Time Capsule Discovery!

I’m currently in process of moving house, my parents are moving and as an unemployed ex-student I’m going with them.  This is going to be a tough time as I’ve lived here my whole life. My rooms almost packed and in the process I’ve come across some lovely memories and hilarious mementoes of my life. 

One of the things I found was a letter from my Gran.  We did a time capsule project at school when I was 12 and had to ask a relative to write a letter predicting what we would be doing in 6 years, not to be opened until we were 18. 

Here’s my Grans Predictions (some of them not far off!)

17/06/2003

Dear Lily,

You are now eighteen and these predictions I made for your six years ago.

You will have now decided which University you would like to go to. You will have gained the highest grades in your music, and play regularly in an orchestra.

You have a boyfriend also in the Orchestra, but have no intentions of getting married until you have finished your education and had a chance to see something of the world. Maybe playing in an orchestra abroad, Vienna perhaps.

I hope you will continue with your music, you have been so lucky to have had such opportunities to study it. It is something you will always be able to use to your advantage, either for pleasure or to earn your living with.

I think teaching will be another career you have considered.

Infants and Juniors so you will teach a variety of subjects.

I am sure you will be successful in whatever you decide to do.

All my best wishes for your future,

From Granny.

She was not far off, and four years after my 18^th Birthday she is still pretty accurate!  I may not have achieved the highest grades possible throughout my education but will graduate in less than a month with a degree I'm proud of and I continue to play regularly in orchestras (although I've never had a boyfriend who's been in the orchestra with me!).  Traveling to Vienna with an orchestra is looking pretty unlikely in my future, however I was lucky enough travel to Germany, France , Edinburgh, Belgium and the USA with music tours!  I love her determination that I won’t marry until I’ve seen the world, my cousin who is a pilot has definitely managed to see more of it than me so far though.  I will definitely be continuing with my music, and for her to see this in me when I was 12 makes me confident it was the right path for me, whether it ends up as my hobbie or career.  Her teaching prediction is also accurate, I teach privately and have considered going into schools, however teaching a variety of subjects to primary school children isn't really for me. 

I’m tempted to ask her to write me another letter for me to open when I’m 30, and see whether these predictions are so accurate.

Paloma Faith and Laura Mvula - O2 Arena June 7th 2013

As my Mum’s 50^th Birthday present I brought her tickets to see Paloma Faith at the O2 with support from Laura Mvula. It was a night to celebrate as that was also the day of my final recital at Uni marking the end of my degree.

I was curious to see how Laura Mvula would fill such a huge arena as the O2 but she did not disappoint. She was wearing the most amazing peplum white skirt which made her stand out despite the fact that we were seated right at the back of the arena.  Her voice is so pure and beautiful that she soon had the whole venue entranced, and her chatter between songs only made her even more likable.

Paloma’s show however blew away all my expectations, I had expected a big show but was not sure whether the music would completely grip me as I had not been a big fan of her recorded material (prior to this gig at least!).  The show begun with her walking onto an empty stage, starting a record player with a slightly cheesy voiceover and singing a deliciously simple song.  The shows basic premise was that she began with nothing, and this was demonstrated beautifully with this serene opening.

As the show progressed more and more staging and musicians were added, and I have to say I did not immediately notice this happening, Paloma is such a captivating performer that this was almost not essential.  She has such a powerful voice, with only a few blips at the beginning which were completely forgotten.  She introduced her support, Laura Mvula, back on stage for a brilliant version of I Can’t Stand the Rain.

I loved all her soul covers, which fitted perfectly alongside her own material, particularly Liam Baileys who joined her on stage for a cover of Dark End of the Street.

Her performance with an artist who was new to me was the highlight of my night, Ty Taylor from the band Vintage Trouble, who was slightly reminiscent of performances I've watched of Otis Redding.

Paloma has such a bubbly personality that she really made the whole arena feel like they were her friends, she came from nothing and then, in her words, “Half filled the O2 Arena”.  It was obvious how big a deal this gig was for her, which was lovely as sometimes artists seem to take their luck for granted.  She was hilarious at the end when, instead of taking a bow and walking off she listed everybody’s names, even the stage crew (who were wearing tuxedo’s throughout the show) reading their names from a soggy piece of paper “There’s been a spillage!!”

Overall, this gig made me love Paloma as an artist, as well as the funny personality with the amazing dress sense I'd seen on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, she really knows how to put on a show!

The End is Near!

I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone from starting this blog with 6 months left, to now, with only just over 2 weeks to go! The dreaded Professional Investigation is almost done, 7000 words about Museum PR and then it’s just two assessed performance and I’m done!  I’ll be totally honest and say that the prospect of life after Uni is terrifying; this has come as a surprise for me as after placement I expected finding a job to be an easy ride. How wrong I was. 

                                                                                     

At the moment it does honestly feel like after June there’s just a big black hole resembling the rest of my life, I know this is slightly melodramatic.  Considering your options can present real challenges, I’ve been applying for jobs, which are exactly what I did on my placement and subsequent employment at the Horniman Museum for 15 months and getting rejections stating ‘not enough relevant experience’. What more do they want? After stating every single job specification in the application, and providing examples of how I have done exactly that job before, how can I be told I don’t have relevant experience, or that other applicants more closely matched the criteria for the role?

Perhaps my hearts just not in the applications after receiving so many rejections.

Or maybe the idiots at the University careers fair were right; with a music degree we can “just stand in the corner and play to the employees”, although if a company wants to pay me a decent wage to do this I’d be happy.  Maybe I’ll follow those comments up and write to them.

For any graduate finding employment is a challenge, and we are even being told that nowadays to get your dream job you need to go through 2 or 3 more internships, not great if your also trying to save to move out of home and start your own life.

I’m going to keep my options open and start applying for jobs I really have my heart set on, whether in the sector I did my placement or in other areas I'm passionate about, and see where that takes me. Wish me luck!

Favourite Music at the Moment!

Here is some of my favourite music at the moment, the songs I find I'm repeatedly listening to and not getting sick of ... yet!

Laura Mvula

Her voice is divine and really refreshing. I came across her partly through being an avid listener of BBC 6music but mainly through her performance of Green Garden on Graham Norton.

I love this video! It makes me want it to be summer, to take some speakers to a woods and do the dance routine.

In contrast to the dancy, fun vibe of Green Garden I also love her track, She. It's definitely going on my "De-stress" playlist. 

James Blake

I've been a fan of James Blake for a while, I love listening to his self titled album James Blake when on trains for some reason, it's perfect to mentally escape the crowds. His new track does not disappoint!

Anna Wise

A good friend introduced me to Anna Wise's stuff and this track has been played frequently ever since.  

Jessie Ware

It's not just the song that attracted me to include this in my list, the video is beautiful! I love the clothes and some of the shots look like they've been pulled straight from the pages of Vogue.  

The Orb

This isn't a new track, but is new to me! I came across it while watching a programme about Steve Reich, I love the way they incorporate the spoken word with the beat and Reich samples.  It reminds me a bit of Public Service Broadcasting too. 

The 3 Pony Advert

So this doesn't really fit in with the title of this post, but I wanted to share it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, it's made me giggle a lot. 

The War Room - Public Service Broadcasting

I love it when you come across a band, album or just a song that grabs you and won’t let you go.  I recently came across Public Service Broadcastings EP The War Room and have found myself listening to it a few times a day ever since.  The EP evokes a real sense of history during World War II in Britain.  The use of the samples from old public information films and propaganda work with the bands music to create the sense of anticipation, fear and national pride experienced during this horrific period in history.  

If War Should Come, the first track on the EP, creates a brilliant sense of anticipation and fear at the prospect of war.  I admire the bravery shown through the old speeches and the way the music builds up brilliantly evokes how I think Britain must have felt, on the brink of war.

“No-one in this country wants war, but if war should come don’t be alarmed, keep of good heart, whatever happens, Britain is a nation prepared”

The track ends with the recognisable quote from Prime Minister Chamberlain, “I have to tell you now, this country is at war” The whole sense of the build up, the fighting spirit and then the melancholic tones stating that the war has started is so moving and stirs emotions that no text book could ever evoke.

London Can Take It begins with the haunting sound of the air raid siren, I can’t imagine the fear that must of struck upon hearing this and having to put your life on hold until the night was over.  The sample used in this track really evokes the bravery of Londoners during this time.

 “These are not Hollywood sound effects, this is the music they play every night in London, the symphony of war”

London is personified throughout the track, and even compared to a boxer; “The sign of a great fighter is can he get up from the floor after being knocked down. London does this every morning”. As a Londoner with so much passion for my home city, this track creates a sense of pride for the cities ancestors who lived through this terrible time with such strength, as the track repeatedly states, “London can take it”.

Spitfire comes as a welcome relief from the intensely moving tracks previously and the music really evokes the excitement of the planes that were used, which is still felt by thousands of families who attend air shows every summer! I used to love running into the garden on a really hot summers day to watch the warplanes fly over on their way to or from an air show.  However the samples used demonstrate the horror of these machines (which I think we can easily forget).

 “It isn’t exactly a bird I’m creating is it, at least its a curious sort of bird, a bird that breathes fire and spits out death and destruction, a spitfire bird”.

Dig For Victory is the penultimate track, much calmer than Spitfire however still with the driving force powering through it demonstrating the power of civilians, “Young men, young woman, children, old men: they know that food is just an important weapon of war as guns.”. Dig For Victory is a phrase most people must be familiar with and this track brilliantly evokes the sense of powering together to support troops overseas and to support each other. The driving rhythms really evoke this sense of camaraderie.

The most moving and evocative track on the EP is Waltz for George, with significantly less instrumentation and a near continuous sample telling of the horrors at the end of the war, with soldiers "tired .. blood stained" with "boots that hadn't been off for five days".  

The EP ends with a sentence that I find truly haunting as the music fades to nothing, “It was outstanding to walk along carriage after carriage full of soldiers and to find in each one … silence. And so the men of the BEF came home” The simplicity of this track makes it one of the most beautiful and evocative tracks on the EP.

I love this EP; I love how it makes me cry and feel such pride for my ancestors and what they did for Britain.  I’m going to see the band live in March and can’t wait to see how their live shows are put together, and if you haven’t heard the EP yet, what are you doing? 
Listen to it here - http://publicservicebroadcasting.net/music/ 

5 Goals for 22!

With just a few days until I turn the big 22 I’ve found myself reflecting on my year as a 21 year old and what I hope to achieve when 22.  I couldn’t wait to be 22 when I was little, mainly because it is the door number of the house I have lived in for my whole life and, as embarrassing as it sounds, I always thought it would be amazing to be the age which is also my door number. I feel for people who live in numbers they are unlikely to reach …

Anyway, moving on from that revelation, I thought 22 would be an age where you’re pretty sorted – how naïve I was! Most people make lists of things to do before they are 30, but as that’s still 8 years off I’ll make a slightly more realistic and hopefully feasible list of things to do before I’m 23.

1.     Get a job – sounds simple but have a feeling it won’t be. I have started applying to a few positions so we’ll see. Dream situation in a year would be to be settled in a job I love with enough money to sustain my shopping and Café Nero fudge cake habits

Heaven on a plate!

2.      Live in London (and not Croydon) – also sounds simple but probably won’t be, it is somewhat reliant on number 1 working out. Also preferably live in a really cute quirky place, Hugh Grants house with the blue door in Notting Hill would be quite nice … I can dream.

3.     Keep practising the violin – now that I have decided I do want a job rather than just trying to wing it as a musician for a bit I’m determined to keep practising a little bit every few days (it’s surprising how quickly you start to loose it!)

4.     Go on an amazing holiday again! 2012 saw me visiting New York and Dublin so I want 2013 to bring me another great adventure.  Somewhere hot would be nice, especially if a heat wave that lasts longer than 2 days fails to appear yet again here in sunny Britain

5.     Learn to walk in heels. I love the way heels look and the way they can bring a whole outfit together yet, at a fairly tall 5ft10ish, I am yet to master the art of walking in them without looking like a penguin stuck in a desert.

Aiming too high??
http://eu.christianlouboutin.com/uk_en/shop/women/very-prive-patent-9.html

I’ll stick to five, seems fairly reasonable. Let’s see how I do over the next 12 months!