lgrant823 blog on Absolute Radio

You will love Andrew Bird! (If virgin lets you)

lgrant823 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:33:21 +0000

Well hellooo everybody

I've been away for far too long-- but I'm BACK with an entire library of brand new music I am loving. One of my favorite new artists is ANDREW BIRD, a genius singer songwriter who is slowly taking the US by storm.

His music is amazingly different from everything you've ever heard before. Even each song is vastly different from the last. He incorporates sweeping symphonies with skitzy lyrics and catchy whistling and ends up creating unforgettable music.

Check him out as soon as you can-- watch some of his live performances on youtube and prepare to be blown away by how many instruments he can play at once.

Unfortunately, Virgin VIPs can't yet show their love for Andrew on the site-- Virgin, let's get a profile of this guy up ASAP so we can spread the word to the UK about this incredible talent.

Enjoy (and get ready to wish you were a better whistler)

I'M BACK!

lgrant823 — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:14:52 +0100

Heyy guys, wow it's been forever since I've been in the virgin vip lounge. I've been insanely busy but I LOVE my new job. Check us out at www.anthropologie.com (the company is a subsidiary of urban outfitters). We go international next week so you guys in the UK can start buying our clothes and in the next year or so we'll start opening stores in London and eventually the rest of the UK.
Anyway I just wanted to say hi to everybody, I miss killing time on absoluteradio.co.uk but it's nice to be busy and happy with work :)
Hope you're all well!
Love,
Elle

I GOT THE JOB!!

lgrant823 — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 20:54:34 +0100

I got the job I wanted!! I got a pay increase too!!!

Yayyyy I'm so happy! I had a great birthday yesterday and now this and then my friends are coming this weekend to party! I can't wait

Unfortunately, I have to resign from my current job in about oh... 5 minutes. I'm so nervous my hands are shaking.

Wish me luck :/

Enjoy the weekend everyone (esp the long weekend for you lucky brits)

Second Interview and My Birthday!

lgrant823 — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:52:37 +0100

Tomorrow is my second interview for the job with Anthropologie/Urban Outfitters. Wish me luck!!!!!

Tomorrow is also my birthday! :)

Yaaay

Big party this weekend wooot

Job Interview!

lgrant823 — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:20:18 +0100

I have a job interview this afternoon and I reeeeally hope I get it!

It's in the marketing department of Anthropologie, a high-end store here in America.

Wish me luck!!!

Once I'm done with the interview it's the weekend and I get to live it up :) I can't wait for it to be over haha

Have a great weekend, everybody! Crank up the Bowie tonight!!!!

V-Fest 2007!

lgrant823 — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:36:23 +0100

My head is still spinning from the American Virgin Fest last weekend in Baltimore, MD-- it was an INCREDIBLE day!

Despite being one of the hottest days of the summer (I think it got up to 100 degrees and it was humid as hell), it was an amazing experience.

Since most of my favorite Virgin Radio musicians were at the smaller stage, we stayed there for most of the day. It was so cool because it was never really that crowded and it was always easy to sneak right up to the front and be right there.

The Fratellis kicked the day off and rocked it hard as usual. The crowd loved them and especially freaked out singing and dancing to "Chelsea Dagger", their final song.

Right after, we ran over to the main stage just as Amy Winehouse was starting. We were shocked that she actually showed up AND she seemed sober! Her new husband was on stage the whole time taking pictures of her and she dedicated "Me and Mr. Jones" to him. It was cute. She put on a great show and I was psyched when she did her cover of the Zuton's "Valerie".

When she was done, we booked it back to the smaller stage where Paolo Nutini was already performing. He was somehow rocking a cardigan despite the heat and sunshine but he looked absolutely adorable as usual (especially with his summer tan). He was much more responsive than when I saw him back in February-- he even smiled for most of the show! I still love his drummer, Jim Duguid, who was off the chaaain as usual and looked cute in his shades. The crowd loved Paolo (especially these two obnoxious broads in the very front who pissed everyone off) and he did all of his big songs and then covered "I wanna be like you" (from the Jungle Book!). The crowd especially loved "Funky Cigarette" and Paolo cracked up everyone (and himself) by pretending to be taking a drag of a joint at the end.

After Paolo came Peter, Bjorn and John who were surprisingly good. Their thick accents were cute and they got the crowd really into their music. "Young Folks" was the best, of course, and I was disappointed that they did a weird rendition of their cool song "Amsterdam" but all in all they put on a great show.

Next came LCD Soundsystem, one of the highlights of the entire day. Their music is like a more techno version of the Killers and they put on an incredible show! You absolutely can't sit still while listening to their music-- if you've never heard them before, go download them and crank their music up next time you're getting ready to go out on a Friday night. I danced the entire time and was near dehydration by the time their set ended.

I got myself some water and hung out in the 'misting tent' for a little while after LCD Soundsystem. We walked around and stumbled upon the 'dance tent' where we stayed in the dance groove and boogied for a little while longer until it was time for TV on the Radio to go on.

They put on a good show too-- sometimes their music just sounds like noise to me but they do have a few good songs. I definitely have to be in the mood to listen to them and LCD Soundsystem proved to be a tough act to follow.

Last up was Modest Mouse who had an unexpectedly large crowd (especially surprising because they were playing at the same time as the Police on the main stage). They were good, played a lot of material from their older albums I'm unfamiliar with, but they were fun and their music is good so I enjoyed them.

By this point though, I was so exhausted I just sat on the grass and watched their set from afar while enjoying a frosty beer. The sun had set and it had cooled off and I was content with the music-filled, sunny day I'd just been lucky enough to enjoy.

I'm now permanently addicted to music festivals, extremely jealous of everyone who's able to attend V-Fest in the UK next week, and I have my heart set on Glastonbury '08. Who's with me?

Across the Universe

lgrant823 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:19:28 +0100

Has anyone seen the trailer for "Across the Universe"?

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/acrosstheuniverse/

What does everyone think? Too much hype? Will it disgrace the Beatles music?

Some scenes look cool, others extremely cheesy.

What are your thoughts?

Fratellis Tonight!

lgrant823 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 16:06:56 +0100

Tonight is the Xponential Music Festival in Camden, NJ and I'm sooo psyched to see the Fratellis! Who has seen the Fratellis live? Favorite live song???

What concert are you going to this weekend?

Travis Live!

lgrant823 — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:56:54 +0100

The Travis show lastnight at the Electric Factory in Philly was absolutely AMAZING. Hands down one of the best concerts I've ever been to (or will ever go to!)

The guys opened the show by blasting the Rocky theme (yeah Philly!) and ran in from the BACK of the room, through the crowd and onto the stage! Then they kicked things off with Selfish Jean which immediately got everyone dancing.

They put on a phenomenal live show, just a few hilights: Andy the guitarist came into the crowd and did his guitar solo while laying on the ground, Fran wore a "Music, Art, Jaffa Cakes" t-shirt, Claus the keyboardist had the entire crowd chanting his name during his solo in "Good Feeling", and everyone in the place was "pogoing" (aka hopping up and down) during the final chorus of "Why does it always rain on me?" at the end of the show.

My favorite songs were "Flowers in the window" (sang acoustically with all the guys from the band standing together singing with their arms around each other's shoulders), "Good Feeling" and of course, the finale "Why does it always rain on me?"

The band has so much charisma and Fran's frequent storytelling during the show kept everybody laughing (his impression of an American raving about Facebook was the funniest part of the night) and he constantly apologized for the band not being in Philly for almost 10 years (though they promised to be back very soon). I can't WAIT til they come back because I'll be first in line to see them again.

If you've never seen Travis, get on it, they just get better and better over time :)

Harry Potter is a charmer

lgrant823 — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:38:59 +0100

I saw Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) on Jay Leno the other night and besides being reeeally nervous in the beginning, he was so cute and quite charming and funny.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5uABOpUUc2A

Selfish Jean: My New Favorite Music Video

lgrant823 — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:14:53 +0100

If you haven't seen the Selfish Jean video yet with Demetri Martin, you HAVE to check it out. It's hilarious:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=V1OkimjTc-M

I'm going to see Travis tonight-- SO EXCITED lol :)

Where's Feist?????

lgrant823 — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:54:07 +0100

I've been waiting for Virgin to catch on to the awesomeness of Feist! They FINALLY have!!!!

"One Two Three Four" is an amazing summer song-- but why doesn't Feist have an artist page on absoluteradio.co.uk?? I want to show my love for the band! Help me out virgin! :)

And everyone request "One Two Three Four" and go out and get her new albums and the old ones too-- Mushaboom and La Meme Histoire are amazing songs!

What summer concert are you excited for?

lgrant823 — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:45:42 +0100

I'm going to see Travis next Wednesday at the Electric Factory here in Philly and I can't wait!!

I'm also going to the Virgin Festival in Baltimore on August 4th-- I can't wait to see the Fratellis, Paolo Nutini, the Police, Amy Winehouse, Modest Mouse, Peter Bjorn & John and the Beastie Boys.

What summer concert are you most excited about?

Make your own ringtones (easily!)

lgrant823 — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:23:06 +0100

Ok so I found a program yesterday (with zero spyware attached) that's easy to use and it let's you pick any mp3 from your music collection and it converts it and sends it to your cell phone as a ringtone.

I picked the guitar solo from the end of "I love it when you call" (get it?? lol) and it's now my ring tone and I love it!

You can send yourself up to 5 ringtones on the free version then you have to download a paid version (or just re-download the free one...)

It's super easy, I recommend everyone do it and turn your fav virgin radio songs into fun ringtones :)

Enjoy!

Oops forgot to include the link (I'm sick today...)

http://oneclick-ringtone-converter.streamware-development.softalizer.com/

Mumm-ra = Witty Guys

lgrant823 — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:30:16 +0100

I've been reading Mumm-ra's myspace blog all day (instead of doing work oops) and it's highly entertaining. I suggest all of you kill some time at work checking it out:

blog.myspace.com/mummra

The guys seem really cool and funny-- a band I'd definitely like to be friends with.

Oh and the music isn't half bad either........... :)