'My Best Friend Loves Herself, She's Just Being Miley'

Yet another Miley Cyrus post for you to read. At least this one has a message. 

I have read a lot about Miley Cyrus this week. My favourite article coming from, (unbelievably), the Daily Mail. They had had the genius idea of interviewing the inventor of the foam finger. I didn't even realise that one single person had 'invented' the thing I used to hit my brother with when I got back from 'Steps' concerts but, anyway, I am proven wrong on many occasions so I will just add this one to the list. As I have just stated, for me, the foam finger has never and will never be used for it's correct purpose. I always hit my little brother, or anyone who was in my vicinity, with mine. Someone I was with at Notting Hill Carnival last weekend bought one and then poked me in the face with it all evening. I therefore find it hilarious that the inventor, (still not over that thought), of the foam finger was so offended. Here is what Steve Chmelar had to say about Miley's turn at the VMAs:

'She took an honorable icon that is seen in sporting venues everywhere and degraded it. 

'Fortunately, the foam finger has been around long enough that it will survive this incident.' 

Well I, for one am pleased to hear that Steve is confident in the foam finger's enduring appeal but I think he should embrace it. Think how much money he could make by making some specifically 'sexy' foam fingers. You know, ones with rings and things on like the woman who had rings on her fingers and bells on her toes. I wonder, actually, if Steve Chmelar, (great surname), actually made any money from the foam finger? Did he patent it? Is this actually sour grapes from Steve that he isn't making any money from Miley's kinky finger? Listen up Steve, (here comes the message), start selling some foam fingers to sex shops. If the 'Twerking' craze is anything to go by, Miley's a trendsetter.  

POP EMERGENCY CODE RED GAGA'S BACK

So Lady Gaga has finally gave us something. A little morsel, right in the middle of Summer holiday season. Admittedly this is rather annoying when you are sat in a roller disco in the middle of Cork City, just to use their WiFi, desperately trying to hear Applause over the horrific Donna Summer remix that is blasting out of the speakers because you left your headphones at home. (Thank you Supernova in Cork, your free WiFi was much appreciated). Since getting back from holiday the 'POP EMERGENCY' has exploded in to a fully blown 'POP EMERGENCY, CODE RED'. Last Sunday Gaga premiered 8 new songs in a live show in front of fans and critics and thousands watching on TV. Risky, but this is Gaga, she is both risky and risque. So, on wards to the music:

As a first single from a new album goes, Applause ticked all the right boxes. For me it is essentially Gaga talking directly to her fans and critics in one song.

"I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong

To crash the critic saying, 'Is it right or is it wrong?'

If only fame had an I.V., baby could I bear

Being away from you, I found the vein, put it in here"

The first verse sets out the agenda for the song. Gaga has evidently been desperate to get back to performing and being in front of her friends but has been afraid at what the gap between her releases has done to her critical acclaim. She has every right to be afraid of the critics, just before she was forced to cancel her world tour due to a broken hip I read 5 or 6 particularly scathing articles addressing her weight and live performances. She could be forgiven, therefore for not premiering her new material in such an exposed way. In 'Applause' we also see an awareness on her behalf of her growing status as an art icon as well as being, possibly, THE icon within turn of the century music. Gaga talks about becoming a work of art and she addresses the growing feeling of pop as an art form.

"One second I'm a Koons, then suddenly the Koons is me 

Pop culture was an art, now art's a pop culture in me"

For me my favourite song from the 8 Gaga debuted at the Roundhouse last Sunday night was Aura. It reminded me a lot of Bad Romance, undoubtedly the best Gaga single to date. The song is almost anthemic with a brilliant 'sing along-able' chorus. What this song actually means is for a later debate I feel. Whether it is Gaga referring to her costumes and clothes as a cover-up in the same way a Burqa is used or something else I am not sure, but what I am sure about is that it is an incredible pop song and I am pleased to see that the 'rara' of the Bad Romance era has not been dropped by Gaga completely. 

Getting Gomez-merised.

Now, for some of you, my little brother included, I believe that if I said the word 'Gomez' to you you would instantly think of a football player. If you have read this blog at all or probably gathered anything from the first sentence of this post my first thought upon hearing the word 'Gomez' is to reply 'Selena'. 
Selena is one of the seemingly endless Disney Channel princesses of which Miley Cyrus is the High-Queen. Each one follows the same format. Begin on a Disney Channel Children's TV show titled something like 'Aww Chucks, My Brother's An Alien', then try and break free of the Disney mould, go out with a bad-boy popstar and then release a single that is ridiculously catchy. Now as someone who has spent the last year listening to Ernie.K.Doe and weird house music mixes of Sister Sledge, Gomez has dropped of the radar a bit for me, until I came home. My local radio station absolutely love her. Every time I get in the car they are blaring out her latest single, 'Come And Get It'. (There is the provocative, 'let's break the Disney mould', title I was looking for). The first time I heard it, about 3 weeks ago, I turned straight over. By the 12th time Lincs FM decided to play it whilst I was in the car it had grown ridiculously on me. As someone who appreciates when a song is brilliant within it's genre 'Come And Get It' is, in my opinion, one of the best pop songs released this year. It's got so many good bits. A ridiculously catchy chorus, a ballad-esque bridge that you can scream along to in your car, Indian sounding bits reminding you of the other 'I shouldn't love it but I do' pop song of the last decade, Jai-Ho and a brilliant sing along bit that we can all understand the 'eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh' bit of the chorus. 
I know I shouldn't love it, but I do. Selena, you may have gone out with Bieber but I can forgive you if every pop song you write is as good as this/provides a vowel sound chorus to sing along with. 

Eurovision 2013. "There was a lot of crotch rubbing and synchronised 'hurry up and get out of the toilet' jiggling"

The white wine haze of Saturday night has now dissipated, so too has the smoke spilling out from the wings in what seemed like every song, the orange glow left behind by the fake tanners has gone and only the annoyingly catchy songs remain in our heads. Eurovision 2013 was the normal gathering of  pop-princesses, has-been rock stars and reality show queens.
This year's contest was held in Malmo, Sweden (I'd never heard of it either). From the looks of the advertising and idents during the show the town seems to be overrun with a plague of butterflies. They said that this was all part of the theming and that they represented Europe being united as one but personally I don't believe them.

The show opened with a choir singing this year's Eurovision anthem written by Benny and Bjorn from Abba and Avicii from those dance songs that all sound the same. Benny and Bjorn seemed to write a nice melody which Avicii then added some electro stuff to and there you have it, a Eurovision anthem. As this was unfolding on stage a bridge was lowered from the ceiling. The Swedes seem to be very proud of this bridge. If it was ever to be hosted in the UK would we have the 'wobbly bridge'. I can just picture 27 countries trying to get across it. Whoever does, wins. The acts of the countries participating then processed across the bridge (unfortunately quite a stable one) with their flags. At this point I was having horrific flashbacks of the Olympic Opening Ceremony and being bored by the time the 'B' section started filing in. I quickly reached for my bottle of wine.

At this point we were introduced to our host for the evening Petra Mede. An amazing woman who managed to pull off a couple of stunning outfits throughout the week. In the first semi-final it was silver tin foil. The second, gold tin-foil and finally at the Grand Final we had this beautiful creation. Pink velour with matching high-heeled boots. Amazing.

Finally we moved on to the songs and the actual point of the evening about half an hour in to the show. You always get that feeling from Eurovision, that it is about 2 hours longer than it needs to be.

Here are a few of my highlights:

UKRAINE

Any country that includes a giant in their staging of their song wins in my book. The Ukraine actually hired a man who was well over 7ft to carry their contestant on stage, she was then placed on a rock (don't ask) in the middle of the stage meaning that good old Zlata was the same height as said giant. I'm not entirely sure why this was done, as it was Eurovision it was probably meant to signify peace and unity to all or something but all in all it just provided another opportunity to laugh.

ROMANIA

This will probably be one of the performances from this year's Eurovision that will stick in the minds of all for a long time to come. It was certainly one that will haunt my nightmares for weeks. Cezar is a male opera singer who has the range of a female opera singer. Team that with an outfit not too dissimilar from Dracula's, ballet dancers crawling under red fabric and a dubstep breakdown and you have the perfect Eurovision formula.

FINLAND

I'm not entirely sure what this song was trying to achieve. The singer Krista has been with her boyfriend for 7 years. I think that the lyric of 'WHERE IS MY PROPOSAL?' was probably the biggest hint he will ever get. Another stroke of lyrical genius by the writer of this song was getting someone who speaks English with a think Finnish accent to shout 'For you' over and over again, resulting in many giggles from my group watching Eurovision, believing she was shouting 'Fuck you'. Maybe that's why she got no votes? We did, however, vote for Finland, turns out we were, indeed, the only ones.

BELGIUM

Belgium wins the award for dance routine of the night. If you've ever wondered what two people, forced on to stage and made to dance whilst really needing a wee looked like, look no further than the Belgain performance. There was a lot of crotch rubbing and synchronised 'hurry up and get out of the toilet' jiggling. In fact, I sort of wish I had voted for them too now.

BELARUS

Belarus never fail to disappoint when it comes to Eurovision. This year's offering involved a scantily clad woman jumping out of a revolving disco ball in a neon blue flapper dress. I can't really remember the actual song. Just a lot of jumping. There she is Alyona from Belarus, showing us the best and, really, only way to exit a giant disco ball the next time we find ourselves in that position.


GERMANY

Germany won the award for 'shit is that [insert has-been pop star name here]' moment of the night. By rights that should have belonged to us with dear old Bonnie Tyler but, hey, they got Cascada to scream at us all and stumble around the stage in what looked like a drag outfit. Essentially this year Germany got one member of Cascada (yes there is more than one), to sing what sounded a lot like last year's winning song. Cheeky move Germany.

GREECE

For the past 3 years I have been desperate for Greece to win Eurovision. Not because they have really good music or anything like that, just because I think it would be hilarious for a country to go  bankrupt because they won the Eurovision Song Contest. This year's entry was insanely brilliant though. Men in kilts, drummers, fireworks and a lyric most people can really get behind. 'ALCOHOL IS FREE'. Amen to that Greece.

It is unfortunate that the best act of the night was one that we couldn't vote for. I'm sure if we could, however, Petra Mede, the host would have won hands down. 'Mamma Mia, Ikea has gone worldwide, good luck assembling all of those parts' the lyrics went. In one song Petra managed to eclipse the Swedish jokes any commentator could have made throughout the night. There were blondes with plaits, Vikings, the singer was dressed as Cruella De Vil if she worked at Ikea. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. Petra Mede is my new favourite person, I'm moving to Sweden.

So there we have it. Rorie's Eurovision party 2013. See you next year for more wind machine, velour outfits and listening to Graham Norton get progressively more drunk.

All Hail The New Young British Artists

The Young British Artists were a group who took practically took over Britain in the mid to late 1990s. If the 1990s heralded 'cool' Britannia then maybe this strange period after the turn of the New Millennium is the age of 'commercial' Britannia.
In the 90s Britain became cool again, the economy was booming and the Brit-Pop movement in music and the YBA's brought the country to the forefront of the world stage. Everything they did was the epitome of 'cool'. Oasis vs Blur, Hirst and Emin, Goldsmiths Art College and Manchester vs London.
Now we are seeing once again Britain becoming great, culturally again across the world. The incredible Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics last year seemed to capture where Britain is right now, rather than like so many ceremonies in this country, looking back and mourning what we were. Britons seem to be happy where we are today. No longer do we long for a time when the sun never set on our Empire. Britain is content with being small.
We may no longer appear to have limitless money, like in the late 90s but the new Young British Artists are pioneers for a new austere age. Names like Gabriella Boyd and Max Dovey may be the new Hirst and Emin but with one clear difference, the super-confident times of the 90s have gone to be replaced by a nervous 'teenies'.
We are taking our place again, even if the 'cool' Britannia notion from the 90s has long since gone. 'Commercial' Britannia now rules over us. One Direction, Adele, James Bond, The Royals. These massive British brands are dominating the world, taking over American popular culture and making Britain, once again a cultural epicentre. It is fair to say, however, that without the advent of social media this may not have happened. If it wasn't for Twitter and Youtube teens in America may not have heard of One Direction, or Ed Sheeran or Emeli Sande. I have it on good authority that amongst the youth in America it is cool to discover the next big thing from the UK before anyone else. They may still see us as a nation of tea drinking royalists but also a nation that is incredibly 'cool'. So maybe my branding of the UK today as 'Commercial Britannia' in the context of America may be a little off. One thing is for sure, it may be 'Commercial Britannia' to us but for people all around the world it is 'Cool Britannia' long to reign over us. All hail the new Young British Artists.

'After Gangnam Style'

After Gangnam Style 

There wasn't much left

Your sunglasses were nice though. 

Just What I Always Wanted (A Billy Bookcase.)

So a rather unlikely setting prompted this music blog post. Ikea. Yes I know, probably not the epicentre of new music but certainly power house of old pop. I think Ikea have realised that their main audience of couples starting up new homes are looking for something cuddlier than quite literally an acid house so have concocted a clever playlist of 80s and 90s pop. It gives their shoppers a sense of security amongst the oddly titled, in our language, 'Billy' bookcases and 'Lakma' lamps. 
Lacking on this trip was any sound of ABBA but I don't know if I am just stereotyping. The one song that really stuck out for me on last Sunday's trip was this banger-'Just What I Always Wanted' by Mari Wilson. I have found myself singing it since Sunday and it is already climbing its way up my most listened to playlist. It's just a hilariously brilliant pop song, if a little repetitive. I must also mention Mari's incredible hair. Anyone who can rock that beehive is good in my book. So there you go, if you do one thing today, listen to this. It will brighten up your day and if not, make you feel like you are in Ikea, go get that hot dog and refill your drink far too many times. 

Music And Things.

To kick off 'Music and Things' I thought I would just share what I am listening to the most at the moment.


Top of this list (and I urge you actually not to listen to this if you are a sucker for a catchy      dance song) is Coma Cat by Tensnake. I was introduced to this song only recently, despite it being around for a few years and it just screams summer. It oozes everything from disco and soul and sounds extremely 80s which is why I love it, in fact, don't worry about getting it stuck in your head, it's just too good.

Next is the already mentioned on here orchestral mix of The Look Of Love by ABC. It's everything that was great about the 80s with added orchestra and breakdowns where it sounds like someone has fallen asleep on the repeat button. It may be about 5 minutes too long but when it is spent with door slamming sound effects accompanied by an orchestra, what's not to like?

Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat is one of those songs that takes a long time to get going, then you get to the climax of it and realise that rather than being boring, the rest of the song is actually genius. The lyrics are beautiful, something that you may not be expecting from Bronski Beat who brought us 'Tell Me Why' but it is one of those songs that is brilliant to work to as it just builds and builds. Here is the extended and best version.





Finally it is 'Just Think About It' by Southern, something a bit different from everything else on this list but amazing. This is taken from a Burberry acoustic session they did. They are a Brother and Sister duo from Belfast and being Irish I do maintain that Irish music is the best. The harmonies on this are incredible, and they are stood in a wood, how poetic.

The 'Power Pose'

I love a song in which there are many chances to stand in the 'power pose' you know the one, Beyonce does it all the time, generally just after being shot out of a cannon or through a trapdoor in the floor, that kind of thing that happens to everyone all the time. 

Here is Beyonce demonstrating the 'Power Pose',
gold leggings and leotard are optional. 

You can imagine my joy then when last night at 1.01am I found this incredible, extended, orchestral version of 'The Look of Love' by ABC. I bloody love this song, and I have now found my new favourite version. Everything is great about it. The bongo solo, the string accompaniement, there is a point where they make about 30 seconds out of that woman saying 'goodbye' in her deadpan and a door slamming. Anyway here is the song, I urge you to stick in a power pose where you feel appropriate. 

Why Kim Wilde Should Rule The World

I think I will never tire of watching that video of Kim Wilde completely drunk, rolling around a train with a guitarist and singing her hits to a bemused and probably equally drunk Christmas party train home. It was upon watching this again that I realised. This is who should be singing our song this year at Eurovision. In fact she shouldn't just represent us there, she should be an ambassador for Britain across the world. What says 'Best Of British' more than Kim Wilde, slurring her way through her songs, in a pair of reindeer antlers and jumping around in a train carriage? That has Eurovision written all over it. It has G20 Summit written all over it, it has Olympic Opening Ceremony written all over
it (albeit a year late).
So here is my proposal: let's all club together, buy Kim Wilde and get her to sing at everything. It's a simple idea but I believe it would make the world a better place.
You know it's a good idea. Donate 50p to the Kim Wilde for British Ambassador Fund and you can make the world a better place. (We may need more money to get her drunk before every performance).

Thank you for your time.

Bonnie Tyler. I Need A Zero.

When I opened my laptop this morning and was greeted with the words "Bonnie Tyler to represent UK at Eurovision Song Contest" my heart jumped. For the first time I had high hopes as I clicked on the YouTube link. Total Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Out for a Hero played on my mind, finally an 80s pop star who could deliver a big up-tempo song and beat Estonia and all the other Eastern block countries into submission. This is what Eurovision had been waiting for, I thought. A singer who sounds like they are one coughing fit away from a total eclipse of the heart. Someone with hair so big the wind machines will fail to move it. You can imagine my disappointment then when I started listening to the song. It's a ballad. And not only a ballad but the slowest one I have ever heard. Couple that with the video of Bonnie looking like she is desperate for the loo in a completely white lounge and then on the beach and it makes for a sorry state. 

Is there still time to add some synth drums? A few explosion sound effects. I did like that she was doing her bit for physical music sales and HMV by wearing a CD around her neck for half of the video though. 

Of course this morning's announcement prompted a Twitter storm. With Bonnie's hits providing puns galore such as "I Need A Zero" and 'Picking Bonnie Tyler for Eurovision was a mistake. Every now and then she falls apart". 

Surprisingly the video on You Tube has surprisingly good comments from all of the die hard Eurovision supporters from countries like Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (me neither). But we won't win. We're the United Kingdom. If we won there would be national outcry. We love losing at Eurovision, it gives us something to complain about, and lets face it we don't have the run up to the Olympics or the Jubilee to moan about so we need something.
All that said I still love you Bonnie, you and your massive hair. 

The Brits 2013 Tweet-party!

"I WANT THE BRITS BACK WHEN EVERYONE WAS PISSED.#BRITS2013"

"Muse there winning the award yet again for "most desperate to do a Bond theme" #Brits2013 #Brits"

"It's unlike Emelie Sande to turn up to something televised.#BRITs2013"

"Love that we get to hear Rita Ora's real voice in these adverts.#Brits2013"

#HumanVeet #Brits2013InATweet

Sorry, but what has happened to Sharon Osbourne's face?#Brits2013 #Brits



ON TIMBERLAKE:

"It's like the last ten years never happened. Is he still dating Britney?#BRITs2013"

"justin timbercokebreak" 


ON SWIFTY AND STYLES:

Gets me every time. Skimpy outfit under smock. #Swifty #Brits2013

"YES FOR THE CUT TO STYLES. #Brits2013 #Brits"



ON LANA:

I LOVE YOU LANA DEL REY. #Brits2013 #Brits

Still amazed by Del Rey's lips. #PumpedUpWithABicyclePump#Brits2013

THE MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE:

"Still disappointed Taylor Swift didn't sing We Are Never Getting Back Together in front of a giant picture of Harry Styles face. #Brits2013"

The Brits 2013

It seems pointless writing a blog on this year's Brit Awards when I didn't even watch the whole thing (my favourite bit was Taylor Swift's 'look at me with the small dress under the big dress bit, not predictable AT ALL) but i had to make this clear, it fell flat on its face this year. Here are my reasons:

1. Nobody likes Emeli Sande.

Admittedly that probably isn't true given that she won the awards for album of the year and British female but come on, admit it. You are sick of her.
Opening ceremony. "Oh that's cute, Sande singing Abide With Me, nice day out for her".
Closing Ceremony. "Really, again? Never mind I'm sure I'll live, her stylist won't though for that green crepe paper dress".
Sports Personality Of The Year, "Are we sure Sande hasn't got a contract with the IOC? Has she been sleeping with Jacques Rogge?"
Brit Awards. "Right, that's it I'm doing shots of toilet duck".
She has a habit of popping up everywhere which would be okay if her songs didn't make me want to drink bleach. Anyway. Attack on Sande over. I'm sure she is a very nice person really.

2. Adele

After last year's debacle over her acceptance speech I expected Adele to ride in on James Cordon's back, shout "Fuck the suits" and wander off again, but nothing. She didn't even go. yes, she is in L.A for the Oscars but let's not forget. It was THAT performance at the Brits that really made her the star she is today. That said, I still love her.

3. The award for 'Global Success'

They may as well have just named this the 'One Direction haven't won anything else and they deserve an award' award. Even if you don't like One Direction you have to admit they did deserve an award at the Brits on Wednesday night. They are the biggest band in the world right now and are currently number one in 54 countries. Any award they were given would have been deserved but it did feel like they had made it up for them. Like when Adele was the first person to win critic's choice.

4. Taylor Swift's Performance

After watching it back I actually quite liked the whole effect but for me there was one problem. She didn't sing 'We Are Never (ever ever ever ever ever) Getting Back Together' in front of a giant picture of Harry Styles' face. I think that's enough said about that. She also didn't get her sound-alike goat up on stage to sing with her. (If you don't know what I am on about, here you go). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpfQSqfpuac,

5. The snub of One Pound Fish Man.

THE END.

Myspace in, HMV out.

It's been an odd week for music, first of all we heard of the demise of HMV, yet another institution to leave our high street. To see it leave will be a great shame. Ironically in the same week that HMV, blaming digital music, has gone in to administration Myspace has relaunched. As someone who missed out on Myspace the first time round, (let's face it who would have wanted to see me listening to B*Witched online?) I was keen to give it a go and my verdict is that it is what my life has been lacking. These days the majority of my Facebook posts and comments end up being about music. I share videos I like, sum up my day with links to YouTube music videos and debate with friends over whether the new Destiny's Child song is actually any good. Now I can do this in a place where people aren't likely to get annoyed by my constant music posts and for that I am eternally grateful. Anyway onwards to the music of 2013. This is by no means the be all and end all for 2013. It is purely what I think I will be listening to in 2013 and what I think you should listen to too. 

∆ (ALT-J)

Yes, they were around last year but 2013 is going to be the year for them. Coming off the back of winning the Mercury Music Prize last year. Apparently their official title of  "∆"  has something to do with a shortcut on an Apple Mac, neither owning a Mac or really caring about their name when it's pronounced Alt-J anyway that doesn't really matter, I just know that I really, really, really like their music. 

LILY ALLEN

Is 2013 going to be the year that Lily Allen returns to music? We've had all those teasers on Twitter 'in the studio' so we know something is brewing but is it just a single track for a film or are the rumours about a full album to be believed? I certainly hope she'll be back. I want more music to run around East London to on a sunny Sunday.

HAIM

Finally a girl band that will hopefully fulfill the promises of the Veronicas from a few years ago (remember them?!) Haim are 3 sisters from California but don't expect daisy dukes bikinis on top a la K Perry. These girls mean business. They play guitars, kick ass and ride motorbikes. Shove that in your pipe and smoke it Katy, these are real California Girls. 

LANA DEL REY

If you have read this blog before then you will know I love Lana Del Rey, and that love hasn't waned in 2013. There seems to be a new Del Rey song appearing on YouTube virtually every week and for that I love her. In this age of instagramming I think Lana is a musicgrammer. It is like she makes a song and then has an app on her phone (which is probably made to look like it's from the 70's) which applies a filter to her recording like 'Nashville' or just plain old 'Sutro'. If anyone has captured the whole vintage craze it's Lana. Still my favourite song of hers is National Anthem. I want more in 2013. 

ST VINCENT

I first saw St Vincent on Later With Jools Holland and she was insanely good. This video wins the award for weirdest. It's amazing though, don't get me wrong. St Vincent comes from America, you know the one. Stars And Stripes, cool president, land of the free and not so free healthcare. The video is apparently about sex objectification, I just like the music and her hair.  

That's the end of part 1. More about 2013's music soon. 

      

The Lady's A Tramp

Good morning! I have decided to share another one of those videos where I sing at you for around 3 minutes. So here it is! I'm doing my best Frank Sinatra at a benefit concert in Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

My Love Letter To Lana Del Rey

Seriously, I love this woman and I think, if you got to know her (maybe not personally but musically) you would love her too. Lana Del Rey is an odd mix of intriguing beauty. Not in the new way beauty has come to be defined, tanned, blonde and plastic but in a mystical way that makes it seem like she is constantly being viewed through an Instagram filter. It's beauty in sepia. She is Audrey Hepburn with attitude, and I'm not talking about being able to hold her own with the men. Lana has had a strange series of life developments that have led her to become the musician she is today. 

Del Rey was born the daughter of a domain investor in Lake Placid, New York. Critics have used this to suggest that her music that seems critical of American excess (National Anthem) is hypocritical. Del Rey's story however goes much deeper than the often cliched American love story with Upstate New York. At the age of 14 Del Rey was sent to boarding school in Connecticut to deal with an alcohol dependence that by anybody's standards had begun very early. She moved back to New York when she turned 18, studying metaphysics at Fordham University. 

She has talked candidly in interviews that she used this time to experience New York fully. In a recent interview with GQ Del Rey professed her love for adventure in ways that most of us would consider simply downright insane. She would walk down dark alleys with the purpose of putting herself in danger,

 and accept rides on the back of motorbikes with people she met down there. 

For me her self styling as the 'Gangster Nancy Sinatra' is perfect. Her music harks back to the age of the Kennedy's in America, when Sinatra was king and Nancy the Queen of independent America, whilst still maintaining a modern view of the country she loves. The music is, to use the perpetually boring cliche, hauntingly beautiful, choosing odd chord combinations and a blurring between rap and singing that is surprisingly new and, quite frankly a breath of fresh air. 

In my opinion Del Rey will go down as a game changer in the music industry and possibly even in modern social history. She has given everybody the right to express their distaste with things that are often percieved as the best. And by the best I mean money. As Lana Del Rey herself puts it "Money is the anthem of success, so before we go out what's your address?"

We Found Love In Trafalgar Square

Hello all.

This week we saw the end of an incredible summer for Great Britain. Me and a few friends decided that we wanted to see the summer out in style so we went to Trafalgar Square to watch the Paralympic closing ceremony on a big screen. The atmosphere was absolutely incredible with Boris Johnson, our soon to be Prime Minister I am sure, getting the loudest cheer. Everyone was singing and dancing along as if they were in the stadium and we could even see the fireworks from the river. It really was an amazing evening.

I was very pleased to see Rihanna and Coldplay perform I song I absolutely love and have sung myself, We Found Love. My friend Nicolas and I perform a bit together and We Found Love is one of our set-pieces. Below is a video of Nicolas and I, with his brother Kit performing We Found Love at my last ever school concert. Watch out for my amazing cymbal bashing!

The September Issue-Music

Music is a massive part of my life. I listen to music when I'm sad, happy, shopping, stuffing a turkey, you get the idea. I listen to music all of the time. I also have a musical memory that allows me to relate specific times of my life with songs. I could probably tell you when a song was number 1 by thinking of what I was doing at the time. I like my music to connect with what I am doing, in a weird way, so that when I am listening to music, walking along the street it fits perfectly. That's why I have specific songs I listen to when Autumn comes. Just listening to this music makes me long for crisp, Autumn days, falling leaves and my trusty coats and scarves. So here are my picks for the first September Issue post. Perfect Autumn m

Blondie's 'Heart Of Glass'

The Specials and 'Message To You Rudy'

I'm not usually a big Buble fan but I make an exception for this brilliant version of 'A Foggy Day' (especially as I am moving to London this Autumn)

Haddaway and 'What Is Love'

I am aware of what the lyrics to this song really mean but for me it is another Autumn song. The harpsichord is really warm and the words 'golden brown' well they speak for themselves regarding Autumn. 

So they are my picks for Autumn listening. There will be more from the September issue looking at art, fashion, illustration and many more. 

The September Issue

Every good publication has its flagship September issue so for the first couple of weeks of September I will be sharing my picks for Autumn/Winter 2012. Everything from music to books and art to fashion will be covered so I hope you enjoy reading about what Autumn means for me! 

The September Issue series will begin tomorrow.