Zulu Winter – Heavy Rain

I normally shy away from writing about my family’s triumphs mainly because it can come across as a kind of arrogance, boasting about my brilliant genes and all that but also because there’s that whole issue of bias. Obviously, it’s hard not to be biased as a proud and awe-filled younger sister, but I’m going to allow myself one gushing post about my brother’s band, Zulu Winter’s newest music video ‘Heavy Rain’ because, quite frankly, it’s too good to ignore.

Filmed by the brilliant and immensely talented director, David Higgs the video exploits the rosy light of sunrise to create scenes so beautiful and eerie that they’re really quite mesmerising. Throw in some peculiar dance moves, a bit of rolling around in the grass, hallucinogenic repetitions and a pony and it all gets rather surreal.

The track’s not bad either. Well done bro.

The Jazz Genius: Thelonious Monk

A few weeks ago, my brother gave me a Thelonious Monk record for my birthday. Previous to this I had never really listened to jazz. The word ‘Monk’ to me meant a bald, religious man in a robe. Needless, to say I was a little disappointed to find my brother had given me an album of religious chanting. Way to go big bro! Anyway, I threw the record on in a moment of madness or desperation to find that I was pleasantly surprised. For those of you who don’t already know, Monk (or Thelonious Monk) is not a Monk in the religious sense nor does he chant. Rather he was (and still is) one of the greatest jazz pianists and composers in the world. He died in 1982, but he still remains a hugely influential figure in the music industry. Most famously,  Amy Winehouse was quoted saying that Monk changed the way she saw music. I wouldn’t go as far as that, but the smooth melodies of Theolonious Monk have recently become my soundtrack of choice. There’s something incredibly soothing, yet energising about his music.  It makes you want to do things, to get up and shake, to dance in the rain, to sing in the streets.

This is about a higher art form, man. A new level of musical maturity…

I found one of Monk’s full album’s on youtube, give it a full listen – it doesn’t do it justice to chop it apart:

Easter in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

Fortunately this Easter I was able to escape England’s sub-zero degrees to the sunny tropical paradise which is Costa Rica to visit my brother and his family. Thank god for family! My days are largely spent by the pool basking (and slightly burning) in the sun after participating in a two hour yoga session on a wooden platform overlooking the sea. Pure bliss. But Easter Day was somewhat different…

As my sister-in-law is American, Easter is a big deal. The house is decorated and food is prepared days in advance. Then comes Easter eve: My oldest niece spends a good 5 minutes arranging 4 large Easter baskets on the table with a plate of carrots ( made to look more authentic by using a tooth pick to stick celery leaves to the tops) for the Easter bunny. Then Easter morning: Baskets are emptied, sweets hoovered up (chocolate has a very low life expectancy in the heat) and off we go to the party for the next stage of the Easter extravaganza – the hunt! Again, much to my disappointment, no chocolate. Just plastic eggs filled with balloons ( a luxury out here) and painted hard boiled eggs, which my nephew soon finds are rather tasty as well as pretty to look at and plates of food freshly prepared by the community’s best chefs. Everyone knows everyone here. Then just as the sun reaches its peak, it’s time for a siesta before the beach party. Hosted at a beach bar, there’s live music, acrobatics, face painting, a BBQ and organic mojitos (I mean we don’t want to pollute out bodies do we?) made by a very spaced out barman. Suddenly it’s 8.30. Bedtime! Life is wild in the tropics. And Easter is over for another year.