfortunately... It doesn't even look like you can buy the album on iTunes here when it comes out... So I am going to continue to watch videos on youtube until some nice soul who lives in England sends me her album.

YAY I am so excited to have finally found a musician to be excited about again! And my lovely friend Charlie just told me that she would send me the album when it comes out, so now I am over the moon. Cue jumping up and down and looking like an idiot ;)
Have a listen and a look below...









Official website
Ren Harvieu Facebook

Karen Elson - Rockwood Music Hall NYC, 10/18/2010

I know I have already posted about her before, but Karen Elson really is amazing.
I feel very lucky that I was able to see her perform in the tiny Rockwood Music Hall on Allen St last night. Karen came on stage just after 8pm with her band members Rachelle Garniez on accordeon, Jackson Smith on guitar and a violinist whose name I didn't catch (if anyone knows please comment!).
There is something so special about seeing such intimate shows - you actually feel like you are part of the show itself. I was a little self-conscious about taking pictures because I was literally right by the stage, so I only took a few furtive ones to capture the moments. Karen is very much herself on stage, a little shy, very beautiful, funny and completely into the music and performing it for her fans. Her voice really is gorgeous. and perfect in both an acoustic setting as well as in a more electric setting, like when I saw her back in June at The Studio at Webster Hall. Let's just say that nearly every song gave me goosebumps last night.


The Secret Sisters came onstage and sang one song with Karen and another song from their new album just together. Seriously BUY the album - it's AWESOME.

And then Angela McCluskey joined Karen on stage for the last song - a great, foot-stomping rendition of Leonard Cohen's Dance Me To The End Of Love. I really felt like I was part of the small crowd, and part of a whole act, not just a spectator at a show. I am so glad I was part of it.

Really important links to click on right now:
Karen Elson Official Site
The Secret Sisters Official Site
Angela McCluskey Official Site

Karen Elson - The Studio @ Webster Hall 06/19

One positive point about not making it to Ireland was that I got to see Karen Elson perform on Saturday night. I know I have been raving about her album on here and Twitter recently, so I was pretty excited to see what she was like live. She really lived up to my expectations - actually she literally blew them away! Her voice really is naturally beautiful - as is she. All those supermodel photos taken of her really don't do her justice as she is literally stunning in real life. And so sweet too. Basically you want her to be your BFF as soon as she opens her mouth. I'm really happy that I got to see her in such a small venue, because I doubt there will be many more chances.

Saw Patti Smith about 4 inches away from me by the stage and had to contain my excitement. I didn't know that her son Jackson is the main guitarist in Karen's band... :)

Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks

Once or twice a year I get completely blown away by an album, and consequently listen to it over and over again without tiring of it.

The first time this happened this year was with Karen Elson's first album, The Ghost Who Walks. I heard the first single, thought it was quite good, made a mental reminder to buy the album when it came out and then forgot about it. I downloaded it last week, and what a surprise! I was expecting something pretty good, especially because anything Jack White produces cannot be bad. I wasn't expecting it to be amazing though! Karen's songs are literally beautiful! The lyrics are full of metaphors between life and nature, dark and simple, intricate and pure. On top of that the music is haunting, simple and complex at the same time. There is a signature Jack White guitar sound here and there, but other than that it's all Karen. She has a gorgeous voice...

Some of my favourites:

Stolen Roses

Lunasa/Cruel Summer