Mental health & fixing yourself pt.2

Being perfectly honest I didn’t ever think I would have to write a follow up to the first little blog post but here we are. Since 2018 my mental health has still been massively up and down I’ve had a mix of amazing and horrible days but recently there’s been a lot more down days than I would have liked.

Starting from last summer my mental health problems came back very intensely but instead of dealing with them I just went out and abused alcohol constantly because I knew it was a temporary pain relief and it was the closest feeling to self-harm I could experience. During this time I was incredibly lonely and longing for something or someone in my life to come along and fix me.

After this I got into a relationship which went brilliantly at the start I could not have been happier it felt like everything was falling into place but shortly after my mental health tumbled down hill again. I was suffering with horrific panic attacks everyday and could no longer go out and do the things I enjoyed. I relied on someone else for safety and comfort which was the wrong move to make as the relationship broke down.

Shortly after I attempted to overdose as I just couldn’t see any point in living anymore, I found it impossible to look after myself I just didn’t know how to find any comfort or reassurance to aid the way i was feeling. This resulted in frantic screaming and vomiting crying to my parents saying I wanted to be dead whilst they had to hold me begging me to stay telling me everything would be fine eventually as long as I held on.

After a tearful trip to the doctors I begged for some kind of sleeping pills as I couldn’t sleep on my own without crying and descending into a panic attack. The doctor refused to give me them but decided to change my antidepressants and put me on a higher dosage of beta blockers. I can’t function without six propanalol a day or I completely lose it and even with this amount of beta blockers in my system I can’t leave the house myself unless I have my dog with me and I couldn’t possibly think about going near public places at this stage.

The hardest part of all has been the self harm relapse I experienced in January, I was and still am so disgusted with myself after it I can’t look at my own reflection in the mirror it feels like I’m staring at a complete stranger. I feel sick every time I look at or touch my scars and I’ve lost such a big amount of my confidence due to this.  The self harm has since become an addiction again and I’m still struggling with it each day.

I’ve now been referred to a community psychiatric nurse as well as counsellor and I’m slowly trying to pick up tiny pieces and put myself back together. The last few months have been hell mentally and I just wanted to write this to show everyone that relapsing is normal and it can happen.

I can’t thank my family and friends enough for the support I’ve received. Moving forward I would love to learn how to enjoy my own company and fall completely in love with myself but before this becomes healing which will take a while but I’ll get there.

Scott Hutchison – a year on

A year ago we were shocked by the sad death of Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison a man who in his short 36 years of life achieved great success musically and gave us all more than what we could have ever asked for. I can’t even put into words just how much Scott’s lyrics have meant to me over the past few years, Frightened Rabbit practically saved my life and I’m sure they did the same for many others.

 

Frightened Rabbit were the first scottish band I had ever listened to and they started off my love affair with the whole scottish scene. The first song I heard was ’Die Like A Rich Boy’ and I wihout a doubt fell in love, I think this was when I was around fourteen and I’ve been borderline obsessed ever since. I think they came along at the right time as I was struggling mentally and listening to them was just like a big cuddle really something about their music made me have an immense feeling of peace and safety. The first time I had seen them was at Bellahouston Park supporting Noel Gallagher and I remember being really taken back and almost overwhelmed at the time, during this gig I realised I would love the bones of this band forever.

 

Scott sadly suffered with depression and anxiety for many years which he voiced in his lyrics, he spoke both candidly and abruptly about the battles he had with his mind and I feel as though this is why Frabbit have been able to help so many people because their music is real and raw due to Scott’s relatable lyrics. ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ was written about Scott’s breakup with his high school girlfriend and this album has always been my go to whenever I’ve had relationship problems It’s just unbelievably comforting as well as being so sorrowful. However my favourite Frabbit album is ‘Painting Of A Panic Attack’ It’s just what I can only describe as heartbreakingly beautiful, you can really feel Scott’s struggle through lyrics in songs like ‘Death Dream’ but also his strive to keep going especially in ‘Still Want To Be Here’.

 

Scott Hutchison‘s music and even his illustrations have had such a positive effect on fans, he really was inspiration to us all and I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m gutted he isn’t with us anymore. His family have recently launched the Make Tiny Changes charity in his memory which aims to help and support young people suffering with their mental health, as Scott had struggled with anxiety from an early age and didn’t get the help he probably should have recieved due to a lack of understanding. I’ve left the link below if anyone would like to donate to this incredible charity!

 

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/scotthutchison?utm_term=9gEpj2RG9

 

A year on and his impact made on everyone’s lives will never be forgotten from memorial murals to benches across scotland his legacy will live on and his words will continue to be a massive comfort to people everywhere.

 

https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX5speZs1JuCj?si=EUQ2tf-ARtauuNn0C65rFA

 

 

Mental health & fixing yourself

For years I’ve always had a feeling of emptiness I have always been on the hunt for something that now I am not sure even exists. We as humans feel the need to be content and happy, after all from an early age we’ve been given a mental picture of what our lives should be like, but the reality is we come off the path set for us and for me this is exactly what’s happened. I have suffered with my mental health for several years now, experiencing crippling anxiety when I leave the house and not being able to get out of bed because I feel an infinite sadness aching in the pit of my stomach has become ‘normal’. I love writing about music and that’s still where my passion is, but I’d really like to talk about this subject in hopes that it can maybe help someone going through the same thing or something similar and I’m lucky enough to have my blog as a safe space to do so.

Trying to make people understand

Trying to explain how I feel to other people has been incredibly challenging and a large amount of people I have voiced my issues to haven’t understood and then I’m met with the question of “why do you feel this way?” and it’s hard to give an answer to because honestly, I don’t know why. For me it’s been infuriating not knowing why I feel so low because if I had a reason behind the issue maybe it would make people understand, also I wish I knew why because then I could attempt to fix the issue. My parents have come along way when it comes to understanding my poor mental health, I had crying fits over just going to the shop by myself because I knew there was a chance I would suffer a panic attack and for me panic attacks make me feel like the world is ending. To start with my mum and dad really didn’t understand why is was acting this way and would get frustrated with me which would always end up with heated arguments and fallouts that made me feel worse. Some friends I’ve had just didn’t get the concept of anxiety or depression at all and others understood it too well and knew how to use my weaknesses against me. Boys who I had previously never really understood how I felt and again I think that’s purely because I can’t provide a reason for it which is understandable. Thankfully I have a small circle of supportive friends who I can tell anything to. Not everyone is going to take mental health seriously because there is still a massive stigma that surrounds it slowly but surely, it’s breaking with more and more people willing to learn and understand.

Struggling with self-harm

Now this is something I’m reluctant to talk about because I don’t really speak about it to anyone and I try hard not to think about it. When I was around thirteen I started self-harming, I’m not sure exactly what triggered this to start with, but I’d turn to hurting myself whenever I’d be feeling low, for me it was a way of controlling pain because I couldn’t control the pain I was feeling mentally. Looking back, I know now I done this because I was struggling to cope massively with the way I felt, I had too many feelings and I couldn’t bring myself to tell anyone anything because I was scared in case they thought I was going mad or something like that. I also remember hating the way I looked and physically not being able to look at myself in the mirror at the time and when I’d get annoyed with my appearance I would hurt myself. I’d also try to starve myself and vomit after eating anything as my weight severely disgusted me even though I was a healthy size 8. I’d have to hide any scars I had, and I specifically remember the burning sensation I would get putting clothes over them, eventually I stopped because the pain was too much to handle. I wish I knew at the time that self-harming was addictive before I started doing it, I feel like I wasn’t educated enough on this subject to know just how far it could go. After stopping I’ve had a few relapses when there’s been challenging days or if something specific has happened to upset me. Telling people was the worst part and the few people I’ve told have always looked at me with a disgusted expression on their faces and they’ve told me that they are “disappointed” or shocked that I could be that “stupid”. I think people’s reactions hurt more than the self-harm itself, people stopped looking at me the same way they used to and instead they seen me as a fragile object rather than a person with real feelings who was hurting.

Where am I now?

Right now, I’m good mentally compared to how I’ve felt previously. I still have days where I just want to lie in bed or I’m too anxious to do certain things, but in comparison to where I was a year and a half ago I’m in a positive place. It’s took me a lot of time to realise what matters and what doesn’t. Removing myself from toxic situations and deciding who I want to have in my life has really made up my personality. I enjoy going out now and I have a new spark of ambition and motivation to further my career. I’m not saying I’m better but I’m not worse.

Simply Soundtracks

For years now, we have been given special soundtracks to accompany iconic films and series’, songs that will forever remind of us those films and programmes. It really is hard to tie down exactly which soundtracks are the best considering there are so many great ones produced.

A soundtrack that I haven’t heard many others talk about, but I find to be amazing, is the American Hustle soundtrack. Released in 2013, the film is set in the late seventies to the early eighties, long story short it’s a crime-comedy about two con-artist’s who are forced to work for the FBI because of the crimes they had committed. When I watched it for the first time I immediately listened to the soundtrack repeatedly, because the song ‘White Rabbit’ was stuck in my head (which started my now, rather large obsession with Jefferson Airplane). With artists like, Donna Summers to Wings, this soundtrack has a huge variation and obviously being a huge fan of seventies and eighties music, I fell in love and still listen to it regularly.

The next film which has an exceptional soundtrack is The Great Gatsby, I had a real obsession with this film (I’ve seen it exactly 19 times), so naturally I know every song from the soundtrack off by heart. The Great Gatsby is essentially a tragic love story set in the 1920’s, based on the book by Scott F. Fitzgerald. With the film being such an extravagant piece of art, the music was chosen carefully, and all the tracks were written for the film. My personal favourites are ‘Young and Beautiful’ by Lana Del Rey and ‘Love Is Blindness’ by Jack White, these two songs relate to the film so much and capture the romance and betrayal of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship which I love. Overall this soundtrack is just so beautiful and has such a variation of artists and genre’s but still manages to give each song its own unique flapper- era sound.

I couldn’t not mention the work of art that are the This Is England soundtracks, Shane Meadows incorporated his own taste when creating the film and TV series’ soundtracks. If you haven’t seen This Is England at all, the film is basically about a 12-year-old boy finding himself in the early eighties once he befriends a group of skinheads and then the sequel TV series’ follow him and his group of friends growing up into the nineties. Each character has their own musical preference as they grow, so Meadows added a bit of everything to the soundtrack, including 80’s cheesy classics and alternative anthems from artists like The Stone Roses and The Smiths.

My Mad Fat Diary, a programme which aired on channel 4 in 2013, for three seasons, has one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever encountered. The programme follows Rae, a 16-year-old recently released from a mental institution, on her journey of making new friends and finding love during the nineties. I struggle to put into words how much I love the soundtracks for all three seasons, because Rae is such a massive music fan, I think the writers reached their full potential when selecting the music, with most songs belonging to the Alternative and indie genre. With tracks from Oasis, Blur, Pulp and many more, the soundtrack manages to make the events which take place in the show so more real and relatable.

The Stone Roses are one of my favourite bands of all time, so you could imagine my reaction when I watched Spike Island for the first time. Released in 2012, the film follows a group of young boys in a band, who are obsessed with The Stone Roses and plan to give them their demo tape at the famous Spike Island gig, which took place in 1990. The soundtrack is literally just songs by The Stone Roses, which I love but understand it might not be everyone’s preference. The film also features the song ‘Ten-mile Smile’ which the cast performed themselves for the sole bases of the movie, it is a bit disappointing they didn’t have the cast record it and add it into the soundtrack though.

I’ve saved the best for last, perhaps the soundtrack that managed to define a generation. The Trainspotting soundtrack, released along with the film in 1996 really did manage to become an iconic piece of musical art which will forever be timeless. Based on Irvine Welsh’s novel, Trainspotting is the story of Mark Renton and his group friends who all have one thing in common, a heroin addiction. The soundtrack to this film completely gives music to the lives of simple citizens from the late eighties to mid- nineties. One song in particular, ‘Mile End’ by Pulp really gives the element of the working class back then, living on practically nothing but still managing to get a hold of narcotics to numb the pain this boring life had brought. Using ‘Perfect Day’ by Lou Reed also captured the ways of Renton and his friends in the lyrics, as they were having the ‘perfect day’ each time they used heroin, but of course at the end of the day the comedown was inevitable. This soundtrack will always have a special place in my heart, along with the novel and film.

 

Rock Sounds Of The 70’s

The 1970’s was a decade of musical exploration and discovery, many of the most influential bands and artists ever, made their name during this time. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple had just exploded onto the scene to play the soundtrack that would accompany the many outrageous and bold events of this decade.

Early in the 1970’s we seen the emergence of Hard Rock, which was relatively new, and people were intrigued and fascinated by this subgenre. Led Zeppelin entered this decade with a newly formed reputation from the public after releasing their debut album ‘Led Zeppelin’ in 1969 and the follow up to this the same year ‘Led Zeppelin II’, the iconic foursome fronted by Robert Plant, known as one of the most influential, innovative and successful bands, made their mark on musical history during this time. They drew their style from a wide variety of influences like psychedelic, blues and folk music, with Jimmy Page writing most of the music for their tracks and Plant supplying the lyrics, this combined with the unforgettable playing of the band made for the hard rock sound the people craved at this time. The second half of the band’s career saw a series of record-breaking tours that earned them a reputation for debauchery and excess, in 1980 the group disbanded after the tragic death of their drummer John Bonham, but regardless of how short their original run was Led Zeppelin will always be remembered as one of the most influential bands of the 1970’s.

Another contributor to the hard rock scene was Black Sabbath, which was formed in 1968 by guitarist and main song writer Tony Lommi, singer Ozzy Osbourne, bassist and main lyricist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward in Birmingham (although the line-up seen many changes throughout the years). Seen as the pioneers of heavy metal music, the band defined the genre with releases ‘Black Sabbath’ (1970), ‘Paranoid’ (1970) and ‘Masters of Reality’ (1971). The group started incorporating mystical themes with horror-inspired lyrics which gave them something other bands of the same genre lacked, which meant they had an advantage to gaining popularity from the public

In the Spring of 1970 we seen the sad and unfortunate break-up of The Beatles, but with this came new musical prospects from each member of the group. Paul McCartney formed his new group Wings, which proved popular with the previous audience of The Beatles and he continued to earn mainstream success alongside his new band. John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison all enjoyed their hugely successful solo careers, after his run with Wings, McCartney also gained tremendous success from a solo career. All of their solo albums sold extremely well and ‘Imagine’ by Lennon and Harrison’s ‘My sweet Lord’ are among the biggest hits of the 1970’s.

After a decline in psychedelic rock following the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison and the break-up of The Beatles, Progressive Rock was developed out of the remains of psychedelic and blues-rock. The subgenre was mainly dominated by British bands, the whole idea surrounding this type of music is that it would elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility, bands of this subgenre would try and push the compositional and technical boundaries of rock by going beyond the standard song structures at that time. Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ (1973) was an immediate success, it remained in the charts for 741 weeks (1973 to 1988), selling an estimated 50 million copies and is seen as one of the most successful albums that defines progressive rock.

Characterised by outrageous outfits, bold makeup, out-there hairstyles and platformed boots, Glam Rock broke out in the post-hippie early 1970’s. With the use of vivacious lyrics, costumes and visual style, performers of this category were dazzling in looks and sound, being playful with categories of their sexuality in a dramatic mix of nostalgic references to old movies and science fiction with an all over guitar driven hard rock sound. Favourable acts of the glam rock genre were some of the most iconic figures in musical history such as David Bowie, Roxy Music, Marc Bolan and T.Rex. Shortly after the rise of the punk scene, glam rock was gone but it was never forgotten.

From as early as the late 1960’s it became common to divide Soft Rock from Hard Rock, as the two subgenres have different focuses, soft rock descended from folk rock, whilst using acoustic instruments, soft rock artists put more emphasis on the melody and harmonies, unlike hard rock which focused on being more guitar heavy with louder vocals. The subgenre reached its commercial peak in the mid-late 1970’s, with acts like the reformed Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart and Elton John who we know now as some of the most successful artists of all time.

 

In the mid-1970’s the Punk Rock scene was rising up from its protopunk-garage band roots of the 1960’s and early 1970’s. British bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash were the earliest acts to make it big in both the United Kingdom and United States. Groups like the Clash etc. were noticed for their experimentation of musical style, especially the strong Ska influences which was picked up throughout certain tracks. A certain fashion and absurd attitude came along with punk music which really gave the scene more individuality and definability, which challenged mainstream culture and values. The Sex Pistols were the first real competition for already established rock bands like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, which caused a major sensation however the punk scene died out after only three years, it ended with the split of the Sex Pistols.

A decade of musical controversy and outrage was exactly what the world needed after the classic, but sometimes repetitive music of the 1960’s. The 1970’s gave the people what they were craving and during this time the world’s most iconic artists and bands were produced.

 

The Best of Britpop

The iconic Britpop scene was a musical and cultural movement which took place during the mid-90’s, it summarised and emphasised ‘Britishness’ as a whole. The music was guitar based, mixing British traditional rock with American elements, it showed influences from the 60’s, punk and glam rock from the 70’s and indie pop from the 80’s. Receiving a lot of media attention, Britpop soon became popular because bands such as Oasis, Blur, Pulp and Suede were receiving a huge amount of critical acclaim at the same time as one another.

Said to be one of the original bands who kicked started the Britpop movement, Blur were enormously successful during this time, their single ‘Popscene’ was one of the first Britpop singles. The group consisted of Damon Albarn (singer/keyboardist), Graham Coxon (singer/guitarist), Alex James (bassist) and David Rowntree (drummer). Their debut album Leisure which was released in 1991 incorporated sounds of Indie Rock and Madchester, the track ‘Sing’ from the album was featured on the Trainspotting soundtrack. Following a change in their style, Blur then released Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995) which were all influenced by English guitar focused pop groups such as The Kinks, The Beatles and XTC. During these releases Blur quickly became one of the central focuses of Britpop, achieving mass popularity through their extremely high likeability.

Shortly after the rise of Britpop, Pulp came along, formed in 1979, the band consisted of Jarvis Cocker (singer/guitarist), Candida Doyle (Keyboardist), Russell Senior (guitarist/violinist), Steve Mackey (bassist) and finally Nick Banks (drummer). Pulp struggled throughout the 80’s to find fame and success, it was not until the mid-90’s that Pulp finally received the recognition they deserved when they released His N Hers in 1994 and A Different Class in 1995 which reached number one in the UK Albums Chart. My personal favourites from A Different Class are ‘Sorted for E’s & Wizz’ and ‘Common People’, although I really enjoyed this whole album as it was influenced by disco inspired pop rock paired alongside references to the British culture, they had adopted a style that was relevantly new at that time and I feel as though therefore that is why they became so favourable in the eyes of the public.

Other bands like Suede, Supergrass and The Charlatans could be seen battling for the number one spot in the weekly charts, this provided entertainment and competition in the music industry at this time, each band strived to come out on top and earn a label that would define them throughout musical history, even Paul Weller (The Jam & The Style Council) got involved with the Britpop scene and chart battles, he was soon to be renamed ‘The Modfather of Britpop’.

Naturally, I’ve saved the best for last, formed in 1991 by Liam Gallagher, Oasis are most definitely the reigning band of Britpop in my eyes. Originally the band was made up of Liam (singer/tambourine), Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs (guitarist), Tony McCaroll (drummer/percussionist), Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan (bassist) and then later they were joined by Liam’s older brother Noel (lead guitarist, singer). Eventually becoming one of the biggest bands in the world, Oasis found their fame in the Britpop scene, heavily influenced by the Madchester scene, they found inspiration in The Stone Roses and late 60’s, early 70’s rock. Their debut album Definitely Maybe was released shortly after they signed to the independent record label Creation Records in 1993 and it went on to become a record setter, a year later they recorded (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Whilst in the middle of the legendary chart battle between them and Blur. Both band’s released their new singles on the same day (‘Roll With It’ and ‘Country House’), with Oasis representing the North of England and Blur representing the South, pressures built until it was announced that Blur sold the most copies and stole the number one spot, although years later many members of the press have told us that “Oasis lost the battle, but won the war”, which was proven when the band lasted from their original formation in 1991 until 2009 when they decided to call it quits. In 1996, Oasis played two nights at Knebworth to an audience of 125,000 each night, they ended their Britpop reign with their third album Be Here Now in 1997 after this the scene died down. Although they were an extremely talented band, it wasn’t just their music they were famous for, the tabloids loved the Gallagher brothers because of the controversy that surrounded them, Noel and Liam had a countless number of public fights whilst living their raunchy Rock and Roll lifestyle.

Britpop was a massive part of musical history and all the band’s involved will be remembered always because of this scene. Many of the bands from the Britpop era have since reformed or artists from the bands have started their own solo careers and still record music now.

Women Of Rock

Throughout time we have seen some of the most influential female rock stars who have inspired generations, looking back I want to discuss a few of my favourite woman who changed the music industry and shook things up when we were most in need of it and the triumphs and trials they faced whilst being a woman trying to pursue a musical career at this time.

The 70’s was a decade of musical exploration for a strong number of women, Fleetwood Mac’s very own gypsy rock queen, Stevie Nick’s, is a perfect example of a strong-minded woman who knew how to express her abundant emotions through chorus. She is known for her distinctive voice, different to any other along with her symbolic lyrics, she uses her mystical visual style to separate herself from any other artists. After the success of Fleetwood Mac, she decided to start her solo career in 1981, whilst remaining a member of the band, her album ‘Bella Donna’ topped the album charts and reached platinum status less than just three months after it’s initial release and since then it has been certified quadruple platinum. During the 70’s we also heard from Blondie, fronted by Debbie Harry, who are still recording record breaking music now, more than 40 years later after their first appearance on the music scene.

Moving on from the traditional rock scene everyone knew about and was familiar with, there was a new style of rock we were blessed with in the 70’s, the punk scene was at its peak, bands like The Sex Pistols, The Clash and Ramones had just appeared, and everyone was very curious as to what this foreign type of music was about, but this was also the perfect time for aspiring female rockers as it acted like a fresh start for the music industry, and new female bands were ready to showcase their skills. The influential punk Joan Jett exploded onto the scene with her band The Runnaways in 1975, Jett shared some lead vocals, played rhythm guitar and wrote/co-wrote most of the band’s songs, in the time they were together, the band recorded 5 albums, with ‘Live in Japan’ becoming one of the biggest-selling imports in US and UK history. Jett felt that there wasn’t really any difference made between male and female punk stars, which is surprising to me because it’s a well-known fact that women in the music industry have always felt oppression, it’s nice to know that it has not always been like that and the punk scene was made up of equality. The Runnaways split in 1979, leaving Jett to go solo, she recorded 3 songs with Paul Cook (Sex Pistols) and Steve Jones, one of which was an early version of ‘I love Rock and Roll’.

An enormous factor to be considered in female rock is the anger expressed through certain artist’s work, a lot of women at that time were sick of being told how to dress, act and present themselves, therefore they felt that it was time to rebel. Feeling oppressed by the patriarchy women felt as though music was their only way to outlet their anger, in a way the rejection and patronisation female artists faced had an advantageous effect on the music industry as they produced stronger and more meaningful music because of this.

Even though the rock scene has evolved since then, female artists still appear on our radar and we always hear different and intriguing work from them. Female fronted bands are everywhere currently and it’s nice to see them getting the recognition they deserve. Wolf Alice, fronted by Ellie Rowsell, seem to be on top of the rock music scene now after the release of their second album ‘Visions of A Life’, you can see the evidence of influence from bands like Hole, the grunge ensemble which was fronted by Courtney Love, in their music, especially in tracks like ‘Fluffy’ and ‘Yuk Foo’. Another relatively new female fronted band, The Cosmics have really caught my attention and yet again they showcase their influence from female artists like PJ Harvey throughout their music, they put a remarkable amount of effort into their tracks and they deserve more recognition than they receive.

Over the years we have been shown that the Rock industry can be equal, and women break records whilst just simply expressing their emotions through the method of song and they will continue to do this.

 

Top 10 albums of 2017

Last year was immense for album releases, many artists made comebacks with new albums that took us by surprise and exceeded our expectations. Personally, I think these are the top 10 albums of 2017.

10. The Cribs – 24-7 Rock Star Shit
After their sell-out spring tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of ‘Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, What-ever’, The Cribs released their 7th album in August. The tracks were recorded live to tape in just 5 days, the band have really returned to their roots with the raw, rough sound and sonic aggression throughout this album.
Favourite track; ‘Rainbow Ridge’

9. Circa Waves – Different Creatures
Released in March, ‘Different Creatures’ is Circa Waves follow up album to debut ‘Young Chasers’. The band gave an impressive performance at The Barrowlands in March whilst showcasing the album and then went on to play the main stage at TRNSMT festival, this album kickstarted a momentous year for the band.
Favourite track; ‘Wake Up’

8. Blondie – Pollinator
This is Blondie’s 11th studio album and it has proved to us the band still have sheer talent and brilliance in both their writing and playing skills. Released in May, this album left majority of us stunned, they had great song writers aboard the project including, Johnny Marr, Dave Sitek, Charli XCX and many more. They also had studio appearances from Joan Jett and Laurie Anderson, overall this made the album perfect.
Favourite track; ‘Gravity’

7. Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds – Who Built The Moon?
In November Noel Gallagher released this album to follow up platinum selling ‘Chasing Yesterday’, I feel as though he did release this album at the right time as his brother Liam had released his debut solo album ‘As You Were’ only a few weeks before and naturally this sparked a debate on who’s was better. The sounds on this album are a mixture between Noel’s classic sound and some psychedelic notes, which makes it a little different to anything he has done before.
Favourite track; ‘Dead In The Water’

6. Wolf Alice – Visions Of A Life
After being obsessed with their debut album ‘My Love Is Cool’ for what seems like forever, I was really anticipating this release and it is fair to say I was not disappointed, releasing this album in September, Wolf Alice made sure it lived up to the good reputation of their first. This album is very diverse as it goes from uplifting, to pop and punk and then finishes on an epic grunge rock note. The band earned an enormous amount of critical acclaim through this album.
Favourite track; ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’

5. Sundara Karma – Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect
Finally, Sundara Karma released their long-awaited debut album ‘Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect’ in January and it was well worth the wait, this vibrant combination of tracks makes for the perfect up-beat album. I seen the band at TRNSMT festival and then again at the 02 ABC in October and both times they performed equally amazing. This album overall is just a wonderful collection of beautifully written songs.
Favourite track; ‘Happy Family’

4. Lana Del Rey – Lust For Life
‘Lust For Life’ was released in July, 2 years after her last album ‘Honeymoon’ was released. On this album we see a lot of collaborations, which personally I feel her other albums were lacking, Lana teamed up with Stevie Nicks, A$AP Rocky, Playboi Carti and Sean Ono Lennon to create this stunning album, inspired by California in the 1950’s and 60’s. Lana really expresses her emotion throughout and all of the tracks are really touching, as well as discussing California and the world, she gives us an insight into her mental state and I really liked that factor as I feel as though it adds something more to the album.
Favourite track; ‘In My Feelings’

3. Gerry Cinnamon – Erratic Cinematic
After taking time to perfect his masterpiece, Gerry Cinnamon finally treated us to ‘Erratic Cinematic’ in September, uplifting and full of soul Cinnamon’s first album is exactly what we all needed, telling us tales of his youth as a Glaswegian, reminiscing on memories that have remained with him throughout his life and sharing them with us, which I think is special as it lets us understand him more as a person and not just an artist. Cinnamon is proving very popular now, especially with the people of his home town as he managed to sell out 2 nights at The Barrowlands, he is one to watch.
Favourite track; ‘Belter’

2. Kasabian – For Crying Out Loud
Kasabian made a huge comeback last year after it was announced that they would play TRNSMT festival, In April they released ‘For Crying Out Loud’ just in time for the many festival appearances they had planned. This album consists of the usual indie rock with undertones of groove and disco and features their whole live set from King Power Stadium on the deluxe version, it truly is exactly what they needed to comeback with. Classed as one of the best bands in Britain, this album is explosive and full of exactly everything that their fans want. Shortly after their festival stunt, they went on an arena tour to showcase the new album, which I attended, and they did not disappoint the tracks are equally amazing live.
Favourite track; ‘Twentyfourseven’

1. Liam Gallagher – As You Were
Liam made his explosive comeback in 2017, after dropping a few songs from the album prior to it’s release, Liam’s eagerly anticipated album ‘As You Were’ was released in October and to say it was well received by the public is an understatement, Gallagher had used that same passion for the 60s and 70s influence he had whilst in Oasis and updated it for the current listeners. After seeing Liam live twice during his comeback I can safely say he has bounced back from the demise of Beady Eye. The surprising thing about ‘As You Were’ is that every song has a purpose and meaning to Liam, and to every single one of us those songs will have different meanings, but they will speak to us all in the same way. This is one of the most spectacular comebacks I have ever witnessed, and this album has 100% had the recognition it deserves.
Favourite track; ‘Come Back To Me’

 

 

The Scottish music scene

The Scottish music scene has been known to produce some of the most well-known acts of all time over the years, nowadays many people forget that Scotland still hosts home to some amazing new groups and solo artists.
2017 was a big year for Scottish bands and solo performers, I used last year to discover the new Scottish music scene as I had never really ventured into it before, I am aware of popular Scottish solo artists and groups of the past decades, like Primal Scream, Simple minds and The Skids which are all personal favourites of mine.
However, I had never really thought about bands and solo performers who have just started out, Last year I managed to catch some amazing bands, I seen The Snuts and Rascalton whilst they were supporting The View in the 02 ABC back in November and Vida and Shambolics in Broadcast at the end of December. The atmosphere at these gigs were honestly something special, for bands who are just starting out the crowds were insane, and I had a better time at these gigs compared to some larger ones at venues such as the Hydro etc.
I also purchased tickets to The Dunts for their gig in Broadcast in February, after listening to their new EP ‘Not Working Is Class’ and watching a lot of videos from their gigs, I was impressed and now I want to check them out for myself. I am also looking forward to finally seeing Gerry Cinnamon at TRNSMT this year, his new album ‘Erratic Cinematic’ is one of my favourites released in 2017 and I am excited to see what is to come from him.
I hope to see these same bands again and hopefully more, and I would like to explore the scene a little heavier this year. I am enthusiastic that all the artists mentioned will go far and succeed as well as they can within the music industry.