THE JUNE PLAYLIST.

Heeeeey! Just a warning: this will just be the names of the songs and a link to YouTube. No reviews today, I'm way too far behind. Sorry, lovelies.

1/. 'Blister In The Sun' - Violent Femmes.

2/. 'Atlantic City' - Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

3/. 'The Bay' - Metronomy.

4/. 'Live Those Days Tonight' - Friendly Fires.

5/. 'Gigantic' - Pixies.

6/. 'I Feel Like Dancing' - All Time Low.

7/. 'If You Want It' - TV Girl.

8/. 'Apeman' - The Kinks.

9/. 'Real Nigga Roll Call' - Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz ft. Ice Cube.

10/. 'Summer House' - Gold Motel.

11/. 'Finding Something To Do' - Hellogoodbye.

12/. 'Pumped Up Kicks' - Foster The People.

13/. 'Pyramid' - Nightbox.

14/. 'SexyBack' - Justin Timberlake.

15/. 'Pieces Of What?' - MGMT.

16/. 'King Of The Beach' - Wavves.

17/. 'Techno Fan' - The Wombats.

18/. 'Sonic Doesn't Need A Story' - Alex Day.

19/. 'All In White' - The Vaccines.

20/. 'You're Going To Lose That Girl' - The Beatles.

There you go! It's probably even less interesting than it usually is without my banterful reviews... or something. Either way, August will be as banterful as normal; you just have to put up with a dull July Playlist and then everything will be fine and dandy again!
ByeByeByeBye!
x,.

Yet another lame apology [and news!]

Does anybody else find it slightly ironic that the last post I made was an apology for never posting and a promise that I would post more frequently? Because that was about two or three months ago (LOL at it being so long that I can't even remember!), so I suppose I have some explaining to do. Here's the thing:
Shortly after I uploaded said post, my internet became faulty, by which I mean Virgin had made some sort of incredible mistake that disconnected our phone, television and internet. That explains about a month of my whereabouts.
Once I got my internet back, it was only about a week until I was supposed to go on holiday, so I had to start work on road mixes - I made 8 discs altogether. Then I went on holiday for a fortnight or so, thus explaining another 3 weeks of my whereabouts.
After this, I guess I just got distracted/lazy. So, uh, sorry about that.
I genuinely am going to try to post on here more often, hopefully about 1-2 times a week (but honestly, you shouldn't trust that; evidently, I'm shockingly unreliable when it comes to this), though you'll have to bear in mind that I have just started my A-levels and I am doing heavily essay-based subjects, so all I ask is that you don't expect too much from me!

APOLOGY COMPLETE. Now for various news stories!

1. I have a job! At Rymans! In Windsor! WIN! Now, there are pros and cons to this (pros: I have money, retail experience, I'm working in a stationery shop, etc.; cons: I work both Saturday & Sunday every week, giving me even less time to tell my beautiful readers my pointless stories, I have no life, etc.) so, again, don't be too angry if I don't post religiously or my posts suck.
2. I have a kitten! I only got her on Thursday, so she's still getting used to the place. Her name is Bandit (because my other cat is called Smokey, so together they become Smokey and the Bandit - oh my goodness, I'm so fantastically punny it hurts sometimes) and she's about 8 weeks old. This is what she looks like:

So yeah, that's sort of it for apologies and news. I'll post a brief, reviewless June & July Playlist post in the next few days, followed by a regular August Playlist post, as I think I can manage that.
To cheer you up, I guess I can show you a couple of interesting things:

• another blog: it's called Tune Doctor and it's a music blog that literally covers all areas. It just so happens that I guest posted on Tune Doctor on Saturday... about Joy Division! You should check it out.

http://tunedr.blogspot.com/2011/09/guest-spot-13-joy-division-shes-lost.html

• another picture of Bandit: you know you want to see another.

• asdfmovie4: it's a YouTube animated comedy sketch video, the fourth of the series, and it's absolutely hilarious. Psst, want even more of a laugh? Check out the German version. When that guy shouts about 'käse', you will find it hilarious.

Byeeeeee! x,.

Hellogoodbye, 01.06.2011

HEY THURRRR!
So, I had my last proper exam today, and by 'proper', I mean revisable - the last 2 are German reading and listening. [It's not like I'm taking German next year or anything! ...oh wait.] But anyway, this means that I can start posting more often. Woohoo.
This is an extremely belated review of the Hellogoodbye concert I went to with my friend on 1st June, so if you're not a fan of Hellogoodbye... read every other word? That could be fun, if you like that kinda thing. Regardless of what you plan on doing, I'll carry on:

The excitement began at about 12.00, when I stopped revising for my R.E exam and looked for something to wear. I then waited for my friend to arrive at my house in eager anticipation, while working my way through the unsurprisingly limited Hellogoodbye discography [this includes demos, covers and live versions, cos I'm a fangirl] THREE HOURS LATER, my friend arrived and we left about 45 minutes after that.
The journey itself wasn't that interesting. We got the bus to Slough, then the train to London Paddington, then the Hammersmith & City tube line to King's Cross. I remember it being fun, but that's pretty much because all we did was sing 'My Life As A Dickhead' and have conversations that would most likely mean nothing to anybody apart from my friend and I.

I love taking pictures of people sleeping on trains - oh the lols.

I guess the journey got slightly more interesting when I discovered that I can't read maps and walked in the totally wrong direction... twice. We got there in the end though! At 6.55pm my friend and I arrived, flustered, yet still unfathomably excited, at Monto Water Rats. The doors were supposed to open at 7.00pm, but we found ourselves waiting for a further fifty minutes outside the miniscule "theatre". Needless to say, we were pretty bored, so we entertained ourselves by watching a couple in the queue, consisting of a really clingy, not very attractive, touchy-feely guy and his seemingly uninterested girlfriend. He gravitated toward her, but she seemed to be unable to look him in the eye. I found myself creating a mini soap opera in my head, consisting of the story of this couple alone. But enough about that.
When we entered the venue, we discovered just how spectacular it was. In reality, it was a pub with a stage. Not only was it adorably intimate though, it also had really quirky additions to it, like columns on either side of the stage and four half-broken chandeliers hanging limply from the ceilings - I fell in love with the destructed beauty that existed in this tiny, unnoticeable building. Possibly the best part of it, though, were the coloured stage lighting, which were clearly stolen from a wedding DJ or school disco. They really added to the £12.00 ticket atmosphere, and it was great.

Standard broken chandelier. SO AWESOME.

Before we knew it, the first support band were on stage: Gold Motel. I'd never heard of them, but I trusted Hellogoodbye's taste in music and so gave them a chance. A sweet blonde-haired girl, Greta Morgan, fronted the band and she had a beautiful voice. The melody behind her honey-toned vocals were summery and fun, which was ideal for the support to an ex-powerpop band.

Matt Minx, Gold Motel bassist

Greta & Dan of Gold Motel

After they finished performing, they went offstage and Greta stood at the Gold Motel merch desk. I had a nice little chinwag with her and got their album for a fiver - HALF PRICE WIN! I didn't take any videos of their performances, because I didn't expect to enjoy them as much as I did, so I'll just give a link from YouTube to their song 'Safe In LA'

Once everybody had refreshed themselves sufficiently and had returned to the standing area, the next band arrived on stage: The Dangerous Summer. After hearing the floating-on-air sound of Gold Motel, I was pretty shocked to discover that The Dangerous Summer were, well, sort of emo-ish. I wasn't disappointed, just surprised. The truth is, it seemed to me like their soundcheck didn't go right or something, because the vocals were completely overpowered by the guitar and drums, which kinda sucked. It was a tsunami to my ears - a drowning mess of noise. However, I felt that this was a mistake on the soundcheck's part, and not just blatant talentlessness, so I gave a couple of their songs a listen afterwards. I was right, they're pretty good. My friend liked them because the bassist looked like the YouTube celebrity WheezyWaiter [see?! It's not just me who's obsessed!] and she "wanted to give the drummer a cuddle." I couldn't judge her for that statement - he was cute and nobody can deny a good cuddle.

The Dangerous Summer [Wheezy's on the left!]

 You wanna hear this cuddly drummer's skills? Here you go! This is called 'The Permanent Rain' and is their most popular song on YouTube.

By this point, we knew what was coming next and, boy, were we excited? The suspense was killing us and we barely managed to contain it by singing along to Marvin Gaye's 'Heard It Through The Grapevine' with a couple of lanky, pretentious guys who didn't look like Hellogoodbye fans in any shape or form. I was in the middle of giving a heart-wrenching speech about how I had been "waiting for five years for this day" when Forrest Kline, Hellogoodbye's well-loved lead vocalist and songwriter, sauntered onto the stage. My jaw dropped and a whimper fell out of my mouth. Alas, they were only soundchecking, simply adding to the aforementioned suspense.

 Suddenly, he grabbed the microphone and began introducing himself, which was pretty pointless really, as the screams from the female-dominated audience made him virtually inaudible.
He said, "So, this is a new song" and the band began playing 'Finding Something To Do', to which my friend and I danced and screamed and sang very loudly and probably looked incredibly unattractive in the process [this is one of 'our songs' y'see]
This here is 'When We First Kissed':

There was a mix of songs from their latest album, 'Would It Kill You?' as well as tracks from their first album, 'Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!' and even one song from early demos and LPs, the reasonably well-known 'Dear Jamie... Sincerely Me', which you can see below:

With every song they played, I would roar, "OHMYGODILOVETHISSONG!" and begin dancing like an epileptic ape or filming with as steady a hand as I could manage in this exciting situation.

Rocking out... or something like that.

Their performances were energetic and Forrest's voice was incredibly impressive, so neither my friend nor I was disappointed. Not only were they talented musicians, but their banter between songs was the best that I had experienced at any concert I had been to. The entire band took advantage of the small venue and interacted with the audience as much as possible, talking about the rapture, telling funny stories about tranny children and even promoting You Me At Six, who had performed at Westfield Shopping Mall that day. They asked who had been to see YM@6 that day, to which one boy put up his hand. I tried to shout, "My friend was there!" but my voice had been so brutally destroyed from shrieking along to their songs that he couldn't hear my properly. When Forrest assumed that I had gone, I tried to correct him, but then he mistook my "No, my friend!" for "No, I'm a guy!" Hilarity ensued, and in the end, I became an 'older gentleman.'
This is one of the more popular Hellogoodbye songs, 'When We First Met':

Both my friend and I had an absolute ball at the concert, and were beyond pleased when Hellogoodbye returned to the stage for an encore for at least 180 solid seconds of "WE WANT MORE." And what did they perform? 'Here (In Your Arms)' of course! It was even better than I had imagined, as you could see and hear the excitement erupting throughout the crowd and spilling over the stage. The whole band were visibly enjoying the performance and made the most of the time they had left onstage, jumping and some of them even crawling around.

Overall, Hellogoodbye were an absolutely spectacular live band and I was most definitely not disappointed by the night. The venue, the support acts and the whole Hellogoodbye crew were really fun and it was a shame that I couldn't wait around at the end and meet them. I left with a Hellogoodbye poster, a Gold Motel album and a massive smile on my face. Next time Hellogoodbye are in England, I'm definitely seeing them again.


If you weren't here for the review, then I hope you enjoyed the subliminal message I placed between the lines [just kidding, but see if you can find one anyway if you really want]
Here's the picture that I'm sure you've been shaking with anticipation for a fortnight for:

See yaaaa.
x,.

THE MAY PLAYLIST.

Bonjour, mon petit choufleur!
I'll keep this bit short... you don't want to read this bit anyway really, do you?
Are we all ready? Even that kid in the corner who seems a little too fascinated with the contents of his nostrils? Okay, then. I'll begin.

1/. 'Party Hard' - Andrew W.K.
Of course I know that this song is old, but not, like, old enough to be 'vintage' or whatever. Basically, I heard it for the first time in about two years around the start of May and remembered how brilliant it is. And when I say brilliant, I mean dreadful. The beautiful thing about Andrew WK is that you don't really need to know more than one of their songs to know the tune to their whole album. It's all pretty much the same musically and rhythmically, while the singing is basically a load of hairy men shouting along. Don't let any of this put you off though! This is one of my favourite party songs, because it's got the Marmite effect. And isn't that what everybody needs at a good party?
[Oh, and I forgot to mention: "when it's time to party we will party hard"]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WccfbPQNMbg

 2/. 'Corinne' - Metronomy
See, here's the thing about me. I buy albums like 'The English Riviera' which contain some of the most beautifully tranquil music, yet still manages to incorporate electronic melodies and seaside sounds in the background, and then I decide that my favourite song is 'Corinne'. It's upbeat and really catchy, much like Metronomy's previous album, which was significantly less successful. I guess you could say I like the underdog... or that I'm a hipster. I guess that's cool too. But anyway, it really is a fantastic song that is guaranteed to make you dance wherever you are [believe me, I've tested this theory - alone in my bedroom, on the top deck of the bus, in the school library... anywhere]
[I couldn't find the album version, so have an acoustic version instead!]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_AfHabI9e4


3/. 'Boys' - The Beatles
Oh, Ringo! You and your anatomically special nose! Seriously though, I'm glad they let you sing a song on 'Please Please Me' cos it's actually good - go you! Hey, y'know sometimes when you can't sleep but don't want to disturb anybody else in the house, so you just listen to your iPod in bed, in the dark? You do? Y'know when you have those "ZOHMYGOODNESS, I HAVEN'T HEARD THIS SONG IN FOREVERZZZ! I THINK I'LL MAKE IT MY FACEBOOK STATUS AND MILK IT FOR ALL IT'S WORTH!" moments? You do? Have you ever had the two together? Because that's what happened to me last weekend with this song [except I didn't make it my Facebook status or milk it at all really. I just danced lying down, so probably looked like I was having a seizure. Damn, I'm awesome.] It ticks all the boxes for early Beatles fans: rock 'n' roll guitar, Liverpudlian harmonies and a definite head-shaking rhythm. Oh, and for the record, this is the only good Ringo song ever. You will never see my say anything nice about him ever again.
[THIS IS THE COOLEST THING I'VE SEEN IN AGES. YOU'RE SO WELCOME.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiPx_307XQU


4/. 'Firefly' - InMe
How old school am I right now? I found their greatest hits in HMV in Westfield last month and remembered how much I love this song. Honestly, I only know three of the songs from that album, so maybe a greatest hits was a little unnecessary, but this has been one of my favourite "i must be eeeemo" songs for years. Just an advance warning though: he's got a bit of a weird voice, like a cat with a cold or something. It doesn't stop this song from being wonderful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKBsU8hZfG4


5/. 'Darling Buds Of May' - Brother
Yeah, I saw Brother at the West Wing in May and had quite a moment when they played this song. I didn't realise how much I liked this song until I was standing at the front fist-pumping like one of those really enthusiastic German techno fans, chanting, "BECAUSE HER BIRTHDAY'S IN MAAAAAAAAAY! IN MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" And yes, I'm aware that it's a little Oasis-esque, but whatever, that's irrelevant. Psch.
Also, my friend's birthday is in May, so I put this on her birthday CD [how clever am I?]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXQOfXkLY_s


6/. 'Ready To Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind)' - Panic! At The Disco
I didn't really take that huge a liking to Panic! At The Disco's new album tbh - it just didn't grab me like I hoped it would - but when I heard this song on TV, I realised that it's a pretty good follow-up release to 'The Ballad of Mona Lisa'. It's got a lot of "oh"-ing and, well, Brendon Urie in it. Do you really need anything else? Fine, well, there's a nice catchy chorus and... it's got Brendon Urie in it [seriously, how is that not tipping the scales for you?!]


7/. 'Get In Line' - I'm From Barcelona
What's the best thing in the world ever? Song with video game-esque melodies and incredibly chanty lyrics? Then prepare to be really pleased! The simplicity of this song is great, and the strangely optimistic music makes me want to smile for days on end and tell strangers that everything will be okay. [everything'll be okay btw. Did I mention that?]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j3rNVxBlsU

8/. 'Plaything' - Wild Beasts
You don't understood how long I've waited to review this song. This has definitely been my song of the month, along with the rest of the album. It's odd how beautiful a song about casual sex can be, but it seems to be Wild Beasts' forte. The song opens with Hayden operatically purring, "New squeeze, take off your chemise and I'll do as I please." It's possibly my favourite line in the whole song, as it just tells you exactly what the song is about in such a poetic way. The best thing about this line, though, is that he seems to get a little too, uh, excited and makes something of a squeal in the middle of the sentence. If you haven't heard anything else by Wild Beasts [then why are you here? lol jk, i'm educating you, innit?] then I would advise you listen to their previous album 'Two Dancers' before diving into this song. If you know Wild Beasts already, then by all means give this song a go. It's extraordinary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnInP4bEKaU

9/. 'Sittin' On My Sofa' - The Kinks
It's my Kinks song of the month! I didn't really intend to create this pattern, but I guess I really like The Kinks. What do I love about this song? It's just such a typical sixties song. It's repetitive, catchy and has one of those really sixties melodies. You'll understand when you hear it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBAzX3x0lAU

10/. 'Planetary (Go!)' - My Chemical Romance
I didn't particularly like this song when it was first released but once I'd heard it a few times I realised that it's actually really good. It's completely different to anything else that My Chemical Romance have done, since it's pretty focused on the electronics, but still has the expected catchy chorus and Gerard Way's incredibly familiar voice. I reckon this'll be one of My Chemical Romance's festival anthems [because they don't have enough already.], and I'm super excited to hear them play it at Reading.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvfNmXbVHi4


11/. 'It's Not Something' - TV Girl
There are no words to describe how much I adore this song. It reminds me a little of 'Jake Ryan' by Summer Camp in the definitely-going-on-my-summer-playlist way. It's really catchy and this guy's voice is so easy to listen to. As I'm a teenage girl, it's pretty obvious that I'd like free things, so I subscribe to loads of different free new music websites. Often they just send loads of dodgy rap music that is understandably unpopular, so it's a real treat to find stuff like this. The song's basically about a guy who uses a girl for... well, y'know, I guess you could call them one-sided friends with benefits, hence the chorus being "It's not nothing, but it's not something. Yeah, we had some fun but it's not something. No, it never was." A little harsh, but a really good song. The melody is like an old 1920s piece of music with a danceable little beat on it. Seriously, such a good song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3s46RBz7tE

 12/. 'Aberdeen' - Cage The Elephant
This song is a prime example of a billion wrongs making a right. The clashing cymbals and screechy electric guitar compliment the out of tune harmonies and shrieky "ABERDEEEEEEEEEN" in such an odd way, that it actually sounds really good. It's a legit pop-rock song, y'know? That's kinda what Cage The Elephant do now, and I'm definitely not complaining.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Y9BNgwk4o

13/. 'She Falls Asleep Pt. 2' - McFly
Wanna hear an embarrassing story? [stupid question - everyone loves to laugh at other people's humiliation!] Well, when I was about 9 years old, my friend and I used to be obsessed with McFly [used to be! I make myself chuckle] and we used to spend our break times singing McFly songs. If I remember rightly, they were referred to as 'McFly Karaoke Lunches' and I genuinely don't regret doing it - it was so much fun. Anyway, this was one of the personal favourites, but for a different reason. Neither I nor my friend liked this song particularly [the fact that Tom sings it makes it a little better tbh] cos it's slow and very instrumental, and two nine-year-old girls are obviously going to prefer something a little more light-hearted, so instead of singing it normally, we would sing it in Tom's voice but really fast and high-pitched. I remembered this last week and had to listen to it again. I literaloled so hard I nearly got a six-pack. I miss McFly Karaoke Lunches D:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI_Lx7v3-ag&feature=related

14/. 'I Want You' - Summer Camp
This song isn't very similar to 'Jake Ryan' at all. It's very creepy and much more synth-oriented. The basic gist of the song is that this girl is obsessed with a guy in an unhealthy, somewhat violent way. Need proof? "If I could I'd kiss your lips so hard, your entire face would bruise. Write your name in blood on every wall, it would make the evening news. I'd chain our feet together, so that you could never leave. I'd make you love me so much, you'd have to ask permission to breathe." And people think my Paul McCartney thing's weird.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW2XgdjIFOE

15/. 'The Universal' - Blur
I love discovering random little facts by myself - it makes me feel proper intelligent for about a week, but nobody ever understands why it matters so much to me. I had one of those situations with the video to this song. When I was younger, I remember being really confused and a little scared of the video, cos none of it made sense; but when I watched the video last week, I discovered that it's pretty much just 'Clockwork Orange'. You've got Damon Albarn as the wonderful Alex, doing his creepy smiles at completely irrelevant points in the video [leave the acting to McDowell, maybe?] and the woman singing with all those people like in the book! I was so pleased with myself for working it out, and then when I told my mom about it she was like "so...?" I like to think you understand my excitement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrbxWOMpwfs

16/. 'Skinny Love' - Bon Iver
This is just a point prover - this version is better than that annoying Birdy woman. Why is your voice so high-pitched?! And why do people prefer you to Bon Iver?! Psch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrMmr1oMPGA

17/. 'Happy' - Best Coast
There's not much to this song apart from the word 'happy' really. But it doesn't fail to make me happy, so I really like it. Like, even listening to it now I wanna dance around my room with my cat in true Bethany Cosentino fashion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYnmfIq-0Oc

18/. 'Come On Eileen' - Dexy's Midnight Runners
This reminds me of sitting in one of the music rooms in my school after being kicked out of the library for being too loud with a bunch of my friends during the day of the Spanish exam. I don't even do Spanish - I only came into school to give my friend her birthday present [it was a Stephen Fry book, cos I'm a great friend] So when we were all just waiting around, we put this on and just started singing. It was one of those moments I was really happy to be a part of because it was so insignificant but reminded me of how awesome that friend is, y'know? Also, this song has the hook "tooralooratooralooralaaaaaaaaah!" which is pretty cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc-P8oDuS0Q

19/. 'When We First Met' - Hellogoodbye
So many of these songs remind me of my friend whose birthday was this month, and I'm so impressed with myself for not naming her yet [y'know, I don't wanna embarrass anybody or anything] I made her a video for her birthday and this was one of the songs on it, and I also got her a ticket to see Hellogoodbye, so this is kinda one of our songs. You'll hear about the Hellogoodbye gig sometime in the next fortnight... all you need to know for now is that it was awesome. This song is so beautiful and is the up there amongst the greatest happy montage music of all time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHEx9ofx7Qk

20/. 'You've Got A Friend In Me (Spanish Vers.)' - Randy Newman
And we're closing with another song that I like because of my friend. She loves Toy Story and had this as her ringtone for a while, so when I put it on her birthday video she was super pleased. It's also really cool and reminds me of the bit in Toy Story 3 where Senor Lightyear's dancing, making that film my second favourite Disney film after Hercules [COS HE'S BUFF]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu8GQQctTi4



That's all, folks!
Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye BYE. Here's your picture!:

x,.

Oh, Amazon!

Okay, so I know I said I wouldn't post again until the May Playlist, but I felt this needed to be said. Plus, I've done four hours of revision today, so I feel like I have time to do this.
I was just checking through my emails and discovered I had an email from amazon.co.uk, giving me recommendations of albums I should buy. I buy albums from there fairly frequently, so their recommendations are usually very accurate... and I guess you could say this was no change.
"Amazon.co.uk has new recommendations for you based on items you purchased or told us you own.
'Greatest Hits - Chapter One' - Backstreet Boys.
'Best of Blue' - Blue.
'Greatest Hits' - A1.
'The Collection' - *NSYNC.
'Invincible' - Five.
'Five' - Five.
'The Greatest Hits & A Little Bit More...' - 911.
'Gold - Greatest Hits' - Steps.
ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS? This was meant to be a guilty pleasure! Can a girl no longer keep secrets without them being mocked by the internet?! Y'know what the worst thing is, though? I've already purchased four of these albums in the past [in my defence, only one of them was for me...]
God, I'm an embarrassment.

While we're here, I suppose I'll show you two of my latest obsessions [because I can't just like something, I have to be given a restraining order!]:

• 'Whenever, Wherever' - Shakira, simply because of the line 'lucky that my breasts are small and humble, so you don't confuse them with mountains'. My mom suggested that that may have been a mistake when translating from Colombian, but I sincerely hope that she meant what she sang [be proud of what God gave ya, sisterrrrrr! MMMMMMMMMMMHMM!.... or something]
• ' Music With 1000 Pairs Of Jeans' - songstowearpantsto is one of the coolest videos I've seen in a super long time. Not only is it clever and fun, it's also a legit song. Like, I'll put it on my iPod [though who am I to talk? I have the Mortal Kombat theme song...] Anyway, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgHKH5UwGK8

So, uh, yeah. That's me for today.
Here's a beautiful picture I drew:

BaiBaiiiiiii!
x,.

I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY

No prizes for guessing what this post is about!
I'm sorry for:

• never posting on here, like, ever.
• going back on my promise to post often.
• knowing all the words to possibly every *NSYNC song [I'm listening to them right now though, so don't expect me to change or anything. Srsly tho, who do you think I am? Some kind of decent music fan? LOL, you fools]

Yeah, basically, I never post on here and it sucks for the people who scour Facebook for new bloggers with little to say. I've started about 3 different posts in the past fortnight, but never bothered to finish them because I was either "too tired" or "too busy" [both of which actually mean "too lazy"] So here I am, making a post about nothing at the last minute because I'm unreliable and useless. Sorry again!
The main reason I haven't been posting is because it's GCSE time - YES, EXAMS! I've only had three exams so far, but I should really be revising. To be fair, I am, just not for the right exams and not at the right times. Never mind, it's not like you need 6 A*s at GCSE to get into Oxford or Cambridge two years later... oh wait, you do. Goodbye, pretentious "sexy-nerds" who think they're brilliant because they're intelligent as well as capable of shaving without scarring themselves [see Matthew Chan, Magdalen's team captain on the 2010-11 series of University Challenge. Oh, how I loathe thee] As you can see, I'm not that bothered that a terribly poncy higher education is slipping through my fingers already. It's cool.
Anywho, in case you were interested, here's what I've been up to:

• saw pretend-local band Brother at Slough West Wing Centre [that place isn't even a proper venue and it wasn't full... awkward] I was gonna post about that, but it wasn't really that interesting. All you need to know is that they have one really good song 'Darling Buds of May' and a reeeeeeally fit drummer. Like, really, I didn't know you could get guys that hot in Slough.
• went to Macclesfield for the annual May Day Parade celebrations at The Canvas Lounge. It used to be super amazing and I'd meet incredible people, but now it's reminiscent of The Only Way Is Essex. Needless to say, it wasn't my favourite trip of all time.
• bought my prom dress... no, I'm being serious. I know it doesn't interest me at all, but it had to be done. It's cool though, I was rewarded with Wild Beasts' new album, 'Smother'. Oh my God, I think it's another Vaccines moment, except for completely different reasons.
• got a gnome... there's nothing more to that point, I just really like my gnome and need to name it. A little help?

So yeah, that's me since about a fortnight ago. I hope you like me, cos I'm on special offer at Sainsbury's right now. [LOL, just re-read that and sound like a prostitute. I didn't mean that... or did I? No, srsly, I didn't]
HERE'S A FANTASTIC [and incredibly accurate] PICTURE OF A CAT BEAR THAT I DREW ON MY BLACKBOARD:

I probably won't write again until I post my May Playlist, and then it won't be for another fortnight. I'm really sorry, but hey, at least I'm warning you this time!
KTHXBAIGUYZZZZZZZ.
x,.

THE APRIL PLAYLIST.

I was planning on posting on the Royal Wedding and a bunch of other stuff that has currently escaped me, but I've been pretty busy, so I guess it'll just have to wait until after the hugely anticipated [LOL JK] playlist post. Let's get going, then!

1/. 'Volare' - Dean Martin.
Y'know when a song comes up on shuffle that you would usually skip, but you can't be bothered, and then you're really glad you didn't because you forgot how much you loved that song? Well, that's kind of what happened here. Basically, both of my parents are pretty big Rat Pack fans, so I put Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin's Greatest Hits albums on my iPod about 3/4 months ago. Needless to say, I didn't really listen to them at all. But one day I was walking into school and 'Volare' comes on, and I'm just thinking, "WHY did I skip this before?" And now I love Dean Martin - hooray for him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgeI0NeOjhI

2/. 'Rearrange (Skreamix)' - Miles Kane.
This is a weird one for me to like really, because a) it's a remix and b) it's a remix by acceptable dubstepper Skream [I like what you did there btw, Skream. Skreamix? Genius.] The truth is, I heard this version before I heard the original. I never expected to like it - I downloaded it because it was free - but once I'd heard it a few times, I began to really like it. It's not "proper dubstep", nor is it really dubstep at all [no filthy drop or any of that - sorry to disappoint!] Personally, I like the fact that it's only vaguely dubsteppy, plus Miles Kane's voice sounds amazing with the electronics. Subsequently, I heard the original and really liked that too, but in a completely different way - everything about it, even the video, is reminiscent of 60s mod culture. Feel free to make your decision on which version is better; I've stuck links for both below.
original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SV422fSYE4
skreamix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhShcq7ECVM

3/. 'A Certain Shade Of Green (Acoustic)' - Incubus.
I love an acoustic guitar and beautiful voice, and that's exactly what this song is about. If you don't know Incubus, they're an alt. rock band that have been around since 1991, and are still going now. This acoustic rendition of the song, however, is from their 2009 greatest hits album. There are loads of Incubus songs I absolutely adore, including the original, heavier, shoutier version of 'A Certain Shade Of Green', but this is up there in my top 3 Incubus songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPZqRktTSNI

4/. 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue' - The Ramones.
Right, so here's a funny story. I was in an R.E lesson [absolutely banterific... just sayin'] and my teacher was asking us to work in groups, revising different passages from Mark's Gospel. We were given the fantastic 'Caesarea Phillippi' to focus on - y'know, the "GET BEHIND ME, SATAN!" one - which basically consisted of me reading it aloud once, while the other three didn't really listen, followed by simply doing whatever we wanted, providing we stayed in the confines of our corner. For me and my friend, this was fantastic, as it allowed us to sing along to shockingly random music without being told off. When we were asked to feedback about the passage, I began by reading it to the class. However, I forgot to take my headphone out so as I get about halfway through, already managing to ignore the distracting pokes and sniggers from around me, this song comes on. As expected, I burst out laughing, though still ploughing through the passage, and when I finished I looked at my friend to see her shouting, "Now I wanna sniff some glue! Now I wanna have sum'n to do!" Okay, not funny? Maybe you had to be there...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwJnnf1Ogcw

5/. 'Jake Ryan' - Summer Camp.
There's always one song on every monthly mixtape that I become obsessed with and listen to for months on end. In April, it was this song. I love how creepy, yet relatable, the lyrics are: "You say you'll never leave, but, God, I hope you do. Come back in the middle of the night, no calls or texts from you. And that's called heartache, and that's what I want." The music's really tranquil and beautiful, which makes the song sound so much more optimistic than it really is. Definitely one of my songs of the summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpdzdH-ppvk

6/. 'Ladder Song' - Bright Eyes.
I'm aware that there will always be people who come up to me and say "Do you remember when you were an emo? You were so pathetic! Pahahaha!" or something, followed by, "But that's okay, 'cos you're not like that anymore! Bwahahahaha!" Obviously, I'll kinda laugh along and look down, all embarrassed, but the fact of the matter is, I'm still that girl sometimes. Despite Bright Eyes being branded an emo band, very few of their songs are actually emo. I find the haunting piano compliments the hopeless tone of Conor Oberst's husky voice perfectly to remind me of those days where I'd be proud of my studded belt and idolise Hayley Williams. I don't even care - this song's beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBVWQekc_Rw

7/. 'Norgaard' - The Vaccines.
Let us take a moment to fully appreciate The Vaccines... HOLY MOTHER OF PAUL MCCARTNEY, I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH. IT'S SO UPBEAT AND CATCHY. IT'S SO SHORT THAT IF YOU BLINK, YOU'LL MISS IT... AND I LOVE THAT. GOD, IT'S JUST SUCH A PERFECT SONG. "She's only seventeen, so she's probably not readaaaaay! A-M-A-N-D-A Norgaard, saw you on a cover on Cross Bay Boulevard!" Moment over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blxusFwdgbs

8/. 'Georgia' - Alex Day.
There's a pretty obvious reason why this song is on here: I met Alex Day in April <333333333 [Apologies for the use of <3... it seemed fitting, seeing as I'm a massive fangirl] Either way, I love this song, particularly because he wrote this song about somebody he'd never even met before. Georgia, you're a very, very lucky girl, that's all I'm saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTsLkhEOSig

9/. 'Friends' - Adam & The Ants.
If there's one thing I love, it's a comedy pop song that references people I recognise. In this song, it's that person who never shuts up about the fact that they know somebody whose cousin's grandmother's sister-in-law sometimes sees Tinie Tempah at the local pub... or something similar. The line "I'm a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. And if I come here tonight, can I get in free?" reminds me of those tools you see in Windsor, y'know? Also, Adam Ant does strange impressions of the people he mentions when he says they're names, which is hilarious. My favourite? "I'm a friend of... BRYAN FERRAAAAY!" lolinmypants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgYD_uCUbcc

10/. 'Guess I'm A Fool' - Hugh Laurie.
Yes, Dr. House does music. And it's bloody great. I loved him from Fry & Laurie, so I really wanted him to be good. Maybe I'm being biased, but I just think his voice works perfectly with his jazzy/bluesy music. You should absolutely give it a listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjVytrNO5Tk

11/. 'Unprofessional Wrestling' - Art Brut.
This is another song that I'll love for ages, I know it. I first heard of Art Brut in an episode of Skins, when their song 'Good Weekend' was playing in the background. I did a bit of googling, found it pretty quickly and it wasn't long before I was obsessed with it. I didn't really bother to listen to their other songs, but when I discovered they had a new song, I had to listen to it immediately. Both of these songs are about sex. 'Good Weekend' seems to be from the perspective of a teenage boy with raging hormones, as you can see in the line "I've seen her naked... TWICE!", but in 'Unprofessional Wrestling' it appears as though this boy has become rather more experienced, and is now comparing his mating ritual with his ladyfriend to wrestling. My favourite line? "I can wear a leotard if that's your thing, we're unprofessional wrestling!" Brilliant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkcgQ_FtNSE

12/. 'Internet Love Song' - Tom Milsom.
I never bothered listening to Tom Milsom until I heard a cover of this song by another YouTuber, called ConstellationLCD [check him out, he's awesomely nerdy and totally under-rated.] I felt it was wrong to not listen to the original after hearing such a beautiful cover, and discovered that it was actually pretty similar. I proceeded to download 6 Tom Milsom albums, though most of them are pretty strange, and then when I met him, I ended up telling him about how I'd put this on a mixtape for one of my friends. However, this was after I'd insulted him, so he wasn't really having it. Either way, this song is so adorable and tells the story of a cyber-relationship that seems a little one-sided.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmhSEExbmJw

13/. 'The Look' - Metronomy.
Hey, look! Metronomy are still awesome. I got their new album, 'The English Riviera', from Rough Trade East on Record Store Day and it's really good. 'The Look' is their latest single release, and has a tranquility about it, though it would be difficult for a paralysed man not to tap his toes to the beat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFrNsSnk8GM

14/. 'Fashion' - David Bowie.
It's a shame I've never been a Bowie fan, but so be it. I tried so hard to like him, but it just wasn't happening. Not until I came across this gem! It's just such a great party song, it's unbelievable. I think the best thing about it is the fact that as soon as you hear the music, you know it's from the 80s. It's as though 80s music has a trademark or something, but I can't put my finger on it. I'm still not a Bowie fan, not by any stretch of the imagination, but at least now I like one song. That's where it starts, dunnit?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA27aQZCQMk

15/. 'Mr Understanding' - Pete & The Pirates.
Again, a chance to reminisce about Record Store Day. This is probably the most famous song, and I still love it. I was impressed with myself for still knowing all the words, and so were they by the looks of it! Not only are they a great indie band, but they're also really lovely guys and disgustingly talented. [Anyone who reads NME, they're in the On The Road section this week! WIN!] This song's so catchy - it even has claps and an abundance of 'do's in it! I know you can't resist claps and 'do's, so just give it a go!
I tried to upload a video I took from their performance at Rough Trade West, but it didn'tt upload D: I guess this'll have to do. SORREH! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14_U78314T8

16/. 'Till There Was You' - The Beatles.
It's a beautiful Paul McCartney love song. Need I say more?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUjFpdxFWHU

17/. 'In Arms' - David's Lyre.
There's something fascinating about this song. It begins in a very typical strings-and-fantastic-male-vocals-from-a-guy-who-probably-comes-from-the-countryside way that you expect from 21st century British folk music but then the piano and drums begin to warp slightly and it becomes ever so slightly electronic. I don't know whose idea it was to do that, but kudos to them, because it adds originality to the song and I simply can't help but adore it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQtzatoiY5g

18/. 'The Balcony' - The Rumour Said Fire.
This song is just so lovely - the harmonicas and the spectacular harmonies; the cutesy, yet completely nonsensical lyrics ("so your mouth tastes like sunshine, baby") - it's just such a perfect summer song. It's pretty much guaranteed to cheer anybody up and I'd definitely dance in a forest to this. [There's a story behind that, but it's not very interesting. It's a good thing though!]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZVPLlXcV6A

19/. 'I Saw The Dead' - Villagers.
I performed my devised piece of Drama last Thursday; it was possibly one of the most horrible experiences of my life. I think I was shaking more on stage that night than when I met Alex Day, and that's certainly saying something! Anyway, this song was used in one of the stylised physicalisations we used in our performance, and I felt it had to be on this mixtape. It's such a creepy song, but I love that about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eCykKwW4XQ

20/. 'Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want' - The Smiths.
I'm aware that it's not always possible to make happy music, but seriously? As much as I love The Smiths, this song's a bit of a joke to me. I like it, but in that "Oh, God, my life is so horrendous I think I might just hang myself from my curtains! LOL JK, I'm not that much of an attention seeker." way. Morrissey needs to stop complaining and give me music that's perfect for "good times, for a change" [See what I did thur? Smiths puns FTW!] Listen to it because it's The Smiths, but it might make you vomit - just a warning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMQbzLrvwlE

I hope you enjoyed this month's mixtape, and I'll leave you with a great story and an even greater picture:
Today I was playing rounders in P.E and got hit in the face with the ball. What was the best bit? I hit the ball after it bounced off my face. DAMN, I'M AWESOME.

Byeeee! x,.