10 songs that influenced my life

1. Michael Jackson - 'Billie Jean'

This song means a lot to me. It was the song I played on repeat to in '09 when Michael passed as it completely captured his essence and he looked super cool in that music video too. 

2. James Blake - 'Never Learnt To Share'

First James Blake song I ever heard. 4 years later, I'm still in love. He manages to break your heart and then stitch it back together within 4 minutes. Ugh.

3. Nelly Furtado - 'Turn Off The Light'

Heard this song for the first time when I was 6 and my mum bought the album and would play it every Sunday afternoon during braiding my hair. And in the car. And at any given interval possible with a CD player in sight. Nelly's voice captivated me and also made me feel weirdly floaty and ethereal. Will always love me a bit of Furtado.

4. Bee Gees - 'New York Mining Disaster 1941'

This song was a random one for me when I first heard it in the car one bleary morning to school. It became a song which spawned weird feelings of sadness and longing, yet also happiness and content. And I was only 8.

5. TLC - 'No Scrubs'

This song is a really sentimental song for me. It became the song which brought me and my two closest friends together in secondary and it's since become an anthem of mine as a repellent against no good men. I'm still working on that.

6. Macy Gray - 'I Try' 

I SAAAY GOODBYE AND I CHOKE! TRY TO WALK AWAY AND I STUMBLE! 

The theme tune of my life. Enough said.

7. Michael Jackson - 'Thriller'

This song is from my favourite album of all time and from one of my favourite artists too. This song has been a annual listen every Halloween and its video will always be kick ass. I mean, I'm still trying to master that bloody routine 14 years later.....

8. Radiohead - 'Nude'

This song links to basically a first love that didn't quite work out. You know when you think every lyric in a song is perfectly referring to exactly what's going on in your life? Yeah, Thom did that to me.

9. Jeff Buckley - 'So Real'

Jeff Buckley was just an utter babe. And this song either makes me cry or want to lie on the floor and think about life. Or both. 

10. Aphex Twin - 'Windowlicker'

This song and music video will forever confuse me but always compel me to be creative. What an amazing song which seems to do so many things at once so seamlessly. 

This has made me feel all nostalgic!

Orange Is The New Black Series 1-2 Overview

I haven't finished a TV series like this in a long time. Having a feeling of complete satisfaction. Orange Is The New Black has taken me from tears to laughter within seconds which is something which rarely happens to me through the medium of TV and film. With its witty, sharp script, amazing ensemble and bleak but truthful stories, it will make you almost want to take a trip down Litchfield to see all the goings on for yourself.

There are not many programmes that feature such a high amount of women. Ok, granted there's The L Word, Sister Sister and Girlfriends but rarely has an American comedy drama shown such a diverse group of women all at once. What is the perfect medium to do this?

A female prison, of course.

Binging on both seasons in the space of three days tucked in my bed was no easy feat. Damn you Netflix. But, it was made effortless by the brilliant endings to each episode setting you up for the next. We're taken into the corrupt world of prison by Piper played by the brilliant Taylor Schilling in Nick Caraway-esque way of being 'in but without'. 

The show strives in telling the stories of Piper and her fellow inmates through glorious flashbacks which thus create the best and most developed character development I've ever seen in TV. If you've ever seen British drama 'Bad Girls' (if you haven't, change that), you'll know how immersive the setting of a female prison is. The estrogen, the competition and the sisterhood and cliques that evolve. However, Orange Is The New Black takes the bleak topic of the loss of freedom and imprisionment, alongside countless 'shots' and threats of mind-numbing solitary confinement and manages to make it light hearted at at times where you never would of thought a laugh would of been possible.

Kudos to Jenji Kohan and the writing team and cinematography crew who seamlessly tell a story and shoot so beautifully an otherwise, unappealing environment. Managing to make us care or at least, think of such a disenfranchised section of our society is a notable feat. Big props again to Shilling who works as the initial cog in the machine constantly ebbing towards total narcissm. Other breakout characters that impress are Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes', Black Cindy, Taystee, Poussey.. To be honest, all of the cast are knockout. I can't single out one performance without thinking about another to match it.

 

So with a shocking end to Season 1, a equally shocking return to Season 2 and a side splitting end to Season 2, the only way has to be up.

What really happens to 'the rest' after The BRIT School?

The BRIT School has been around for 23 years. That’s a pretty long time. And over the years, the school has been hailed as the factory of manufactured pop with artists such as Jessie J, Amy Winehouse and Katy B being sung from the hymn sheet which is the BRIT school alumni. But does really everyone who graduates become an instant superstar or do the rest just, *shock horror* go on to mundanity and normal life?

I’m a fresh graduate from the school and I have now been thrust out of the warm bubble of school life into the harsh reality of work and bills. I’m not a singer. Nor a dancer. I wouldn’t really call myself anything really but I have skills which will, hopefully, do me some good in the long run. 

The main problem and stereotype that surrounds the school is that everyone sings and dances on the tables or in the corridors. There is an element to truth to that; I’ve danced upon a couple canteen tables in my time. However, the annoying fact is that the non performing students pretty much go unnoticed. There are artists, graphic designers, animators and radio presenters haunting the corridors of the school. Yet.. they’ll probably not be hailed as prestigious alumni. Although, a lot of students have gone on to work on million-dollar projects and film sets, but because they’re behind instead of in front of the camera, they’re not recognized. 

And that kind of sucks. But I get it. 

At the end of the day, we all worked pretty hard to get there and stay there. So, the singers that do go on to become megastars, nice one. Because you most likely worked pretty damn hard on getting there. But to the rest of you, the ones heaped in the edit suites, radio studios and stuffy TV galleries.. I salute you. 

Music Reviews - Spring/Summer

This years going to be another amazing year of music and my time at NME really opened my ears to artists I never really had a chance to listen to.

I've looked into three awesome tracks dropping this year. 'West Coast' from Lana Del Rey's upcoming album, Ultraviolence, Twin Atlantic's 'Heart and Soul' and Baby Strange with 'Distance Yourself'.

Lana Del Rey - ‘West Coast’        

With a kick arse intro, a brooding drum beat enticing you in, and the sultry trap of Lana Del Rey’s vocals, the temptress returns with her single ‘West Coast’ for upcoming album ‘Ultraviolence’. The song has evident rock undertones, with production from The Black Keys frontman, Dan Auerbach. Del Rey sticks with her signature vocal style and her general proclamation of love which she makes sure to reaffirm to us in a catchy chorus, ‘Ooh, baby, ooh, baby, I'm in love’. Sort of ‘Burning Desire’, kind of ‘Born To Die’ with more of a beachy vibe. Nice one Lana, you sure are consistent.

Baby Strange - Distance Yourself

An angst ridden bassline - check. Aggressive drum beats - double check. And enough anarchic vibes to start off a riot, Distance Yourself is almost somewhat enchanting. With a chorus line which is sure to be screamed from the lungs of teenage revolters, “They’re tryna take our time, They’re tryna take our fun”, it’s inevitable to be a crowd pleaser. The track has as an air of ambition to it; it feels like it’s two fingers up to the naysayers and doubters. And it’s pretty bloody brilliant.

Twin Atlantic - Heart & Soul

Glasgow indie boys, Twin Atlantic stick to their roots and their dialect in their new single ‘Heart & Soul’. Coated with Scottish charm, You own the lock and the key/For the window to my soul, it feels like the band are not trying to fit into any categories and are ready to take a bold step into more mainstream territory whilst doing it in their own way. 

My stint at NME Magazine

When I got the email of acceptance of a week at NME magazine, a lot of feelings and thoughts went through my head. Excitement, worry and nervousness being the most predominant. However, as soon as I walked in, I felt as if I was home. 

It all began being introduced to the Editors PA, Karen Walter who then assigned us to our first task - sorting out the mail. It was a pretty simple ask but it gave me a chance to meet some of the staff individually and introduce myself to the team. This led to further discussion with Rhian Daly, the assistant reviews editor who gave me my first writing task of transcribing an interview she had done with the frontman of the band, Yvette. The interview recording was around 15 minutes long and the transcript came to around 1500 words. This helped me gain more skills in scribing down interviews and it's harder than you think! The second day kicked off with researching the latest and upcoming albums to be released in 2014 from May. The task was to only research artists relevant to the NME audience which meant I had to scour through the artist databases of NME and then, find out about upcoming releases from these artists. It was interesting to see so many of my favourite artists releasing things this year and it prompted me to write some reviews which I'll publish on here too!

I spoke with Greg Cochrane, the editor of NME.com to devise a piece about the BRIT School and what it was it was like to be a student. Greg asked me to divulge on the reality of going to the school juxtaposed with what the newspapers and media perceive the school to be like. This was an invaluable task to improve my writing skills and get advice from an established editor.  The following day began in searching for breaking news stories relevant to NME, which would engage the demographic of the magazine. I corresponded with NME’s news editor to cover a story on The Dream, who is currently facing legal charges. The editor reminded me to remain partial with the story as it is a legal issue. And... It got published! Check it out here: http://www.nme.com/news/the-dream/77174

In my final day of experience, I was assigned the task of writing reviews about three singles that have been released recently. I wrote a short 100 word piece on each song. This helped me restrict myself and make my pieces more sharp. This also was a chance to help me improve my creative writing. In the latter half of the day, the editor spoke to me about my piece to give me feedback and improvements. He suggested that I use more metaphors and similes to make less interesting points more captivating to a NME audience. He gave me advice how to hone in my writing and make it more appealing for a magazine or creative forum. The entire week gave me invaluable experience in a working magazine environment. I gained great contacts and learnt how to write for a specifc audience! How good is that?!