aloha friday scoop

since it has been eons since the last scoop, i am keeping it light today while i decide whether it is a keeper, needs a shakeup, or if early retirement is calling its name as the time required to gather up scoop-worthy items has become quite daunting.

sooo . . . if you have missed the scoop, please click away, comment, like & share to show your love.

{first friday highlights}

• jewelry by justine stops by owens & company to show off her latest handmade sparkle. {6p to 9p; 1152 nu'uanu avenue}

• scooping up posh pua bikinis for a steal scores you a 10% off storewide discount at florencia arias.{5p to 10p; 1161 nu'uanu avenue}

• save 50% on photo sessions ($150 for one night only) when you say hello to photographer rita coury during her annual mahalo showcase. {5:30p to 8p; plaza club, 900 fort street mall, 21st floor}

• sing along with the lovely sabrina when the local singer/songwriter returns home to join a lineup of past and present na hoku nominees for a free alt.rock concert celebrating the hawaii theatre's 90th anniversary. {7:30p; 1130 bethel street}

Click to read more ...

and the winner is . . .

jaimie from hawaii kai whose stereo will soon be spinning sabrina's the hawk & the hunter cd which became a hoku nominee for rock album of the year earlier this week! hooray sabrina!

thank you to all who entered the giveaway. if you would like to cheer on sabrina and say you listened to her music way back when, download the lp on itunes or amazon or drop her a note to order an old school cd. and click over to the official website for upcoming show dates.

congratulations jaimie!

{mahalo sabrina and good luck at the hoku awards!}

sabrina cd giveaway

happy monday! first, please accept my apologies if you stopped by midori jewelry's booth during the i love kailua town block party, and discovered a certain someone (ahem.) posted the wrong dollar amounts to be spent before you scored some bonus loot. the correct numbers were tucked away in a later email which i had completely forgotten about while playing hooky in san diego.

blush.

after that awful discovery in my morning mail, local lovely sabrina's absolutely charming cd the hawk & the hunter (produced and pressed thanks to kickstarter) went for a spin to brighten my gloomy day (literally as the marine layer blanketed my neighborhood all monday long). despite more than one ipod per inhabitant, our music library remains in limbo as my one and only hi-fi geek wrestles with plans to build his dream music server to house thousands o' cds. since downloads remain a no-no around here as compressed music loses all the magical bits of sonic wonder, paypal whisked my ten dollars to sabrina who sent along one cd for me and one cd to share with a lucky reader.

isn't she a sweetie?

the album (recorded in portland - sabrina's home away from hawaii) reminds me of whispers from a secret journal filled with pages of melancholy and broken hearts & daydreams and hopeful beginnings mingled with gentle guitar chords, cool piano tinkles, and a little ukulele as a sweet wink to her island home.

swoon.

{giveaway details after the jump}

Click to read more ...

morning crush: the hawk & the hunter

just because i am holding out for the cd (the downside of loving a hifi geek), doesn't mean you should miss out on a listen of the hawk and the hunter, the new-ish release by honolulu singer/songwriter sabrina who funded her second offering via kickstarter.

the gorgeous vocals and lovely indie spirit will make your ipod swoon with happiness.

download on amazon ($8.99) or itunes ($9.99).

music lesson

one of my favorite discoveries since finding my way to twitter is h|h reader and kaneohe singer/songwriter sabrina velazquez who captures that quiet, lovely indie sound that always makes me swoon ("dark rider", a tune penned in three minutes, i speak of you). after studying at usc and punching in at an ad agency following graduation, sabrina decided to return home to oahu to focus on her first love before leaving for portland to immerse herself in music making 24/7.

a 6-song ep soon followed (have a listen over on lala), and, now back home in hawaii, sabrina is one of the first local musicians testing out the crowdfunding waters via kickstarter which matches up fans with a few dollars to spare with artists needing a financial hookup. the goal? to raise enough money to head back into the studio to record a full-length album.

in exchange for pledges of $5 and up, you get a little shout out for your support and, the deeper your pockets, potential perks like free downloads or the chance to commission a song. as of today, the project goal of $5000 is 23% funded with only 41 days to go to the nov 30th deadline to acquire full funding (pledges are held by amazon until the goal is met so your donation is only charged when enough people back the project).

intrigued? click over to kickstarter to get the scoop on how to be a mini music mogul on sabrina's lp project.

p.s. hard copies of sabrina's the anomaly ep is currently sold out so click over to itunes or amazon to download to your playlist.