My first year of college is almost over! It's been a year of complaining and rushing the day before deadlines (embroidery at 1am, anyone?) but overall I can safely say I think I've overcome my somewhat irrational fear of sewing machines. Remember that episode of That's So Raven where Raven needs to return a top but rips it and has to quickly repair it and sews herself to the machine? I'm pretty sure watching that episode incessantly is what started it. I still don't really like sewing, and I probably never will. 
For my final major project I looked at contemporary architecture, in particularly skyscrapers. 30 St Mary Axe (also known as The Gherkin) in London and Germany's Westhafen Tower really caught my eye, and I created my piece based on the geometric shapes, as well as window tints and reflection. For once I'm pretty happy with how it looks!! Me being me went for a fabric that looked amazing but was impractical to say the least (You can't iron it, wash it or apply too much pressure. Oh well) and trust me if sequinned fabric didn't break the bank sequins would have been much more involved than they were:

Initial Design

Final Design

Final Garment!! (You know every project I'm like "wow I am not doing any beading again" and what do I end up doing on the next project? BEADING)

Record Store Day 2014

After havin' a blast at Record Store Day 2013, (a day that included some real nice weather and some nice finds) I was pretty eager for Record Store Day 2014. So eager that I booked the day off work 4 months in advance. I didn't even book my birthday off, to put that into perspective. ANYWAY here are some photos I took and some tales of the day:

HUGE QUEUE! Much longer than the same time last year

Bit of shoe admiration to kill some time (on a side note I'm really not a fan of the super long laces on Converse)

ROUGH TRADE IS IN SIGHT (within 20 seconds of taking this I fell over)

I KNOW WE'VE COME SO FAR BUT WE'VE GOT SO FAR TO GO*

Toy!! Soundchecking Left Myself Behind which is one of my favourites

Photobooth #banter

Compulsory Pizza Hut Meal. We were at the same table we sat at after we saw Drowners which made us a bit #EMOTIONAL

I had no idea this was on Berwick Street that's pretty cool

Despite walking around clutching Parquet Courts' Sunbathing Animal for like an hour I ended up not buying it. Instead I got a non RSD release, "Y.O.U / I Come Undone" by Violet. I'd never heard it but for £2 can you really go wrong? Reaaaally? Not really. It was quite good actually.

BRING ON RSD 2015 WOOOOOOP

*I'm sorry for the inevitable Hairspray reference. But then again, I'm not really.

Addressing the real questions, obviously. I had just caught up with two month's worth of unread magazines (disgraceful, I know) and after seeing a Vogue editorial full of sequins and in particular the Saint Laurent piece with the red sequinned lips it occurred to me that no form of embellishment interests me more than sequins. 

Better LEFT Invisible

Today I waltzed into WH Smith (and not to weep over / sneakily read the magazines either) with the intentions of purchasing a new pair of scissors. I take cutting things out very seriously. I bought a blue and white striped pair incase anyone was wondering. 
Upon glancing at the selection of scissors before me, I was somewhat mortified and outraged to see a left handed pair of Maped scissors priced a lot higher than the identical right handed pair. Like, literally furious. The funny (it's not really funny it's really sad) thing is, I don't even use left handed scissors. Yes, I am left handed, but you remember those wooden blocks with the scissors in from primary school? Well the yellow and green pairs were rarer than a Mcdonald's instant win on Monopoly (probably not THAT rare to most people but I never get them, sad right) and so out of necessity I taught myself how to use right handed scissors instead. At the time lefty scissors were a rare sighting in shops too, so I ended up using right handed ones both at home and at school. All in all this means that I can't actually use left handed scissors at all. But this won't stop me from getting riled over an overpriced pair of lefty scissors. At the end of the day it's not just scissors is it? It's everything.
So what if only 11% of people will use these scissors. So what if it's a niche market. Is that my problem?? Did I miss the part where left handed people automatically have more money than right handed people?? What I don't get is that these scissors were literally identical, just with the blade flipped over. Yet they were priced for so much more than the right handed ones. In what world is it fair to charge one person more than another for the same thing? Ah yes as the lefty, the more creative person, I will just use my creative powers to cut this piece of paper with my mind. I already have to suffer with ink down the side of my hand when I write and the trauma of being shoved on the end of a desk in the corner during handwriting classes in primary school so I wouldn't bump elbows with other people, now people are trying to make money out of me because I am part of a minority. #:(
This annoyed me so much that I even started writing an email to WH Smith customer service, I would have written it by hand but like, that ink on the side of the hand thing. (I got a bit too angry and saved it to my drafts and wrote this instead) like, nothing annoys me more than left handers inequality. Except maybe hangers that don't turn at the top and people who try to make money from the shipping on ASOS Marketplace. Okay the hanger one maybe not as much as the lefty thing. Why does like no one take me seriously when I talk about #leftyproblems? People seem to think I'm joking but it's a genuine issue. They also think I'm joking when I say I still love S Club 7 but I'm 100% serious about that too.
Shoutout to my lefty homies:

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SKY*

Every now and then I realise I have the beginnings of like, 48 blog posts saved in my drafts that are no longer relevant and I end up deleting them. Today is one of those days, but I do have a couple of posts -in the works- to post soon. I was gonna post them today but like this is way more important

I don't like flies. The pesky lil' buggers sit on my laptop screen and often find themselves victim of a smack from the plug part of my Apple charger. But I do like this fly. I mean The Fly, the free music publication that's nearly as old as me. I was absolutely gutted to hear that the magazine will cease publication today. Even though it was known that their circulation dropped significantly thanks to the HMV closures last year, this news still came as a shock after the recent success of the first Fly Awards last month.

I first stumbled upon The Fly in early 2011 perched on the desk in a charity shop. I was immediately drawn in by the word "free" emblazoned on the front, and picked up a copy. Upon my first flick through its pages it dawned on me that I had just discovered a real game changer in the world of magazines. Everything about it seemed to be spot on; humorous and witty but not overly opinionated writing, interesting layouts, typography and photography, and coverage of some really great artists. Even after a massive re-brand in 2013 the magazine was still really good (unlike NME for instance which kind of went a bit downhill after re-branding like the pages are overwhelmingly cluttered for a start) and with a sleek, minimal design, striking, enticing covers teamed with that different paper they used it being a free publication was almost too good to be true.

For a college project I got to look into a variety of different publications and when researching The Fly I found out it was actually originally a listings guide for Camden's Barfly hence the name The Fly!! It didn't click for ages that that's where the name came from but that's not the point here the point is this is a prime example of how a tiny lil' listings guide can turn into one of the UK's most popular free publications. The interesting thing to me is that it's all about passion not profit. Like, there are people out there so passionate and dedicated that they would spend time putting together a magazine just so people like me can read about great music. That's so cool

As a music fan and a great lover of magazines, I'd like to thank The Fly for being my favourite music magazine and providing me with a load of great content and not even wanting my money for it. xo

(* I'm so sorry for that title it was supposed to be funny but I don't think it actually is)

Fifteen songs to make you want to punch yourself in the face

Songs that are so good you wanna rip your hair out: a playlist
You know when a song makes you angry for no reason other than because it's so good? Those pieces of audio that compel you to slam your head into your desk. Yes, those. Here are fifteen of them.

1. Arctic Monkeys - The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala
2. Temples - Colours To Life
3. The Vaccines - All In White
4. Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
5. Foals - Inhaler
6. Blood Orange - Bad Girls
7. Melody's Echo Chamber - I Follow You
8. Tame Impala - Mind Mischief
9. The Horrors - Oceans Burning
10. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - So Good At Being In Trouble
11. The Drums - Forever And Ever Amen
12. DIIV - Wait
13. Palma Violets - Best Of Friends
14. The Killers - Mr Brightside
15. Spector - Upset Boulevard

Listen on 8Tracks

(Illustration by Thuong Le)

Really good long songs perfect for people who prefer really good short songs

Long songs aren't really my thing. With snappy short songs like Wreckin' Bar by The Vaccines and Parquet Courts' Careers In Combat taking over my playlists, why should I bother with long songs? It takes a pretty special long song to win my heart. Firstly, what do I regard as a "long song?" We'll go with over 6:30. Here are some of my favourites that I actually have the patience to listen to all the way through:

The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea
The Horrors are the band to turn to for very good long songs. In the case of Sea Within A Sea, it's the last two minutes or so that just make it. That's what you're waiting for. The whole song builds up to that do do do do DO DO DO bit. It gives you chills doesn't it? Amazing. Obviously the whole song is pretty incredible but it's all about the last bit.

The Horrors - Oceans Burning
Similarly to Sea Within A Sea, the best bit of Oceans Burning is arguably the last bit. The whole thing is this swirly, luxurious build up to that bit that makes you think "oh my god man, The Horrors are the best band ever!" You're probably lying if you say this song hasn't made you even a bit #emotional and it is just the most perfect closer to the sophisticated swoosh of Skying.

Drenge - Let's Pretend
This is probably a great long song because it doesn't actually feel like it's that long. It feels like a few songs sandwiched together, keeping you interested the whole way through. The fact that it's also very good helps too.

Muse - Citizen Erased
I completely forgot all about this one until I was sifting through iTunes looking for any tracks I'd missed. This doesn't feel like seven minutes at all, courtesy of some whirring and pretty in your face guitars and some interesting lyrics. The last three minutes or so feels like some kind of rebirth or something I dunno man how else would you describe it

Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
This track KILLS. Arguably one of Girls' best songs, the one that makes everyone feel a lil' bit sad and like they should do more with their lives than sit in the dark listening to Girls illuminated only by the glow of their laptop screen. Owens' lyrics here are so fantastic that the length of the track becomes irrelevant. It could be four hours long and still be the most amazing song.SO COME ON COME ON COME ON COME ON AND DANCE WITH ME

Parquet Courts - He's Seeing Paths
Another track that doesn't feel as long as it is thanks to some cowbell and other funky sounds. The cowbell and the buzzer just makes this song.

MONEY - Goodnight London
None of Money's songs are particularly short, but Goodnight London is in fact the longest on debut The Shadow Of Heaven. Money are the best at making the most chilling, hauntingly beautiful songs and this is certainly no exception. Discussing New York and London, this track thrives on piano and eerie, amazing lyrics.

(Other honourable mentions include Spanish Sahara by Foals, Left Myself Behind by TOY and Colours Fade by Blood Red Shoes but I can't be bothered to write about any more)