Saturday, August 29, 2009

REVIEW: Laura Izibor - Let the Truth Be Told

The Setting: It's very rare that I enjoy an opening act at a concert enough to go out and buy their album, but that's exactly what I did after seeing Laura Izibor's performance.

I saw Laura Izibor when she opened for Maxwell in June 2009 in Phoenix. Not only did she sound amazing, she was personable, funny, and obviously belonged on that stage. She performed a few songs with only an accompanying guitar and played along on piano on a few others. She told great stories describing how she came to write each song. Each time she finished performing a song, I would hear someone around me in the theatre saying, "She's good." I was thinking the same thing and I wondered why I had never heard of her and why she was not already huge. I also knew it was just a matter of time.

So on to the Let the Truth Be Told album: I'll just start off by saying this is my favorite album of 2009 (yes, I know the year is not yet over). Laura Izibor has a strong, soulful voice, expressing great emotion as she performs these highly personal songs. Laura wrote all songs and played piano on all tracks. She will be compared to India Arie for her positive strength and to Alicia Keys as a soulful singer, songwriter, pianist. For me, this is one of those albums you put on and let play all the way through, no fast-forwarding through the "filler" songs.

The album begins with the bouncy, bubbly, poppy Shine. Great song to listen to while trying to find your motivation on your way to work. I'm a sucker for strings and there are plenty on this album. Most notably on Perfect World, which is what I call a perfect song: wonderful lyrics, excellent singing, beautiful music, great production. Perfect. It's not about your clothes, what you have, keep ya money. Laura sings, "Baby don't you know you're all I need." This is my favorite song on the album.

A close second is Yes (I'll Be Your Baby). Laura's voice has a slight reggae feel on this. Great head-bobbing drum and bassline. Listen closely for the scratchy guitar. Funky! Also, this song is just screaming to be on someone's movie soundtrack. During her concert, Laura described writing The Worst is Over to a friend who was in a bad relationship, but would/could not leave it. This is a completely relatable song; I think we have all been there. Again with the strings and Laura takes it to church on this tune. Beautiful. I Don't Want You Back is soulful, mournful and tells the story of realizing that sometimes the best thing to do is let someone go.

Laura is opening for John Legend on some of his 2009 shows. Interestingly, I would describe her voice on a few songs as sounding like a female version of Legend. If you have a chance, go check out a show. In the meantime, get this album!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The AC Chronicles

The Setting: August in Phoenix and the air conditioner goes out. Let's chronicle how long it takes to get it fixed.

When I went to bed last night, I noticed it was a little warmer than usual, but not that bad.

6:30 AM - It is clear that something has gone horribly wrong. The air conditioner upstairs is blowing air; only one problem - it's hot air. The unit outside is humming and straining but not kicking on.

7:25 AM - I had looked up some AC companies online, even checked the Better Business Bureau, and narrowed it down to three. The first company I called said they could have a technician to the house between the hours of (drum roll please) 8 and 11 AM. Great. It won't be too hot before they come.

10:51 AM - Starting to get a little warm. The customer service rep calls and says the previous customer decided to buy a new AC unit so the tech is "filling out paperwork." They'll call back when he's on his way. Good.

11:09 AM - CSR calls back - the tech is on his way. Yay!

11:20 AM - Tech is here. Yay, part II!

12:05 PM - Unit is repaired, tech is gone (along with my $607.80), upstairs is starting to cool off.

Whew. The unit was fixed quickly and it really didn't cost that much. This could have been a lot worse than it was. Also, the customer service rep was helpful and friendly, and the technician was very friendly, professional, and funny. Wow, imagine that - great customer service.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Forward this e-mail and rainbows will appear

The Setting: I just received another one of those hoax e-mails. In related news, I'm really starting to enjoy looking up stories on Snopes.com

The latest e-mail a friend sent me is this story about a girl who had been badly burned in a fire at a Wal-Mart. At the end of the sad story, the reader is told to forward the e-mail because every time you do, Yahoo will donate $2 to the family's hospital bill. Depending on who started the e-mail chain, you can replace Yahoo with AOL, MySpace, whatever. It's not true in any case.

About three weeks ago, I received an e-mail about how dialing #77 on your cell phone gives you direct access to a dispatcher who can verify state trooper information. That way, you don't have to take the chance that the cop who's attempting to get you to pull your car over is really an ax murderer who's ready to take a swing at you. According to Snopes, there are actually some states in which dialing #77 on your cell phone will immediately connect you with that state's highway patrol, but it doesn't work in most states.

Monday, August 3, 2009

A novel idea, one tweet at a time

The Setting: Author Matt Stewart is posting his entire novel via posts on Twitter, one tweet at a time.

A friend of his created a tool that automates the tweets and sends them out in 140-character chunks. Stewart estimates that it will take 3700 tweets to transmit the entire novel. The book is also available via Stewart's web site, and on the Kindle.

You can read the article here.