Singing.

'I'm a good singer. I could be famous. I know! I'll apply for the X Factor!'

Since when did this become the only method of gaining fame and acknowledgement as a singer? I do believe this show has only been around since 2004.. Granted there were previous, similar TV shows, such as Pop Idol, etc. But Still, I have to query what has happened to the traditional methods of getting recognition, such as doing gigs, cutting a CD and sending it off to various record producers, something even as simple as getting a manager..
I'm not trying to spite the X Factor, I realise that they are very beneficial to the economy and the dying music industry, but still. My sister is great at singing, I have been trying to encourage her to make Youtube videos and a website, Facebook page etc, but still, she has applied for the X Factor as she is finally old enough. It physically upsets me, where is the X Factor going to land her exactly? I can't imagine it getting her a position as a serious artist in the music industry. She might as well be the next Jedward.
I understand that there are plenty of artists coming out without the use of talent shows, but around the people I know, the general opinion is that to get famous they should go on the X Factor.
Thankfully we still have the bands. You see the bands doing gigs, trying to get into the music industry by starting from the bottom. I can't help but feel relief when I see these local bands doing it properly. I understand that this rarely pays off well, but at least they are usually making a little bit of money, and I'm sure they will get further than most of the tens of thousands that go on the X Factor.

Come on singers! Get gigging! Or just do what I do and stick to the Karaoke.

Music magazines?

There are so many music magazines out there. The one I read is NME, it is quite evidently the biggest indie music magazine in Britain.

I read it because I like to read articles on my favourite bands and artists and also discover some hyped up ones. I use it to help generate my own musical opinion based on that of others. Although I don't solely rely on what's said said in them.

It's silly really how I spend £2.40 to read someone I don't know's opinion on bands I usually haven't heard of or listened to. But I do it anyway. Sometimes I will read an article on a band/artist I like, which I enjoy doing, as it shows me what others think of the bands I like.

I don't buy it every week, and when I do it takes me a while to read it. Sometimes I will read the cover and use this to discern whether I want to buy it or not. For example this weeks contained an cover feature on the Smiths, and so I bought this to read that, although I have only so far read a small part of the article, as sometimes I struggle to read the full article.

I have only really bought NME, although I went through a short period of reading Kerrang when I had a boyfriend who fitted the typical Kerrang reader stereotype. Its strange how out of all the music enthusiasts out there only certain types will buy music magazines. When a band/artist is majorly mainstream they will just be featured in gossip magazines, and so the fans of them will read gossip magazines.

There are many music magazines, although some are much more hyped up than others. Many people would not have even heard of, let alone set out to buy.

Lets get embarrassed.

We all have those artists we love, but are embarrassed to say so. And in this post I am going to reveal mine. Those who have read my previous posts will see that I am a bit of an indie kid. I'm into the whole two door cinema club, the cribs, the smiths scene. But behind closed doors is this all I listen to?
I am going to admit that right now I am listening to The Feeling. Remember them? The obviously gay love it when you call, fill my little world band? Well I love them. I have both their albums (which I bought a long time ago), and recently have rekindled my love for them.
I don't tend to admit this to people, but I am telling anyone who reads this. So how embarrassing is that? I ask you? For some I realise they will think big deal? But for me, an image conscious teenager. And they aren't the extent of my listening guilty pleasures.. The Hoosiers, Scouting For Girls, Mika and Ke$ha are all part of my guilty pleasures. I don't know why I love them but I do. I suppose its just a nice change for me..
But why should I hide my love for them? We all have guilty pleasures that people will laugh at, like my best friend being obsessed with The Smiths and 50 Cent. Or another friend of mine, a more mainstream one, loving Bruno Mars and Fall Out Boy. They don't tend to admit these guilty pleasures of theirs, but they are there.
I personally think we should be open about all the music we listen to. But I guess with that I will have to be open about mine, which is not likely at this current point.
Feel free to comment with your guilty pleasures music wise. :)

Musical festivities.

Ahhh holiday festival time! Summer = sun, holidays and MUSIC FESTIVALS. I am only 16 so I have not yet actually experienced them myself, but this year I am going to loose my festival virginity. I am going to a smaller festival in the lake district called Kendal Calling.
It is surprising that I am actually going to this one, as festivals are ridiculously expensive, and hard to get to. But this year I found myself lucky. My dad happens to have a friend who is doing the ice cream vans for this festival, and my dad is running one, so I am going along as his 'assistant'.
So what is it about these festivals that is so exciting, and why people pay so much? I cannot answer for sure yet, but I know that people love music, and want to go to a place where several of their favourite bands are combined. Although many people don't even go for the music. My ex boyfriend went to radio 1's big weekend last year, saw one band, and got drunk the rest of the day. But I suppose people want to go for the atmosphere, the relaxation, and of course the alcohol.
I myself am excited to go for two reasons. Firstly, three of my favourite artists are going - Blondie, Frankie & The Heartstrings, and The Cribs. And secondly I want to go into the field of live music events as a career. This festival is opportunity for me to go and see these great bands, and learn about my future career choice. And of course I will write all about it here afterwards.
Its going to be an experience, and a fun one at that. And anyone going, If you see me in an ice cream van come and say hi. :)

Another blog about bands that you may or may not care about.

Songs with really long and arguably pointless names.

You can google 'songs with long titles' on google and currently you will get around 36,000,000 results. And why? Because there are many songs with long, pointless titles and people recognise this, and like me, they are writing about it.

One song I found on my searching is: A simple song with an overly long title (your MP3 player will not like it at all, and might refuse point blank to play it), which is nothing but a pathetic and blatant attempt to get into the record books with the longest title ever, by the rather obvious (and very silly) means of rambling on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on without rhyme or reason, and, more importantly, without stopping, ceasing or pausing (except for breath and a little punctuation) [The built-in redundancy of the title is noted and welcomed, as it adds to the overall length of the said title, which is, after all, the point of the exercise (the song itself being merely an afterthought (although it does have quite a pretty tune if you like that sort of thing (I do), this song is by a band called Bush Dogs. And why have they named it this? For no apparent reason, just to give their song a title, and a title people will talk about, because lets face it, people will talk about this title.

One band who go in for the whole long title idea is Fall Out Boy. Some examples by them are 'Our lawyers made us change the name of this song so we wouldn't get sued' and 'I slept with someone out of fall out boy and all I got was this stupid song written about me'. So what is the need for these long 15+ words titles? They add a USP to the band, and make them a little more interesting. Because lets face it 'Dance, Dance' is well enough, but your not going to give the name a second glance.

I am a fan of these long titles myself. But in my own personal preference when it comes to music I like things to be longer, longer length, longer titles, longer period of time for which they have been around.
Longer keeps my interest. Although for others it will be boring and tedious to listen to an 8-minute song, when there is a shortened 4minute version available. And the same with titles, why listen to a band with hard to memorise titles, when you can listen to one that limits all there titles to less than 5 words.

But all music is down to personal preference I suppose.

I can never stray too far from this beloved band..

I go through bands quickly. I constantly discover new ones and spend a period obsessing over them, but one I cannot bring myself to leave is the amazing Vampire Weekend. I love their quirky tunes, and obscure, hard to make out lyrics. No matter how many bands I discover, no matter how much I listen to their music I cannot bring myself to stop loving this beautiful band.

It could possibly be because of my more-than-slight crush on the lead singer Ezra Koenig, and my deep love for his voice, but I think its more than that. Vampire Weekend never fail to cheer me up, I can never bring myself to turn them down, and I simply cannot stop listening to any new songs - even ones that appear on the terrible twilight.
I am not, admitedly, the type of teeneager with posters covering my wall, but I have just one, not so much as a poster - but simply a page ripped from a magazine. And this is Ezra Koenig playing his beautiful guitar on stage at Glastenbury last year.
If I were to be granted a wish, it would be to watch a live performance from this band, the atmosphere, I feel, would be absolutely amazing - and one in which I would hate to never experience.
The best £10 I ever spent was buying the two Vampire Weekend albums. The covers, despite their syplicity, had a great look to them, understated.
And this, you should know, is my favourite band.

Should we be confined to one genre?

'What type of music do you listen to?' A question most people are at some point faced with... And a lot of use will either state one, or a few linked types of music. Some people feel restricted to just one category in music, trying to uphold a certain image.

I know this because I myself am like this. My answer to this particular question is 'indie, alternate sort of things,' then perhaps I would give an example, such as The Courteeners. Well here is my confession; I listen to other music, even as far fetched as Lady Gaga and 3oh!3.. These are somewhat mainstream artists, and very far away from who I claim to listen to.

I must admit, I tend to hide the fact I listen to and like these artists. I don't want to ruin my image. Any why? Because I am a music snob. People who know me would even confirm this. I listen to particular artists just to remain an indie kid.

How many more people are like this? Like me? Quite a few I'm sure. People who try to conform to how they feel they should be. It's stupid really. But true.

What can we do though? Nothing. It's the way we work. The way we make friends. The way we define ourselves.

It is not just music either, it is the clothes we wear, the movies we watch, and in some cases the food we eat. We use all these to define ourselves, control our lifestyle, and decide the people we become friends with.

We are just a character. Defined by our tastes. And we uphold this character.