Beth Orton Live

Went to see Beth Orton live at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell, here in Auckland. Good concert, and great venue, although somewhat more understated than I expected and not what I'd class a great performance - while she is obviously a folk singer her performance seemed a little more subdued than how I find her albums (and obviously being live the expectation was for perhaps a tad more energy so I was a little underwhelmed). I am undecided on the set list (although there was definitely not enough of her earlier stuff in my opinion), although it was worth attending if only to have seen her live.

Fantastic Rickie Lee Jones

A friend and I went to see An Evening With Rickie Lee Jones here in Auckland on Friday night. And what a great evening it was - this turned out to be a fantastic performance and atmosphere, and well worth the effort. Rickie's set list contained a fair number of pieces off her 1995 Acoustic Album "Naked Songs" plus a couple of tracks from her new covers album "The Devil You Know" and a scattered assortment of other songs (one or two of which I don't think she has published on an album). After some initial teething issues with her guitar (which required a re-jig of the set sequence and some piano numbers first) she was quickly into it and straight away extending that amazing vocal range that she has.

Ivy Mairi

Ivy Mairi is a relatively new artist (on the Cowboy Junkies' Latent Recordings label), the first since the CJ's revamped & relaunched Latent. Her second album "No Talker" was released at the end of last year, and as a promotion they are offering both her 2009 debut album ("Well You") and her new album together in a download bundle for just US$5.99. Both are produced by the CJ's Michael Timmins and what's more you can download this in audiophile 16/44 FLAC or ALAC formats, as well as the usual lossy MP3 & AAC formats...

Ivy is, in my opinion, a refreshing and promising young singer/songwriter with some similarities to artists like Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Alison Krauss, etc, when at similar stages of their careers... I hadn't come across her previously and have to say both her albums are quite stunning...