ARTICLE- KENDRICK LAMAR- OUR VINYL

I wrote an article for Our Vinyl on Kendrick Lamar's new album

READ IT HERE!!!!!!

HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST

SHAKIRA- SHE WOLF

GROUPER- CASSIOPEIA

GRIMES- NIGHTMUSIC FT. MAJICAL CLOUDZ

CAT POWER- WEREWOLF

BALAM ACAB- FRAGILE HOPE

TYLER, THE CREATOR- SHE

NICO- LE PETIT CHEVALIER

COCOROSIE- LEMONADE

EVY JANE- SAYSO

Field Day- REVIEW

Saturday 2^nd June, East London’s Victoria Park was home to the one day event-Field Day Festival.  

I had heard bad reviews from previous years about poor sound quality and overcrowded tents. But the line up this year seemed too good to miss. Ignoring the masses opinion, I got a ticket anyway- AND IM SO GLAD I DID!!! 

Field day is an 18+ event, however they were relaxed with ID so if you’re thinking about it for next year, which you should be, don’t worry if you’re not quite the big one eight yet (I’m 17, and I know of a 15 year old who went).

I SAW-(click on a name for a youtube vid)

Grimes

Blood Orange

Julia Holter

R. Stevie Moore (who btw, added me on fb hehehe)

Mazzy Star

Friends

Summer Camp

Beirut

SBTRKT

I started and ended the day in dream like situations in tents with Julia Holter (an LA singer/songwriter/instrumentalist) and Mazzy Star (from da 90s). Both of which were just perfect. Julia Holter gave a whimsical performance, and the crowd pretty much stood there in awe- if you haven’t heard her, GET ON ITTTTT!!!

My highlight was definitely Grimes. She’s my girl crush so naturally in my eyes, can do no wrong. Clare Boucher was clad in Boy London with an oversized camouflage printed rain mac over the top (or maybe it was just oversized because she’s soooo tiny!) and what looked like platformed trainers. It didn;t take much for her to get a reaction; Grimes only had to make an odd noise into the mic in sound testing, or poor water on herself to get everyone to scream. My stepdad has interviewed her before and said that she admitted to being nervous about her upcoming gigs. No nerves were displayed in this performance. Somehow, this girl made jumping around the stage like an excited toddler look cool. If those were nerves, let’s keep her nervous!!

Field day was my first festival this summer, and if it’s anything to judge by, my summer’s gonna be gooood!!

@Laura_Blush

Laura xx

WU LYF- REVIEW

                         OVERDUE, BUT I SAW WU LYF IN MARCH 

Apparently ‘Wu Lyf’ is a type of Chinese food, Pagan ritual and a Spiritual rehab centre. After successfully explaining that Wu Lyf is in fact a band, I was then faced with the difficult task of describing what Wu Lyf sound like. 

Self described as ‘heavy pop’, Wu Lyf’s gig was not a disappointment; the rawness of the album, ‘Go Tell Fire to the Mountain’ was more than successfully captured in their live performance. Front man, Ellery James Roberts delivered the vocals with that rough and strangely captivating voice. Guitar riffs and the distinctive ‘BOOM BOOM BOOM tiki tiki tiki tiki’ of ‘Dirt’ were played to perfection. What was missing was audience interaction. Knowing that they were often portrayed as mysterious band, I wondered what they would be like with the audience. After playing three or four songs (pretty much perfectly, may I add) without a word to the crowd, I began to lose hope for the interaction that makes live music worth it. At that precise moment where I thought all hope was dashed, Ellery James Roberts croaked into the mic; his speaking voice equally as cool as his singing. The gig only got better from there. 

Wu Lyf turned out to be a friendly group of ‘bros’, giving a fist bump and high fives to the crowd. Their show seemed to be the gift that kept giving, when after being cheered back on stage, the band demonstrated their diversity, giving their own take on Kindness’ ‘Swinging Party’. All in the intimacy of the venue Heaven, Wu Lyf‘s “last UK gig ever... well, ‘till we come back” proved to be a good one. 

 

WU LYF- HEAVY POP

Laura xx

Photo taken by me

Lana Del Rey

So the LDR hype's pretty much over. When 'Video Games' first came to the attention of the blogosphere people were falling for her; the song fast became an anthem for umm... 'hipsters' and the question on everyones lips was "jheeeze are those real???" (her lips guys, c'mon). LDR got attention for her looks and her voice. Blogs such as Hipster Runoff even dedicated themselves to her, everything was going swimmingly well then... SNL happened. I watched her live performance wondering if what I was hearing was real. Luckily I saw it behind a computer screen because honestly, I feel if I were in the audience I wouldn't be able to contain my nervous laughter. The LDR hype turned from "OMG SHE'S EVERYTHING I WANT TO BE!!!!!!" to "o..m..g....." 

Saying that, I went and bought her album anyway. She's a good studio artist, I can't deny that. She's also a very beautiful girl. Where do you stand on the LDR spectrum? Is she selling records through her image or her music, and do you think she'll stick around?

Laura xx

The Cadbury Sisters

These lovely people have been following me on Twitter for some time now, and today I saw a Tweet from them with a video attached. It was their cover of Laura Marling's Ghosts.

If you're a fan of Marling, you won't be disappointed! I definitely wasn't! They all have beautiful voices, and their harmonies are more than perfect. The guitar is also played to perfection; all in all, they did the song justice.

Adele's Someone Like You

Listen to their songs

It's times like that that I wish I could sing!

Laura xx

@CadburySisters

http://thecadburysisters.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/thecadburysisters

ORANGE

All my usual clothes are in the wash, so today I had to make do with something lying in the bottom of my wardrobe.

I wore a pair of jeans- I haven't worn jeans in about two years, and tbh I was surprised they still fit! I teamed the jeans with a 'Cure In Orange' band tee from my mums old stuff.

I didn't notice at the time, but I'm looking a bit orange too- this tan has chose to stick around a little longer *yay* !

The Cure- Boys Don't Cry

Oh, and I forgot to say...BLUSH AND ZERO NOW HAS 100 FOLLOWERS! THANKS SO MUCH GUYS, YOUR COMMENTS REALLY MAKE MY DAY :)

TWITTER

Laura xx

Smells Like Teen Spirit

If you're a fan of Urban Outfitters, it'll be no surprise to you that they have a Kurt Cobain collection for A/W- inspired by grungey nineties wool jumpers and checked shirts.

Nirvana have always been a big inspiration to me, even though I wasn't even born when they were a band! I've always loved grunge 90's fashion, and Dave Grohl is the reason I play drum kit!

 

URBAN OUTFITTERS- THE COBAIN COLLECTION 

Dipdyed, bleached, braided or messy hair is a must! As are flannel shirts, band tees, and plenty of string bracelts.

But for me, the key to getting 90's grunge style perfected is being able to wear something without caring about being judged. If you're confident with what you're wearing it'll show through, creating an effortlessly cool 90's look!

Nirvana- The Man Who Sold The Word (cover)

Laura xx

Month Music

August's playlist

Oh, and my stepdad got a new computer. I decided to be helpful and test out the webcam ;)

 The Naked and Famous- Punching in a Dream

 The Cults- Go Outside

Laura Marling- Sophia

Bon Iver- Beach Baby

Paulo Nutini- 10/10

Althea and Donna- Uptown Top Rankin

Chase and Status ft. Plan B- End Credits

 Laura xx

What I Wore: Saint Tropez

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my previous two posts. The London riots have thankfully calmed down now, there are just police everywhere now! As promised, WIW in St Tropez! You can probs see how my skin colour has changed too! I'm pretty orange at the moment! 

Feel free to ask where I got the clothes, it'll take to long to label!

 

Moi Je Joue- Brigitte Bardot

Laura xx

for a reason

I don't have tumblr for a reason. I've been a master of procrastination from day one, so I don't need another distraction!

 

Cocorosie- Teckno Love Song

If I had tumblr, It would probably look like this

@Laura_Blush

Laura xx

All photos from Tumblr

mauvemauve

Concidering that I couldn't even spell the colour till today, let alone never having never warn it, I went a little mauve crazy! I went to East London and attended the East End Thrift Store's sale of all their old stock, and despite grabbing almost everything in sight (I say almost for a reason, I'll explain later) I only came out with one item- a gorgeous mauve blazer that cost £3!

Now, let me explain the 'almost'... Silly me, thrift sale virgin, thought it would be a good idea to have a browse then go back to the stuff I liked. Really, I couldn't have been more stupid! As I went back to collect the camel blazer I eyed up, I saw a woman grab it and add it to her collection! I changed my approach, and started grabbing everything in sight!

After the madness, I went to Spitalfields and got a pleated midi skirt from the Urban Outfitters sale- £10 reduced from £40!!!

 

Dirty Beaches- Lord Knows Best

I found Dirty Beaches on the Dazed and Confused website, LOVE IT!

I just got Twitter, please follow me if you have it @Laura_Blush

Laura xx

GLITTAH

I've been seeing decorated nails EVERYWHERE, so I thought I'd give them a try.

'Scuse my fingers, I need to stop chewing them!

HOW TO DO GLITTER NAILS

1. Started with a base coat of Barry M Baby Pink nail varnish
2. Wait for it to dry and apply another coat on top, with this coat, wait until it gets to the 'sticky stage' when almost dry.
3. Brush over glitter eyeliner/ sprinkle on glitter and wait until the pink varnish sets
4. Go over with a see through coat.

The Naked and Famous- Young Blood

I've written a post on Who's Jack magazine online about Nail Art, give it a read if you'd like.

Has anyone else tried out any nail art?

Laura xx

Paris Blue

I went on tour to Disneyland Paris with my school orchestra (so cool ahah!) and performed a quick concert. The rest of the three days were spent either upside down or spinning! I went on pretty much all of the rides and despite being 16, had photos with loads of characters!


I'm not one for memorabilia, so when I came back I was armed with french food and magazines instead of Mickey Mouse ears and T-shirts. The magazines were significantly cheaper than the ones sold in England so I bought a few.

Photos from Jalouse

Ooh and I bought some Violet Lemonade (which, btw, tastes like soap...)

French(ish) Playlist(Lykke isn't actually French!)

Lykke Li

Carla Bruni

Nouvelle Vague

Laura xx

Playing Chloë Sevigny

My friend is having a coctail party later, and the dress code is 'formal'. This poses quite a challenge for me, my wardrobe consists of numerous denim cut offs and old bodycon skirts... not really formal attire!
I'm going to wear a thrif found Joseph blazer to make my outfit look formal and add some Chloë Sevigny style makeup- she always looks expensive and chic without trying too hard!

One flaw in this plan; I'm really not good at this makeup malarkey. I can't apply the stuff without it looking like a blind and limbless creature has done it. So far, I've just put on some L'Oreal Paris Rouge Penelope lipstick.

I still need to work on my eyes and the rest of my face- maybe start with some foundation or blusher if I can find any!

Any tips on makeup application?- links to blogs and youtube channels would be much appreciated!

Oh and guess what...MY FOLLOWERS HAVE GONE AGAIN!!!

Sea of Love- Cat Power

Such a beautiful song

Laura xx

Plage

Hype and comment here

I have no idea how to embed a look into a post, so heres my look, and there's the link! Let's do it the old fashioned(ish) way!

Can't stop listening to this song, even though the weather isn't exactly what you call summery (the sky's rather grey looking and the wind just wont stop where I live), this song gives me a glimmer of hope that summer can exist- even in south east London!

Does anyone know how I can link youtube videos as songs, just showing the little grey bar at the bottom? I've realised that the ammount of links I post HUGELY slows down the loading of my blog!

Laura x

Month Music

A few of you guys have asked me to do a music post highlighting my favourite bands/songs.
I wouldn't put this music in one genre, it's a bit of everything I love at the moment really!

WU LYF

Lucy Rose ( The girl from bombay bicycle club's flaws)

James Blake (stole this off The Internet Garbage's recent post)

Crystal Fighters

Lykke Li

Jai Paul (not the rubbish Drake version)

Johnny Flynn and Laura Marling

CocoRosie

Santogold

I could go on and on, but I should really save some for a later post- maybe I'll do this once a month? What do you think?

Laura x

A different kind of fix

Super excited about the new album from Bombay Bicycle Club, 'A different kind of fix'.

I first saw them at Latitude festival in 2009 (I think), they were pretty new and there was a crowd of about 60 people, it was as if I was attending a private gig! From that moment on I fell in love with their music- they created a massive energy amongst crowd; it honestly felt like there were more than just 60 there as the mood of their fans really matched that of a gig of 1000!

Evening/Morning- my fav song from their first album, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose

Flaws- One of my favourite songs to this day, from the second album, Flaws

and...drum roll please

New single , Shuffle

I'm going to see them at Reading Festival 2011, it'll be great to see how they've progressed and how a massive gig compares to that very personal crowd of 60 at Latitude!

Laura x

Procrastination

Revision-
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda



But I didn't.

Been Listening to Jamie XX remixes instead

Gil scott-Heron/Jamie xx - Running

ALSO

The XX Remix- You Got The Love

I would love to be able to say that these song are getting me through revision, but they're doing quite the opposite!

Have you got any musical distractions for me to check out?

Laura XX (ahaha)