The co-dependent, psycho girlfriend.

Good morning! I'm currently sat eating McVities biscuits from the leftover Christmas tin and sipping hot chocolate on one of the first 'wintery' days of the year. It's currently 3pm on a Sunday and I'm staring at the screen willing myself to write something reasonably challenging when all I really want to do is watch television all day. I would quite enjoy that. But I'm determined to be more productive as I have a whole Sticky Note brimming with ideas attained during late night wonderings.

So, today, I am going to talk about how much I hate NME magazine. It's not particularly challenging I suppose because many people already dislike it, but hey! Let's go with the majority here.

I'm going to start off by quoting Matt Bellamy's beautifully crafted words, which can only be formed when one is in a particularly drunken and thus enlightened state of mind.

"I love NME. I love it because it's like that crazy, weird, crazy, sort of co-dependent, psycho girlfriend that like loves you one minute and then hates you and then loves you, then hates you and makes you want to come back for more."

I think this sums up my relationship with the magazine. I used to worship NME because it's one of a select few that are proud to represent less mainstream music, up-and-coming artists and ... Muse. This is what makes me continually read it, even now when I really dislike the swill which is written inside. It's one of the very few 'popular' media sources that give me hope that others also listen to alternative/indie/whatever-genre-we're-calling-it-now music.

However, that pride is its downfall. The magazine will love and nourish a band or artist until they hit the big time. Once they start to entertain the millions rather than the thousands, the magazine will rip them to shreds. I think it's completely hypocritical. Azealia Banks (NME's current love child) should probably watch out.

The articles which are heavily laced in sarcasm and the bitterness of a jealous ex are almost painful to read in some cases. In my ignorance, I used to think the NME was almighty and their opinion was the only opinion that mattered. I have now realised that their holier-than-thou stance is completely biased. Which is why I like Q, it's a couple of quid extra but every article is written from a professional perspective whether they be reviewing Adele or I dunno, Animal Collective. Plus, it's oh-so glossy!

And seriously? The best POP songs of 2011?

NME really enjoy sending mixed messages, surely this list should contain the likes of Justin Bieber and One Direction? Not Azari & III.

However, referring back to Matt Bellamy's quote, why do I still read the NME? Because it's the magazine that you love to hate. Also people seem to think you're some cool, cultured indie-chick if you're caught with it. Whereas if I read something stereotypically female targeted like Heat magazine;

1. I feel my brain cells depleting rapidly.
2. I feel dirty and ashamed.
3. I haven't got a clue who they're talking about - which is funny as the people who read Heat would probably feel the same way when they read names like; Two Door Cinema Club, The Cribs and Crystal Castles (names on the front page of NME's current issue).
4. I lose faith in humanity (a phrase tossed around a lot these days).
5. I really do hate it, there's no love involved.

And Q magazine? Let's face it, it's like NME's uncool dad. 

Sometimes I get a good feeling, other times I'm not too sure.

You might be familiar with these lyrics if you're a radio listener or at least a TV watcher.

"Ooooooh, oh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah, I get a feeling that I never never never never had before, no no, I get a good feeling, yeah" 

At present, I think this song appears in at least two adverts on the television and the lyrics feature in two songs in the current UK chart. This is surprising as the original is 50 years old.

I was familiar with Avicii's song 'Levels', which I think is my favourite club tune at the moment, this samples parts of the original and is at number 5 in the chart. Today, I looked at the UK chart update to find Flo Rida's even more uninspiring version at number one.

At first, I was confused. I thought I'd been mistaken. Why were there two very similar songs in the chart? Were they the same song? No.

At least Avicii's contains a little bit of creativity with the lyrics being used to add a climatic element to his song. I think it is not unreasonable for artists to sample other people's riffs and lyrics, if they are willing to recognise the original. However Flo Rida's song is just a copy, it continually repeats the lyrics with him rapping over the top, it's not particularly artistic and it's not ground-breaking. But most chart music isn't, I suppose.

I will honestly admit though, I didn't know that Avicii had taken samples from Etta James' beautiful song, "Something's Got a Hold On Me", until I did my research. (I like to know the inspiration/source behind a musician's work.)

I don't know whether to be happy that a song around half a century old is inspiring artists today and thus our very fickle modern music consumers. Or sad, that in today's pop industry, the current number one is basically a copy of a sample of the original.



The original - or so I hope.



The club one.



The boring chart one.

Three Winter Hangover Cures

Hello there! Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a fantastic new year's, got their midnight kiss and sang Auld Lang Syne into the early hours of the morning.

My new year's resolution you ask? Work hard, play harder. That about covers it. Work hard to get the grades and the university that I want and then play harder celebrating in the summer. Or that is how I hope 2012 is going to pan out.

I have recently got into the habit of downloading or listening to playlists from various, self-proclaimed, music snobs about the best songs of the past year. I used to fall back on NME to give me some deserving and unbiased choices but now in my wizened state, I have realised what a load of pretentious garbage that magazine is.

Last year, I stumbled upon the website, musicforants.com (music for kids who can't read good) and thoroughly enjoyed their playlist for 2010. I appreciate how difficult it must be to compile such a diverse and fabulous range of music and then arrange it in some sort of order according to taste. Then, finally, after all your hard-work, the criticisms from other self-proclaimed, music snobs just roll in. However musicforants did a lovely job and yet I surprisingly forgot about them for a whole year.

Donning my detective hat, I scoured the internet trying to remember where I had found their playlist, in the hope that they'd made another one. They had!

So, I have been listening avidly to their choices and here are three out of the fifty songs which immediately caught my eye - or ear; although all the songs are jems in their own right.

I think I'm loving on these songs so much at the moment because they're very summery. In this cold, dark winter, with the excess Christmas weight and the January debt sinking in, there's nothing like a bit of cheery music to remind you that there is something to look forward to.







And yes, I know, I haven't unearthed any new bands that none of us have heard about, but let's just enjoy the music, okay?