My Favourite Records

Troye Sivan in full Bloom

Troye Sivan, Australian pop icon, is taking his sophomore album Bloom on tour across Europe and the UK right now. The first show was last night (February 23^rd) at the O2 Academy in Glasgow.

My picture

I finally (!!) saw Troye live and wow. Speechless. Shook. Jaw is on the FLOOR. What an amazing performer.

I’ve been a fan since around 2012 back when he was just a YouTuber and boy has he bloomed, pun intended. I missed him last time he toured and I was heartbroken but this show more than made up for it.

First off, that entrance though! Instead of coming out on the stage he started off up on one of the balconies in amongst members of the crowd which I thought was amazing.

His visuals were so cute – the lights were pretty, and he had a couch and loads of lamps onstage which was interesting, especially during slower songs like Postcard. Here’s some pictures I took.

My personal highlights were the transition from Wild into im so tired, Heaven, Postcard and My My My! which turned into what can only be described as a miniature rave. Lucky Strike and Plum live were also unreal and The Good Side almost had me crying because it was just so pretty.

Also, I’ve never seen an artist so amused by the usual crowd chants and Troye was so involved it was the most wholesome thing I’ve ever seen. He even joined in on a drinking game – when in Rome, as they say.

Honestly cannot recommend going to a Troye Sivan concert enough! I had such a laugh and he’s one of those artists where, even if you knew zero songs, he’s energetic enough that you have a great night anyway.

Love always, Fiona X

Trouble for TRNSMT?

After strangely successful 2 years, TRNSMT seems to have disappointed with this years’ acts with a general outcry of “I’m not going!!” on social media. Honestly, I don’t think the 2019 line up is that bad…

Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. An obvious drawback for 2019’s festival is Jess Glynne as a main act. I honestly don’t think she’s as bad as what Twitter keyboard gangsters make her out to be (she’s a great performer!), but it was a real lapse in the organisers’ judgement. It’s common knowledge that any line-up including her wouldn’t be well received.

Another thing – why are all the headliners the same ones from 2017? Who is honestly that desperate to see Catfish and the Bottlemen or Stormzy these days and, for the love of God, can we stop pretending Gerry Cinnamon is anything but a neddy version of Ed Sheeran? I also don’t understand why acts like Circa Waves and Example are being relegated to the King Tuts Stage.

The days themselves could have been organised so much better. There’s no clear genre divide and tbh there are so many acts who would have been suited to different days (EG Jess Glynne on the Friday, Gerry Cinnamon on the Saturday/Sunday).

However, the acts themselves are mostly pretty good for a small festival like TRNSMT. Sundara Karma, Bastille, Sigrid, Arkells, the Wombats and Example to name but a few are all great acts that will definitely put on a cracking show. Years & Years, Amine and Mabel add some diversity to the festival, which it’s been sorely lacking in.

The problem doesn’t lie within the actual acts (mostly), for me the problem is the organisation and the repetition. I still intend to go and know I’ll have a great time, I just wish they arranged the acts in a way that made more sense.

James Bay live at TRNSMT 2018

Let me know what you think – is it trash, do you love it and most of all, do you still think you’ll go?

Love always, Fiona X

Hippo Campus live in Glasgow

Hippo Campus are a five-piece from Minnesota, US. They recently released their sophomore album, Bambi.

You know that way where you find a band or artist that no one really knows, then you watch them grow and grow as more people finally start to discover them? That’s the sort of relationship I have with this band. I first saw them supporting Walk the Moon in 2015. I don’t think they’d ever done a headline tour, they had like one EP at the time and were still a four piece. Me and my friends met them after and they were all so lovely.

Ever since then, I’ve seen them every time they’ve played in Glasgow and they get better and better each time.

I saw them in the Garage, Glasgow, on Friday (15^th of Feb) on their Bambi UK Tour. Despite it only being a small venue, the band still made an effort to make the show visually interesting with some cool lighting tricks and all of the members having really great stage presence.

Their songs are so fun/emotional live. Listen to buttercup and Bubbles. They’re 2 of my favourites and it was such a laugh when they were played. The real highlight of this show for me was a wee change in the setlist with the addition of monsoon – a proper tearjerker. I was kinda sad that they didn’t play Warm Glow but honestly, I would have been crying my eyes out if they did.

Here are some pictures I took.

The only kind of let down for me was the crowd. I wish they were more enthusiastic!! It made me feel a bit self-conscious for being too into it and the band deserves more energy than they got. Other than that, a 10/10 night and I would really recommend you try catch a show!

Love always, Fiona X

Why I don’t care for the GRAMMY’s anymore

February means one thing – awards season. The Recording Academy pick which artists released the best music in the past 12 months and reward them with the prestigious gold GRAMMY award.

I don’t think these awards mean anything at all anymore and I think others are starting to agree. For me, they tend to celebrate commercial success as opposed to actual talent. I know the two do often go hand in hand, however in recent years it’s felt like the Academy can’t be bothered anymore and are just picking names out of a hat.

For example, take the alternative/rock categories. Why were Arctic Monkeys nominated for anything off their last album when it received such low ratings and a lukewarm response at best? James Bay, George Ezra and Tonight Alive were but a few artists who would fit in these categories that released brilliant albums last year. Also, in 2018 Paramore’s critically acclaimed After Laughter and Kings of Leon’s Walls were completely snubbed.

That’s another thing. Of course, art is completely subjective, but every year these ceremonies cause drama. Example: when Cardi B didn’t win anything last year, it was a massive snub. This year when she won best rap album over the late Mac Miller, the internet basically imploded on itself in rage.

Image result for cardi b — Cardi B via Wikimedia

All great artists deserve to be recognised and commended for their outstanding work, however are the GRAMMYs really as reputable as they were in the past? In the age of streaming, I feel like the opinions of the Academy are no longer held in as high regard because it’s so much easier to access all sorts of music.

At the end of the day, it’s all down to personal taste – if an album/artist you love gets ignored by the GRAMMYs doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad, the same way recognition doesn’t necessarily mean they’re good.

Let me know what you think – do you take the GRAMMYs seriously, do you go along with it for a bit of fun or do you ignore them all together?

Love always, Fiona X

Thank U, Ariana

Ariana Grande has well and truly treated her fans by releasing another album only 6 months after her last.

Image result for ariana grande — Ariana Grande via Flickr

thank u, next is Sweetener’s older, wiser and more jaded sister. It feels like the perfect follow up to such a record, and I love that she isn’t afraid to talk openly about everything she’s been through since May 2017.

Where Sweetener was mostly all smiles and lovey dovey, TUN is the opposite. Ariana now sings openly about her own flaws within a relationship in needy, discusses her struggles with mental illness in fake smile and gives listeners a harrowing, intimate look into how the death of ex-boyfriend Mac Miller affected her relationship with then-fiancé Pete Davidson in ghostin.

The album starts of strong with imagine which really sets the tone for the rest of the album. Tbh my only complaint is that break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored is the closer instead of thank u, next itself or needy.

The album’s standout tracks are NASA because I’m a sucker for some good word play, in my head because WOW those vocals and ghostin because I love how open she was about her grief and the effects it had on her personal life.

NASA by Ariana Grande

Overall, I really love thank u, next. I love her honesty and all the new things she tried out on this record. The only thing that let it down for me was choosing 7 rings as a single and what song was the closer as I said before.

Ariana is an amazingly talented and strong woman, I’m so excited to see her in September and I hope she thrives this year because if anyone deserves it it’s her.

What do you guys think about thank u, next? Let me know!

Love always, Fiona X

New year, new tunes

Hello! I hope everyone had a great New Year and is excited about what the next 12 months have in store for us all. For my first post of 2019, I thought I’d talk about what I’m most excited for in the music world this year.

To kick the new year off, one of my favourite bands Bombay Bicycle Club announced their reunion. In a statement they mentioned that they have some shows lined up for this year and are aiming to put new music out soon. I’m super excited and have a sneaky feeling they’ll be on the bill for this year’s TRNSMT festival.

Speaking of TRNSMT, the organisers are being awfully shy about announcing the 2019 line up, although I think they might have something cool planned. They’re definitely still trying to win over loyal T in the Park fans. I predict Calvin Harris as a headliner. TRNSMT could do with a little genre diversity and Calvin is mega popular so would really hype the festival up.

Here’s a (very drunkenly filmed) video I took of Kodaline at this year’s festival

There are loads of great tours coming up too, including Foals’ long awaited return and Ariana Grande in the Hydro in September. I just saw the 1975 in the Hydro and it was amazing. Summer Sessions have a great lineup this year too! Check it out if you haven’t already, they’ve got The Cure, Foo Fighters and the 1975 headlining in Glasgow.

The 1975, January 12 2019 by me

Most importantly, though, there loads of amazing artists set to release new music this year. Pop princess Ariana Grande has the sweetner followup due to drop in February. There are a few double albums coming out from the likes of Weezer and Julia Michaels, who already dropped the first halves this week, and Foals who are set to release in March. Vampire Weekend and Bombay Bicycle Club are both putting out new material for the first time in years and Sigrid is dropping her first album in March!

2019 is shaping up to be great already and it’s an understatement to say I’m excited.

Love always, Fiona xx

2018 in review

Since 2018 is drawing to a close, I thought it would be fun to give a rundown of my favourite albums of this year! Some were released this year while others are ones that were released before but I really fell in love with in 2018.

Hope you enjoy!

Staying at Tamara’s — George Ezra

Favourite track: Pretty Shining People

Youth is Only Ever Fun in Retrospect — Sundara Karma

Favourite track: Happy Family

Shawn Mendes — Shawn Mendes

Favourite track: Like to Be You ft Julia Michaels

Youngblood — 5 Seconds of Summer

Favourite track: Monster Among Men or Valentine

American Teen — Khalid

Favourite track: Angels or Winter

sweetener — Ariana Grande

Favourite track: pete davidson, r.e.m or better off.

Bloom — Troye Sivan

Favourite track: Lucky Strike

Adventures in Real Time — Dylan Gardner

Favourite track: I’m Nothing Without You

The Pains of Growing — Alessia Cara

Favourite track: All We Know and Growing Pains

A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships — The 1975

Favourite track: Love It If We Made It, Give Yourself a Try or I Like America and It Likes Me

So, that was (a few of) my favourite albums of the year! 2018 was super exciting for music and I’m already looking forward to what the radios bring us in 2019.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and Happy New Year when it comes!

Love always, Fiona xx

The problem with Panic! at the Disco

Genre switching and line-up changes are nothing new with Panic! At the Disco but their (or should I say his?) most recent rebranding has really missed the mark imo.

I used to be a really big fan of Panic. Pretty. Odd. and Vices & Virtues still have my heart and honestly Too Weird to Live… and A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out weren’t my favourites but they still had some bops. The last 2 albums though … they just felt so flat in comparison with all their others.

Maybe Brendon Urie just works better in a group as I know the band has recently become more of a solo effort what with the loss of Dallon Weekes, although I’m pretty sure he had nothing to do with the writing process on Death of a Bachelor.

It feels like such a waste. Brendon has an absolutely jaw dropping voice and really worked hard on his writing after Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left the band in 2009 so to see the post-Pretty. Odd. albums peak with Vices & Virtues and steadily decline after is disappointing.

Pray for the Wicked saw a shift in Panic. They went from being the emo underdogs to a bland, uninspiring hit-making machine. Don’t get me wrong, I could listen to Brendon sing for hours on end but when you put a song like When the Day Met the Night next to a new one like High Hopes, the new one always falls flat.

High Hopes (2018)

When the Day Met the Night (2008)

I know that artists need to develop their sound – why would you want to listen to someone release the same albums over and over (*ahem* Catfish and the Bottlemen)? Panic were one of the best for switching it up and to Brendon’s credit he has managed to change genres once again. I just don’t think it worked in his favour at all this time.

Love always, Fiona X

A Brief Inquiry Into the 1975’s new album

A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, the third album by the 1975, was released last Friday (Nov 30th). Despite having a very on/off relationship with this band I was so excited for this to be released. I ended up surprised (in a good way! mostly) when I listened to the full thing.

The singles — Give Yourself a Try, TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME, Love It If We Made It, Sincerity is Scary and It’s Not Living if it’s Not With You — were all great songs and were the perfect choices to build up hype for the album.

Love It If We Made It is easily one of my favourite songs the band has ever released. With nods to modern politics and pop culture, *that* dig at Donald Trump and an overall punchy feel, it’s no doubt that when tour comes around this song live will be one of those moments that you find yourself living over and over again in your head forever.

With that in mind, I couldn’t help but feel a bit let down at first listen. I felt like a lot of the songs were easily forgotten, especially Surrounded by Heads and Bodies. It was a bit meh first time around in all honesty.

After a few listens, A Brief Inquiry definitely grew on me. It’s their most ambitious album to date. While the filler tracks did let it down a little, the singles really saved it and it’s made me excited for them to drop Notes on a Conditional Form next year.

The 1975 are a great band and I urge you all to ignore the music snobs jumping on the We HaTe ThEm BeCaUsE iTs CoOl To NoW bandwagon because this record is full of such a good mix of fun and hard-hitting tracks. It’d be a real shame to miss out on it!

I hope you enjoyed my first post, feel free to send me songs/albums/artists to listen to for the future!

Love always, Fiona X

Listen to A Brief Inquiry … here:

iTunes

Spotify