Song for the Week

Hey guys, so like I said last week, my songs for the week this week are all Christmas ones! So this time its...

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday-Wizzard

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Music Monday: Once the musical

Hey guys, I know its not Monday, but close enough eh? so today's Music Monday is a little different, as it is a review of a musical I saw last Saturday. Now I'm not really a Musical type of person, if I do watch them its usually movie versions and there are only three musical movies I like- Oliver!, Greece, and Annie. No high school musical for me thanks, when I was about 9 and it came out I refused to watch it and I still do to this day. But anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if I like a musical, you can expect it to be pretty damn good as my expectations are very high.

So on Saturday I went to see the musical "Once" in the Phoenix theater, and I'd read the description and it seemed like something I was going to dread- a soppy romance. I'd been forced to choose a musical of some sort to watch and I initially chose "Wicked" because three of my friends are completely obsessed with it, but then changed my mind as my step-mum who is from South Africa had come over and hadn't been to London in years so I thought I'd let her choice be the one we went to, plus I had heard from a friend that it was going to be good. I am so glad we went to see "Once" instead of "Wicked" as it now has its place among the musicals that I rank the highest.

Set in Dublin (which means that everyone has lovely accents which is a nice change, I'm getting a bit fed up with London accents by now), it follow the story of a young musician who is trying to make it but has just about given up, but is unexpectedly saved by a Czech girl who shares his passion and talent for music. Its not your average love story but not just plot-wise, the way the characters interact with each other is not the usual boring romantic way either. The script is hilarious, and the use of lighting to create other rooms on stage but with using just one set is very clever. The actors are all amazing, all of them are musicians and have to dance at the same time as play music and act, and they are brilliant musicians and singers too, the music sounds as if it has been recorded. The thing that really makes this is the music, its traditional Irish and Czech sound is awesome and very fitting, used in clever ways to change scenes and also to create powerful emotive connections between the characters stronger than just the dialogue alone.

Anyway what I'm basically trying to say is: go watch this NOW! Its just too good to miss, there's probably still tickets left as I booked mine just days before I went, take advantage of that! I'm definitely hoping to go again!

Yas xx

P.S. Just before I saw it I had dinner at my new favourite restaurant, Bill's, which is near Leicester Square in London in St Martins Square, and I highly recommend it, the food is amazing! If you see the muscial you should definitely eat there!

Song for the Week

Hey guys, sorry I forgot to post yesterday, but here I am! I've decided that since its December now, the songs I put up for these posts will be a couple of my favourite Christmas songs! The one I've chosen today is my absolute favourite Christmas song, its just hilarious and great fun to sing to! Its not the original either, as I prefer this cover of it (as I'm sure a lot of other people do too).

Fairytale of New York- The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl

Happy Tuesday!

Yas xx

Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My favourite types of stories are the ones about magic: The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the Harry Potter Series, and now I have another new favourite, but this particular book doesn't do magic in the same way as the ones mentioned.

The Night Circus portrays magic as being a talent practiced by a rare few, without needing spells and fantasy lands. It suggests that it is ingrained within the world, unnoticed by most people except for the ones in the know. In the novel, it is Prospero the Enchanter and the enigmatic Mr Alexander who are the rare exceptions, and they decide to play a dangerous game using Prospero's daughter Celia, and her opponent Marco, representing Mr Alexander, as the pawns. Their venue is the Night Circus, or Le Cirque du Reves, meaning the circus of dreams, a circus unlike any other built especially for the game, although few know this. Inevitably Celia and Marco fall in love, and since the loser of the game must endure severe consequences, this makes it all the more harder for them to try and win.

This novel is the type where you either love it or hate it, depending on what type of reader you are. If you are someone who is more enchanted by the exquisite imagery created by the detail in the descriptions like me, then you will absolutely love this book. The way all the tents in the circus are described and the focus on the senses is just amazing, and it enables you to imagine exactly what it would be like to step through the iron gates of the circus and see the performances. However, if you are more of a person who prefers their books to be less on the descriptive side and more plot driven, then this is probably not the right book for you. Personally I'm a bit of both, as after I finished reading the book I didn't feel like I'd read a story and I didn't feel like I'd taken anything from it away with me, instead it feels rather more like someone has written down your dreams for you to experience again, which is why even though it has a slow moving plot and there aren't solid explanations for how everything works, I still loved reading this.

Anyway I hope you enjoy if you decide to give this a go!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Hey everyone, apologies for the radio (or I guess blogging) silence, but I've been awful busy lately! Anyway, here is the song for the week this week, been playing it a lot recently!

A-Punk- Vampire Weekend

Happy Tuesday!

Yas xx

(I'll make up for the lack of posts with a book review for this week!)

Song For The Week

Hey guys, so since Halloween is over, I think we're all now officially allowed to be excited about Christmas!! So I thought I'd pick an appropriate song, as I really wish Christmas would come a lot faster.

I Wish It Was Christmas Today- Julian Casablancas

The one xmas song that you can't actually listen to on Christmas day haha!
Happy Monday!

Yas xx

P.S. Music Monday post will either be up late tonight or tomorrow!

Music Monday: Jake Bugg's Secret Show

Hi everyone! So last Wednesday was a pretty exciting day for me, I went to Jake Bugg's secret location show in London!

 It was in a small upstairs room in a pub, the first venue that Jake had ever headlined in London before, so it was a pretty big deal. There weren't many people there so it was a very intimate gig, not one that you could really sing the lyrics to but I did anyway, and not surprisingly the crowd mostly consisted of teenage girls, but my brother spotted Jake's friends who were in the Two Fingers video which was cool. He let us request songs and played a few new ones from his next album that will be coming out soon, and he played everything on acoustic guitar with no band, which sounded great! Definitely made up for missing most of his set at Reading this year, and he played and sang really well. I'm really looking forward to his album coming out, the new songs that he played sounded amazing, so I'm thinking the rest will too. I was really lucky too as the tickets were free as my brother (who is the luckiest person when it comes to competitions) won them, and after the gig we got to meet Jake! Very shy and nice in person, and also surprisingly about the same height as me. Got a pic with him an all which was nice, he took the time to take pictures and chat with everyone there!

The new video for Slumville Sunrise is out now and is really weird, but funny, and it contains Elvis. What's not to like? The album "Shangri La", named after the space in which it was recorded, comes out on 18th November, so not too long a wait!

Yas xx

Song For the Week

Hey guys, sorry I wasn't posting last week but its been a very busy week for me! Anyway today's song for the week is...

Two Fingers- Jake Bugg

I've chosen this song as he's released his new video for Slumville Sunrise and also I went to his secret show in London last week! More on that in the Music Monday post.

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Music Monday: Best All-round Albums

Hi guys, today I thought I'd share a few of the best all-round albums in my opinion, and by best all-round I mean the ones where you rarel skip songs, or don't skip at all! I'm not going to cover all of my favourite albums, just the ones that stand out to me the most. So, (*mario voice*) here we go!

1. Is This It?- The Strokes. This album is probably my favourite album of all time, and every song is just perfect. For me, the best albums are the ones where its incredibly hard to choose a favourite song from that particular album because there is not one bad song on it. And this is a definitive good album in that sense.

2. Origin of Symmetry- Muse. This album is just brilliant. Every song flows into one another perfectly. This is like my equivalent of The Strokes Is This It because I love every song and it's almost impossible to choose a favourite song. I would probably say that my favourite is "Citizen Erased", but as soon as I say that I immediately feel bad because I also love "New Born" and "Bliss" and "Plug In Baby" and "Hyper Music"... and I should stop or I'll end up naming every single song on the album. Side-note, recently I've been getting very into Muse's stuff, which is weird as I went through a phase of liking them as a kid but only knowing about 4 of their songs, then didn't like them for a while, and now they're my favourite band at the moment (emphasis on 'at the moment' as my all time favourite is still The Strokes).

3. Come of Age- The Vaccines. Not absolutely perfect as I'm not a huge fan of "Change of Heart pt 2", but its still pretty close to perfection. And also definitely an improvement on their first album, but I still absolutely love 'What Did You Expect'. I'm just wondering what The Vaccines will make in the future after hearing their EP.

4. Nevermind- Nirvana. Great album, I prefer it to In Utero, which a lot of people disagree with since they say Nevermind is commercialised and isn't the same as Bleach, but I just genuinely prefer Nevermind, because of songs like "Come As You Are", "In Bloom" and "Lithium" which I love listening to.

5. London Calling- The Clash. Now this was a hard one to decide where to put. It probably is at the same level as Nevermind in my head really, but for the sake of it being a 1-5 thing I just decided on a whim to put it here. Almost all the songs on this are some of my favourites, especially Death or Glory", "Clampdown" and loads of others. Out all of all their albums this is their most recognised, and my overall favourite (hence why it is on my list).






Its funny as my favourite songs from all these bands (or at least the ones I say are my favourites because I can't really choose actual favourites) are not on any of these albums, except for "Come As You Are", which is my favourite Nirvana song. But I guess that just shows that I pick overall favourites rather than albums with just a few stand out songs on them. Anyway if you haven't heard of some of these (you probably have but there's always going to be someone) then you should listen to them when you've got the time, I usually listen to new albums while I'm doing something else like my homework, so why not try something like if you don't have enough time?

Hope you enjoyed!

Yas xx

Song For The Week

Hey guys, again last week was a little barren when it came to posting here :/ But I'm back! Anyway today's song for the week is a nice calming one.

High And Dry- Radiohead

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Song For The Week

Aaaargghh not again! Seriously school has messed me up. Blogging on time and doing homework on time do not mix! there won't be a Music Monday post this week, but here's your song for the week! Its not a serious one, but its been stuck in my head for a few weeks because I've been slightly addicted to the game Robot Unicorn Attack (check it out, its awesome) and this song plays in the background.

Always- Erasure

Happy Tuesday and rest of the week!

Yas xx

Music Monday: Reading Festival Review Pt 3!

Hi guys, final review of Reading Festival!! yay!

So by this last day, I had sort got into a proper routine now, I knew exactly where I was most time (except later that night which I will explain nearer the end of the post) and I knew all the secret places that make surviving at the festival a little easier *cough* the church by Tesco has nice toilets and serves cheap breakfast *cough*. Unfortunately it was the last day (even though I left the next morning), so I was incredibly sad when I got home (but also relieved since there were some not so great parts about it which again I will explain later).

Anyway onto the bands! First band I saw were Haim, who'd I'd been really looking forward to the whole weekend, and they didn't disappoint. I especially liked their new song "The Wire", but of course songs like "Falling" and "Don't Save Me" were crowd favourites too. Next was Fall Out Boy, who I didn't really watch from the crowd because I wanted a good view so I was fairly far a way and looked a bit weird jumping around to some of their songs as no one else was, and I think the 8 year old me would have slapped myself for not trying to get right to the front or something because she liked that kind of music a lot more than I do now even though I only knew a few songs, but anyway it was a great set and was kinda surreal (as was Green Day and Eminem from the previous days).  the straight after that were Nine Inch Nails, who I hadn't listened to before so I didn't quite know what to expect but they were pretty good! Also managed to get really close to the front of the main stage this time which made it even cooler since I could see all the cool smoke and effects they used, the only thing is is that their songs seemed to get progressively worse as the last few seemed to all sound exactly the same: just a heavy bass line which gave me a really bad headache (I sound like a grandma). And then Biffy Clyro. Again, hadn't really heard of them and just assumed they'd be some quiet folky hipster type band from the music that was played while the stage was being set up, but obviously, I don't think I've ever been so wrong in my life. Me and my friend actually decided to leave the front of the crowd after their third song since the moshing was the most violent of the whole weekend, including a guy on top of a guy's shoulders with another guy on top of his, and naturally they all fell down and the guy at the bottom of it all got a concussion. The annoying thing was that I'd just made friends with a nice person and his friends and then these loud albeit very funny nice guys and a couple girls too ran in front and pushed us far away from them, but we had a good chat with those people too anyway (including the question: "what language do you speak, I speak Christian" they were super drunk). So, back to the band, I was intrigued by them so I will check them out as unfortunately due to the fact that me and my friend left pretty early I don't really know if I'll like them or not. We also then proceeded to get lost in the dark and go to Tesco to find that it was closed. (yay.)

Anyway, I'm just gunna go say all the other things which I haven't mentioned about the festival as these three posts have mainly been about the bands: Camping was fun and horrendous at the same time, as it was freezing at night and someone decided to "mark" our tent which was lovely but it rained so hopefully that washed off, I didn't once use the toilets at the camping sites as they were like the pit of hell itself so me and my friends either used the toilets at the arena, Tesco or the church we found.  The thing I regret is not forcing more of my friends to come with me and not actually taking any details down from any of the people I met, and for being a bit reserved when it came to talking to new people at the start of the festival. It was only really on the Sunday that I found my confidence with new people, and found myself having a conversation with a person through my tent about Game of Thrones even though we couldn't see each other and sharing food my with random people and just chatting and giving people high fives and hugs.

So to conclude, it was one of the best experiences of my life and as long as the line up is good next year, I'm definitely going again. This years line up wasn't as good as some of the previous ones (especially the 2011 one- The Strokes, and Muse playing "Origin of Symmetry" in full, I would have killed to see that, I'm not joking) as it was trying to cater to a slightly wider audience and they should probably just stick to the normal demographic or it loses its identity a bit, but I still loved it. Recommend you go 9/10! (would have been 10 if it was the 2011 line up!)

Yas xx

P.S. if you are confused about my sudden enthusiasm for Muse, its because I have recently rediscovered them and now they're my second favourite band and my fave band for the moment (that changes every few months, recently it was tame impala, and before that was the vaccines etc.but I think Muse will be my favourite band for a long long time, but The Strokes are still my all time favourite band). Anyway I'll probably do an updated top five bands or maybe ten in the future.)

Song for the Week

My history teacher played this in our lesson and I forgot how much I like this song, so I'e decided to make it the song for the week!

Sweet Home Alabama- Lynyrd Skynyrd

Happy Monday! 

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Arghh behind on my blog! Damn you, A2 homework! Sorry guys for the lack and lateness of posts, school has overwhelmed me! No Music Monday post this week, but I do have a couple of book reviews up my sleeve so stay tuned for that! Will do my final Reading Festival post next Monday yay. Today's song for the week isn't the usual type, its just something which I've had in my head for the past week or so:

Wake Me Up- Avicii

Yes, its a little more top 40 than I would normally pick, but I think its genuinely a good song.

Happy... Tuesday this time!

Yas xx

Reading Festival Review Part 2!

So, Saturday of Reading review! This was the day I was most looking forward to as one of my favourite bands, Tame Impala played that day and they are still my favourite live band after seeing them for the second time! Their set was of course considerably shorter than when they had played at Hammersmith Apollo, but that didn't stop them from still being amazing!

I'll go chronologically now, the first band I saw was Palma Violets, and their entire set was brilliant and energy filled, Chilli Jenson looked like some  sort of wizard that was controlling us what with all the weird hand movements and everything. I was most looking forward to Palma Violets that day because I've never seen them live before and I've been listening to them a lot recently. Anyway back to their set: Chilli Jenson actually went into the crowd, plus Alana from Haim was in the crowd on someone's shoulders at one point! So basically a fun gig. Next was Splashh, fun and lots of moshing, but not as good as Palma Violets. I caught the very end of Imagine Dragons, and I kinda regret not having seen all their set as they were good, plus my favourite youtubers Dan and Phil introduced them on stage! Ah well, at least I got to see them perform Radioactive.

Then next it was Tame Impala, who I've already talked about (my favourite band from Saturday). I managed to catch 4 of Jake Bugg's songs after that, and luckily he played my favourite song by him ("Seen it All"), before I had to rush off to see Eminem. And yes, Eminem. Eminem was one of my favourite artists as a kid so I was so fricking excited when he came on stage, even though I was incredibly far away as there were so many more people than there had been for Green Day. People said he was miming, but I like to think he wasn't. Highlight of the set was when he sang "Stan", and Dido came on stage and we all went absolutely mental. The only problem was for me personally that there were too many new songs which just aren't as good as his old ones to be honest, and there was also zero on stage chemistry between him and Dido, but it was still Eminem so it was a pivotal moment all the same and I did enjoy singing lyrics which I obviously didn't hear properly when I was little so I was just making the lyrics up.

Anyway, overall Saturday was a great day, some great bands and the ones I was most looking forward to didn't disappoint!

Day 3 next Monday!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Hey guys, everyone's back to school now! Collective sigh from all teenagers. So I thought it'd be appropriate for today's song for the week to be...

Rock and Roll High School- Ramones

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Music Monday: Reading Festival Review Pt 1!

Hi guys, so last week I went to the Reading Festival! And no, not Reading as in books, Reading as in the place. It was so much fun and at the same time disgusting but was well worth it! I saw tonnes of bands including all the main stage headliners and loads of smaller bands too, but writing about all of them is going to take a lot of time and space so I'm spreading this review out and won't talk about everyone I saw but almost everyone. As a heads up I'll list everyone saw in chronological order, note that for some of the bands I only stayed for a couple of songs!

Friday:
Parquet Courts
Fidlar
Peace
RX Bandits
The Strypes
Green Day

Saturday:
Palma Violets
Splashh
Imagine Dragons
Tame Impala
Jake Bugg
Eminem

Sunday:
Haim
Fall Out Boy
Nine Inch Nails
Biffy Clyro

So, a quick review of Friday's bands- Parquet Courts were great, they had a really great energy so the atmosphere was awesome, and I'd only heard two of their songs before seeing them so I was pleasantly surprised when they played the songs which I hadn't heard yet, I'd definitely recommend checking them out. On the other hand there was Fidlar, I did have a lot of fun at the gig but they didn't really convince me and I probably wouldn't listen to them on my iPod so I don't recommend them. The only reason I watched Fidlar was because I was waiting to see Peace, who I preferred but I'm not mad about them, I will check out their album though. While waiting to see The Strypes I wandered into the Lock Up Stage tent and caught a good amount of RX Bandit's set as I was intrigued by the sounds emanating from that tent, and was glad I did watch them instead of Kate Nash who I could hear wailing unintelligibly from the Festival Republic tent where The Strypes would be on. And The Strypes were awesome, really loud and fun with some great songs and a surprisingly long set, everyone singing along to "Blue Collar Jane." They may look about 12 but they're helping to save this generation of rock n roll. And then what we'd all been waiting for: Green Day.

Green Day deserve their own paragraph because they were just that AMAZING! They played a couple of songs, Billy Joe Armstrong talking to the crowd and getting us to chant, and then they proceeded to play their album "Dookie" in full! They even got a guy up on stage to sing along before they played "Dookie", and other highlights of their performance was when Billy  got out a hose and what I can only describe as a toilet roll gun and started covering up the nearest camera with, you guessed it, toilet roll, and got an awesome t-shirt gun and starting firing Green Day merch out into the crowd. Mid set billy also started randomly playing a bit of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" and got everyone singing along for a bit. After playing "Dookie" they played a couple more songs with two encores, and out of their whole performance these songs -"Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Wake Me Up When September Ends", "Basket Case", "Minority", "American Idiot" "Jesus of Suburbia",  and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"- stood out to me the most. It was an incredibly long set so I was kinda tired by the end of it but it was well worth it, they saved the best till last in my opinion with their encores so I'm so glad I saw the entire performance. If I ever get the chance to see them again I am definitely going.

Anyways so that's day one of my Reading experience covered! Stay tuned for day two and three!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Hi guys, so I spent most of today watching and listening to Radio 1 on their website as they had a Radio 1 Reboot where loads of DJs were essentially trapped in a room for our entertainment while they waited to be randomly chosen to do their show for an hour, the catch being that one of the DJs wouldn't be chosen and all that waiting would have been for nought (poor Gemma Cairney). Anyway, I was listening to the one hit wonder slot and heard this song, which I remember loving as a kid, so I thought I'd have it as today's Song for the Week!

All The Things She Said- t.A.T.u.

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Hi everyone, I'm back from Reading Festival! Still recovering from the many blisters (it turns out that army boots are pretty much useless for walking for a prolonged time) and bruises from essentially sleeping on the floor + getting caught in crazy mosh pits, and already I have post-festival blues, but I will say that it was one the best weekends ever and I am definitely going again next year! In honour of the main headliners for Reading 2013, the Song for the Week this week is:

Boulevard of Broken Dreams- Green Day

Since I'm pretty much shattered I haven't perfected my Music Monday post yet so that will go up at some point, and it'll include all the experiences both good and bad from the five days I was there, sort of like a Reading Festival Guide and review of all the bands I saw. Anyway hope you enjoy your week!

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Hi guys, today's song for the week is something really random I just found, but its awesome so go give it a listen!

Magician In the Mountain- Sunforest

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

P.S. No other blog posts for this week as I'm very busy for a few days and then its Reading Festival! But promise there will be a post about said festival next Monday when I get back! <3

Music Monday: The Vaccines new EP

So a couple days ago The Vaccines released their new EP "Melody Calling" which they've been talking about since the beginning of the year, and its taken them in quite a different musical direction. Its starts off with the title song, which is still similar-ish to Come of Age, but then its also completely different from their usual stuff. As the tracklist progresses there's that same feeling that they're changing their style; they have a more mellowed out sound which is almost polar opposite in a way from their very loud and energetic first album, "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?". My personal favourite from this EP is probably "Everybody's Gonna Let You Down", and I love all the other songs apart from the remix of "Do You Want A Man", but that might just be because I'm not a remix type of person.

The songs have a quality about them makes that them sound like demos rather than polished songs, creating a sort of intimacy between the music/band and the listener. Justin Young has also taken to singing in a very high pitch, and I'm not sure how well that will go if they decide to incorporate this into their next album as performing it live would probably be a little harder to do. But I have seen live performances of the song "Melody Calling" on YouTube and it sounds alright, so who knows? 

The tracklist is:

Melody Calling

Do You Want A Man? 

Everybody's Gonna Let You Down

Do You Want A Man? (John Hill +Rich Costey Remix)

Anyways I'm not quite sure how I feel about the new direction that The Vaccines have taken with their music, but I do very much like these new songs! I just hope that their next album doesn't become too mellow and self-deprecating (Justin Young needs a little more confidence in himself considering he's done incredibly well for himself haha.) But I'm excited to see what the future holds for The Vaccines!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Hey everyone! Confession, I actually forgot it was Monday today! Oops. So the Music Monday post will be a bit late but it will still be up today! Anyhoo today's Song for the Week is...

The Chain- Fleetwood Mac

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Hey everyone, there won't be a Music Monday post today as I'm about to leave to get on a very long train journey and won't have my laptop for three days, but I'm still putting up a Song for the Week! Here it is:

Train in Vain- The Clash

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Music Monday... again: Haim unveil new song

So this is just a quick post as I've already posted the compulsory two posts for Music Monday, and I felt like the main post for today wasn't really that music-related, so here ya go.

Haim have finally finished their super long-awaited debut album and are celebrating by letting us in on a new single! Its called The Wire, and I think its my favourite song by them so far! Its really catchy and has that same vibe that all their songs so far have had. It will be released officially on 23rd September, and hopefully their album will be released soon too!

Yas xx

Music Monday: Becoming YouTube Song

So today's Music Monday post isn't really very music related but I felt like I needed to write something on the subject of today's post: the latest episode of Becoming YouTube. If you aren't familiar with the Becoming YouTube Channel (a.k.a ninebrassmonkeys) but you like watching YouTube videos and YouTubers as I do, then you should definitely check it out, especially in light of the latest episode. If you are not part of the YouTube/vlogging world then I suggest you stop reading because you will have no idea what I'm on about, or you could find out by watching the series here.

Anyway the reason why I can bring this post into Music Monday is because of the song at the end of the episode, but I'll talk about that later. First, I want to address the content of the video before the song as it was incredibly thought provoking and brilliantly written. Becoming YouTube is all about how YouTubers and YouTube itself as a type of media are growing in popularity and about how this has been achieved. Ben Cook, the presenter and writer of this documentary-type YouTube channel, will usually use an episode of Becoming YouTube to explore a question or topic (such as whether you have to be good-looking to become successful on YouTube, or why there seems to be a shortage of popular girl YouTubers in comparison to the amount of boys), but in the tenth episode uploaded last night he talked about how people could use their popularity to promote something good which they felt passionate about, essentially helping to change the world. Ben then thought that he could do this, in the form of the song, but then realised he wasn't passionate about anything. The episode then turned into an engaging if ever-so-slightly exaggerated speech from Ben, in which he discussed how no one was doing enough to actually help people in the world and instead we're all sitting around doing nothing and being nothing. It was very unexpected and so felt a little bit like a well-needed slap in the face, and it encouraged the thoughts which I was having last week that I mentioned in my blog post about fresh starts and actually trying to be productive rather than waste my time. Also well done to Ben for pointing out something I've always felt was quite ridiculous, which is when overly attached fangirls send their favourite YouTubers food when they could be sending it to the people who actually need it, or donate the money to charity they've spent on buying them a personalised mug or something. But well done to Ben anyway, not just about that but the entire thing. Becoming YouTube episodes are always incredibly well made and Ben has a way of talking that makes you listen and pay attention to all he has to say, but this was somehow even better.

Back to the song. To lighten the mood the cast began to sing a song, musical-style (you know, when everyone just automatically knows the words somehow), and its called "Becoming YouTube Was a Waste of Time", and I personally don't agree with the name as Becoming YouTube got us all riled up. Although unfortunately not all of us, as annoyingly there were way too many people in the comments for the video talking about the kiss between Ben and Jack from OMFGItsJackAndDean which was obviously thrown in there to see whether people would only focus on that and forget about the message of the video, and yeah, guess some of them did. But anyway, I like the song even though its cheesy since its pretty funny (probably don't like it enough to listen to it more than once on my iPod though haha). And yes, I have it on my iPod. The only reason being is because all the money it makes is being split between two charities, Save the Children and The Trevor Project, and you can buy the song and by doing so chip in for those charities by clicking here!

Well, hope you enjoyed reading this. See ya!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Hey guys, today's song for the week is one of my many happy songs!

Someday- The Strokes

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

The End Of An Era... And The Start Of A New One!

As a girl who obviously loves writing her thoughts down (and apparently has started sharing them with the world too), I keep a diary. I've always kept diaries as a kid and I have an incredibly large number of full notebooks stashed in the shed and in random places around the house, and I love to read them back again because each page seems to hold a record of a different me from that time.

Guess which is the new diary

When I was 13 I decided to get serious and buy myself a proper diary with a lock (instead of the one I got free with bootleg shoes from Clark's along with a box with a secret compartment, does anyone remember those?) and its purpose, apart from being an outlet for all the crazy in my head, was to see how I changed and grew up throughout school because I knew I would be a very different person by the end. So you're probably thinking, 'come on, get to the point, where the hell are you going with this?!' so here is the answer: I wrote the last diary entry in my diary the other day, so it is completely full now. And I thought I'd take this opportunity to start a new diary and make a fresh start.


I'm one of these people that after a while, gets incredibly bored with life and weirdly, my actual self. So I'm always re-inventing myself and becoming inspired to do new things, but this is always short-lived. So this time, I'm not going to do that. Yes, change is awesome, but whenever I do it, I go back to a repetitive pattern of regression and become boring/bored again. I'm a chaotic and spontaneous person, but I need a bit of consistency in my life. So this time, I've got my new diary, my enthusiasm, and that element of determination to actually achieve things rather than procrastinate as usual, and I'm actually going to stick to this. No more putting stuff off because I'm just too damn lazy. I've even made a life decision to take a gap year before going to uni to actually experience the world and live a little. So, here's to fresh starts! And to  keeping up the motivation to make a fresh start!

Anyway if you're feeling the same, for example if you made a new years resolution that you were so excited to keep but a week after new years you completely failed at, then why not renew that resolution and try again now that we've reached the middle of the year? Hope you enjoyed reading this and that it inspires you to make a fresh start if you need to!

Yas xx

Music Monday: Arctic Monkeys New Song

So, Arctic Monkeys fans have been getting all excited with the reveal of their new single "Do I Wanna Know?" and b-side "2013". Personally I think "Do I wanna Know?" is a brilliant song and probably will be on of the songs of the year with its heavy riff and simple drum beat. Its such a smooth sounding song that I'm sure I'll be tapping my foot to for a very long time as I play it on repeat for a few days. Unfortunately I can't say the same for b-side "2013" which doesn't appeal to me as much musically but I find the lyrics quite funny especially how an iPhone is referred to as a"transmitter" with a "little shiny fruit". Its not a bad song, but after hearing "Do I Wanna Know?" its ever so slightly disappointing as the expectation bar was set high. But it is only a b-side after all, although usually I really like b-sides and they end up being my favourite songs, for example the vaccines turn out amazing b-sides like "Primal Urges" and "Tiger Blood" from their first album, then some really diverse ones on their second album which I love, especially how the other band members get their turn to sing .

Artwork for "AM"

Anyhoo, back to the monkeys. Album artwork has been revealed too, plus the video for "Do I Wanna Know?" is so cool and super trippy, it kinda reminds me of a less intense version of Tame Impalas video for "Mind Mischief" but without a storyline. The album artwork as you can see is pretty simple but cool all the same (anyone notice bands are using really stripped back album artwork?).

The tracklist for "AM" has also been revealed:

1. Do I Wanna Know?
2. R U Mine?
3. One for the Road
4. Arabella
5. I Want It All
6. No. 1 Party Anthem
7. Mad Sounds
8. Fireside
9. Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?
10. Snap Out Of It
11. Knee Socks
12. I Wanna Be Yours

I'm really looking forward to hearing the whole album in September and I'm curious to know why some of the songs were called what they were (ahem "No. 1 Party Anthem" what? Haha). And the second track "R U Mine?" which was released last year is a great song too so this restores my faith after hearing "2013". But anyway, "Do I Wanna Know?" is a seriously awesome song so I think the rest of the album will be amazing! I guess only time will tell though.

Yas xx

Song for the Week

For about the past two weeks I've been listening to a lot of Muse since I put my iPod on shuffle one day and Starlight came up, so I thought it'd be appropriate to put up the song that I'm currently in love with by them (even though its not my actual favourite song by them), so here it is:

Panic Station- Muse

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Bioshock Infinite Review

One thing you should probably know about me is that I'm a bit of a gamer. I love video games but don't have enough time for them usually, but I had a week off during exams in which I completed BioShock Infinite on Xbox 360, the third in the BioShock series, and it's one of the best games ever!

The game is set in America, 1912 during the exceptionalism movement. You are Booker Dewitt, ex-agent/soldier and currently a "independent contractor" alcoholic with gambling problems. Unfortunately you've managed to rack up a huge debt, and to "wipe away the debt", you need to find Elizabeth and bring her to New York, a girl who has been locked away in a tower for the most part of her life in the floating city of Columbia. Yes, the story-line is incredibly far-fetched, but awesome all the same. Columbia is ruled by religious extremist Zachary Comstock, and on your journey to find Elizabeth you get caught up in the fight between the founders (Comstock's side) and the Vox Populi, made up of Black, Irish, Greek and other minority groups who were discriminated against by the founders who wanted to keep Columbia "pure". There's a good if slight unbelievable twist in the story concerning Elizabeth which the story-line builds to, but unfortunately at the end I was left thinking, "well, what was the point in that?" as the solution to the problem was ridiculously easy from a gaming point of view, they even make the end basically just one giant cut scene where the only thing you can do is follow the actions that are available which is mainly just walking. But the rest of the game was perfect, especially the attention to detail in the characters. Elizabeth in particular is not only very helpful but brings more life to the story line as she comments on objects around her which she has never seen before in real life due to being locked away. She sort of reminds me of Rapunzel too, what with the whole tower situation and the fact that she cuts her hair short.

As for the actual gaming experience, its great and very immediate as its from first person view which I don't usually like as you have to constantly move both joysticks so you can run and see at the same time, and that can get annoying when you're fighting multiple people as they can sneak behind you and attack, but once you've got the hang it of its it makes gameplay a lot more fun and you actually feel like your character. And take a look at the graphics, this game is actually beautiful.

So yup, an awesome game and if you haven't got it, why not? Go get it, you're missing out! I can't imagine that many gamers won't have this though since I know I'm late on this but just go with the flow (like a dead fish). The newest big game that came out is The Last of Us, but I don't have that yet plus I'm am absolutely sh*t scared of zombies so the likelihood is I won't be reviewing that. But anyway, I digress. Hope you enjoyed reading!

Yas xx

Music Monday: Ten Songs From My Childhood

Hi everyone, for Music Monday this week I thought I'd go back in time and revisit some of the music that used to be played around the house and in car journeys which probably has a lot to do with my current music taste. I'll exlain the first 5 and the last one too, but will just list the others so I don't bore you to death. These are in no particular order by the way:

1. Maybe Tomorrow- Stereophonics. Now, I absolutely hate choosing favourites, but this first song was my go-to answer if someone asked me the dreaded question "what's your favourite song?" Obviously my music taste has changed since I was 6 but this did remain my favourite song up until I was about 14, so its pretty awesome, especially for road trips in the summer.

2. Bittersweet Symphony- The Verve. This was  a huge anthem of my childhood, it just sounds like a wave of happiness is sweeping over you. I've never been high before (except off E numbers) but I imagine this is what it feels like.

3. By The Way- Red Hot Chili Peppers. When I first heard this song I had no idea who the Red Hot Chili Peppers were (I think I was 2), but then about 10 years later I started listening to them and realised that By The Way was by them and got super happy as it was one of my favourite songs growing up.

4. Dancin' In The Moonlight- Toploader. This song would always be on Jaime Oliver's show I remember (which I used to watch religiously with my mum and brother) and parties too, and whenever I heard it I felt like dancing.

5. Teenage Dirtbag- Wheatus. Love this song so much. Something I've noticed recently, the lead singer from wheatus looks suspiciously like Leonard from The Big Bang Theory... Is there something he's not telling us? (just kidding)

6. Song 2- Blur. 
7. Baggy Trousers- Madness.
8. Bohemian Like You- The Dandy Warhols.
9. Clint Eastwood- Gorillaz.

10. Super Massive Black Hole- Muse. I first head this song on Fifa '07 and fell in love with it instantly, plus I got really excited when later in secondary school we had a team general knowledge quiz where for one of the questions they played this song and asked for the name and artist and I was the only person who knew the answer.

There were obviously loads of other songs I loved as a kid and still love, but these were the ones which stood out the most from my childhood memories. The other stuff was Oasis, more Gorillaz and Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Blink-182, and hilariously, S Club 7. Don't judge me we've all been there. Plus my favourite genre of music from a baby up until I was probably about 6 was jazz, and my favourite singer was Tom Jones. Yeah... but I still love a bit of jazz haha.

Anyways hoped you enjoyed that nostalgia trip, I know I did!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

After seeing Baz Lurhman's Romeo and Juliet when I was 12, I became obsessed with this song for a while. And then became even more excited when a few years later I saw in an interview that Nikolai Fraiture, bassist of the Strokes, said that he liked this song as a kid too, so I thought I'd share it with you for the Song of the Week:

Talk Show Host- Radiohead

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Boots and The Body Shop Haul

The other day I went to my nearest shopping center with my friends (Brent Cross), and it wasn't really a proper shopping trip so I didn't actually look at clothes, but I did come back with some nice new makeup!

In boots I found this L'Oreal Super Liner which is great because its like a thin felt tip, so I can easily line my eyes and wing it out. I do already have a mac gel liner with a brush but I find it hard to wing out the line so this liner is absolutely perfect for me. I also got this bright red and very scary Rimmel London lipstick from the Kate Moss line, which I bought because I was bored of natural makeup and wanted to get something more bold. And it did pay off, as it looks better than I expected it to. The texture is quite dry though, so make sure if you do buy this that you moisturise with a lip balm first. And since it is such a bold colour, I just dab it on or use a brush instead of putting it straight on, otherwise it looks a bit clownish. But yeah if you're thinking of changing up your look but are too scared, do it!

Lasting Finish By Kate Lipstick in 01 

And then I went to The Body Shop not in search of anything but only because my friend wanted to buy something for his mum, so these 3 eye shadows I got were an impulse buy. I'm sort of regretting buying the eye shadow on the right, as you can barely tell its on and I wanted a brighter matte white to highlight the inner corners of my eye and brow bone, but this colour isn't really suited for that. Instead I'm just going to use it as a base if I want to create a very natural smokey eye. But I really like the other two colours, which give a light wash of shimmer over your lids instead of being really overbearing like a lot of other dark shadows. While I was in The Body Shop I found a really nice fragrance called Japanese Cherry Blossom which I hadn't seen before, but unfortunately had run out of money by then so I couldn't get it, but it smells amazing so if you're looking for a new perfume I recommend that one.

Colour from left to right: 205 Caramel Flirt, 201 Melt My Heart, 110 Sand By Me 

Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading this and that it was helpful, I really recommend the products I got from boots and the two eye shadows, however with the lighter one only get it if you want a natural everyday look.

Yas xx

Music Monday: First 20 Songs On Shuffle

So I've seen other blogs and also people on Facebook doing this, so I thought I might as well give it a try as it seems quite fun. This is the first 20 songs on shuffle tag, which is basically where you put your iPod on shuffle, and write down the first 20 songs that come up. Now, everyone will have at least one crap song on their iPod, and the awful ones I've got on mine are bound to come up here so hopefully this will give you a good laugh. Or it will actually make an awesome playlist, who knows?

1. Dreams- Fleetwood Mac
2. When I Was Young- Ramones
3. Use Somebody- Kings of Leon
4. Kids With Guns- Gorillaz
5. The Clash- I Fought The Law
6. Someone Told Me- Jake Bugg
7. Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
8. Stop The Clocks- Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
9. Hooked Up On Us (piano version)- Jay Jay Pistolet
10. Shes A Rebel- Green Day
11. Knights of Cydonia- Muse
12. Hot n Cold- Katy Perry
13. Death or Glory- The Clash
14. Blow Your Mind- The Vaccines
15. Happy- Travis
16. Why Should I Love You (live) - The Vaccines
17. River of Brakelights- Julian Casablancas
18. Some Might Say- Oasis
19. If You Want Blood (You've Got It!)- AC/DC
20. Music To Walk Home By-Tame Impala

Wow not one single crappy song! Quite a nice mix too, but maybe not for everyone, this is probably for people who have a wider range of music taste.

Extra 3 songs which played after the twenty which I just had to include because they are just awesome!
Last Nite demo- The Strokes
Is This It- The Strokes
Starlight- Muse
And unfortunately my lucky streak stopped there as the next song to come up was Like Wow!- Leslie Carter. Yeah, thanks for that Shrek soundtrack.

Hope you enjoyed! If you have a blog (or even if you don't) try this too! You could end up with a brilliant playlist or a hilarious one!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

Hey guys, so today I thought I'd pick something motivational and uplifting to make your Monday just a bit better and help you get through the rest of the week. And this song is perfect as it is by a band that played on the Other Stage at Glastonbury (festival) last week:

Movin' On Up- Primal Scream

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Book Review- Carrie by Stephen King

As a person who absolutely loves reading, I'm always on the lookout for a new book which I haven't read (especially now that exams are over and I actually have time to read). So while in Waterstones the other day (which, by the way, is the best shop ever) I thought, I haven't read a Stephen King novel before, and since the remake of the movie Carrie based on Stephen King's novel, starring Chloë Grace Moretz is coming out in October, I might as well see what all the fuss is about before the movie comes out, and I'm so glad I did.

Carrie is a creepy horror story about a girl called, (surprise surprise) Carrie, who has been bullied and tortured by not only her classmates but her god-fearing mother all her life. Carrie had always been the odd girl in her school, but they have no idea just how different she is, because unbeknownst to them, Carrie has a gift. She is telekinetic, able to move things with her mind. This talent comes into focus when she is distressed by a particularly horrible bout of torment from the girls in her year, and when one girl feels guilty that she participated in making fun of her, she decides to make it up to her by persuading her boyfriend to ask Carrie to the Prom. He agrees, but this action causes the worst day to arrive at their town... I will say no more. If you don't want the entire story ruined for you I suggest you don't watch the movie trailer for the remake, as it unfortunately doesn't leave much to the imagination. 

Anyway I really recommend reading this book, especially if you've been stuck reading really cheesy teen romances (we've all been there, Twilight anyone?). Its not scary so don't worry if you're not a horror story type, but the end is certainly very unnerving... Enjoy!

Yas xx 

Rimmel Nail Varnishes (my first beauty post yay!)

Out of all beauty products, the one I can't resist is nail varnish, or polish if you're American. I've recently been more drawn to pastel colours, and if you're on a budget, Rimmel is a pretty good place to get them. A couple weeks ago I bought four nail varnishes in Superdrug (who had a buy two, get one free on all cosmetics deal going, which I'm not sure they have now, but if they do, get in quick!) and here they are!

As you can see, they're very pretty colours, and I recently wore the colour 704 called  "Sweet As Sugar" which is on the far left.

I absolutely love it, its like a cool greeny blue, the only criticism I have is that it requires two coats as it doesn't go on very evenly with just one and the colour comes out a lot better with the two coats. Usually with nail varnish I just put one coat on and I'm good to go, so its slightly more time consuming than other brands. 

About two weeks ago I tried out 705 in "Tangy Tangerine", and the colour came out quite nicely but it was a bit misleading as it looks slighter more pigmented than I would've liked, so I'll probably go out looking for a more understated one. Again it unfortunately wasn't great when it came to application and it ended up a bit messy, but I've since got the hang of it so my nails looked better with the second colour I tried out. Annoyingly I don't have a picture of the orange/blue nail varnishes actually on my nails as I had to quickly chip it all off during exams (A Levels, bleugh) and I haven't had a chance to reapply it, sorry about that!

I do recommend buying some Rimmel nail varnish as the colour range is pretty good and they're cheap, even though they do have a few flaws but it's still worth it!

Yas xx

Music Monday (sort of): Tame Impala gig @ Hammersmith Apollo!

Sorry this is late, but I put this off because I have access to a camera!!!! So I thought one day wouldn't hurt if I got to put a picture of a souvenir from the gig in this post. So, as I mentioned in my second ever blog post, I went to see Tame Impala play at Hammersmith Apollo on Tuesday 25th of June. And they were mind-blowingly awesome. I'll set the scene for you:

 It started off with a buzzing gathering of people outside the venue, random people asking if we had spare tickets to buy so they could sell them on for more, but I held on tightly to mine. No way was I going to pass this up. The doors opened and we all rushed in, me and my brother going straight in rather than hanging about so luckily we managed to get a spot right at the front against the barrier by the side of the stage.

Weirdly there was a glowing cat on the stage (not a real one of course) which must have belonged to the supporting act Melody's Echo Chamber (who is also Tame Impala singer Kevin Parker's girlfriend). It felt like time had stopped while all the equipment was being set up for her and the excitement was intensified with every second, but finally she and the members of her band walked on stage. We all cheered and clapped and she said hi in her pretty french accent, then began to sing "I Follow You" in her dreamy high pitched voice. Her whole set was amazing, and it pumped us up for the rest of the night. What also made me have a massive smile of excitedness on my face was the fact that I could see Tame Impala guitarist Dom by the side of the stage watching (in a non-creepy way).

Then after all the many pedal boards were set up for Tame Impala (and sadly the cat was removed which prompted an "aww" from the people on the side of the stage I was at) they finally came on stage. Everyone of course went crazy, and they kicked off with Led Zeppelin, followed by one of my favourite songs, and also the Song for the Week this week, "Solitude is Bliss". Each song was just amazing, even the songs I didn't really like normally. And of course "Elephant" and "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" got very good reactions from the crowd. Kevin was barefoot (so logically someone threw a shoe at him) and spent a lot of the time lying on the floor of the stage with his guitar. The whole band actually got quite distracted by the cool lazer light show going on the screen behind them which was quite funny, and they managed to pull off an amazing performance with a lot of improv. They really engaged with the crowd too, having a chat with us, throwing the shoe back and making a paper aeroplane out of a setlist and throwing it into the crowd.

Random lazer light show 

To wrap up it was an amazing night which actually convinced me to like all of their songs and I love the ones that already did even more! My brother was lucky enough to get a setlist from a roadie passing them to the crowd at the end too, so here it is!

So yeah if you have the chance to see them, go!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

In honour of the Tame Impala gig I went to last Tuesday, I decided to put up one of my favourite songs by them. I absolutely love this song, especially the lyrics. I just love the lyric "Nothing else matters I don't care what I miss/Company's okay, Solitude is Bliss/There's a party in my head/And no one is invited". So here's the Song for the Week:

Solitude is Bliss- Tame Impala

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Music Monday: Review- The Strokes "Comedown Machine"

So for Music Monday today, I thought I'd do a review of my favourite album of 2013 so far by my favourite band.

Out of all of The Strokes' albums, "Comedown Machine" is by far the most interesting. The first song is "Tap Out" with a kind of funky, disco sound, and the perfect way to start the album off. Followed by singles "All The Time" (which was the first song to have its name revealed to the world and got everyone excited) and "One Way Trigger", which caused quite a stir when it was leaked as some people loved it, and some hated it due to the distance it has from earlier stuff from The Strokes. The songs each sound quite different to each other, but have a running thread of sounding like it came out fresh from the 80s and most of the songs have falsetto, except for "50/50", which sounds like it could be on "Room on Fire" due to the effect on Julian Casablancas' voice and the chords + riff reminiscent of their earlier albums. My personal favourite is "Welcome to Japan", with its syncopated beat and odd lyrics (although weird lyrics are kinda always The Strokes style), but I love every single song on the album. When I first heard it, I wasn't that convinced by "Partners in Crime", "Happy Endings" and "80s Comedown Machine" though, but I very quickly grew to love them after a couple listens.

Concerning the cover art, as you can see its very simple, which I quite like, and on the little booklet there are silhouettes of the band members on a red background from the pictures taken in their first album, which is pretty cool. Albert Hammond, Jr. explained this by tweeting "the cycle is complete" when someone asked him about the pictures, meaning that "Comedown Machine" is the last album of their contract with RCA.

So, to wrap up this review, "Comedown Machine" is an awesome album, and is in my opinion The Strokes' second-best album, because even though I prefer a few of the individual songs better than a couple from what I think is their best album ("Is This It?"), as a whole "Is This It?" beats it by a tiny fraction as I loved every single song on that album as soon as I heard it, and didn't have to grow to like any of the songs at all. But its still a fricking amazing album!!

Yas xx

Song for the Week

If you're generally feeling like the world is against you today, (teenage angst and all that) you might want a relatable song to listen to in the week, so my song choice for today is...

Poison Heart- Ramones

Happy Monday!

Yas xx

Film Review: The Wave

As far as history/politics films go, I'm not exactly the most interested person in the world unless there's a lot of action (even though I love studying history and politics). But this film is the exception to my rule. The Wave, or its German name Die Welle, is, you've guessed it, a German film, based on a true story on an experiment concerning how dictatorships come to be by creating one in a classroom. You're probably thinking, that sounds incredibly boring, but due to the fast moving plot it really isn't.


The actual experiment happened in 1967 in California, but the movie is set in modern day Germany and follows a group of kids who have decided to take the autocracy class but are bored with learning about Hitler and The Third Reich. Their teacher, Rainer, experiments with the idea of creating a dictatorship by making the kids feel like they are part of an elitist group, by implementing stricter rules (calling him Herr Wenger instead of by his first name, wearing uniforms etc.) but the experiment spirals out of control within just a few days. Really worth watching, quite a good soundtrack too, but be prepared for the onslaught of emotions in such a short space of time.

Yas xx

Music Monday: Great TV show Soundtracks

If you've read my previous blog post, you'll know that I will posting about music every Monday, and to start off I thought I'd talk about awesome TV shows with equally awesome soundtracks.

First off is My Mad Fat Diary, a six part series on E4 which is based on the book My Mad, Fat Teenage Diary by Rae Earl but set a decade after in the 90s. The story is great on its own, but the soundtracks for every episode are brilliant, and they get the song just perfect for every part of the story. Expect a lot of Oasis, Radiohead, The Stone Roses and some random stuff too (Babylon Zoo's Spaceman for one, but you'll get why when you watch it). If you haven't watched this definitely check it out on 4od, and to get the playlist from the series, search it on Spotify or go on the My Mad Fat Diary website.


Next is Russell Howard's Good News. This is my favourite stand up comedy show, and what makes it even better is the music inbetween the different sections. The songs are only played for a few seconds, but I still get really excited when I hear a song I like. The songs are mainly indie rock, but you get one or two other genres in there. You can catch up on the latest series of Good News on BBC iPlayer

And finally... Made in Chelsea. Don't judge me, I initially hated this show as I generally find reality TV incredibly boring, but my mum watches it so she got me into it. Part of what made me continue watching it (and shouting at the characters when they're annoying, which is most of the time), is the music. I'm not a huge fan of the songs they play, but if you want all the current and newest indie music, check out their Spotify playlist. I'm not going to recommend the programme though unless you like reality TV, and I warn you, you will get addicted. The last episode of this series is on tonight at ten on E4, but if you do ignore my warnings and want to watch it, you can see it on 4od.

Hope you enjoyed this post and have a listen to these soundtracks!

Yas xx

Song for the Week (+ Music Monday)

So I've decided to jump on the #MusicMonday hashtag from Twitter and incorporate it here, so every Monday in addition to my "Song for the Week" there will be a music post! To kick off Music Monday here's the Song for the Week!

Perfect Day- Lou Reed

Happy Monday! 

Yas xx

My Birthday!

Today is my birthday woooooh! This is a bit of a random post but I just wanted to share what I'm hoping to buy soon with my birthday money.

What I've wanted for a while now is Doc Martens. They're the epitome of punk rock in fashion and can make any outfit look a whole lot edgier. There are two kinds I want to get:

 This white and rose patterned pair are just so pretty, and perfect if you want docs which are still feminine. 

And then there are the classic black docs. I was considering getting patent leather ones, but I think these are better since I wanted some simple, ordinary ones, and patent leather might make them look a bit like wellies. 

Also on my birthday "stuff I want to buy" list is a good camera, as I currently can't find the lead to my 5 year old camera which I was hoping to use for my beauty posts on this blog (that's why I haven't posted about makeup yet), and the last thing on my list is an electric guitar, as I already have an acoustic but I just really want an electric! 

Anyway if I hopefully get the camera and any of the other items in this post I'll put up some pics! 

Yas xx

Song for the Week

If you live in the UK, you'll know the weather has been very up and down for the most part of the year so far, with random sunny days and plenty of rain too, so I though the song for this week could be one that would encourage some nice weather which ever part of the world you're in. So today's pick is:

Here Comes The Sun- The Beatles

Happy Monday! 

Yas xx

Song for the Week

So I've decided to do a song for the week every Monday, just to keep everyone going throughout the week! Anyways the Song for the Week this week is (drumroll please)...

Instant Crush- Daft Punk ft Julian Casablancas!

I chose it 'cause it's literally the last song I listened to and its pretty amazing. Anyways Happy Monday and good luck for the rest of the week!!

Yas xx

My Top 5 Bands

So I think it's best I let you in on my favourite bands. There are so many great bands I love including Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Palma Violets, Gorillaz, Muse, Bloc Party, Radiohead... I'll stop there or I'll go on for ever. So instead I've decided to show you my top 5 bands instead:

1. The Strokes

This indie/garage quintet from New York are my absolute favourite band in the entire world. Ever. Their debut album "Is This it" met with huge success worldwide, which some say they weren't able to top with later albums, but I disagree. Their latest album "Comedown Machine" has had pretty mixed reviews including fans turning against them due to the fact that they've moved away from garage-revival and sound very 80s New Wave, but personally I love it. It's also great that over the last few albums there's been more input from all of the band members, as frontman Julian Casablancas wrote the first couple albums basically single-handedly. The Strokes haven't lost their spark to me but have improved. 

Favourite Song: You Only Live Once

2.The Vaccines

The way The Vaccines came about is reflected in the pace of their songs in their first album: fast. And it didn't take long for them to become a favourite of mine after seeing them at Alexandra Palace in November last year. Their second album "Come of Age" is a lot better than their first (but I still love "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?"), their sound is evolving from Ramones-y punk and they're coming into their own a bit more. Their dress sense is changing too, they've forgotten their hipster-y look like the one in the above picture and adopted a more rock 'n' roll double denim and longer hair. It's impossible for me to choose an absolute favourite song by them as I have so many, so instead I've just chosen the one my iPod says I've listened to the most. 

Favourite Song: Teenage Icon

3.The Clash

Dodgy haircuts and dress sense aside, The Clash are too cool. They're good to listen to in any situation as their songs are quite diverse and for every mood. I listen to them mainly on my journeys to school as they wake me up a bit, especially "Clash City Rockers", and from school too, but they're great to listen to/sing along (and play air guitar) to anywhere (just don't embarrass yourself haha). Helping to define punk rock in Britain during the late 70s, they're a mixture of everything ranging from reggae to rockabilly.

Favourite Song: (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

4.Tame Impala

If you like psychedelic, colourful, dreamy and chilled out sounding music, check out Tame Impala. I'm not in love with all of their songs, but I love their sound in general. Great for picnics on summery days or walking back home in the sunshine. Sadly bassist Nick Allbrook recently left, but is still making music with his band Pond which shares two other band members with Tame Impala. Very excited to see Tame Impala play at Hammersmith Apollo in June! 

Favourite Song: Elephant

5. Oasis

When you think of music in 90s England, you think Oasis. The Gallagher brothers and co were one of the first bands that made me obsessed with music. I can always go back to their songs if I feel nostalgic or just need cheering up. And most people know the lyrics to Wonderwall even if that's the only Oasis song they know.

Favourite Song: The Importance of Being Idle

So there you have it, my top 5 bands. If you don't know any of them, go check 'em out! And if you do, then leave a comment saying your favourite songs by them :)

Yas xx

Introducing... Me!

Hey everyone! Yasmin here, just posting to say welcome to my blog! I'll be posting all about my favourite and up and coming bands/artists, makeup, books, movies and general stuff about life too! Hopefully I won't bore you with my ramblings, if you've managed to read this far, well done! Anyways hopefully you'll stick around! 

Yas xx