landaan

hey cats!!!

so, first of all, REALLY SORRY that i haven't posted in like a million billion years. college and christmas are kind of my excuses for that. 

BUT on the plus side, this means i have a load of stuff to post about now.

so here are some pics from my trip to london last week, in which lots of stuff happened.

^so, lets just take a moment to appreciate the fact that i met patrick wolf again and gave him some of my music and he said he'd email me. ok. yes.^

^wandering from oxford street me and my friend annie found an aquatics design centre full of amazing UV lit fish tanks and dart frogs and seahorses and wow. never realised i love pretty fish so much.^

I WANT A SNAPBACK WHY DOES NO-ONE SUPPORT THIS DECISION

^cyberdog in camden. i love the crazily loud rave music and lights everywhere and the fact that half of my outfit was glowing cus of the uv lights.^

^I bought these adorable (too big) shoes in the oxford street topshop sale (yes, i survived the masses) and added some cute holographic smiley stickers from urban outfitters (although on principle i normally boycott uo for a number of reasons). the jeans are vintage levis from rokit and the socks are also topshop.^

^some creepy doll keychains in camden^

so there are some muddled little snippets of my london trip ^^

ooh and btw, i now have ~instagram~, so feel free to follow me or just check it out or anythin! 

Maybe I'm just crazy, Crazy for you baby

I have compiled a playlist of songs that in my mind should be played whilst on a road trip or on a beach somewhere. 

Swimming- Florence + the machine

Crazy for you- Best Coast

Horses of the sun- Bat For Lashes

Fight for this love- Vampire Weekend

The Way I loved you- Taylor Swift

I'm waking up to us- Belle and Sebastian

Together - Patrick Wolf 

today I woke and my spirit was gone

hey y'all. 

I hadn't blogged for a leetle while (<-- a="" accent="" be="" in="" p="" read="" russian="" to="">

to be honest, I haven't really had much to blog about; I've been ill and watching Border Control and Nothing to Declare aaaaall weekend and just mooching in pyjamas. so yeah, here's some STUFF (namely photos from the last Patrick Wolf gig I went to, back in December, and I'm ONLY JUST bothering to post them on here).

this one is probably my favourite, because you can see so many little details, like his shiny dms and the ruffly things round his wrists. ALSO THE FLUFFY HAIR. asddaasdfghjh.

I like this one too. kaftans all round.

sinead

xxxxxxx

uninspiralled

being uninspired is never fun. sometimes boredom reigns, sometimes it's sadness; but it's never fun. you know what is fun? finding a way to enjoy your own company, and then enjoying it. here are some things I have found to help.

1. listen to some powerful songs. happy songs can sometimes just make things worse, and sad songs can simply make you want to die (as Morrissey would probably stipulate to). songs that are vaguely angry and have a strong message are best, because they motivate you and get you feeling passionate about stuff. here are some of my personal favourites in playlist form (plus a sneaky peek of a photoshoot I did ridiculously early in the morning)

2. look through pictures from a happy time in your life. it brings back memories that are positive and inspiring.

yes, this for me is obviously patrick wolf photos.

3. MAKE ART. yes, this may seem silly and contradicts the whole point of this post, but I only suggest it because it never hurts to try when you feel this way. if it's too strenuous to try anything too heavy, collage is always an option. or craft things like crochet and making flower crowns.

a crochet headband I made. the first of many, soon to be put up on our ETSY SHOP.

4. a problem shared is a problem halved. talk to people and, if necessary, feel sorry for yourself. talking to someone who loves you (e.g. best friend) means they can offer sympathy, and, if you're really lucky, advice. there's nothing like whining to get something off your chest.

so, heavy stuff I know. but I thought it needed to be said.

hope it helped someone,

sinead

xxxxx

a crack on the head is what you get for asking.

First of all, I know my blogging skills are sporadically awful and ajfghftr there are just words that I can't express because ill and confused. My new year's resolution is to just listen to and make music aaaall the live long day forever and have lilac hair and be ALONE apart from cats and a select few fun gals (ie Sophie).

Another reason for my bad blogging is that I cannot abide using photobucket. It frustrates me immensely and I dislike it with a childish intensity. So, here are some things that are in my possession as of late..

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures, The Smiths - Meat Is Murder, Lana Del Rey - Born To Die Paradise Edition

Needless to say when I received the Lana cd I was a mess of girl-crush giggles and anticipation, I hadn't heard some of the Paradise stuff. My favourite song on it at the moment is American, its very beautiful despite being weirdly patriotic. Cola is also an instant classic, kudos Lana "don't treat me rough, treat me really niceys". I got the other two cds with a HMV voucher I got for Christmas. When I'm well enough I shall do an outfit post showing you lovely people some new clothes I have too - tartan jeans and a Bowie tshirt for the WIN.

Patrick Wolf - Archive EP 1

Oh, there were tears. I may be silly, but it is signed by him so my tears are legit (IT REALLY IS, OK). And he drew little birds and stars and 'wrote made with love in London by Patrick Wolf' ohhh. So many things I love in one thing. And the cd itself is a demo-and-rare-stuff delight. THERE'S A DEMO FROM 1999 AND AND I'll stop now.

This BEAUTIFUL ruffly, floral and everything-good blouse came in the post from Texas from my fairy Godmother. It is Free People and it is magnificent. It has puffy sleeves and a cinched waist and I plan to wear it with my white 50s circle skirt as soon as the weather allows it. Oh, and with these too...

EEP AREN'T THEY SO PRETTY?! A gift from my mum. They are vintagey-crochety-wonderfulness.

I made a crochet headband, yay for that! I'm thinking of making many and putting them on etsy, what d'you reckon? 

Belated hugs to you all

Sinead

xxxxxxx

and it feels like I can't breathe.

Yes, I am totally in love with Will Young. I listened to Jealousy on repeat for my whole bus journey to school this morning. 

Oh yeah also I love Hollyoaks. I guess this is a kind of guilty-pleasures post, although Patrick Wolf once said he doesn't believe in the whole feeling-guilty-for-liking-something thing. And I try and stick to that. But y'know, sometimes its just to hard to admit, and its fun to have a little secret thing to love. Anyway omg Hollyoaks drama, my heart is so racing right now. My favourite character is George (but in my household he is known as Monkey Patrick because he's so fabulous and looks slightly similar to Patrick but more monkeyish and generally just adorable like Paddykins). HERE HE IS, THE LITTLE CUTIE

want his shirt so bad

Omg literally watching first-look Hollyoaks as we speak and biting my nails. CAR CRASH, DEATH, DRAMA.

This has been quite a pointless post, but I tried. 

I have a Maths mock-mock-exam tomorrow, so I'm stressed.

Bye

Sinead

xxxxxxxxxx

P.S

In other news, today I went on a walk and discovered that my gentleman-friend should most definitely become a Topman model. Also, I fell over in some mud (what else is new, am I right?).

sundark + riverlight

I had the absolute privilege of pre-ordering - and subsequently receiving - Patrick Wolf's new double album, Sundark and Riverlight (and a limited edition fanzine).

It has already got some mixed reviews, with some critics tutting at the supposedly absurd addition of woodwind, and the fact that technically, new songs haven't been written.

(I feel like if this is to be a proper review, I have to refer to Patrick as 'Wolf'. Technically. Feels weird.)

I personally think that Sundark and Riverlight is a triumph; the perfect soundtrack to Autumn, and celebration  of Mr.Wolf's 10-years-of-music anniversary.

I think, as such a musical epic, Sundark and Riverlight deserves to be listened to properly; it's not something to be taken lightly and just 'have on in the background'. It just doesn't work that way. It's like a story, a personal adventure that Wolf, by releasing it, is inviting listeners to embark on. By re-arranging and re-recording songs from across his musical career, and doing so in a way that makes them all more compatible with each other than ever, it seems it is now easier than even to relate to and empathise with the triumphs, disasters and general emotion Wolf portrays in his music.
And this fact makes it seem as if now that Sundark and Riverlight is finished and released, Mr. Wolf can move on from the darkness he sings of, and look back proudly at the sheer wonder of the happy times he croons about.

A few gems that really stood out to me were:

House: The laid-back strings and baritone ukulele in this perfect ode to home could almost make you believe you were wandering down a cobbled street in the sun with the one you love; the raw emotion that Wolf's rich, syrup-drenched voice always portrays so well just has such a vivid effect on whoever is privileged enough to hear it.

The Magic Position: That first exclamation of 'Shoot, Bang, Fire!' (a noisy shout in the original song) is uttered on the verge of gently in the reinvented classic that is The Magic Position. There is an almost boyish resonance to the utterance; as if the re-recording of the song evokes nostalgia in it's creator. 

Together: I was so excited when I read in the fanzine. There were a couple of pages full of Patrick's song titles, with notes on modifications next to some of them. Next to 'Together' I saw the words 'flamenco guitar' and became instantly excited - and it really is as weirdly brilliant as it sounds. Patrick Wolf doing guitar is kind of unheard of now - I think he once said in an interview he thought it had been done too much before. But nevertheless, Together is still as madly charming, dramatic and lovely as before. 

Vulture: Tears will be shed. Originally a synthy growl of a song that explodes all kinds of sadistic darkness in 3 minutes of Wolfy angst, this new version is almost the opposite of the first. Whilst the original can charge up the listener with dark energy and the urge to do something dastardly, this time the first line brings with it such tragedy that you feel like you could just deflate when Wolf quietly croons it. The whole piece is now an intimate, piano-scattered storytelling, one that is sure to make Patrick Wolf's fans fall even deeper in love with him. That first time he utters that well-known line 'L.A. big wheels turn, turn'; hearts will melt. His vibrato smooth and even as purring, every word perfectly clear. The entire chorus becomes one heart-lifting sigh of beauty.
But then, of course, the darkness still has to remain in the song for the meaning to still be present; an added verse separated from the initial ballad by a howl of 'yearns'. Then the piano becomes almost messy, scattered notes getting more and more ominous, building up to a snarling-then-sighing stanza of: 
'Rifle mounted above the bed
Knuckles noosing, neck and head
Forced pledge allegiance; allegiance to the beast
With my face pressed down in pillow deep
Soon Santa Ana winds will come
Hell as on earth,
His kingdom won.' 

Wind in the Wires: This song has always had everything. Drama, tragedy, tales of the sea. And the coastal epic that is Wind in the Wires is still just as magical as it has always been, with it's new-found home nestled in amongst swirling strings, and of course, Patrick Wolf's magnificent vocals. If anything, the song is more dramatic than ever; with the line 'this wild electricity, made static by industry' comes a crescendo of excited strings striding alongside Wolf's singing.
And then of course comes the new phrase at the very end, confusing you and at first sounding like the beginning of a different song. Phrases softly strung together by baritone ukulele like prayers; 'all alone I was singing to the sky, all alone just singing to be free, to be free' and 'give me back by family'. The combination of softly sung melody and simple words uttered like a quiet chant encompasses all the heart-wrenching beauty that this double album - and Wind in the Wires, for that matter - really holds.

So in short, I like this album. An awful lot. But remember, if you're going to listen to it, give it time, give it proper attention: it's not just something to think 'I'll listen to the songs I already know I like'. It's a saga, the tale of a life, and not something to be taken for granted.
Sinead
xxxxxxxx

london

I'd say there's more for me to say about my most recent trip to London; but this is because all my Scotland stuff was mainly to do with family and was sort of an autumn escape.

My London visit was brief and hectic and generally a blur of bright colours on concrete, and I was only really there as a pitstop before and after Scotland.

The 'before' bit involved seeing my cousin Hollie, who I love dearly, and going to see Dead Can Dance in the Royal Albert Hall (which, I can confirm, was awesome) before dragging an insanely large and impossibly heavy suitcase to Scotland.

The 'after' bit wasn't longer than the 'before' bit, but we managed to fit more in. On Thursday we took the aforementioned suitcase on a little detour to Oxford Street to look for school-worthy DMs in the gargantuan Topshop there. Hell. Loud -and crap- music, pushy and determined shoppers, rude + superior shop assistants. We promptly left. 

Then sleep.

Yesterday, well. That was brilliant and reminded me of exactly everything I love about the city. First, after much begging on my part, we went to Bermondsey Street. GLORIOUS is what it is, I make a point of going there whenever I can. 

Love these buildings. Patrick Wolf did an NME shoot here once. Comparing my picture and this one really makes the height difference all the more obvious..

After the initial fangirling I always flutter into when I go to Bermondsey street, we went to the White Cube gallery to see what was going on there. Well, this was, for a start:

There were some cool installations in there, including a room with one wall with pastel cloudiness painted on it. Was very cute.

Then we were off to Tate Modern to see The Tanks. There was one installation called Light Music that I really liked; the projector contraptions were making weird clicking noises and were really cool.

After artiness came frantic Covent Garden shop-flitting. I bought some cute things in Artbox, then zoomed around a decidedly too-expensive-for-me Rokit, looked for glitter in Urban Outfitters with no luck, and tried on DMs in the DM shop. Then we had caramelised peanuts and blah and went home.

I wrote yet another 2 songs whilst travelling; the madness and excitement and relief, however short-lived, were a great inspiration.

I want to live in a beautifully crazy whirl of colour and sound, and always have that feeling of bemusement and excitement that overwhelms me whenever I am back in my hometown.

Ooh, I've gone all wistful. 

Sorry for rambling. Typing is sort of stopping me biting my nails, and I really need to kick that habit so y'know.

Sinead

xxxxxxxxx

the messenger

Hello! It's been a while, huh?

I've been in London and Scotland, so I couldn't really do any proper blogging.

But I shall put up some pictures from my trip in my next couple of posts.

In other news, PATRICK WOLF replied to my tweet! Huzzah! 

I asked him about Bloody Chamber Music (his record label) and he replied with the email address for it, meaning... I CAN SEND A DEMO TO PATRICK WOLF! AND HOPEFULLY HE WILL LISTEN TO IT AND GIVE ME SOME SORT OF FEEDBACK! EXCITEMENT!

So yeah, being fueled by that, I've been writing new music virtually non-stop.

Some lyrics that have stuck with me as of late: 'Fearless fifteen first came that dream to be seen, to know love, the world and all it's stages'. It's from The Messenger by Patrick Wolf. I love it, and it feels really relevant to me at the moment haha.I recommend the song, and the album (The Bachelor). I think it's quite overlooked amongst his other works, but still as amazing and expressive and wonderful as the others.

So: prepare for a bombardment of pictures and reviews and blah.

Love

Sinead

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm in Scotland.

So sorry for not posting anything, but I can't post from my phone and everything is a bit mad. There will most definitely be a huge post when I get home because I've taken so many pictures and thought of songs and discovered new music and aaahhh ( I bought NME for the first time evar, so yaay).

Will post something more interesting asap.

Sinead

xxxxxxxxxx

P.S one of the exciting things that has happened and I will go into more detail on is that PATRICK WOLF TWEETED ME (CRY)

inside me I feel alone and unreal

It's occurred to me that it's coming up to a year since I met Patrick Wolf; because of this, I've sort of been shrouded in mild wistfulness and nostalgia for a little while now. So, I decided, as it's coming up to Winter, it's more appropriate for these photos to be in black and white ( I understand my logic ).

He's so beautiful, I just can't. Re-kindled my passion for viola and music in general as soon as he came onstage.

This was really the best day of my life. I don't even know how long I was with him for, I was just too focused on being smitten and starstruck. But I'll treasure this picture forever.

I'm sure most teenagers are familiar with the old 'post-concert depression'. Although, the crying picture was actually taken before the show started, after I'd met Patrick and not knew how to deal with all the emotions. I got my mum to document my overwhelmed-ness.

Some pictures I'm planning to use in my upcoming zine (watch this space).

In other news, I'm so obsessed with This Mortal Coil's version of Late Night. I also love the video, very witchy and pretty. Perfect for Autumn!