Girly Angst

What, you mean not all teenage girls have a Marilyn Manson shrine/voodoo doll in their rooms?!

It's always fun when you tell someone you have a blog and their first reaction is, 'Ha! So what do you write about? Pff, angst? All the feels?!' - by 'fun' I mean a little tiny teeny bit infuriating. EVERY. TIME; This goes out to you, career focused adults who ironically fail to see how career focused a blog can be!

I'm embracing the angst with this little playlist, which I like to imagine playing in the background of 'The Virgin Suicides' and the like. Cue Ben and Jerry's, nail polish and lots of hairbrushing whilst staring out of a window at a sunset. Oooh, so angsty. Note that I've also kept it to songs with female vocals just to amp up the oestrogen. Enjoy.

Songs as Follows:

Cherry Glazerr//Bloody Bandaid

Best Coast//When The Sun Don't Shine

Le Tigre//Eau D'Bedroom Dancing

Siouxsie and the Banshees//Dear Prudence 

Wolf Alice//White Leather

Yeah Yeah Yeahs//Modern Romance

Desire//Part II

Playlist: Hi There, Mr DJ

Songs are as follows: 
 Permanent Power//Lxury

Jacuzzi//Croquet Club

Ryan Must Be Destroyed (Wave Racer Remix)//Ryan Hemsworth

Forget You//Danglo

Seven (Martyn's Seventh Remix)//Fever Ray
This Way//Fion

I don't really know what brought on the urge to make this sort of playlist, it just seemed right - I seem to have fully outgrown the 'eugh, I only listen to REAL music' phase, although I will probably revert to it when I start getting grey hairs. I never had a teen disco phase, so I'm aware I'm late on the bandwagon but uncing is actually quite fun?! And not even in an ironic, funny way. Remixes can actually be really good, guys. Who knew? 

Playlist: Current Favourites #6

Songs are as follows:

Kasabian//Treat

Metromony//Reservoir

Cherry Glazerr//Bloody Bandaid

Hot Chip//Flutes

Lana Del Rey//Florida Kilos 
Young Empires//Glory of the Night

Playlist: Dip Dye and Daisy Chains Music

Songs as Follow:

Young Wonder - Orange 

Odesza - Sun Models

Bath - Animals

Goldroom - Embrace

Purity Ring - Grandloves
Best Coast - When the Sun Don't Shine (Voyager Remix)

Something strange happens to me when the sun comes out - I start to understand the 'California Tumblr Girl' philosophy, awash with its galaxy print, penney boards and Nutella. I'm sure many people feel the same - you just wake up to the sun, craving some highlights.. Maybe even a tan?! (Kidding - most Irish people love a good tan, regardless of weather - unless you're a vampire like myself.) And with that new level of understanding comes a new tolerance for happy, rave-ish music, dripping in synths and swag. Here's some of my favourite tracks; Crystal Castles will have to sit this one out..

Playlist: Nostalgic as HELL

 Songs as Follow:

Busted - You Said No

Queen - Bicycle Race

Gwen Stefani - Danger Zone

The Flaming Lips - The W.A.N.D

Green Day - American Idiot

U2 - Vertigo

Sugababes - Round Round

Britney Spears - Everytime

The Ting Tings - Great DJ

Today (June 2nd 2014; It's a Monday. Dull. Slightly rainy. Never forget.)  is the day I complete the full circle of the past 10 years. Today is the day a chapter ends in my life; The day I transform from a girl to a woman - I'm going to see McBusted.  

Busted were my life back in the day, so I'm incredibly excited to see my former idols (minus Charlie.. Oh, Charlie) in the flesh with McFly - An added bonus, but I'm going for Busted. In honour of such a momentous, nostalgic occasion, I've made a little 'childhood favourites' playlist. It's rather specified to my own taste and favourites as a child, although there's a lot in there to cater for everyone. Of course it's only the tip of the bucket as far as old music goes, too; But of course the moment I started to put the playlist together, I forgot half of the songs I intended to put on it. Maybe we'll do a Part 2 sometime..

Wolf Alice Appreciation

Rumours had been floating around for months that The Neighbourhood would be supporting The 1975 on the UK-leg of their recent-ish (1 month old?) tour.. But as an Irish citizen to attend the band's gig in the Olympia on February 21st, I was a little unsure that such a band would be supporting on the Emerald Isle: That's just the way it seems to go with Irish anything - we are usually given some sort of compromise. Part of me knew that The Neighbourhood bothering to support the 1975 here seemed too good to be true, so I tried to look into the matter as much as possible to avoid disappointment: When I googled 'The 1975 Olympia Support Act' for the fifieth time three days before I was due to go see the band, Wolf Alice was mentioned for the first time. Bitter at the fact that I wouldn't be hearing Sweater Weather live, I moved on: I did some research, looked the band up on Spotify, listened to Bros, and surrendered to what would be the next song that I would play on repeat. Then Blush, then White Leather, then Fluffy, then.. You get the picture. I'll just say I was a little excited that I'd be seeing such a band live in such a short space of time.

Fast forward to that Friday night, and I was possibly the only one standing near the back of the Olympia that was giving my all to a band that I had known for only a handful of days. I sang along to Bros out of tune at the top of my lungs, whilst some college dudes asked each other, 'What's the name of this band again?' for the third time that night. I jumped five feet in the air for the entirety of the set, which I understand is something you typically save for the main act, but damnit, I couldn't help myself.

And don't even get me started on lead singer Ellie Rowsell being my new girl crush - she's gorgeous, her voice is gorgeous, she plays guitar, she's got amazing style (and a great sense of humour too, according to her Instagram)... I can't. 

Long story short, this band deserves a lot more recognition. I hope they get it, and get it soon. 

Playlist: Current Favourites #4

Songs as Follow: 

FKA Twigs//Papi Pacify

Banks//Waiting Game

MO//XXX 88

The Neighbourhood//Sweater Weather
 Bombay Bicycle Club//Luna

I think Bombay Bicycle Club's newest album, So Long, See You Tomorrow has to be one of the best albums I've heard in a while. I've been listening to it on repeat since it came out. Hence, I had to include a song in the latest playlist. As for Banks and FKA Twigs, they've become my go-to chillout artists for the time being. I definitely think they're both going to explode in 2014, as they're both definitely not receiving the recognition they deserve at present! 

In other music news, The 1975 in the Olympia is fast approaching. I feel that this is an appropriate time to use the expression, 'buzzing'. I'm buzzing.

Playlist: Current Favourites #3

Songs as Follow: 

Crave You // Flight Facilities

Madness // Muse

In the Wild // Alpine

Dan Croll // From Nowhere

Delorentos // Petardu

Lesson of the day: Don't ever fool yourself into thinking that someone who listens to bands you've never heard of is some sort of hipster-indie-band-guru-superhuman. Just because someone starts talking about an album you can't even find on iTunes doesn't make anyone involved superior or inferior - it just means, well, nothing - Some people may look through my playlists and think them as basic as Now 80-whatever, or as foreign as Klingon - granted they're not a Star Trek fanatic. If you find yourself thinking the latter, let me inform you that all of the songs in this playlist were either on an ad on the telly, or were recommended to me on Spotify.. And remember: There's no shame in liking an unknown band, should that be the case - just don't expect anyone else to care.

I don't know - sometimes, it just seems that young people these days feel the need to express their interests in specific bands to extreme measures to feel accepted, appreciated or validated. I mean, who really cares? I would never turn someone away because they don't like the same music as me, and even if someone did like the same bands as me, knowing that they have included it in their Twitter Bio would not make me anymore keen - Ya feel? But then again, all the same, who cares about that either? Maybe the the moral of this post is not to be judgemental about anything. In which case, this entire section is a bit of a contradiction. Oh well.

Playlist: Current Favourites #2

Songs as Follow:

Body Language//You Can

Bombay Bicycle Club//Carry Me

Arcade Fire//Flashbulb Eyes

The 1975//Heads.Cars.Bending

Yeasayer//Blue Paper

Hope you like this little ditty! In other personal-music-taste-news, I saw Bombay Bicycle Club last month. They were absolutely brilliant, and it was quite an intimate gig so Jack and Co. could actually see us mere mortals with their actual eyes. I found this little fact very exciting and special, for unknown reasons. Carry Me has been on loop ever since! I've also acquired some tickets to see McBusted, which I'm completely over the moon about. My fangirling career took off at the age of 5 when Year 3000 first graced my ears, so naturally when I heard that my oldest favourite band (sorry McFly..) were coming, I died a little. Roll on June, hmm?

Inspo: Gaga 4.0

Whenever Lady Gaga comes out with a new album, she always surfaces on my Tumblr dashboard with her new style/hair/makeup and I always end up asking myself: "How can one woman be so impeccably stylish? And how can she manage to hit the zeitgeist-nail on the head whilst also adding her own trademark twist, and still always completely pull it off?" Every single time.

In her latest return with her fourth album ARTPOP, she's mainly been seen sporting a rather bare, glowing face; golden, big and bouncing bombshell hair and a tiny septum piercing that I can only vow to have by the age of 21. I can dream..Clothing is just as simplified and casual, but still completely has 'Gaga' written all over it: The picture on the far left above is a perhaps one of my favourite examples of da queen in casual. She's also been using a lot of the past for inspiration: Her seashell underwear in relatively recent music video 'Applause' evidently references Venus; other Gaga getups have reminded me a lot of the likes of Madonna, e.g. the centre image above. There's definitely something very iconic about whatever is being translated here, that's for sure! 

The new, fresh-faced ARTPOP era of Lady Gaga is my favourite so far; Yet I've said something similar to that every time she's returned to the public eye. Gaga has always been a big style inspiration to me, and that's certainly not about to stop - I think I'll be needing some bronzer and volumising extensions.. Maybe seashells. What do you think?

Playlist: The 1975, Artic Monkeys, MGMT...

 

 Songs as follow:
Last Dinosaurs - Weekend
The 1975 - Milk
Funeral Suits - All Those Friendly People
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
MGMT - Mystery Disease

These are some of my favourite songs at present, although I've got many more at the moment - It always seems that during this time of year, several bands are releasing new stuff, and there's never enough time to listen to it all.. Well, I'm doing my best!

MGMT's new album has certainly filled me with remorse, as they've sold out their Ireland date (19th of October.. I'll never forget) for their upcoming tour and even if they hadn't, I have other important things on that day, although one could easily question what would be more important than an MGMT gig! I will see them one day, even if it means hunting them down in America during a time when MGMT (God forbid) is no more. 

But, prospects are looking up: The 1975 are touring Ireland the week of midterm, near my birthday, so that may be an excuse to go see them. I've also fallen in love with their first album, and would certainly recommend checking it out if you've been caught bopping to 'Chocolate' on several occasions. Update ~~ I got the tickets! Yesss, life's lookin' great.. 

Playlist: In the Background

Songs:

Dragon Queen - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Lights Out, Words Gone - Bombay Bicycle Club

 Lovers' Carvings - Bibio

Universal Traveller - Air

Reckoner - Radiohead

 I'm not quite sure why, but recently I've been listening to multitudes of music that doesn't demand a whole lot of attention, but all the same, it's really fantastic in a very straightforward way. Maybe it's because I've spent perhaps a third of my summer holidays holed up in the car driving somewhere hooked up to headphones, but I definitely appreciate the more simple songs nowadays; The ones that can be played in the background, and but still sound completely awesome - No need for an attuned ear, concentration, focus. It's nice to have a song and all its delicate, intricate curves and emotions handed to you on a silver platter, sometimes. Easy listening, eh?

June Favourites; Music Edition feat. Die Antwoord, Django Django, Disclosure

 Songs as follow:

Disclosure//White Noise

Die Antwoord//Cookie Thumper 

Kanye West//Black Skinhead

Peace//Follow Baby

Django Django//Hail Bop

Fall Out Boy//Where Did the Party Go

It's the first of July already? I don't quite know how time is passing so quickly, but it seems that my summer holidays will have disappeared with the blink of an eye. June was a busy, yet not-so-busy month for me: I was doing exams for the first half of the month, and I spent the second half of the month recovering and watching Game of Thrones; Ladies and Gentlemen, I have found a new obsession! 

It seems that this is the first time I have put out a 'favourites' on time.. I must say, I'm quite proud! However, I haven't really been using any new fashion or beauty products recently, so I decided to mix up my favourites a little with some music. These songs aren't all necessarily new and hip or anything, I've just quite enjoyed them at the moment. There's quite a mix there, and I must say that I may not have ever found some of the songs if it weren't for Spotify. I'm finding it very useful for finding new stuff to listen to - if you're not hooked up to it already, I would highly recommend it. 

May your July be prosperous, etc. 

:)

Playlist: Summery

 

Songs as follow: 
Panda//Astro
The Western Boy//Little Comets
Trying to be Cool//Phoenix
Past 2//Zemaria
Follow//Crystal Fighters

Hey guys! Long time no see, hm? I have under a week until exams, so I will be back (4reelz) when they are over. For now, though, I'm holed up indoors with my head in text books while the sun decided to come out for once. The feel-good weather has meant I have been listening to some feel-good music a lot recently, so I thought I would share. I really like getting hopped up on cheery music, as miserable as it sounds. But, I'm not going to lie: 3 out of 5 songs are from Fifa. My brothers are constantly playing it, and whoever does the Fifa playlists is a genius. I'm just hogging all of their work..  Enjoy, nevertheless!

Playlist: Creeps

  

Songs as follows: 

Falling Away From Me - Korn

Tell Me What to Swallow - Crystal Castles 

The Wolf - Fever Ray

Gauze - Deftones

Cartographist - Purity Ring 

Well, I like really hauntingly beautiful things that are a little creepy - fashion-wise, photography-wise, art-wise, book-wise, and most definitely music-wise. Here are some songs I've really loved lately, and have been listening to religiously. They're really great, if you like something that'll put shivers down your spine or make you feel like you're descending into a black hole or something. Sounds delightful, doesn't it?

The Rise of Alt Female Rappers?

Clockwise, from left: Kreayshawn, Yo-Landi Vi$$er, Iggy Azealia, Brooke Candy, Azealia Banks

It only seemed to occur to me today that there has been somewhat of a powerful, unstoppable surge of female rappers in the past year or so. Y'know what the best part of it is, though? They're doing whatever they want. They're wearing whatever they want. They're absolutely fabulous. About two years ago, I would have scoffed at rapping. 'It's totally not my thing,' I would have said snootily. But, if these women are what you call rappers, I love rap.. y'all. (Just so you know, I've linked my favourite song by the rapper in their names, which are in bold. Yeah.)

If  you've had 'One big room, full of bad *beeeeep*s' floating around your head, then  no doubt you have witnessed the (wonderful) wrath of Kreayshawn. Kreayshawn raps in a sort of effortless, half-bothered voice that, I think, is rather favourable. I'm not going to try to develop on that, because the one sentence I have strung together on it so far sounds very silly. Instead I'll move onto something I'm a little more familiar with: Her dress sense - very casual, rapper-esque, but jumbled. And man, does it work! There's lots of 90s, cartoon characters, and hoop earrings in there.

I've talked about Yo-Landi Vi$$er before (here), and to put it in its simplest terms, I love her. Yo-Landi is part of Die Antwoord, and I'm not gonna lie, she's a bit chipmunk-sounding. But it's totally awesome, I mean it! It's what makes the group work, she's got a sort of aggression to her voice too, so it's suuuper unique. Her style is completely out-there awesome, too, which you can see just by looking at her hair, really.. Her all-pale white look is really breathtaking, especially when combined with gritty facial expressions, and crude, cheeky slogan shirts. Brilliant. 

Iggy Azalea is stunning, so it's no surprise that this Aussie doubles as a model. Her general style is very classy, mixed with the typical attire of some big names in the music business. Think skimpy, skin-tight  Versace and Dolce and Gabbana - wowza! Iggy's got a really sassy, snappy voice that has the perfect balance of grit and glamour (you're jealous of my descriptions, I can tell...). 

The most 'alternative' of the rappers I have named is Brooke Candy - Hell, my first Brooke encounter was on a Grimes music video, and she was featured on the Dazed and Confused Facebook page when I realised she actually rapped. I'm still, err, adjusting to her, as she's very different. Her floor-length weave and buffalo shoes are fantabulous, but frankly her music videos scare me. Expect a lot of.. skin? I won't discuss this anymore. Brooke's backing tracks are beautifully quirky, and her voice is full of intimidation and sass. Watch this space, I say!

Last but certainly not least is Azealia Banks, and I'm sorry, but if you haven't heard one of the incessant replays of 212 on the radio, you have been living under a rock. Azealia raps so fast, it's increible! She sings a little in her songs too, and that is also incredible. Coincidence: So is her dress sense! Banks will wear anything, but my personal favourite look of hers is the cyber-goth, with demonia platforms and a big furry coat on.

Are there any rappers out there that you really love at the moment?