Mbali Na Tanzania

I'M SO EXCITED. Tomorrow I shall be embarking on a month long expedition to Tanzania with Camps International in which I will have the opportunity to go scuba diving, go on a safari and, most importantly, help with community work...albeit if I have to arise at 3am, but it's obviously worth it. This calls for a Tanzania Playlist. I've only just started using 8tracks; it's such  good way to create playlists for every occasion. Imagining I'm travelling through African plains in a little safari Jeep, I was going for a chilled sunset vibe...but being my usual unpredictable self, I had to add a few dance bangers in there in case I feel  like raving. So, really, it's a random playlist of songs I like at the minute. Enjoy!

Tanzania Playlist from stereospecs on 8tracks.

I Want You - Summer Camp

Morning Sun - Rock Mafia ft. Miley Cyrus

Who Knows Who Cares - Local Natives (Botaniks Remix)

Hanging On - Ellie Goulding ft. Tinie Tempah

Never Never - SBTRKT

California Sunrise - Dirty Gold

My  False - Matt Corby

Bad Girls - M.I.A

Levels - Avicii

I didn't want to schedule any posts while I'm away (what if there's a grammatical error that won't be corrected for four weeks?!) so I'll see you, my precious little blog, when I return.

Kwaheri!

Ellie + Tinie

Hanging On begins in a subdued atmosphere with the soft plucking of a harp audible beneath Ellie's enchanting soprano voice. I love the use of a harp. As the lyrics enter, the production slowly increases in dynamic and becomes thicker, progressing into soft dubstep. Tinie Tempah interrupts the captivating vocal with his usual high energy rapping, attacking the beat laid before him which gives a great contrast within the track. The constantly moving pitch of the vocal is reminiscent of The Weeknd but this is shunned by the ever changing range in production, as it grows and diminishes. It's just a really well produced track okay.

Queen: Daddy's Vinyl Collection

Today I had the lovely task of sifting through my daddy's vinyl record collection and putting them into alphabetical order. Firstly, I take pleasure in organising things (yes, I am the kind of person who gets excited about new folders at the beginning of the school year) and secondly, it was a major Queen fest. With the Queen Live Killers record spinning on the turntable and having eight Queen vinyl's in total, I am holding my father responsible for my love of the incomparable rock band.

However, seeing this large collection of iconic musicians and albums, it dawned on me how few hard copies of albums I actually own. In a technology obsessed world, it seems that most people (including myself) only ever buy music from the internet, losing that excitement of when you hold a new record for the first time and open up the immaculate cover. I know this is a scary thought, but what would happen if this technology broke down and all your music was erased? I want to be able to have a large record collection showing the culture of my childhood to look back on when I'm older, not having to rely on a computer to supply me with memories. I therefore pledge to buy albums from the store from this day forward. Well, the good ones anyway.

What do you think about the decrease in purchases of records? Is it good or bad?

Wob Wob Wob

Onomatopoeic title to resemble some kind of dance beat. Yah.
I don't know how many people reading this live in England, or even the centre of Niagara Falls, but we've had a lot of rain. IT'S JULY. Being housebound for such long periods of the day calls for one boredom decreasing activity: dancing in front of your mirror as if you are all that and a bag of potatoes. Below are some of my go-to 'bust a move' songs at the moment. I'm allowed to enjoy an overly produced electronic track every once in a while.

Bassline - Chris Brown
This is my favourite track from Fortune. In general, Chris' latest album is more dance infused than previous releases but it definitely paid off in this song.


Morning Sun - Rock Mafia ft. Miley Cyrus
Yes, Miley's voice has been auto tuned to the extreme, yes the repetition of "pimps and hoes" isn't the most evocative lyric of the year but this song makes me want to dance so I like it.

Express Yourself - Diplo ft. Nicky Da B
Dipo always produces such beat driven tracks that it is quite impossible not to want to move to them.

Oh, do you know of any other ways of presenting audio other than embedding from Youtube? It's quite annoying how blogger doesn't have the option of uploading audio files in a neat, presentable way. I suppose I like to use Soundcloud but it doesn't always have certain songs that I want to write about. It would be really helpful to know of alternatives, merci buckets!

Round Sunnies Appreciation Post

Look at the colours you can get these in! Is that sunglasses heaven or is that sunglasses heaven?

I think my love for the round style of sunglasses has been heavily influenced by Miley Cyrus. I have a major girl crush on her at the moment. But that doesn't lessen the fact that these type of sunnies are just perfect; they create such a cool demeanour to whoever wears them.

Yeah, I changed my mind (as I knew I would). I'm scrapping my previous idea and using stereospecs for everything on my peculiar mind. Really, it was pointless because music is created through being influenced by something. Silly girl. But thankyou to Ellen, Katie and Jenn for following me though :)

I Can Hear The Sky Falling Too

Frank Ocean published this detailed piece of text to his tumblr today in which he addresses recently questioned rumours about his sexuality:

I have so much respect for him for doing this, especially as Frank is strongly affiliated with the hip hop world in which sexuality is a relatively sensitive issue. It's unclear whether Frank is stating that he is bisexual or homosexual but quite frankly it doesn't make the slightest difference to me. I still love him.

Big Band Era

Last night I had my final concert this year in the Wind Orchestra and I always look forward to them as all the music groups come together and we get to hear collectives such as the Big Band. There's something so fascinating about live jazz music that always leaves me wishing I could play the saxophone.

Here are a few pieces that were played last night which obviously won't overcome the atmosphere of a live performance, but are still delightful nonetheless. Both composed by Gordon Goodwin.

Hunting Wabbits

Sing Sang Sung

Looking into the era of the Big Band, whenever someone asks "what era do you wish you could've lived in?" I always reply with the 30's. This choice is heavily influenced with this style of music as there are countless images from this decade showing live music being performed and everyone dancing to it so freely. Although I am partial to the odd dance hit, there is nothing that beats live music.
Hmm, this makes me want to watch Bugsy Malone now.

p.s. I urge you to watch this and not be amazed.