"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." - Victor Hugo

I've been listening to a lot of music lately, exploring new genres and new sounds. Mind you, not that I am particularly talented or knowledgeable in music at all, I'm just a humble listener. After at least 100 hours of non-stop music on my Marley headphones(which I recommend highly, you can get them from here), I figured "Hey, let's give a weekly 5 top songs for my blog" and thusly, here I am! I'll jump right in straight away and deliver blow by blow complete with YouTube links.

1. Everything Everything - Suffragette Suffragette

I discovered Everything Everything alongside their release of 'Arc' in 2013, fitting into the pop-indie-rock scene. Their music is undoubtedly clever (aside from their apparent lack of ideas for the band and song's names maybe). Since their debut album, Man Alive, they've since truly soared to become some chart toppers, maybe not megastars but their definitely being rewarded with some fame that's well deserved. With a retro-modern fusion of music, Everything Everything tell stories in their music, and good ones at that.

2. The Vaccines - Bad Mood

This, by far, isn't one of The Vaccines best work. The song has a fairly monotonous vocal feel to it, but the guitar riffs and ferocity are enough to make you want to rip your clothes off and fling yourself into a crowd of 80's kids and go wild.

3. twenty one pilots - Truce

Twenty One Pilots, stylised as twenty|one|pilots are newcomers to the industry, with an absolutely astounding album released in 2013, Vessel was an immediate hit album, as it should be. The album has flavours of nearly a dozen genres and delicately crafts alternative music to have a whole new meaning. If you can, I suggest you listen to their entire album.

4. Panic! at the Disco - Casual Affair

If Panic! at the Disco are known for anything, it's for being completely wacky and different for every single album they release. Jumping from emo-punk rock in A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, to Folk in Pretty. Odd. and then a fusion of pop and rock for Vices & Virtues, they already have a pretty eclectic mix under their belt. Only for them to jump into an eccentric new electronic experiment in Casual Affair. It's quirky. It's surreal. It's good.

5. Phoenix - Entertainment

Phoenix are notorious heroes of indie music... if that's possible. Their music always seems to incorporate an electronic melody with some soft vocals and catchy lyrics. Phoenix have some undeniable classics, another being 1901. These guys will get you motivated and put you on a high.


As I'm notably doing 5 songs I recommend a week, I thought I'd incorporate 1 song you definitely shouldn't listen to.

5 Seconds of Summer - She Looks So Perfect

I honestly struggle to word how low music sinks when bands like this surface to popularity. Simply, they're awful musicians. They're whiny. They're overproduced and they're over-hyped. This is what is spawned when Justin Bieber and the Arctic Monkeys are popular in conjunction with each other. If you're a teenage girl looking to get off over a bunch of boys wearing make-up and sporting stupid haircuts playing awful music, this might just be your thing. Otherwise? Run. Run for the fucking hills.

Read More

Kayleigh Palmer, A Truly Tragic Loss

It was on Saturday morning that I heard of Kayleigh's death, after having been kept in the loop throughout the week from a string of her friends.

I don't quite know how to properly word what I'm about to write, I'm not usually good at being particularly emotive about things, but, I digress.

I never really knew Kayleigh, as popular as that sentence is or has become. She was in the year below me at Cleeve School and only a few weeks ago had I managed to put a face to a name.

At first, In a strange sense, I didn't know how to react or feel in response to her death, she had never spoken to me, we had just exchanged mutual smiles at a bus stop one morning or she had opened the door for me in school.

Yet, that's when it hit me. The first time I have truly been deeply, sickeningly affected by the death of someone who wasn't relatively close to me in my life.

Death is the last enemy: once we've got past that I think everything will be alright.
Alice Thomas Ellis

I will not have it said, by anyone, that Kayleigh Palmer was not anything other than absolutely lovely. Every time I ever saw her she walked with a smile on her face radiating nothing other than pure happiness, never have I seen her sad, nor upset, nor angry, nor have I ever seen her be rude or spiteful to another person. Which is a thousand times more than I can say for the rest of the teenage population.

My deepest sympathies go out to her friends, family and loved ones. She, in my mind, was one of the most pleasant and lovely people I have ever had the pleasure of being an acquaintance of.

I had intended also, on giving an unbiased and totally neutral perspective on the events of last week, alas, I shall let my writing and emotions free-flow. 

There is nothing more utterly stomach churning than the thought of her boyfriend committing such an absolute atrocity. 

I have always been content with the fact that Cheltenham is relatively sleepy little town which gets busy for one week of the year and has it's fair share of scumbags. But this? This has truly changed my perspective on what people are really capable of, I am unabashedly appalled that another human being was able to commit the act so knowingly.

It breaks my heart to know that Kayleigh, whom was only 16, has lost not only her entire life, but her child and all of the potential that came along with her. 

Once again, my deepest condolences go out to her family and friends, it is beyond a tragic loss not only for her family, but Cleeve School. I truly pray that she is in a better place than the dark world we live in.

The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so for them.

Lois McMaster Bujold

Read More