Blogs
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Guns N’ Roses // How not to behave at a gig
September 3rd, 2010So I just read on the BBC Website that Guns N’ Roses were booed and bottled off stage in Dublin. This follows the debacle at Reading festival last weekend.
Fair enough, nobody deserves to have piss-missiles thrown at them, but if you turn up late what the hell-else are fans supposed to do to make you realise its really not a way to carry on? Apart from it being obvious that they would get on stage ‘whenever they could be arséd’, its just bloody polite to respect a curfew put in place BY A FESTIVAL THAT IS PAYING YOU. Apparently they weren’t even very good.
Why am I wasting time writing about it, you may be wondering? Well, why are people booking these losers? Like Oasis and their feck-up-ridden tour last year, the bands seem to forget that its you and me paying for their alcohol and/or drug habits.
Yes fans, we’re back – and we’re still rubbish! (Quimby)
September 2nd, 2010The Libertines have reformed. With all the absolute garbage clogging up the airwaves at the moment, people think we’ve still got room for more.
Do we really need a second dose of this wretched excuse for a band?
Their first album was hailed as a “masterpiece” by Zane Lowe, which should tell you all you need to know – pretentious “indie” navel-gazing, undergraduate pseudo-intellectual poetry and an “edgy” image. Poor musicians, playing poorly-written songs. And no, I don’t buy the idea that Doherty is a genius who has squandered his talent on drugs. Early Libertines tracks show absolutely no hint of any kind of lyrical talent whatsoever:
There are fewer more distressing sights than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap
How droll. Is that more or less distressing than the sight of an overpaid smackhead in a trilby? Also check out this little gem:
And all the memories of the pubs
And the clubs and the drugs and the tubs
We shared together…
which is doggerel that would make Damien Rice blush.
Behind the pathetic little soap opera of the Doherty/Barât tiffs there is nothing interesting going here, musically or lyrically. Christ, the Kinks used to kick the shit out of eachother on stage, but at least they wrote some tremendous songs in the meantime.
But I digress. My main beef this edition is with band reformations. Blondie; Duran Duran; New Kids On The Block; The Sex Pistols; The Doors; INXS; A-ha; Spandau Frigging Ballet…
Now, I’m not saying that these people shouldn’t be allowed to reform (though I’d have much preferred it if half of them hadn’t formed in the first place). My problem is with the amount of money and airplay that’s given to these overblown, embarrassing anticlimaxes. I remember shouting at my television as I watched New Order limp through their atrocious comeback single “Jetstream” on Jonathan Ross’s show. They couldn’t play; they couldn’t sing; they looked ridiculous; and the song itself was pathetic.
But the thing that angered me was that the band spot on the show that night could have been given to a new band that was actually doing something interesting.
Alarmingly, it was on this same show (why was I watching it?!) that Duran Duran launched their similarly bland comeback single “(Reach Up For The) Sunrise”, to which the band was miming and Simon Le Bon was only occasionally singing. At one point, something went wrong with the backing track and the scale of their musical ineptitude became all too clear.
Again – why not give the spot to a band who’d bothered to write a decent song, rehearse it and perform it well, rather than this shower of shite who were so smugly reliant on the nostalgia of their aging fans that they didn’t bother to do things properly.
The main reason for these reunions is almost always money. Specifically, the drummer or bass player can’t pay the tax man, so they need to bleed some more cash from their former fans. And record companies and promoters happily go along with it: the teenage fans of yesteryear are now in their thirties and forties – more disposable income to spend at a more upmarket venue, as well as picking up another greatest hits collection with bonus tracks unavailable anywhere else!
Don’t be fooled!
You used to love them when you were 13, but you’re not 13 any more and they’re not 21. You kind of like the new single, but deep down you know that the new album is going to be pretty disappointing – like the old stuff but not as good. And though you convince yourself it’ll be good to hear all your old favourites played live, do you really want to stand there and watch your idols prancing around on stage in clothes that they really shouldn’t be wearing in that condition, failing to reach the high notes, and occasionally ruining a great old record by playing a “new version to kick it into the 21st Century”?
Rarely – very rarely – a band gets back together and actually does something good. So go! Go and see what they’re doing; buy the album if you like it. Good music is good music, regardless of who’s making it.
But crap music is still crap music, even if it’s released by someone who used to be great. They’re relying on you to sleepwalk into handing over your money for the sake of nostalgia. And the more money you spend on lazy, complacent rot, the more attention record companies will give it, and the more new artists will be denied their chance.
Besides, I’ve been complaining about The Libertines for nearly a decade – can’t you give me something new to slag off?
Quimby
BLOG: Offset autumn
September 1st, 2010Ah. Festivals. I was supposed to go to so many this year and then life and Wedding Season got in the way and well, before I knew it September was upon us.
Luckily, I am going to one festival this year, and that is Offset.
I’ll be checking out loads of bands including John & Jehn (of which one of our writers is the new drummer!), Bo Ningen, Caribou, Wild Palms, The Rayographs, Mystery Jets…seeing our friend Ant from God Don’t Like It do a DJ set and much more. And when it all gets too much, I may drag everyone into the forest for a nice little drunken nature walk. And maybe even a gallavant to the zoo.
Before we know it, the summer will be drawing to a close (as if it hasn’t already) and we’ll be back sashaying our way to gigs in military boots, kicking rouge leaves along in the damp and rain. We have a few gigs lined up too, including our first birthday event and some goodies in association with Canadian Blast.
I say ‘bring it on, autumn!’
Living out of a suitcase…
August 24th, 2010I moved out of my flat in Cardiff last Thursday and since then I have been living out of a suitcase at my boyfriend’s parent’s house in Swansea. I have had to live out of a suitcase many times in my short life of 22 years, however this time it is more difficult.
The weather in Wales is impossible to predict therefore I filled a suitcase, which I bought for a ski holiday back in 2005 so it is huuuuuge, with so many different options. So many that I changed my top 5 different times yesterday! I don’t even know what to wear today!
I would love to have one of those trunks that have a hanger to hang my clothes up on, but I don’t think they’re very practical in everyday life. This one here is called a ‘steamer trunk’ and where very popular in the 20s. I suppose back then women had much more luxurious clothes, so they had a need for them. I think it would be too fancy for my t-shirts and jeans!
Problems that I have encountered living out of a suitcase are:
1. Everything has to be folded so that it fits in
2. If things are not folded they get creased
3. You can’t see everything you own at once
4. Unless you have a separate bag there’s no where to hold used underwear
5. Bras and tights get fused together (bad things happen)
6. If you accidently leave it open your underwear collection is on display
7. There’s a limit to the amount of clothes you can carry
8. Shoes are at the bottom so you have to pull them out creating mess
9. You have to re-pack shoes…even when they’re dirty
10. There’s always something that you didn’t bring that you want to wear!
I still have problems when deciding what to pack…I have brought three different bags, two of the same white strap tops and only one set of pyjamas! I don’t know how long it will be before I take the 6 hour-long train journey to my home, however I don’t know how much more of suitcase living I can take!!
I do believe in faeries – I do!
August 24th, 2010Take cover, one and all – X Factor returns for a seventh (seventh!) series on Saturday night.
And what exactly has it achieved in this time? The programme has not uncovered one genuinely great singer in its entire existence. Go to any karaoke bar and you’ll almost certainly pick up one or two who are just as good. Look at the previous winners:
Steve Brookstein had a nice enough tone, but also had the soporific qualities of chloroform.
Shane Ward - let’s be frank – could not sing for toffee. But because Sharon Osbourne went frothy at the fork for him, and the “CHEER NOW” sign came on at the right time, the viewers at home were also convinced.
Leona Lewis, technically, is indeed better than most – but singing a lot of notes very quickly doesn’t make you a great singer. It just makes you a cheap copy of Whitney Houston, who herself was an over-rated warbler who sang with all the emotion of a kettle.
Leon Jackson – a singer with the tone, phrasing and subtlety of a cow in pain.
Alexandra Burke – the best thing you can say about this identikit “soul” singer is that she’s no worse than the woefully self-indulgent Jeff “I died young – make me a legend” Buckley.
Joe McElderry - like Robbie Williams and Geri Halliwell before him, manages to be both bland and grating at the same time.
And of the most successful runners-up, JLS have only managed to prove that the model of cute-boyband-with-minimal-musical-talent has not yet given up the ghost.
X-Factor has brought a lot of fame and money to Simon Cowell, but that is not my problem with the show. There have always been Svengalis like him in the pop world, just as there have always been manufactured garbage and formulaic copycat acts.
No, the main damage caused by X-Factor – something never achieved by previous talent shows like New Faces or Opportunity Knocks – is the myth it perpetuates that to Make It, all you have to do is Believe. If you Believe hard enough, then you will be a Star. It doesn’t matter that you sound like a Stylophone underwater – so long as you Believe, you will Climb to the Stars and Reach your Goal and Jesus Christ I’m going to vomit.
And the worst part? It actually seems to work!
Quimby
Calcutta Fashion Fix
August 19th, 2010So, I’m on my summer holiday with my family in Calcutta (Kolkata) in India and I can’t help but notice the blossoming fashion trends around me. What I’ve particularly noticed is the adaptation of Western trends to suit the needs and demands of the fashion world in India. This post is about the biggest trend I’ve seen so far: the domination of leggings.
Calcutta is known as the cultural capital of India and the fashion and styles captured here illustrate this too. The leggings concept has become a nationwide hit and the photos below show how.
The photos above are of mid-length ”kurtas” – traditional Indian womenswear. Leggings have been incorporated into daily wear, party outfits and desinger clothing in India. Before leggings/jeggings, such traditional clothing would be accompanied by a matching pair of trousers with the same material and embroidery. Leggings however give women the option to wear something that does not necessarily match, but yet complements the kurta. Compare and contrast the above pictures with the ones below which show what traditional womens clothing looks like with their matching pieces.
I personally adore both styles. The photos with the leggings are matching pairs, but they do not always have to be. I’ve seen many girls opting for brightly coloured kurtas combined with plain black leggings. Leggings allows diversity in the in which women and girls dress in India and still maintains the issues of being dressed decently and appropriately in public.
Roaming around Calcutta this summer, I have noticed that it’s more the younger generation of women and girls who sport the leggings look; and the they are wearing such outfits with style and confidence. So I think it’s safe to say that leggings have given the traditional aspect to Indian clothing a revival and fresher look, especially for younger generation women and girls who may otherwise have chosen to wear fully Western clothing.
Being in Calcutta at the moment has reminded me of how vibrant, fun and lively Indian clothing can be, and I’m liking the fusion between East and West when it comes to fashion. Of course this bond has been going for a while now, but to see it firsthand makes you realise the actual impact it has on the masses of people and the trickle-down effect fashion has.
LOVE IT :)
(photos taken from google)
shoooooeeees
August 16th, 2010I am afraid I have to announce to you that heels are not my thing (whaat? -Ed)
Carrie Bradshaw has lead the way for women to love shoes, before her it was Marilyn Monroe who is quoted to have said “I don’t know who invented heels but all women owe him a lot.”
However I’m not feeling it. It could be because I am around 5ft 9ins and most of my friends are 5ft 5 so if I popped on 3 or 4 inch heels I’d be like a giant. I used to find myself bending over in group photos, so if I wore heels I’d probably have to go vertical.
However I’m not blaming my friends for my lack of heels as it’s not all their fault. I am a boyish girl and always wore trainers or flats when I was growing up. On my first night out at University I just wore a pair of flip flops and the girls who I lived with were disgusted and spent the next year trying to get me in heels, but I resisted. Every-so-often my friend G will demand heels on a night out and I always end up carrying them by the end of the evening.
My new goal in life is to be wearing heels everyday by the time I’m 25 – I have 3 years. I think I’d feel more like a proper lady if I wore heels! A friend of mine has been wearing heels ever since she was 16, she is just over 5ft so I guess she has to. She finds now that it hurts to wear flats which I guess means the weird tendons in her feet or ankle or something have shortened?? I don’t know.
Every outfit looks soooo much better when people wear heels with them. I’m lucky because I have long legs but there are some outfits that I try on and just think a pair of heels would make this look amazing..but I just can’t wear them. Plus there are so many pretty heels everywhere I just stare at them in shops and wish I could wear them.
This thought has come around after seeing these lace up boots with a heel. They are beautiful and I think they would just go with every outfit and give it that little bit of a grunge/rock edge, which everyone needs!
These boots are from River Island and will set you back around £74.99, however they’d last you for ages! Just think about it on cost-per-wear..thats what I do with my most expensive items!
Other heels, which have attracted my eye whilst walking around the shops today are clog heels! I don’t know how they’d stay on but look at these from ASOS, these are £85, but being black they’d deffo work with everything.
I’m going to buy a pair of around 2 to 3 inch heels and trot around my flat in them, I could just wear them out for little bits until I feel confident enough to strut around in public. Then I’ll get higher and higher until I can wear heels for at least 8 or 9 hours at a time. Don’t get me wrong there are some awesome pumps out there…and I have lots of them, but I’m up for the heel challenge now! Wish me luck xx
The Trustworthiness of Beards
August 12th, 2010Of recent, rock music has stopped rocking. It’s been replaced by a plethora of beardy folk strummers with a penchant for questionable facial hair. Thankfully, that’s just the blokes.
We found this, and it’s most amusing.
See here to get the, er, bigger picture.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Bon Iver as much as the next, but music seems to have been clouded by a Movember gone wrong. Looks like you’re keeping a petting zoo in there. Who needs a guitar case?
Sorry Sam.
painting bus stops
August 11th, 2010The story behind this band follows the pattern of many others. They met at university. They all realised they had different musical talents. They decided to form a band.
During my time at university I came across many boys who thought they could become rock stars and grabbed people who weren’t great at playing their instruments and tried to form a band. It’s a pipedream for most people.
However Painting Bus Stops are different. They met in 2008, decided to live in a large house together and instantly created their own sound.
In May 2009 Painting Bus Stops popped into their student union at Glamorgan University and played a few of their new tunes. To keep it light-hearted they mixed in a cover of the Arctic Monkey’s hit “I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor”. This was filmed and then for a laugh uploaded onto YouTube. A year later and the video has racked up over 10,000 views, with comments like “It’s nice, guys. Probably the best band cover of this song I’ve seen here? in YouTube” and “I don’t know who you are but you have made my day.” A few have even commented on the boys floppy haircuts claiming that they look like The Beatles.
These five young lads have performed in multiple venues around Cardiff and in Swansea and have received an incredible reaction. Their last gig on the 16th July the boys played a venue named Sin City in Swansea. They were there supporting Mike Fantastic, a band who’ve been featured on Britain’s Got Talent.
Their set kicked off to an awesome start with their song “ Daylight Robbery“, which gives you an idea to what the rest of the set will sound like. Callum and Scott, the guitarists, are, at such a young age, amazingly talented, they’re not fazed by the spotlight and get stuck right into it. The singer Richard is full of energy, you can see he’s the sort of front man who just comes alive on stage, and he took the crowd with him. The guys at the back Josh, a skilled drummer, and bassist Nathan keep things together whilst playing as if their lives depended on it. All in all they’re a brilliant fit, and the fact that they’re all friends makes it even better.
During the set the audience bounced along to their tunes and even helped sing along when they covered Keisha’s “Tik Tok”. Nearing the end of their set a boy came over and told them that their time was up, but the crowd was not having it. A chorus of “ONE MORE SONG!” erupted, and so the boys started up again only to find their microphones had been cut off. Boos then surfaced and after some more chanting their mics were turned back on and they were allowed to continue their encore.
-For a band that have been together around 2 years the boys were ecstatic, they’d never received such a crazed reception. Their Facebook page told their fans that it was “literally the best night ever” and thanked the people who came down saying they were “just incredible”. I was there, and for a band, who has only played a handful of gigs, the reaction was amazing, they should be encouraged by that.
The inspiration behind the lyrics are about getting hammered and the “banter” which seems to be their word of the moment, it’s even a song title! A favourite of mine is ‘Daylight Robbery’ the chorus has been in my head ever since hearing it a week ago. A great thing about this band is that they don’t take themselves too seriously, they’re having a laugh and at this stage they can do.
Their next gig is at Sin City in Swansea on the 20th August. Tickets are £4 adv and can be purchased from a member of the band or on the door for a higher price. They are supporting the band The Commited for their last show ever and are also playing with City Of Ashes.
If you fancy checking them out click onto their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/PaintingBusStopsOfficial
Or their Myspace.
it’s time to move on…
August 9th, 2010I have never really been a fan of the English winter because I always have to throw on a coat. It’s too warm to wear a coat and shop at the same time, and if you take a coat just incase the weather turns nasty and then in the end it doesn’t you have to carry a coat around with you!
I sometimes wish I could live on west coast of America as they never seem to have to wear tons of layers and coats in their winters. However giving it closer thought I think I’d probably really miss being all folded up in multiple jumpers and embracing the winds with matching scarves and gloves.
Whistles Paula Animal Dress, £125
I am looking forward to the next few months and the clothes that will pop into the highstreet stores. I have seen that florals will still be around, however in more darker shades, which is perfect as the leaves turn from that floaty green to a crispy warm auburn. Instead of wearing these dresses with pretty pumps I’m sure they’ll be worn with thick cotton tights, chunky knit cardigans and big ol’ boots.
Last winter I bought myself my first leather jacket and it didn’t really leave my shoulders for a while. Looking through my wardrobe the other day I realised that I hadn’t even seen the poor thing in a while!! I guess this moggily warm weather has let me neglect it, which is something that I should never have let happen.
Flying Jacket from ASOS, £150
Flicking through the pages of newspapers and magazines I have seen the flying jacket pop up for this autumn. If these become readily available to us highstreeters then I want one. I hadn’t really thought about how much of a necessity they are and will be. They are basically leather jackets that give you a little furry hug on those even colder days.
The history of the flight jacket reveals that they were designed for pilots during world war one, because they didn’t have an enclosed cockpit, which meant it got pretty cold up there. An American man named Leslie Irvin first designed and manufactured the classic sheepskin flying jacket way back in the UK and 1926 actually became the main supplier of the jackets to the RAF during world war two.
Other than these flight jackets they’ll be lots of khaki, which much like black will most likely become an autumn wardrobe staple. I love the word khaki…khaki. I like the colour and how it gives all outfits a sort of nod in respect to world war one and two. I like the whole military image and khaki just fits in with it perfectly.
Military Knit Waistcoat, New Look, £19.99
This autumn/winter will be full of dark florals, chunky dark-pastel knits, flying jackets and sheepskin lined boots with studs. I think it is in a way letting us still keep a bit of summer but also helping ourselves transition into the dark, wet, Christmas months to come.
Recharged Radio Review… // Kitty, Daisy and Lewis
August 2nd, 2010First up, I hate album reviews.
I never read them, don’t care about them, don’t like writing them, always feel that they’re ignored… etc. (No bloody wonder -Ed)
HOWEVER
I bought Kitty, Daisy and Lewis’ album on the weekend… and I feel moved to review it.
Let me explain. I went into my local record store (yes, really; Amazon is always a last resort) to get a copy of The Doors’ first album as I seem to have been surrounded with The Doors things lately and I didn’t have a copy. So, I bought a copy and was about to leave when I thought ‘I wonder if they have a copy of LCD Soundsystem’s This Is Happening‘ on vinyl (David’s Records in Letchworth – PLUG – has a great vinyl section). Of course, ‘L’ is right next to ‘K’ and I made a mistake in how they had labelled things so started looking under ‘K’.
Lo and behold, I came across Kitty, Daisy and Lewis (from now on, referred to as KD&L). I remembered that I had heard of them through The Dash, so after I couldn’t find a copy of This Is Happening, I decided to fight the good fight and buy something by some people who I share mutual friends with. Off home I go.
(Cut to four hours later)
I want my money back.
(Cut to two days later)
I still want my money back.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with KD&L, they’re all about 18 and have been brought up to believe in the rock n’ roll. Not the Guns and Roses variety; not the Ramones variety; not even the Brian Setzer variety. They’ve been brought up to believe in the pre-Buddy Holly plane crash, pre-Eddie Chochran car crash, pre-Elvis goes into The Army variety. Which is cool. In fact, it’s very cool indeed. Sun Records have an awful lot to be proud of. Same goes for Chess (both of which are namechecked as influences on the back cover). They’re one of the main reasons that this website exists and DEFINITELY one of the reasons why Recharged Radio exists.
KD&L’s musical education is not so far removed from my own. When I was seven, my biggest achievement so far was to learn how to work our temperamental belt-drive turntable (when I bought my own recently, I went direct-drive!!) so that I could hear Eddie, Gene, Buddy, Phil and Don… When I was 13 and started having my first hormonal cravings for guitars and girls, the first tune I learnt was Brown-Eyed Handsome Man and not the Chuck Berry version – the lesser-known Buddy Holly version. All the way through my life, I’ve had a major soft spot for rock n’ roll and the more and more I surround myself with all music, you can hear what a major influence those early recordings have had in the last 60 years.
However, the lack of reverence from some quarters for these early recordings always seems to amaze me. I’ve always hated how Disney films have a nasty tendency to use them as a frippery. Roll Over Beethoven isn’t for sweet family films. It’s a song that’s a thinly veiled message for sex. I’m no prude but come on… it’s like using NWA’s Fuck Tha Police in Spy Kids or something.
It’s also somewhat forgotten (in amongst the geriatrics staggering around on dancefloors at weddings) that Eddie Chochran’s Twenty Flight Rock was censored when Cliff Richard performed it here in the UK as it featured the lyric “found my corpse draped over the rail” (the lyric was changed to “found my coat (?!) draped over the rail”) and also, go have a look at the lyrics of Little Brenda Lee’s Bigelow 6-200…
In the space between then and now, what with Eminem, Marilyn Manson, RATM, etc, it’s easy to forget that Jerry, Johnny, Carl and co. had to have twice as much fire and balls to get their music heard. They were white, playing black music into a society which saw such things as inherently evil and, in Jerry’s case, honestly believed he’d be going to hell for doing it. Now that’s a bit worse than just upsetting mum and dad before you inevitably get down to ‘getting a proper job’ and becoming a teacher/accountant/working for the bank.
So, now we come to KD&L.
They’ve recorded an album which, as a technical exercise, is rather good. They’ve gone to the trouble of recreating the Sun/Chess/Joe Meek sound out of old equipment and performing it like how the good ol’ boys did it…. and it sounds okay.
I wanted to like what they were doing. I could see the effort they had gone to and the time they had put into it.. but in the end, I thought:
“So what was the point?”
What KD&L have succeeded in doing is making me compare them to the original recordings (which, yes, I did) and you know what? KD&L need to leave quietly and not make a fuss on the way out. What they’ve done sounds like a bunch of kids taking the piss out of rock n’ roll. Sure, it sounds sonically accurate but (like an Eagles record) that’s not really the point here. Go listen to Ike Turner playing Rocket ’88 back in 1956; these guys wanted a fucking ROCKET ’88, man! They wanted to get in it, drive round town, get wasted and fuck all night! Then, they wanted to wake up at the crack of noon… and do it all again! KD&L sound like they’re just going to nip off, when they’re done recording… and play Halo on the X-Box.
There is no fire, no passion, no love – nothing. All we are left with is a load of ‘accurate’ sounding… sounds. That’s all you’re going to ever get when you go through the motions to make something ‘sound’ right. KD&L would have been better of sticking a mic in the middle of the three of them and playing until their fingers bled, the neighbours screamed blue murder and the police were called.
I was given another album this weekend by a band called Von Haze. You can’t get hold of this one very easily, cos it’s a little bit limited. It sounds nothing like a Sun Record, or a Chess Record but listen carefully and you can hear the passion. You can hear the ‘this is what we play and you’re going to fucking like it’ in there. This isn’t a record made to please but everyone who has heard the track Sad Girls wants to know where to get a copy. KD&L? Well, they’ll keep a certain middle-class paper reviewing stuff they don’t understand.
In short, if Eddie/Gene/Roy… and all their mates were recording today, they’d probably sound a bit like Von Haze. KD&L would be akin to Hot Jazz… or something.
I still want my money back.
You can listen to Jordan Thomas on Recharged Radio.
Things The iPod Generation Will Never Experience
August 2nd, 2010I just read this and it took me straight back to my youth. A guy in Geography class gave me a mixtape of Oasis B-sides for no reason…I loved Acquiesce and everytime it finished I’d rewind my Walkman for 4 minutes and 30 seconds to hear it all over again.
What about the days where everyone had a different kind of tape player, or minidisc player, or even Discman…now everyone EVERYONE has an iPod. Apple’s domination expands to different sizes and colours of identikit music portability these days.
I love making mix CDs for my friends, something like that should never die. Of course much better on a C90 cassette, the painstaking work of choosing tracks, which order, will track 3 from Definitely Maybe fit on the rest of this side of the tape? And what about recording the songs off the radio, complete with a Dr Fox voiceover on the Pepsi Chart.
Music has evolved so much in 15 years…now we’re faced with endless Spotify playlists and music available before release…which is great, but the anticipation and appreciation of music seems to have vanished. Although, broken CD case teeth are a less frequent annoyance.
I remember, as a youth, spending my pocket money on CDs. On the bus home, unable to wait patiently til I was back in my bedroom adjacent to my Technics stack, I’d rip off the cellophane (either breaking a nail or involving my house keys) and make my way through the sleevenotes, reading the lyrics to see how many I knew, admiring the artwork and perhaps a postcard that came in the pack. In an hour’s time it would be stuck on my bedroom wall, its back adorned in Blu-tack, strategically-placed next to a Sleeper poster.
You can’t do that with digital content.
Blog // Getting ready for University // The countdown to blissful independence, malnutrition and a permanent hangover
August 2nd, 2010I’m heading off to start University in September and as Moving Day (or D-day as I’ve taken to calling it) draws ever closer, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve begun to panic slightly – mainly because, thus far, I’ve done next to no preparation.
So, as any self respecting teenager with little better to do would, (well, there is something called a reading list, but no one actually takes any notice of that, do they?) I’ve been trawling the interweb in search of some much needed ‘advice’, and thought I’d share with you a culmination of what I found.
Now, as you might expect, there are a myriad of different sites and articles, of varying reliability, each professing to hold the monopoly on ‘Everything you need to know about starting University,’ from ‘How To Avoid Giving Yourself Food Poisoning In The First Week,’ to ‘How To Find Out If ‘He’ Likes You,’ (‘he’ being your newly acquired flat-mate, next-door neighbour-but-one, lecturer, etc).
Having cast my eyes over several of these ‘pearls of wisdom’, I began to see a pattern. While some seemed genuinely designed to reassure any frightened, insecure freshers out there (I do not, my any means, exclude myself from this) such as ’10 Quick and Easy Recipes to Suit a Student Budget’ and ‘Top 10 Tried and Tested Hangover Cures,’ others were either scaremongering or just plain ridiculous.
While I recognise that it might be useful to know, amongst other things, the finer points of flat-sharing etiquette, there were many other ‘handy hints and tips’ that didn’t seem quite so, ‘handy.’
I mean, is there really a need for articles entitled, ‘Why You Shouldn’t Jump into Bed with Your Flatmate on the First Night,’ (I admit I may have paraphrased slightly here, but you get the picture) or those that go to the lengths of listing and evaluating the seemingly endless ‘Do’s and Don’ts of Study Bedroom Décor’. Stop me if I’m stating the obvious here, but I think we all know that plastering your postage stamp-sized walls with image after cringeworthy image of Justin Bieber’s face probably isn’t the best way to make a good first impression.
Joking aside however, I did come across at least one area that actually proved to be quite informative, and for which I even found myself reaching for the proverbial notepad; that area being food.
Since many of my friends are already at university, I’ve had the pleasure of hearing quite a few food (and inevitably, alcohol) related anecdotes, and it’s mainly due to these ‘insights’ that I’m becoming a little concerned.
I love a nice meal as much as the next person and I like to think that I’m reasonably competent in the kitchen, (when I say competent, I mean that I can knock up a decent spag bol/Sunday roast/curry, as well as numerous experimental pasta dishes), but I’m not so sure I’ll be able to say the same when I’m sharing said kitchen with five other people – one of whom will have no doubt just polished off the one ingredient needed to concoct a reasonably edible meal – and living off a food budget of about £10 a week.
Now I maybe a little naïve, but I’m not completely clueless. I’ve been warned about the food thieves (or ‘fairies’ as some may prefer), the ‘Borrowers’, and the Kitchen Sloths, but I’m also aware of the lengths some people will go to in order to protect their luxuries – see ‘I Lick My Cheese And Other Notes‘ by Oonagh O’Hagan - but I still think that living in an environment where tea bags, butter and mayonnaise are considered treasures that must be kept under lock and key (a throwback to Jane Austen’s day perhaps?) is going to take some getting used to.
Since they’ve moved away to Uni, I’ve noticed that some of my friends have acquired what I see as a rather warped perception of the world, and of food in particular. I don’t know whether it’s down to the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, the intoxicating freedom of independent living, or whether they’re just suffering from lack of sleep, but something’s definitely amiss. I recall several conversations with one friend in particular, when the topic turned to food and upon being asked what she was planning to have for dinner, my friend replied simply, ‘Smash.’
I’ll confess that I was actually genuinely shocked. This, coming from a girl whose parents own a Thai restaurant in our hometown, and whose life, pre-uni, was almost entirely food-centric, was like hearing, well I dunno, something really wrong, and taken aback, I replied, ‘What?’
‘You know, Smash. The dried mashed potato you get in the packet.’
I then, with some trepidation, asked what she might be having to accompany this ‘delicacy,’ and after some thought, she said,
‘Um…pepper.’
When I politely enquired as to why she couldn’t just have made real mashed potato with actual potatoes, she nonchalantly informed me that she didn’t know how to make mashed potato, or indeed turn on the hob , and that Smash was the obvious choice because you can ‘just shove it in the microwave.’
There have been similar discussions with other friends that involved breakfasting on dry, stale bread and a can of tuna (oil included), mouldy (or more accurately, rancid) sausages and Sainsbury’s own 9p noodles, as well as those concerning the time when, during Freshers Week, a friend of mine told me that somebody had defecated in the shower, and the infamous Walk of Shame mark II - from halls to lecture theatre in a state that is not fit for public viewing. Suffice to say that after all this research, I’m really no better off. Just a tad worried for my safety. And sanity. Bring on September is all I can say!
Never Enough Exercise
July 28th, 2010What’s going on here? 2 blog posts from yours truly in a week?
I’m avoiding going to the gym, kinda.
I just realised I forgot to charge my iPod which is really silly of me. The gym music hurts my ears! I’m going to be doing my Superchick fitness assessment, yo.
When I get it charged up again, I’m going to put some alternative workout music on there. Can anyone suggest any fab remixes or anything upbeat to get me rocking out on the treadmill?
The guys at Shape suggest this…well, it’s a start.
The Silent League Are Really The Beatles
July 27th, 2010BUY ‘But You’ve Always Been The Caretaker‘
Apparently they’re a chamber-pop outfit hailing from New York, but I’m not buying any of this about The Silent League. I am convinced that The Beatles are back.
Let me present my case:
Similarity number 1: listen to this:
It’s Free As A Bird having All You Need Is Love for breakfast.
Similarity number 2:
They like to stand in lines.
There’s no denying this is uncanny, don’t you think?
“I hear wedding bells!!”
July 13th, 2010
Last year I went to my very first wedding. As it was my first one I had no idea what to wear? I have never been a particularly girly girl and therefore haven’t paid much attention to what the dress code is. Luckily I had my sister on hand who said what was appropriate and what wasn’t. I ended up with a beautiful multi-coloured silkish dress from H&M, which came just above the knee. On the day of the wedding I popped the dress on, tried to make my hair wavey, grabbed a large purple bangle and hunted around my parents’ house for some decent shoes. I found a pair of black flip flops. They had little plastic jewels on them so I thought they’d be fancy enough. My sister looked horrified! She and her friends were in grand cocktail dresses with huge heels, sticking boob tape everywhere and glitter on there faces (i’m not a fan of make-up I just wear eyeliner and mascara and that’s only because I’m trying to take the focus from my huge nose!).
I am nearly 5ft 9, my sister and her friends are 5ft 5ish so if i popped on heels I would look like a giant in photos. In fact I’ve never worn heels; my friends are all around that height so I try to avoid looking like a giant. Plus the fact weddings, I heard, were long occasions and for a girl that doesn’t wear heels everyday I thought the whole thing would have been a nightmare! After lots of reasoning I was allowed the flip flops and we all trundled off to the wedding, which was quite fun actually.
This year I have my second wedding. I think I’m getting to the age where I’ll be going to one a year, which is definitely manageable. One of my cousins has 3 weddings in one day…god knows how she’ll do that!
I have found this dress, which may be a little too short and a little too white. I didn’t know that you’re not supposed to wear white until my sister said so. I’ve googled the matter and found that wearing white means you will detract attention away from the bride as she should be the only one in white. The dress, which I have not only just found but now bought, is lace and has a thin silk dress underneath. It has three-quarter length sleeves and falls just a bit above mid-way down my thigh (I have weirdly long thighs?!). I am not that close to the bride, the groom is my cousin, so can’t just pop a message on facebook being like “oh by the way can I wear white to your wedding” and I don’t want to just turn up and upset the bride…how awful would that be!
Belle Crazy Corsage Cross Body Bag (£25.00, Accessorize)
I could and would wear colourful accessories and maybe a coloured jacket and just wait for the bride to get tipsy before I take it off. I asked the cousin, whose wedding it was last year, if I could wear white and she had a feeling that the bride was wearing pink…but no one knows for sure.
Fuchsia Fiber Decoupage Technique Necklace ($30.00, tetabina @ Etsy.com)
The bride told me last week that she had back-up dresses! I am so confused.
Also how short are wedding guests dresses allowed to be?? I thought nobody really cared what people other than the bride and groom looked like and maybe I’m flattering myself thinking that I’d create such a fuss. I’m going to carry on asking around and then maybe pm the bride with a casual message asking if there was anything specific that she didn’t want her guests wearing. I’m guessing if I look clean it’ll be fine.
I bought a dress and it is a bit too fancy to wear whilst just chilling around the streets of Cardiff, so hopefully if all goes well I will wear it and I’ll make myself look like a little hippie with flowers in my hair and maybe a 2-inch heel or something. Oooo how exciting!!
Garbage Girl
June 30th, 2010I’m not ashamed to say I’m a fan of trashy television. This includes MTV’s hit spin-off The City. And when I heard that new international pop sensation Ke$ha was going to be in a shoot for ELLE Magazine, I laughed for 20 consecutive minutes.
When I found out it was true, I was gobsmacked. I waited a week in anticipation for the shoot and the fashion, and I was honestly shocked. They made Ke$ha look almost…decent?!
Now, I enjoy Ke$ha’s music. However, her self-proclaimed ‘garbage chic’ never really did it for me. I thought that, though part of her image, she looked like she needed a good wash and scrub every now and then. All that glitter, eyeliner and permanent marker must be hell to get off, right?
But after seeing the looks that ELLE pulled for Miss Ke$ha, I find it safe to say – Bravo! They managed to take Ke$ha’s Garbage chic and turn it into something remotely wearable. Check out the main image, and some out-takes, courtesy of elle.com, below!
All images courtesy of elle.com and ELLE Magazine
Cornishness
June 25th, 2010I love being from Cornwall! I think I am one of the luckiest people in Britain because of it. My dad said to me that you’ve got to go away to appreciate what you have, so I did. I went and lived in Bristol for three years and now I’m here in Cardiff and every time I pop home for a couple of days I love it. The best thing about it now is that when the Swansea boy comes with me we get to do all the touristy things, which I have never done with my friends. He finds Cornwall so strange especially as I live in a tiny village and hardly anything goes on in it. We don’t have cash points, or shops open all hours, I mean our Fish n’ Chip shop closes by 9.
There is definitely a lot of talent in Cornwall and it is hardly ever heard about because the word never spreads across the border.
I love popping down to markets and fairs to see who’s making what and the last time I went to one in Falmouth I found this guy. His name is Martin Burn and he is an artist. He is 22 years old and is currently studying at Cornwall College. I love his stuff because it is so colourful, and dreamlike..he must have a crazy awesome imagination.
Some of his stuff goes under the name of Dave Cloud which you can find at:
www.folksy.com/shops/DaveCloud
His stuff is beautifully handmade and you can see that everyone has been made with fun and care. Other then the stuff on that website he makes some preeeettty cute shoes. These are under the name of Ghosts On Toast! He’s picked up some white shoes and put his own little touch on them..every pair is unique and that makes them cool.
Find them on Facebook under Ghosts On Toast.
Another local who’s popped up to my attention is VelvetVolcano Jewellery. The girly behind it all is Tamsyn Martin who lives in a little village in the middle of nowhere. She is creating pieces that she hopes will bring a glorious amount of glitter and gore to our world. VelvetVolcano was created in the latter months of 2009, starting with a few anatomically-inspired pendants and then branching out into crystal encrusted pieces in the early months of 2010.
My favourites of hers include…
Isn’t it cool? She also has created a Super Mario range with little shrooms in multiple colours, which sparkle. These can be brooches, necklaces, hair clips or even key rings. There’s something for everyone! She does most of her trading through her facebook site www.facebook.com/#!/velvetvolcano – you can see pictures of all her stuff here and also images of her customers!
If those two don’t float your boat then hopefully this girl will. She is a friend of Martin Burn and has created her own line, ‘Emme Lou’. Her website www.emmelou.co.uk is currently under construction but the shop is at www.folksy.com/shops/emmelou.These are handmade and personalised accessories and textiles for you and your home, with vintage charm, lovingly made in Cornwall. The vintage charm is sometimes matched with the romantique, flowers, fashion that everyone loves. She loves cute things and if you do too, you’ll love her.
Cornwall has so many things to offer…it’s not all just pasties and clotted cream!
