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!