First fifty posts

Celebrating the first 50 posts on "kimbra fans only ;)" with a fan video of "Somebody Please" performed live by Kimbra at Radio 3 (Warsaw, Poland) on  7th Sep. 2012.
Check out the full concert here (audio only).




Still not cured...

Montreux Jam Remix

This is a remix of a jam session with Kimbra and a few members of Janelle Monae's Band, held at Funky Claude's Lounge (Montreux, Switzerland) on July 15th, 2012.
     Joey Gonzalez - Piano
     Brandon Gilliard - Bass
     Mikey Phillips - Drums
     Marcus Lewis - Trombone
     Lance Powlis - Trumpet

 Check out the footage of the full session here.

Zebrelation

She put a spell on some people in Melbourne

Screamin´ Jay Hawkins:

- "MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL, DON'T STRING ME ALONG. 

WHO HAS DARED TO COVER MY MOST TREASURED SONG?

I mean, apart from Nina Simone, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Animals,

Manfred Mann, Joe Cocker, Larry Carlton and Robben Ford, Bryan Ferry,

Mica Paris and David Gilmour, Kim Nalley, Nick Cave, Joss Stone and Jeff Beck,

Pete Townshend with Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJonette and Dave Holland,

Bette Midler, Arthur Brown, Queen Latifah, Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, Caterina Caselli,

Jimmy Barnes and Ian Moss, Marilyn Manson, Buddy Guy and Carlos Santana,

Bonnie Tyler, Diamanda Galás, Van Morrison with Them, Katie Melua, Sonique,

Iggy Pop and Catherine Ringer, Audience, The Kills, Natacha Atlas, Alan Price..."

Magic Mirror:

 - "Kimbra, Sir. On 4th June 2011. At the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.

Thanks for using Mirror Query."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

UPDATE (July 2020):

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

AUDIO:

'I Put A Spell On You' Rehearsal Jam (DEEP CUT)  Patreon post

By the way, this link doesn't work anymore: Melbourne International Jazz Festival

(http://marissadacey.blogspot.de/2011/06/review-melbourne-jazz-festival-fly-me.html)

This is what it said (excerpt):

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Review: Melbourne Jazz Festival - Fly Me To The Moon

On Saturday night I had the privilege to be invited to the opening night of the Melbourne Jazz Festival, a show of jazz standards at the Palais Theatre. The stage band featured Sam Keevers on piano, Brett Hirst on bass and Simon Barker on drums. They played for the whole show with four alternating vocalists; Eddie Perfect, Kimbra, Paris Wells, and Tex Perkins. I hadn't heard of any of the performers before the show so I was thus able to view them objectively and without bias towards reputation, which seemed to alter some others' reactions. Kimbra, the youngest performer, took the stage first with a pleasant but somewhat forgettable interpretation of an ordinary jazz standard. She appeared very cute and had a great stage presence, but during this first song I felt as if she wasn't reaching the full potential of her voice.

[...]

In my opinion, the second part of the show was much better than the first. Kimbra came back to start up the second half with a looping machine and an interesting choice of song. With the innovative looping machine, she created her own backing harmonies to give the performance even more depth. She sang the lullaby "Catch a Falling Star", but she made it so modern and her own that it was fantastically different. The second song she did was "I Put a Spell on You", which was when I knew that the show was worth it, just for this number. Let me tell you, she was bloody FIERCE. It was by far the best of the night. I had no idea so much power, passion and emotion could come from such a little body. She absolutely made the song hers, and as far as I am concerned, it now is.

At the studio

Kimbra 2011

Kimbra 2013

Reincarnation

Some examples follow:

TWO WAY STREET and TWO WAY STREET

LIMBO and LIMBO 

(the second video should start playing at 02h 08m 56s)

PLAIN GOLD RING and PLAIN GOLD RING

WANDERING LIMBS and WANDERING LIMBS

Two Way Street:

- live at The Fonda Theatre (Hollywood), October 2012; aired on NBC's Last Call: Carson

- live performance for Like A Version on Triple J (Australia), December 2011

Limbo:

- live at GIEL 3FM (Netherlands), April 2012

- live at the second annual Critics' Choice Prize showcase (Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, 2011)

Plain Gold Ring (cover):

- original track from the album Vows (New Zealand/Australia edition)

- live performance for Billboard's Candid Covers, November 2012

Wandering Limbs:

- original track from the album Vows (New Zealand/Australia edition)

- live performance for Sideshow Alley (Melbourne), September 2011

High heels way up high

Kimbra's song WANDERING LIMBS was in part inspired by a filmic reference, "Man On Wire",

 a documentary film that chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk

 between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center.

(Outpost Management Kimbra Bio)

"One day, when producer François Tétaz felt Johnson's vulnerability was unconvincing for a particular lyric, he ascertained she had a fear of heights, drove her to Eureka Tower in the heart of Melbourne and sent her to the transparent viewing platform, almost 300 metres up on the 88th floor."

(The Age, April 21, 2012)

Kimbra "Vows" review: "Wandering Limbs"

(Blog QORQ Productions - Words about Music)

When Kimbra met Sally

Roll the mouse over the image to continue...

Sally is recovering well, but now she's not the girl she once used to be anymore.

Space Sister

The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Klaatu had tonsilitis.
He had to send Kimbra in his place, and Gortye.

Kimbra's speech inspired by the lyrics of her songs (in order of appearance):

             Old Flame                     Something in the Way You Are / Come into my Head

             Cameo Lover                Limbo

             Withdraw                      Good Intent

             

                                                    Wandering Limbs

KimbraVision

Catch it all.
Don't miss out on anything while she performs in front of you.
Let her fit into your pictures and videos.
Make sure your next camera or smartphone has KimbraVision System.

...she often seems to be reaching, arms outstretched, for the melody.

 "It's really just an instinctive way for me to colour and control

 the notes or conduct them in various ways," she says.

 "It's partly subconscious and also a way of surrendering

 myself  to the music and the beat.  I feel far more

 connected  to the whole band if I can somehow

 physically  respond ... with my body."

(The Sydney Morning Herald)

"Good Intent" (Live in Rio)

Kimbra performing "Good Intent" at Rock in Rio (Rio de Janeiro, Sep. 15, 2013).
Don't miss the 'a capella' intro...

Merch fiction

• CAMEO LOVER Mask (human haired)
• OLD FLAME Lighter (refillable)  NEW!
• KIMBRA Confetti (Personally autographed to YOU by Kimbra!)

SWEETS:

• GOOD INTENT Pennies (chocolate)
• KIMBRA Tambourine (chocolate  & gummy candy)
• CIMH Dummies (hard candy)
• SETTLE DOWN Figurines (white chocolate)

CHECK OUT OUR +500 T-SHIRTS ! Recent additions:

• OPEN UP YOUR HEART (surgical green T-shirt with optional cap)
• HOOD GANG (long sleeve hooded T-shirt with YOUR photo)
• LOVE IS A TWO WAY STREET (women's tank top)
• COME INTO MY HEAD (T-shirt with a photo of YOUR shoes)

F.A.Q.:

Q: How can I order this merchandise?
A: This is fictitious merchandise.

Q: And where can I buy this stuff?
A: This is just fancied merch.

Q: But how can I get this stuff?
A: These are made-up images of unreal merchandise.

Q: And how can I purchase it?
A: This is just imaginary stuff. Do you know what I mean?

Q: But where can I buy this merchandise?
A: Mt Haszard Cottage, Macauley Island (New Zealand). They don't ship any order: Come, Pay & Take away. You must GO there. Even better: MOVE there!

The lightest collab

"She did a splendid job bringing something very sweet to this song..."
(The Hello Morning's Facebook, March 7, 2012)

Find Kimbra hiding in the chorus, sticking to Steven Clifford vocals like a shadow:

"Bright Lights"

(track 8 of The Hello Morning's self titled debut album, 2012) 

(Tilt your head to the right to spot Clifford in the drink)

Tangled in translation

This post is a homage to the zillions of Kimbra fans that don't understand a word of English and must struggle with the lyrics of her songs armed with automated trangstlation tools.

This is what we get when we use Google Translator for translating "Old Flame" lyrics from English to Korean, then back to English (original lyrics on the left).

Old flame, it's always the old way When did it get so darned cold? You're so seasonal We flickered and swayed Each time the winter soul came I remember gold days Under love's warm haze Old flame, you're still the one that holds me Can't you feel it burning? Can't you feel it burning still? Old flame, I fell for your inferno Where did all the love go? Can't you feel the wind blow you closer to me? I went by your house today When did you get so hollow? So closed, so overgrown? But I flicker and sway Still dancing on the aftertaste I remember gold days Wrapped up in the warmth we made Old flame, you're still the one that holds me Can you feel it burning? Can you feel it burning still? Old flame, I fell for your inferno Where did all the love go? Can't you feel the wind blow? Smoke skies, colors and cloud nines Circles and straight lines and drowned eyes (Feel  there's something in the air) From such heights, I fell into fahrenheit And time only fuels the desire (When there's something in the air) It's always the old way When did it get so darned cold? You're so seasonal Old flame, burning Burning, burning still Old flame, inferno Where did all the love go? Na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na na na Na na Na na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na na na

Former lover, always the conventional method When cold it's ridiculous? It is the season We blink and the left and right This winter has been the soul of every I remember one Friday Love under the warm mist Former lover, you still have me is the person who You can feel the burn? Do you still feel the burn? Former lover, and you fell for the hell of Where is all the love? You wind blow me feel close to you do? Today, I went home and When empty it right? So, I grew up so close? But I forgot shake Still dancing on the aftertaste I remember one Friday Wrapped in the warmth we made Former lover, you still have me is the person who Do you feel the burn? Do you still feel the fire? Former lover, and you fell for the hell of Where is all the love? Do you feel the wind blow? Smoke the sky, color, and Cloud Nine Drowning eye circles and straight lines and (Air, feeling something) At the same height, and I fell in Fahrenheit Only fuel the desire and time (Air at something) Existing methods always When cold it's ridiculous? It is the season Burning old lover, Still burning, burning Former lover, hell Where is all the love? NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

True, the last few lines are spot on.

New jack swing revival

Kimbra's rendition of the song "Every Little Step" (Bobby Brown) at the Falls Festival 2011/2012, in Lorne.
Watch the live performance here.

Also, at the Southbound festival in Busselton on January 7th,.2012: video.

And finally, get a glimpse of her performances at the 2012 Big Day Out festival HERE, here, and there.

Now you see it, maybe soon you won't

This post is about keeping alive Kimbra live videos.
YouTube has plenty of amateur footage that preserves the magic of live musical moments that otherwise would survive only in the memories of those who were there. But having these videos just one click away, everywhere, 24 hours a day, should not make us forget how precarious these virtual memories can be. YouTube channels come and go, for whatever reasons, and so does the recorded footage.

Typical obituary for a departed Kimbra live video.

Typical YouTube user's reaction when reading an obituary for a departed Kimbra live video.

I've tried to resurrect here two cherished Kimbra live videos which recently "passed away". I hope the owners (no way to contact them) don't mind that I uploaded these videos to my channel for keeping them available.



Kimbra performing "Good Intent" live at a promo event for The Sims 3 Pets at Studios 301 (Sydney) on September 2011. One of the verses of the song is sung in Simlish.
(Originally uploaded by YouTube user "financialpanda")

Kimbra and her band debuted a live version of "With My Hands" at Rhythm & Vines (Gisborne, NZ) in late December 2012. This is a rough recording of the performance at Summafieldayze (Gold Coast, Australia) one week later. The original footage  by YouTube user "mrjoshhunter" that went unavailable has been completed here with excerpts of this video by "Ivan Sam", showing closer views (included with his permission).

Cameo hater

About the sad fate of fallen pieces of confetti as seeds of hatred.

(Note: Don't get it wrong. The sweepers depicted here are not "black people" but dull black-and-white people...)

"Cameo Lover" official music video.

Related Behind the Scenes video.

Kimbra, please come to Kimba

Where?!

Farm stories

"I'm living on a farm sanctuary in LA - I wake up with chickens and sheep and am doing yoga every morning" (Kimbra in the US, recording her new album)

OK, this is an absurd story: that model of thingamajig cannot be battery powered and does not work if not plugged into the mains. But I won't tell them. They are farm sanctuary animals. Who am I to kill their dreams?

"Good Intent" pūkana

Insights into cultural synchretism.

Based upon the best and most reputable authoritative sources available:

  instagram 1

  instagram 2

Merciless drummer

It's not what it seems. The drummer didn't kill Kimbra in Texas.
But they killed it:
"Posse" - Live from Austin City Limits Music Festival 2012

Wearing all black

Hamilton (NZ). Saturday, June 10, 2006.
One of Kimbra’s first big performances, in front of more than 20,000 people. Many came from far away (even from Ireland!).
Sounds like everyone knew the lyrics and sang along.
Seems it was a cover...
   Video

    Picture

P.S. (November 2014): A better video...

Eat & Greet

Pizzas! Fuel for her pizzazz and a great source of inspiration for her songs.

Layers and layers of tomato sauce, mozzarella and toppings.

Layers and layers of rhythms, vocals and sounds.

original

Crowding up "Settle Down"

Around "Settle Down" in seven example line-ups: let's talk about Kimbra crowding up the stage.

SOLO
Kimbra looping "Settle Down" live at 303 (Northcote, Melbourne) in 2009.
It's worth checking out this early version of the song, performed one year before at the same place.

DUO
Kimbra and guitarist Timon Martin performing at SXSW 2012 festival (Austin, Texas).

TRIO
Vocals, keyboards and drums. A jazzy rendition of "Settle Down" performed at Studios 301 (Alexandria, Sydney) in September 2011, at a promo event for The Sims.

QUARTET
Kimbra with Timon, Stevie and Ben performing "Settle Down" in July 2012 at the "107.7 The End" studio, an alternative rock radio station in Seattle.
One of the guys behind the camera, Mat Hayward, wrote: 'she could release the song A capella and I would love it just as much, if not more!'. Well, in fact he had already heard it A capella, as he explained here.

QUINTET
Kimbra and her full band at the second annual Critics' Choice Prize - part of the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards (2011).
Watch the full concert here.

SEXTET
OK, this is a little tricky. Not a true sextet but a virtual ensemble of six Kimbras or more, and only at certain moments...
This weareus.co.uk video for NOWNESS.com consists of a visual recreation in post-production made from a single take of a live solo performance of "Settle Down".  

SEPTET
Two outlandish backup singers joined temporarily the band during the Australian Tour of May 2012. They were also on stage when Kimbra stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) in Los Angeles on 23 May 2012, as we can see in this video.
"Settle Down" performed live at Enmore Theatre (Sydney) on 17 May 2012 here. 

The singer with no ears

Dedicated to Priya

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Kriya who was a big fan of a songtress named Pimbra. She was as happy as a little girl can be, dancing, and singing Pimbra's sweet tunes to herself all day long.

One day, as she looked at the pictures of her idol, something started to worry her.
‘Mom, does Pimbra have ears?’
‘Of course she does!’
However, Kriya remained so unconvinced that her mom had to arrange for a meeting with Pimbra at the end of one of her concerts.
The Big Day arrived. The singer not only brushed her hair apart to show her ears to the little girl but also posed for some of the loveliest pictures ever taken of an artist and one of her fans. And that could have been the end of the story if the little girl and her doubts had not kept on growing. She could not be convinced that those ears she had been shown – that she had once touched, bitten and tasted – were still there when she had left.

She needed the advice of a wise man. So she opened the big Phone Book and found a Wiseman that lived in the far side of the town. Clever Wiseman was his name.
‘You know, I know nothing about music or ears, but I swear I'll help you, my little girl.’
He ended up dancing, and singing Pimbra's sweet tunes to himself all day long, until he found a mysterious line in one of them: "The Sun won't shine if you're not looking".
He stared at the Sun until it blinded him, but this did not deter him. Years later, he spoke to Kriya.
‘You know, I'm onto something. Someone told me that she will do a cover of a song of Tears for Ears...’

In the meantime, the little girl was introduced to a well-known philosopher by the uncle of the grocery boy' s sister-in-law. Sir George Berkeley was his name.
‘I would be pleased to help you, my little princess, but I'm busy trying to solve another great question. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?’
Actually, he looked like he was not interested at all. But soon he began to dance, and sing Pimbra's sweet tunes to himself all day long.
Eventually, Kriya visited him again with another question.
‘Could you answer this? If a tree falls in a forest and only Pimbra is around to hear it, does it make a sound?’
Sir George Berkeley remained silent. He desperately needed to know if Pimbra would wear her ears in the forest in the first place!

Some years later, Kriya won a trip to Japan in a raffle. She got very sad because she wouldn't keep in contact with her wise friends for a long time. But once in Tokyo, someone whose name was very difficult to write and remember advised her to meet Master Hakuin Ekaku.
‘I will help you, but first you must tell me one thing: What is the sound of one hand clapping?’
Hakuin went to visit her every morning, repeating this same conundrum.
‘What is the sound of one hand clapping?’
Finally, one rainy day, the little girl ran to Hakuin's mansion and shouted:
‘Now I understand what you are trying to say to me! You mean: Get a life!’

Kriya was then as happy as a woman in her thirties can be, dancing, and singing Pimbra's sweet tunes to herself all day long.
Back home, when turning a corner, she bumped into Mr Wiseman and his charming guide dog.
‘You know, I'm onto something,’ said Mr Wiseman.
Some months later, they got married and lived happily ever after, for a couple of years.

After her divorce, Kriya moved to Tokyo and knocked at Hakuin's door.
‘Let's clap together. I'm bringing the second hand.’
And they got married and lived happily ever after.
Yes, ever after.

Mr. Wiseman remarried the cousin of the uncle of the grocery boy's sister-in-law. She was a big fan of Pimbra too.
Sir George Berkeley married Pimbra. To his despair, she never let him see her ears.

What's the moral of this hodgepodge tale? Hey, wait a minute, I didn't promise any moral...

"Settle Down": The Sequel

"SETTLE DOWN 2 - Burning Revenge" 

(They're back, and they're still hot)

STARRING Charles Lee Ray, Tiffany Ray, Glen Ray (Child's Play)

WITH Kimbra Johnson, Angela Vickers, Hermann Mannequin, Nebraska Jones

I Look To You (Live)

Kimbra performing Miami Horror song "I look to you" at Astor Theatre (Perth, Western Australia)

on 17 September 2011.

Check out the video on "keepit" YouTube channel from minute 3 on.

Musically speaking, it seems that Kimbra's comfort zone consists of staying out of her comfort zone, if that makes any sense. It would have been too easy to rely heavily on the chorus as the original song features a prominent one. Yet the chorus appears only once (repeated twice) in that five-minute performance !

It Takes Time (ULBTLMV)

A 14-year-old Kimbra submitted this song to the "Play It Strange" New Zealand Secondary School Songwriting Competition back in 2004 (a "Top 20" V.A. album was released and can be downloaded here).

Please don't blame Kimbra or Guy Franklin for the video !
This is just a recent unofficial low-budget title lyric music video (ULBTLMV).

By the way, title lyric music videos are extremely difficult to make. You run out of words so quickly...

A 12-year-old artist

You may have come across THIS VIDEO of a 12-year-old Kimbra at Berkley Middle School singing harmony vocals at the end.
What the video doesn't show is the overdub! Here it is:

Unsettled "Settle Down"

Last year alone, Kimbra performed so many different renditions of the "Settle Down" intro that she could make a brand new song just by putting them together!






(Read YouTube description of this video for more details)


The final part of the video is about the day the crowd got trapped in the loop...

Running out of hands

Can you spot Kimbra's Grammys, Tuis and ARIA awards in the following mess of thophies?

This is an autostereogram designed for divergent viewing. For further details see former post: "Find the fourth Kimbra: a 3D experience".