Catfish and the Bottlemen, Cardiff 29.10.15

It's Hallowe'en week in the student central of Cardiff, but for one night, it felt like the entirety of the 16-25 year old population were in the queue for indie-rock band, Catfish and The Bottlemen.

October Favourites

Hi guys and girls,

October is always one of my favourite months and I'm sad to say it's flown by. We've had some great times such as October 3rd (Mean Girls anyone?!), I've gained amazing work experience with Radio Cardiff, in which I'm referred to as a producer sometimes (Stop it! Stop it!) and of course, Hallowe'en.

I think at university it's claimed as a huge celebration and a really great time to express your creativity with some amazing costumes. More on that later.

Music

'Hotline Bling' by Drake

I'm not the hugest Drake fan but like most people in the world right now, I've hopped on the 'Hotline Bling' bandwagon. It's just too catchy! Call me sad, but through my media studies over so many years education, I love the use of the Muzak styled backing track similar to what you'd hear if you were on hold on the phone. 

Couple that with the music video that's created hundreds of memes across the internet and you've got yourself a song that's sticking around. I have to say I am a fan but I do get annoyed at myself if it's in my head for too long. 

Other than that though, I've still been listening to Don Broco's newest album as I really can't stop listening. As soon as I want to listen to something else one of their songs (currently, 'Wrong Place at the Wrong Time'), gets in my head. It's definitely worth a listen which will then multiply into a daily play.

Television

'Professor Green: Suicide and Me'

This month I started my documentary module at university, therefore for research my house and I have been watching many documentaries. We're not picky when it comes to the topic and one in particular that's stuck out is 'Professor Green's Suicide and Me', which aired at the end of this month.

It was thoroughly awakening and saddening how Stephen Manderson (a.k.a Professor Green) has lost his father and uncle to suicide. It opened my eyes up, especially the statistic that the highest reason of deaths of men under 45 is suicide, in Britain. That's shocking! It's a brilliant documentary which really shows the effect of suicide and the aftermath for families in this personal sixty minute piece. I can't comprehend what Manderson must have been going through and to make this documentary is both brave and important. I've got a new love for Stephen Manderson because of this!

'American Horror Story: Hotel'

On a completely different topic and genre, my favourite scary programme is back! American Horror Story has graced our screens in time for Hallowe'en and it's so far so good! Mu housemates and I were hesitant at first, thinking it would just end up being 'The Lady Gaga Show', but we're pleasantly surprised. I'm loving the creepy children and Gaga's character. Matt Bomer is also some amazing eye candy. But my favourite is Lily Rabe's appearance last week as Aileen Wuornos. Rabe was her! It was amazing to see her embody, sound and look so much like her. Lily Rabe has amazed me in all four roles she's played in AHS and this is a close second to my favourite role, Misty Day.

If you're worried you'd need to catch up on past series of AHS, don't be. It has an amazing concept of a house cast which stays roughly the same but the characters and storylines change completely. I thoroughly recommend and kudos to Ryan Murphy for another great series.

Events

Hallowe'en

I love Hallowe'en and this year at university we held another great house party. This year I dressed as Mrs Mia Wallace post-overdose, from Pulp Fiction. One of my new favourite films and favourite actress', I couldn't resist re-creating this bloody brilliant scene.

It was relatively easy to create, with that being everything was relatively cheap.
The wig was £7.00 from Smiffy's
 The shirt was £4.00 from Primark
The BLUNT needle was £1.88 from Amazon
The gold pointed flats were £5.00 from New Look
The black top and trousers were mine anyway.

On top of that I made the fake blood from syrup, food colouring and cornflour. It smelt amazing and didn't stain my skin at all. Thoroughly recommend that method rather than buying as I know so many people who've had reactions and struggles with shop-bought fake blood.

I had a great time dressing up as her and the party was insane, I'm not gonna lie we do throw a good party here in Cardiff.

Catfish and  the Bottlemen, Cardiff 29th October

I'm not going to say too much on the topic but last Thursday I managed to see one of my newest favourite bands, Catfish and the Bottlemen. The four lads from Llandudno, absolutely rocked the show and even with the weird light situation that the Cardiff University Students Union suffered with, they handled it politely and like showmen. Van Mccann had the decency to apologise (even though it wasn't him to blame) and came over personally to us at the barrier to apologise and chat in between.

They played the whole album including new song '7', and the whole crowd were electric! I'm so glad I attended and so worth my money. I urge people to see/ listen/ watch this band. Although they've had commercial success with the help of Grimmy on BBCR1, not everyone still know who they are and I think once you listen to them, you'll realise every single one of the songs is so catchy, and they're fantastic live.

for fans of: Arctic Monkeys, Foals, The Cribs. 

It's a short one this month but I had a whale of a time and it's so nice to be back in the swing of things with university and student life with my final year :(

What were you loving this spooky month?

Sophie 
xoxo

'The Drowning of Arthur Braxton' Review

July 31st was a huge day for one Youtuber, Luke Cutforth, who announced he was going to direct a film adaptation of Caroline Smailes' novel, 'The Drowning of Arthur Braxton'; but needed backing. As a student taking a film degree, I'm all for supporting fellow filmmakers, therefore I donated to Luke's kickstarter page for it.

But to learn more about a film I was helping to fund and why he chose this book, I decided I would have a read and see what he thought was so amazing about it. Oh my word, I'm glad I did as well.

I'm probably one of the slowest readers, to the exception of '..Arthur Braxton'. Within an hour or so I'd read the first 100 pages and was absolutely hooked.

It's a loose, modern version of Greek myths, Castor and Pollux, Medea and Jason, and Apollo and Daphne. You enter the world of a small North Welsh town in the mind of young teenage girl Laurel, taking a job to support her mother and her siblings, at old an Baths in the town called The Oracle, where people believe they can be 'healed'.

The book is split into certain characters perspectives, including Laurel, Arthur and Delphina as the main three voices we hear. Each chapter is cleverly used in different text types such as Delphina's chapters written as script text whereas Arthur's is written in colloquial speech and, like many teenage boys in Britain, nearly every other sentence has a swear word in it. (So yeah, age warning).

Years later, when we venture into Arthurs world, we realise The Oracle is on the verge of demolition, and after endless days of bullying he decides to hide out in The Oracle. Inside he meets a motley crew of characters, mystical and mesmerising.

 If you know the Greek myths it features, you'll have a loose idea of the way the story may go, but the ending especially shocked me. After finishing it I was a mix of emotions, both relief and sadness overcame me, as it mentions some serious and sensitive subjects, so I believe you probably need to be above 16 to read it.

It's a quick and easy read but I found that Delphina's chapters were dragged out and there would be pages of her almost saying the same things, which I don't blame you if you skip ahead on.

Needless to say, I fully recommend this book if you are looking for a cracking British novel that mixes quite 'normal' teenager characteristics with mystical beings and sensitive but gripping topics.

September Favourites

Hi Guys and Girls, 

September has been a busy, busy month. I've moved back to Cardiff for my final year in University (say wha?!). Yeah I'm old now. Verging on becoming an adult, in fact. So I do apologise for a lack of blogs, but I do promise I'm writing my review of 'The Drowning of Arthur Braxton', now I've finished it. I'm gutted it's over, It's definitely a book I'm going back again to read it. But yes, anyway, in the time I've taken to move back into my little house here, here's a few of my favourites from the month just gone.

p.s. Happy October 3rd, Mean Girls fans!

August Favourites

Hello Guys and Girls,

So this summer has been one long, wet, cold English Summer which meant I should have had time to blog, but alas, I haven't, sorry. But, I've decided to at least start doing favourites, if anything to realise what I've really actually loved and used, from what I really haven't. I'm going to make it quite miscellaneous with the categories because I'm not one to pigeon-hole this blog as a beauty, media, fashion or music blog. It's a bit of everything, therefore my monthly favourites will be too!

So here's a bit of what I've been loving last month!

'Not That Kind of Girl' Review

Hi girls and guys,

I wish I was many things, as do we all. One thing I wish I could be is a bookworm. I was as a child but growing up, I've really struggled to keep my head in a book, until recently. 

For Christmas last gone, one of my dear friends bought me a copy of Lena Dunham's début book, 'Not That Kind of Girl'. As a huge fan of Lena's work, i.e. 'Tiny Furniture' and of course HBO's 'Girls', I was extremely excited to get my head stuck into her book, and I was blown away with how brilliant it is.

Top Ten Highlights: Isle of Wight Festival 2015

Well hello there,

Okay, I know I have no excuses now, as you can tell from the lack of posts from January to June, university year two has taken over my life. It was amazing, incredible and can safely say I've passed. (I may blog about this in another post as yr two is mental!)

Previously in my post last year on Holi Fest, I mentioned I try and attend a festival every year. This year is really no exception. Boy we went big. My best friend and I, (also named Soph, best name eva) attended the legendary Isle of Wight Festival. Oh my word, the best and most impulsive decision we have ever made. We had an amazing time, made some great memories and saw some music legends. I don't think I can fit in one a whole blog post on the time laughs I had there so here's a top ten highlights list of memories and things I enjoyed and recommend to anyone out there! No order exactly..well number one has to stay at number one!

10. The Island itself!

We travelled to and from the island via ferry from Portsmouth. Considering I spent as much as I would spend for a week in Mallorca, at least with crossing a sea, it provided the holiday feeling. The small and somewhat remote island is absolutely picturesque and such a doddle to travel around on. Every house is stunning, and the festival was extremely easy to find, even without trusty SatNav or Siri at hand. Even for a day trip (in which I did a week later) it's easily accessible and packed with beautiful coasts and attractions to discover.

9. Blur

When Blur were announced as headliners, man I was well up for them. Who wouldn't want to miss the '90's britpop legends? Definitely not me. And okay, they've not made my highlights due to their newest album, which myself and around 40,000 other people would agree, not their greatest, their hits were still a blast.

They played classics such as: Beetlebum, Girls and Boys, The Universal (aka The British Gas Advert), Song 2 but the best and most highly anticipated was Parklife, complete with Phil Daniels! That's right, Kevin off Eastenders to all you kids born too late to recognise him. It was amazing to see 40,000 people go from standing around and talking over Damon Albarn to "cutting down on our pork pies mate and getting some exercise in!" All in all, they were definitely ones to tick off the list.

8. Pharrell Williams

So, becoming tiresome of 'Happy' had struck me right in the 'regret' camp for Pharrell's set. Regret for not being closer to the front. He brought a party! Playing songs that he'd both performed in and also produced i.e. Gwen Stefani's 'Hollaback Girl' and Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky'. He brought a load of drunken welly wearing campers on stage and one party-goer in particular wanted more. A slightly drunken and merry woman stayed for the next song dancing all over the stage, stole Pharrell's light for one song. Then when 'Happy' did come around, people weren't suddenly tired of it. Instead a chorus of 'aww's' beckoned the field when Williams led on a young boy whom was the winner of WellChild UK charity along with other little 'uns. It was adorable and so fun!

7. Hygiene

Festivals are never going to be the hub for cleanliness, we all know that. But, considering many festivals I've been to now, Isle of Wight was by far the most cleanest. Portaloo's being cleaned twice a day, staff to maintain them after every person, water points all over the fields, and staff picking litter all weekend. I must commemorate the volunteers because due to them it felt so lovely and took the edge off that rough camping feeling.

(saying that, there is nothing better than coming home to a power shower! Was in there for nearly an hour!)

6. Shisha

Myself and my best friend were well up for ticking stuff off our bucket list that weekend and a hog roast was hers, and we both also decided to try a shisha bar! Now lets not promote smoking here, but it was an experience I was well up for trying. What a fantastic little bar too. Live jams from anyone who wanted to have a go and very friendly workers! We were ushered to take our wellies off and sit on the array of cushions on the floor. I can't say it had much effect on me other than I felt chilled out and ready to face the mayhem outside the tent for the final night! We decided on a mango and peach flavour with a coca cola filter and it tasted lovely!

5. Salut

When you go to a British festival, please be prepared for torrential rain: it WILL happen. Although we were well prepared, that didn't cover it. So myself and my friends ran for cover in a quirky, small tent called The Intoxicated Tearooms. As we entered they were teaching the punters to charleston dance! After that though was a fantastic covers band called Salut, consisting of brass, bongos and a fantastic singer! Covering party classics like MJ, Stevie Wonder, they were a brilliant discovery and we basically danced our clothes dry!

4. Ella Eyre

Saturday afternoon was set to open with Jess Glynne and the campsite was echoing with everyone attempting to sing 'Hold My Hand'. Unfortunately, Glynne had an illness and was unable to perform, therefore Ella Eyre stepped in with her troops. She was fantastic! So underrated, and I knew every song. I was amazed at how many I actually knew by her and was shocked to learn she had written Sigma and Paloma Faith's song 'Everything is Changing'. For such a small person, she had such a crazy powerhouse voice and kicked the weekend off massively.

3. Paolo Nutini

This was my second time seeing Mr. Nutini, and I had a whale of a time! A slightly shorter set then last time, but he played the usual classics like 'Scream' and 'Candy' which had the crowd ready and pumping for the show closers. He too looked in awe he was sharing the stage as the legends but held his own and captivated the audience with his powerful vocals and stunning looks.

2. James Bay

James Bay was a festival must-see for me this year after his brilliant debut album, 'The Chaos and the Calm'. Crowd favourites like 'If you ever want to be in Love', and 'Hold Back the River' were incredible to be involved in and brought the hairs on my arms to an upright position. He toyed with the audience, much like Freddie Mercury, carrying off his divine look with his fedora on head and on the backdrop. Again he was in total awe of the mass of people singing his songs back at him, which was a pleasure to watch, humble artists are the best.

1. Fleetwood Mac

(photo by Andy Commins)

Words cannot describe how incredible The Mac were. I've been a fan all my life, growing up with the likes of 'Dreams' and 'The Chain' being a classic in The Hollands' household. They were a main reason to even buy my festival ticket and they didn't disappoint. They closed the whole weekend under a beautiful sunset above us and owned the stage for a crazy 2 and a half hour slot. Opening with the powerful 'The Chain' the crowd were wild! Even though I was at the front, the mass of love spread from the front probably all the way to the ferry port.

With the return of Christine McVie after 16 years of hiatus, there was a big love (pardon the FM pun) on the stage and the audience that night. She came to the front to sing 'Little Lies' and 'Say You Love Me' with Stevie at times hugging her. It was definitely music history happening in front of me.

Lindsey Buckingham went on to play 'Tusk' and 'Never Going Back Again' displaying perfectly after all these years, with  12 minute guitar solo, he's still got it! Hit after hit, they kept flying at you with mutual love received from the band and the 60,000 people in the audience.

My personal favourite was 'Gypsy' and 'Gold Dust Woman' where Nicks' performance was 10 out of 10. She told the loved story of 'Gypsy' and linked it back to the looming nostalgic moment from the weekend, The anniversary of legend Jimi Hendrix's set at IOW 45 years ago. 'GDW' was amazing though, topping it off with Nicks' own gold dusted shawl, she gracefully danced across the stage like a beautiful pixie, making the audience watch her every move.

I felt insanely privileged to be there all through the set but it meant the most when the closer 'Don't Stop' busted out with fireworks being set off in the rear of the field. Buckingham and Nicks were equally taken by surprise to them and a look of awe struck them as much as us.

I had such an incredible time at Isle of Wight and if the line up is good next year, I know exactly where I shall be heading back to for the start of summer!

Sophie

Paolo Nutini, Cardiff, 13|01|15

Paolo Nutini sprung back into the charts back in 2014 with his third album 'Caustic Love' which instantly caught my interest. His sassy and catchy song 'Scream (Funk My Life Up)' quickly made its way onto my most played songs of 2014 on Spotify.

After becoming quickly addicted to this album and rekindling my love for his past albums I didn't care what I'd have to pay, blood may it be, to see him somewhere, someway, to see him live. Back in the summer I bought a ticket for his Halloween date at Cardiff Motorpoint Arena. Unfortunately Nutini contracted bad tonsillitis and postponed his tour. I was absolutely gutted, I can't lie, but having suffered myself with chronic laryngitis for three months over the summer I was more than sympathetic to this. For a singer who has so much soul and power in his voice, I'd happily wait a long while to see him at his full potential, and that he sure delivered on his new date there on 13th January 2015.

His support consisted of Vaults, a relatively unheard band consisting of two male members playing bass, percussion of some sort, bells, and synths and a strong female vocalist with the voice similar to Rae Morris and a dress sense not too far off Florence Welch. They very much fit the rage of indie bands at the moment, from the likes of London Grammar, they produced haunting, chilled music that made you definitely listen, but not exactly warm the audience up.

She graced the stage and danced around in the musical breaks, floaty, interpretive and very Kate Bush inspired. Not too talkative but she had a brilliant powerful voice and informed us one of their songs had just been confirmed on the '50 Shades of Grey' motion picture soundtrack. If you're a fan of artists like Flo and London Grammar, Vaults, although quite difficult to find, play music in that indie, haunting genre.

Not too long after, the stage was set up, ready for brass, synths, guitars and some kind of projections. Nutini not being one really for the big production scale and dance routines, I was intrigued to see what he would do on such a large scale stage.

Opening with his interlude of 'Bus Talk', the singer and his band immediately burst onto stage and erupted with 'Scream', which, the audience too did. Forced to postpone, this gig date turned out to be the last on the tour and you could definitely see he wasn't going to leave it a dull ending. Nutini and his band smiling and loving every second performed to their full potential.

Although his voice on the album is just full of soul and rasp, I definitely think his voice is better live. He embodies the notes, which sounds odd to picture, but you can see the voice almost explode out of him from everywhere. He uses all his strength to sing the power and emotion into songs, such noticed in 'One Day' and 'Iron Sky'. Now I'm not hipster when I say this, but I was in the minority at first with not actually being that bigger fan of 'Iron Sky' on the album but live, my mind was completely changed. Goosebumps and shivers were created on almost all the audience, of its chilling lyrics.

It was nice to have a range as well from his setlist. From powerful and political songs like 'Iron Sky', to 'Looking For Something' which he introduced and dedicated to his mother. We also heard classics like 'Candy', 'Pencil Full of Lead' and a glimpse of 'New Shoes' which had the crowd going.

To end the tour with a bang he did not one, not two but three encores, including a cover to show off his two 'local lads' from the brass section from the band who were from Cardiff, by doing a cover of 'Time to Pretend' by MGMT. A few confused looks on audiences faces but it was fun, and Paolo definitely was enjoying himself. So much so he came into the audience slightly which meant I may have touched his hand and got a little excited, but hey, I've loved him since the 'Jenny Don't Be Hasty' days, I'm allowed to.

He then did a crowd classic of 'Last Request' just alone and it suddenly got a lot more intimate and emotional. Not one person didn't sing along and at times we were louder than him, astounding him with big smiles and thank you's .

All in all it was so, so, so worth the wait and the measly 35 pounds that I paid, I seriously would've paid a lot more for his beautiful , soulful voice and beautiful performance. All I can say is, bring on Isle of Wight Festival with my best friend, we're in for a treat with a festival set from Mr Nutini

Sophie