Old Music Reviews: Bic Runga

I have decided to review old music CDs.  I think that most of the new music is crap, mostly beats with nothing more to offer.  I own a ton of old CDs and have even more older songs on my IPOD.  With this being said there are some CDs and artists that may have been lost in the fray.  I would love to review them now and hopefully I can interest even one person.  I was going through CDs trying to look for something that was low key that I could jam to whilst working on stuff on the computer and not waking my son up.   Bic Runga jumped out at me, and made me remember the never-ending repeat of the amazing song "Sway."  If you have never listened to Bic Runga and if you have never heard the song "Sway" you missed out on something amazing!  Let me be the one to share it with you for the first time, or to remind you of it's musical awesomeness. 

First off let's get to know Bic Runga herself.  Her full name is Briolette Kah Bic Runga.  But she records as Bic Runga.  She is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose first album was entitled "Drive." and debuted at number 1 on New Zealand's Top 40.  She is one of the highest selling New Zealand artists of recent history.  The Bic part of her name is Chinese for jade (pronounced Bec).  Let me just say that personally it is strange that I have always loved her and later in life I ended up learning Chinese....  The crazy coincidences in life.  Bic Runga's mother definitely must have had an influence on her in life as she was a Chinese-Malaysian lounge singer from Malaysia.  She ended up marrying Bic's Vietnamese father who was a soldier on leave.  Bic has been recording music since she was only 4 years old, with her two sisters.  One of which is a member of the music group Stellar and the other is a session singer.  She could play the drums, guitar and keyboard by the time she was in her mid teens.  Bic has released 4 studio albums as well as 2 compilation albums.  Most recently she released a greatest hits compilation in December of 2012, which I will be investing time and money into acquiring as this is exciting news to me. 

Let's get back to her amazing song "Sway."  I first got hooked on Bic Runga and this song thanks to the original American Pie movie and the great soundtrack.  in the late 90s and early 2000s, I bought a LOT of soundtracks, as it was a great way to find new artists and great new music and singles to fall in love with.  "Sway" was so amazing that it led me to buy her second album Beautiful Collision which was released in 2002.  It is a great independent album however and great chill music.  A lot of it flows into itself as far as song change goes and progression throughout the album.  This isn't a bad thing, but as far as an album standing out for itself I think her initial album Drive would be better for that and definitely her latest compilation "Anthology."  Once I invest in this I will do a full review, song by song for those interested. 

"Beautiful Collision" is a definite Cd worth taking the time to listen to however, I love the entire thing.  On par with popular artists such as Sarah McLaughlin, Dido, and Norah Jones (when she doesn't go too bluesy) if you are interested in that kind of sound, this is definitely for you!  "Beautiful Collision" also debuted at number 1 on the New Zealand charts.  The album is currently peaking at five on the Best Of All Time List in New Zealand (*as of October 2012).   She is the only female musician on the list.  The album went 11 times platinum in New Zealand.  Give it a listen. 


I will share with you my all-time favorite Bic Runga song "Sway" as promised and then my favortie song off of this CD "When I See You Smile."

"Sway" -Bic Runga

"When I See You Smile" -Bic Runga

Please check out and support Bic Runga at her official website

Bic Runga Official Site

Unconditional Movie Review

I want to review a movie that I have now seen three times, that most people I encounter have never heard of: Unconditional

I first came across this movie thanks to an enormous crush on Michael Ealy and a netflix search for available movies.  I originally got it through the mail on DVD but it is currently on Netflix's instant watch.  Initially I was hesitant to watch this movie as I am not big on religious types of movies.  I wrestled with whether or not I should even watch it because I do NOT like religion pushing movies.  Let me just say that although there IS a God presence within this movie that it is NOT like any other religious movie I have ever seen.  The main message and focus within this movie is the faith in LOVE not the faith in any one type of religious belief.  No one ever attends any church let alone a church of any kind, so I think that was great in making this a more open movie to all audiences.

This movie is based on a true story and is about a boy named Joe and a girl named Sam who are childhood friends.  Joe is played by Michael Ealy and Sam is played by Lynn Collins.  Sam's husband is murdered in a bad part of town in Tennessee, and she is in a deep depression, having lost all faith in life and the will to live.  She returns to the spot of her husband's murder and before taking matters into her own hands, two children run into the road and a little girl is hit by a car.  Sam puts herself on the back burner and takes the children to the hospital, where she randomly runs into Joe after not seeing him for many years.

Joe has taken it upon himself to become a haven and a source of positity and inspiration to encourage learning in school age children in the neighborhood.  His drive is able to help Sam find new purpose in her own life and bring her back to her true love, which is writing and illustrating children's books. 

I know that my words do the message of love in this story no justice, as the movie itself needs to be watched to truly understand.  Let me just say that this is one to take a chance on and not to pass up.  The love that you feel from the message is real and brought tears to my eyes.  I hope to be able to share this wonderful movie with you and have you not pass over it for assuming it is anything more than a story about the many forms of unconditional love.  

Here is a trailer for the film: