2017 Round Up - Music

It's been...a year. Like everyone, I've experienced some real ups and downs in 2017. I've done better in university than ever before, managed to blag myself an internship with a huge print newspaper, started a job that doesn't make me want to rip my own head off and had some fantastic adventures with the people I love. On the other hand, I've also had to deal with loss, death, mental health, and the never ending hell cycle of modern politics that I can never just ignore because I'm a journalist and have to know about every awful thing that's happening at any given moment LOL.

I'm sure nobody really wants to read blocks of text about what I did and didn't do this year, so I'm going to simplify 365 days worth of life into a big round ups of favourites. I'll be going through music, film, television, culture, fashion and beauty in a series of blog posts over the month. Why not focus on the positives for once? Today we're gonna talk MUSIC, which I'll be breaking down into albums and gigs. Let's go!

Favourite Albums of 2017

1.BROCKHAMPTON - SATURATION II

The members of BROCKHAMPTON are outrageously talented for their ages. All the group's releases so far have been incredible, but SATURATION II is jam-packed with catchy, expertly put together tracks. Even my wee Mum likes them. BEST TRACK - SWEET

2.Alexandra Savior - Belladonna of Sadness

Alexandra's debut singles were so promising and this album lived up to the hype. Her voice is mesmerizing, her lyrics are clever and her ability to paint pictures with words is striking. This album is beautiful and melancholic and deserves a lot more attention. BEST TRACK - SHADES

3.Kendrick Lamar - DNA

Obviously this album is on this list, it's on every yearly roundup - for good reason. I've loved Kendrick for years, and DAMN is one of his best. It's powerful and bold from start to finish, and has further emphasized his place as an icon of modern hip-hop. BEST TRACK - LOYALTY

4.Gorillaz - Humanz

26 songs long! Aside from Drake, who puts out albums of that length?! And unlike Drake's More Life, this album can actually justify being that long. The list of collaborating artists on Humanz is the most impressive of any Gorillaz record yet, and every feature is expertly utilized to show off their skills (hear that, Calvin Harris?). BEST TRACK - OUT OF BODY 

5.Mr Jukes - God First

Jack Steadman was born to make soul music. We're all sad that Bombay Bicycle Club are on hiatus but if there was any reason for them to take a break, it was so this album could be made. It's a stunning blend of jazz, soul, funk and rap. Steadman's sheer instrumental and song-writing talent is overwhelming throughout God First, and he deserves more recognition for it. BEST TRACK - SOMEBODY NEW

6.Courtney Askey - Oh! Softly Goes

Courtney and I met on Tumblr in 2011 when we were both school girls with guitars trying to make names for ourselves online. I've always been blown away by her song-writing prowess, and was so happy when her debut album finally appeared this year. Oh! Softly Goes combines a range of styles, all with Askey's signature captivating, flowing vocals. BEST TRACK - TOO LATE

7.Syd - Fin

Syd's seductive vocals are such a pleasure to experience. Fin, her debut solo album outside of her work with The Internet, shows her at her best. Some tracks are reminiscent of Aaliyah and early noughties R&B, some more influenced by modern rap, but they all work together well. Yes to queer artists singing about queer stuff! BEST TRACK - KNOW

8.SZA - Ctrl

This album is girl power personified. It's so good to hear strong women like SZA singing about how men aren't a necessity - it's like a love letter to herself, and it's honestly inspiring to listen to. The simplicity of the tracks compliment SZA's distinctive voice so beautifully. BEST TRACK - SUPERMODEL

9.Alt-J - Relaxer

Relaxer is certainly a move away from the sound of Alt-J's previous two albums. It's far more electronic, the vocals are somehow weirder than before, and it suits them. It may be short but it's definitely sweet. Thank god there are some indie guitar bands left who are willing to push outside of the genre. BEST TRACK - DEADCRUSH

10.Alaskalaska - Alaskalaska

Technically an EP and not an album, but I've listened to it so much this year it would be unfair to leave Alaskalaska's debut out. I reviewed it earlier this autumn, and I still can't get over how catchy and addictive the tracks are. I can't wait to hear a full album from this London six-piece - hopefully that can be featured on my 2018 Favourites. BEST TRACK - PATIENCE

Just to finish off the list, I want to point out that Arcade Fire's Everything Now is not featured on this list because despite them being possibly my favourite band of all time, it is a truly trash record that I don't ever want to think about again :-) 

Favourite Gigs of 2017

1. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights 15th Anniversary Tour (Alexandra Palace, London)

My first ever trip to Alexandra Palace was beautiful. It's an awe-inspiring venue, so hearing my favourite album of all time in full there made for a perfect and memorable night. I went by myself, made friends with some fun strangers and danced with them all night. Turn on the Bright Lights sounds as good now as it did upon its release, and this was the best I have ever seen Interpol perform.

2.Gorillaz - Humanz Tour (The Hydro, Glasgow)

Seeing Gorillaz live is an experience, considering the emphasis placed on the visual aspect of the band. Having live appearances from the likes of two thirds of De La Soul, the fascinating Zebra Katz and the brilliant Vince Staples made for a brilliant gig with a real party atmosphere. Damon Albarn is a master of hopping from genre to genre effortlessly and watching him on stage proves that.

3.Radiohead - TRSNMT (Glasgow Green)

A setlist full of classics, a rowdy Glasgow crowd singing every line, and Thom Yorke's, er, interesting dance moves - it's the perfect recipe for a fantastic festival experience. A lot of Glasweigans criticized TRSNMT for their choice of Friday headliner, but this was a show to remember. And my best friend came all the way from Australia just to stand in a cold Glasgow park and scream 2+2=5 with me, so I had a grand old time. 

Honourable mentions - Mr Jukes - God First Tour (St Luke's, Glasgow) + Rae Sremmurd - SremmLife 2 (02 ABC, Glasgow)

Well there you have it, there's some things that I enjoy, maybe you will enjoy them too. If you do, or you're too lazy to read it all, here's a Spotify playlist summarizing the whole thing. Next time, we'll be talking FILM and TV so keep an eye out for those. See ya! <3 

ALASKALASKA Debut EP Review

ALASKALASKA, an art-pop six piece based in London, first caught my attention back in May when Bitter Winter popped up in one of my Daily Mixes. Since then, they've been one of my 2017 favourites.

Yesterday the group finally released their highly anticipated debut EP, comprising of Bitter Winter and its B-side Familiar Ways, their second single Patience, and brand new track This. Upon listening, it's hard to believe ALASKALASKA have only been together for just shy of two years. Their sound is so distinctive and modern, a perfect blend of soulful jazzy elements and feel good indie-pop. Imagine the best parts of Mr Jukes, Sharon Van Etten and Honeyblood crammed together and made melancholic.

Starting out with the delightfully catchy Bitter Winter, lead singer Lucinda John-Duarte's vocals glide elegantly over a foot tapping beat. The song perfectly captures the essence of feeling young and not entirely sure of yourself with the tongue in cheek line: "When I grow up/It's a very big when/I'm just hanging around/Until then". Brass instruments reach a powerful crescendo towards the end of the track, ending on a euphoric care-free note.



Familiar Ways is next up and is one of the stand outs of the EP. A bittersweet track that highlights the band's ability to build a song up to an emotive high with their sheer musical talent. Introducing sax during the second chorus, Lucinda's vocals become increasingly impressive and captivating, encapsulating the feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness: "If this is called a competition/Darling you will always win/I've been waiting for the bad news/Ever since it all began." The last section of the song feels like an outburst of pent up feelings that have to be released. It's my most listened to track on Spotify this year.

The penultimate track, Patience, starts out with an almost Foals-esque riff, then brings in Lucinda's beautiful autotuned vocals. Her vocal-style is so well suited to the effect and it's reminiscent of  POLICA. It's like a waterfall or a shower just flowing over the catchy beat. Many artists fail to understand how to use autotune to their advantage, but ALASKALASKA get it absolutely spot on. It's innovative choices like these that make the band different to other guitar bands working at the moment and give me hope for British alternative music. 



This is the final song of the EP and is the lowest-tempo track the band have released yet. It's more simplistic than its predecessors but the record is better off for it. With keyboards inspired by 80s power ballads followed up with a synthy arpeggio towards the end, it's almost nostalgic and hazy. In fact, Lucinda sings of feeling stuck between dreams and reality, repeating "I feel awake when I'm inside a dream/I have to pinch myself whenever morning comes".

I have struggled to find another new British band that knows its sound as well as ALASKALASKA. This EP proves their songwriting prowess, instrumental skill and mood-provoking ability. It is hard to compare them to other existing bands because they are so unique. Lucinda's lyrical capability is awe-inspiring. A woman expressing the hazy confusion of your early-twenties is a refreshing thing in a music scene awash with the male perspective.

Listen to ALASKALASKA below and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

House of Cards Season Five Review: Spoiler Free!

Over the past year, actual real-life politics has been off-putting enough. With Brexit, Trump and an upcoming general election, the public is fed up of politicians lying their way to success. With that said however, when House of Card’s fifth season was finally launched on Netflix this weekend, you can guarantee that same public was scrambling to get their fix of dodgy government dealings with President Frank Underwood. 

Frank and Claire Underwood are potentially two of the most immoral, cruel characters that any political series has ever seen. They are deceitful, devious and cunning. They will throw anyone in front of the bus (or train – sorry Zoe) to get what they want. And yet after five seasons, we are still rooting for them. This is what makes House of Cards such an intriguing show. But does its fifth season live up to the previous installments?

The fifth season follows Frank and Claire through the 2016 election and the further struggles on the other side. We see journalists rehashing the theories surrounding Zoe Barnes and Rachel Posner as new evidence comes to light. Just about everybody on all sides of the political spectrum is against the President, and some new characters are willing to do anything to take him down. To quote Showgirls: “There's always someone younger and hungrier coming down the stairs after you.”

What makes this season so tense is not the conniving plans of Frank Underwood or the real-world subjects it tackles. It is the payoff from the excellent character development we have seen previously. For the first time, it looks as if Frank may have got himself into situations he can’t control. He can’t control his impending impeachment. He can’t control his wife. He can’t control Aidan Macallan and the secrets he may hold. He can’t control the ghosts of his past. This season, he has to fight much, much harder than he ever has before, and it’s odd to see Frank’s power slipping out of reach, while Claire’s only continues to grow. 

Ultimately the highlight of the season is Claire’s storyline. As she grows distant from Frank it becomes clearer that she is equally as self-serving as he is, and she is more than happy to jeapordise her husband’s position to help herself. This is the first season in which Claire begins to break the fourth wall as Frank has always done – it’s subtle and infrequent, but successfully shows that she is on her way to stealing Frank’s power over America, and the audience. She is exceptionally ruthless throughout the season and even surprises her husband with just how far she can go. Her relationship with Tom demonstrates her decreasing loyalty towards Frank and it’s an interesting idea to see how the couple’s individual careers will fare without the full support of one another.

I applaud House of Cards for resisting the story-bait of Donald Trump. It’s no secret that certain characters in the show are possible homages to some real-world politicians, and the show has introduced its own version of ISIS (ICO), so it would be plausible to introduce a Trump-esque role into the mix. It would have been cheap. The world of House of Cards stands too well on its own two feet.

The only flaw in this season is that some of the middle episodes start to feel a little dry, but it more than makes up for it in its thrilling final parts. The use of “ICO” is still a little on the nose too, but the story surrounding the group is well written and fresh.

Season five does a beautiful job in exploring the idea that Frank’s power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He is facing trouble at every corner and is unable to be satisfied by his own success. It shows that Claire is just as bad as him, and has only become more individualistic throughout their time together in the White House. As always, these characters truly are despicable – but we eat them up and beg for more regardless.

Get Out Breathes Life Into The Dying World of Horror

***Warning - Spoilers ahead!***

Bursting at the seams with visual metaphors, double entrendres and thought-provoking concepts, it’s no wonder Jordan Peele’s directorial debut Get Out smashed the box office. Just weeks after its U.S release, the film has secured Peele’s place in cinematic history - making him the first black debut writer/director to bring in over $100 million at the box office.

Get Out is a unique horror/social commentary film that successfully makes topical racial points while staying true to both the horror genre and Peele’s comedy roots. It follows young black photographer Chris Washington [Daniel Kaluuya] as he visits the family of his white girlfriend Rose Armitage [Allison Williams] for the first time. He is expectedly nervous about the situation, but has no idea of the real terror that is in store for him.

Throughout his stay at the elaborate countryside mansion he notices oddities surrounding him, particularly the unusual way the family’s black house staff act. Despite Rose’s father’s insistence that he and his peers are liberal – note their rehearsed spiel about wishing they could vote for Obama for a third term – he is bombarded with inappropriate racial questions. Is he stronger because he is black? Is he better endowed? Does he feel that being black is in fashion? Eventually, he discovers these questions are foreshadowing for a far more gruesome secret plan the family have for him. He later discovers that the Armitage family run a business that puts the brains of dying or ill white people into the bodies of healthy young black men and women.

The film is laden with clever and subtle references to modern racism. The secret operation of the Armitages is a comment on white society’s idolisation of black culture within mainstream media. It examines how white America often desires the physical attributes of black bodies, without truly taking an understanding of the societal issues people of colour face. Through its use of a blind character who wants to undergo the procedure while staying adamant that he is not racist like the others, Get Out shows how cultural “colour blindness” still contributes to systematic oppression. Even if you were to miss the references, the film is entertaining, offering terrifyingly tense horror sequences and perfectly timed comic relief. The modern takes on race in America are intelligent and quiet, but they are all the film needs to drive home the point.

After a spectacularly gory finale featuring death by deer antler stabbing and graphic brain surgery gone wrong, Chris comes out on top and escapes the family home. One of the finest moments in the film is when he avoids hypnotisation by removing the stuffing from a couch and putting it in his ears. That’s right – a black character survives by literally picking cotton.

Get Out manages to bring traditional horror into the modern age while offering a contemporary take on social and political issues. The film will no doubt be remembered as a telling reflection of the times we live in, as well as a tense horror masterpiece that breathes new life into the genre.

J.K Rowling's Not-So-Magical Political Commentary

What springs to mind when you think of J.K. Rowling? Her international success as an author, her contributions to modern pop culture, her millionaire status? Her political commentary…perhaps not. There’s a reason Rowling’s years in the spotlight haven’t seen her deemed the political voice of a generation – and if you take one look at her Twitter account, you’ll understand why. Rowling’s hot takes on the UK’s upcoming general election are more fantastical than her magical wizarding world.

Most are familiar with Rowling’s heart wrenching journey to success. A victim of domestic violence, she raised her daughter single-handedly while battling depression, earning just £69 a week from unemployment allowance. She wrote the Harry Potter books in coffee shops around Edinburgh to escape the freezing conditions of her flat, and ultimately caught the eye of publishers with her now-iconic tales of witches and wizards.

Having lived through such struggle, you’d expect J.K. Rowling to empathise with those currently in a similar situation. With 1,182,954 people resorting to food banks and an estimated thousands of welfare-related deaths last year, you’d imagine Rowling would be fervently anti-Conservative. As a domestic violence victim, perhaps reports that two thirds of women’s refuge centres are facing closure due to Tory cuts would lead her to campaign for Labour this time around. Apparently not. Just days after the announcement of a snap general election, Rowling took to Twitter stating: “Election 2017: what should you do if you support Labour but can'tstand Jeremy Corbyn?”

That question can be answered in two words – vote Labour. It’s that simple.

This isn’t the first-time Rowling has blasted Corbyn to her 10 million Twitter followers though. When he was first elected as party leader, she called his supporters “utterly deluded”and deemed him “unelectable”. While polls and right wing media outlets have consistently claimed that Jeremy Corbyn can’t be Prime Minister, the irony is that Rowling has outright stated multiple times that she wants a Labour government. By constantly repeating anti-Corbyn sentiments, she is feeding the Conservative campaign. It’s more illogical than a seventeen-year-old school-boy being told to lead an army against the evilest wizard in the world, and winning because he has a magical scar.

If Rowling thinks Corbyn is unelectable, she should campaign for him. With her huge social media following and never-ending media attention, she could have some genuine influence. However, she’s instead choosing to continue her Twitter campaign of hatred against a man who wants the same things she does, meanwhile helping the Conservatives secure what could be one of their biggest wins in recent history.

With mere weeks to go until the election, what exactly does Rowling think she’s going to achieve by berating the leader of the party she actually supports? Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking the UK offers anything but a two-party system. There’s no real alternative to Labour. The Liberal Democrats’ campaign is likely to be effected by leader Tim Farron’s alleged belief that homosexual relationships are sinful, not that they could ever achieve a majority anyway. Rowling tweeted a link to an article showing how to tactically vote against the Conservatives without voting for Labour, which may lead to some gains for smaller parties, but ultimately will split the left’s voting and allow a Tory majority.

For somebody who agrees with Labour’s values and policies, holding a grudge against their leader in the run up to such an important election is plain irresponsible. Maybe developing such an elaborate fantasy world for 20 years has messed with Rowling’s perception of reality. Maybe she thinks everything is as black and white as a fight between good and evil. Maybe she thinks we’re not electing MPs for Westminster, but the Ministry of Magic. I’m sorry Joanne, but Dumbledore isn’t going to fly down on a Hippogriff on election day to prevent Brexit and five more years of austerity measures.

As a child of the Harry Potter generation, I grew up loving everything J.K. Rowling stood for. When I got older, her personal story inspired me. She was a victim of harsh Tory policies for years, but despite all odds overcame it by using the power of her imagination and writing prowess. Seeing her using her platform now, to feed the right-wing narrative that Corbyn can never win, seems reckless and ugly.

The NHS, women, refugees, the disabled, the poor, the young and the elderly, will suffer further cuts and consequences under another Tory government. J.K. Rowling can claim to support those effected by austerity all she likes, but actions speak louder than words. I suppose she doesn’t have to worry too much about the effects of Tory policy anymore though. Ah, to be a millionaire.