New music, NAO.

June 1, 2010September 24, 2011 / Lisa

Just thought I would write a little post/musings of some new music I have stumbled upon in the last few weeks, which has started to get me out of my current music funk.

First was Evan Taubenfeld with his single “Pumpkin Pie”. He could probably be lumped in with the Disney kids, because that is his sound – overly poppy. But no Disney kid would ever sing a song with these lyrics. Lucky for you, the video is a lyric version, so you can read them and no mistakes can be made. Dare I say an older Justin Beiber (Who must die! I vote throwing him into the volcano – you all know which one I’m talking bout.)

Next came Coheed and Cambria with “Pearl of the Stars”. It’s off their latest album Year of the Black Rainbow, which was released in April. This is one that just stuck out for me and I have had it on repeat ever since. I just love it. And in becoming obsessed with this song, I have rediscovered what I liked about Coheed and Cambria a few years ago. So, it’s really a win/win situation.

Then there is Tegan and Sara. New music always makes me feel buzzy. And listening to this, I have searched the depths of my music collection and pulled up some of their old stuff. I love how band’s new music tends to make me do this. It has miraculously pulled me out of my music funk of the last few months, where I have had no idea what to listen to. This song “Hell” is from their latest CD Sainthood, which was released October last year.

And lastly, there is The All-American Rejects. Although they have not released anything new recently (except on the Almost Alice soundtrack – which I keep meaning to review for you all), I have been listening to them in my funky state to try and pull me out. Which is how I came across “Mona Lisa” from When the World Comes Down. It is such a amazing song and I wish a guy would play it for me, seriously. If they did, they would own my heart forever (Okay, that was a bit soppy. I apologise.) I would totally do Tyson, he is fucking sexsi. Plus I have one of their guitar picks from when I saw them live. PROUD. (That better?)

Ready, set, GO!

May 16, 2010September 24, 2011 / Lisa

The Ready Set aka Jordan Witzigreuter.

Wow. What a mouthful. No wonder he goes by the alias The Ready Set. It’s Jordan’s band, except he’s the only permanent member.

And I am getting completely obsessed. He is awesome. I would like to say he is the next big thing, therefore making him the next Justin Beiber. But he is nothing like the Beibs. He’s better. It also helps that he’s just that little bit sexsi and completely of age (he’s 20).

In November 2009 he was signed with Decaydence Records. You might recognise that as Pete Wentz’s label. Yes, he’s one of those. Set to follow in the footsteps of Panic! At the Disco, Paramore, Cobra Starship, The Academy Is…, and the list goes on.

He’s had a few EPs and a couple of singles. But his first full-length studio album, I’m Alive, I’m Dreaming, is set for release on June 15th. His first single “Love Like Woe”, is already making its way around the interwebs and boy, is it catchy. This is where I say, “Let’s play a game!” Spot the celebrity cameo in the video. It shouldn’t be hard. He’s appeared in at least one video of each of his other protégés.

Jordan has also been making some little webisodes called “The Ready Setisodes” in the lead up to the release of his debut album. Rather cute, but the “acting” is a tad cheesy and cringe worthy. If you’re a member of Lockerz.com, you can view them there. Or else they are on The Ready Set’s Myspace page.

And here, for your enjoyment/obsessing pleasure is the video for “Love Like Woe”. It, is like, seriously, like whoa!

Eclipse soundtrack time… smh

May 15, 2010November 9, 2013 / Lisa

It’s that time again. Yes – time for another Twilight film to come out. I like the books. I like the films. I like the soundtracks. I hate the tweens. I hate the hype. And I really hate how the tweens think these bands are brand spanking new. No they’re not. Most of them have had longer careers than you have been alive. And I hate how much they swoon over R-Patz. Yes he is dreamy (I’m team Edward, not Jacob, deal with it.) And yes, I swoon over him too. But the difference between me and the tweens is – I’M THE SAME AGE AS R-PATZ. You, however, are jail-bait.

Anyway, the listing of the soundtrack has been released this week and it comes with some rather interesting additions. We all knew Muse were going to be included – they were Meyer’s inspiration for the books. Personally I wouldn’t be surprised if they appear in Breaking Dawn at some point as a final hurrah! (Wedding band, anyone?) But check out the listing yourselves below.

1. Metric – “Eclipse (All Yours)”

2. Muse – “Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)”

3.The Bravery – “Ours”

4. Florence and The Machine – “Heavy In Your Arms”

5. Sia – “My Love”

6. Fanfarlo – “Atlas”

7. The Black Keys – “Chop And Change”

8. The Dead Weather – “Rolling In On A Burning Tire”

9. Beck and Bat For Lashes – “Let’s Get Lost”

10. Vampire Weekend – “Jonathan Low”

11. UNKLE – “With You In My Head (featuring The Black Angels)”

12.Eastern Conference Champions – “A Million Miles An Hour”

13. Band Of Horses – “Life On Earth”

14. Cee-Lo Green – “What Part Of Forever”

15. Howard Shore – “Jacob’s Theme”

Imdb lists the NZ release date for Eclipse the movie as July 1. So prepare yourself for the hype, again. The soundtrack is released on May 31. Personally I am looking forward to both the soundtrack and movie. I will, however be waiting a few days while the hype dies down and I don’t get crushed my tweens in a race to the box office.

The Kelly Clarkson of Cheesecakes.

May 15, 2010September 24, 2011 / Lisa

Kelly Clarkson has probably been chomping down on this. That’s why her fingers are so chubby.

You’re probably confused about the title. This is actually about a New York cheesecake. It is seen as one of the original flavours of cheesecake. Kelly Clarkson is, of course, the original American Idol. I probably could have come up with a better analogy if my brain decided to work, but I was watching American Idol at the time. Don’t judge me.

I made this flavoursome diddy for Mother’s Day (let me hear you all say “Awwww”.) We had an afternoon tea for my Gran, in which my Granddad was also invited and which my Mother got to enjoy too.

Ingredients

250g plain sweet biscuits, 125g butter melted.

Filling: 750g cream cheese softened, 2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind, 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind, 1 cup (220g) caster sugar, 3 eggs, 3/4 cup (180g) sour cream, 1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice.

Instructions

1. Process biscuits until fine. Add butter, process until combined. Press mixture over base of 24cm springform tin. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.

3. Make filling by beating cheese, rinds and sugar in medium bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then cream and juice.

4. Pour filling into tin; bake 1 1/4 hours. Turn oven off and leave to cool in oven.

5. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Tips

Make sure you pull the cream cheese out of the fridge about half and hour before you intend to beat it together with the other ingredients. By doing this it softens and makes it a lot easier to beat.

For the base I usually use 2 tablespoons of margarine and 2 tablespoons of apple purée instead of butter. The base tends to stick together a lot better instead of being crumbly and it is healthier than the multitudes of butter. Just say: I’m making your devilish desserts healthier one step at a time… Also, use light cream cheese (even better!) These changes do not make a difference in the taste, if you were wondering.

In cooling the cheesecake in the oven, I leave it in the hot oven (turned off) over night. So the oven and cheesecake cool down together. This makes it set a lot better and creates a more creamy texture. This type of cheesecake you really do need to make the day before you need it.

And, it was tasty tasty. Everyone enjoyed it. I got a thumbs-up from my brother-in-law. Win!

It’s healthy. Really.

May 15, 2010September 24, 2011 / Lisa

Banoffee Dessert Pizza.

Yes. You read that right. Dessert pizza.

Intrigued? Read on.

This recipe is from Food in a Minute and is a great idea for a quick dessert because it does not take long to make at all. It also does not have to be as devilish as it sounds.

Ingredients

Maple Toffee Sauce: 2Tbsp butter, 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup maple flavoured syrup.

1 Pizza base, 2 bananas sliced, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1Tbsp chopped nuts, vanilla ice cream.

Instructions

1.Place the sauce ingredietns into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

2. Preheat oven to 200°C and place one pizza base on a lined baking tray. Heat pizza base for 5-9minutes or until golden. Take out from oven and spread with 1-2 tablespoons of the maple toffee sauce, top with sliced bananas and sprinkle over cinnamon.

3. Place on serving plate and sprinkle over nuts and top with ice cream and more toffee sauce. Serve immediately.

Tips

Keep the remaining toffee sauce to use with other pizza bases.

I ended up using sugar-free maple flavoured syrup. This gives it less of a sugar hit, but at the same time the sauce was very liquid. Still has a pretty amazing taste. If you can find it, use real maple syrup. It comes few and far between here in NZ, but will probably make this one of the most delicious desserts you will ever eat.