2015 Review; Bake, Eat & Listen

2015 in review

2015 was a year that happened. I say happened, as outside of 2 or 3 notable bits (I started a new job, met an awesome lady, popped to Berlin and watched a LOT of (Progress) wrestling) it’s been a fairly average year. What with moving several times it never really got going properly. I know that for many it was probably a pretty big and action packed year, so sit down and take a swig of your January inspired “detox” juice and listen to me wittering away about the previous calendar year. I’ll be going through my favourite musical releases, favourite food eaten out and my favourite bakes from the blog. If you’re interested to hear a few other bits about what I did this year then go check out some words on Berlin and Scotland, and go follow me on instagram and twitter to take a look back at snaps and rambles.

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Music Monthly: October

Won’t lie, this hasn’t been the best month for me in terms of listening to anything particularly different. In part because I’ve been listening to a couple of the albums I mentioned in my last round up. Namely TWIABP – Harmlessness and Shit Present. That doesn’t mean I’ve completely neglected it though. So without further ado:

Foxing – Dealer

Sad music all round this month. This is the second album from this lot, and it’s a superb follow up to The Albatross (which is one of my favourite sad albums of the last few years). Perfect for both sunny autumn days and dark, dank misty autumn nights I highly recommend this album. The whole album just feels like a step up from Albatross and has a generally “bigger” and more mature sound. I’ve still not seen this band and missed them in the summer when they came across with Tigers Jaw because of a family wedding. They’re high on my “must see” list.

Further Listening:
The Medic (Albatross)
Bloodhound (Albatross)
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Music Monthly: August Jams

It amazes me that it’s somehow part way into September already. The temperature has already dropped and British Summer Time is coming to an end. So what you’re all eagerly anticipating (or not as I don’t think anyone reads these particular posts) is of course my Music Monthly (old posts here) post for August. With Hevy Fest at the start and a trip to Berlin it’s been a fairly playlist heavy month. But I’ll start with a band (and then a couple of playlists which I listen to fairly often).

Thrice – Back Catalogue

They are my favourite band and have been for many years. They reformed and headlined Hevy this year (the main reason I was there). They basically matured musically as my own tastes started to mature. I could go on for a while here so I’m just going to stick a playlist of all of their songs for you to educate yourselves with instead.

Top picks: Red Sky (Vheissu), In Exile (Beggars), Anthology (Major/Minor), Phoenix Ignition (Identity Crisis), Silhouette (The Artist In The Ambulance), Image Of The Invisible (Vheissu).

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Monthly Music – July Jams

Well talk about a mixed month when it comes to the weather. I’ll be the first to say that the weather does effect the music I listen to. When it’s dark and rainy I’m far more likely to get either some sad jams or some form of post rock on the go. So here comes my July Jams, the second in my Monthly Music series (see June here). This month had both extremes, it started with glorious sunshine, and rather than my usual go to pop-punk playlists (bands like Set Your Goals, Four Year Strong, NFG & Modern Baseball) I wanted something to reflect my current mood, and at the start of July it was pretty damn good.

I’ve a few gigs coming up in August so my suggestions from then will likely feature a few of them. These include the likes of Hevy Fest (Thrice, Coheed & Cambria, Dillinger Escape Plan etc), The Smith Street Band and American Football.

La Luz – It’s Alive

This quartet from Seattle play infectious surf punk that’ll have you dancing and swaying your way around the living room and make you think you’re at the beach. Absolutely perfect for a summers day or for a day you want to pretend is sunny. I went along to see them in Leeds a couple of years ago and despite being full of jet lag after returning from a couple of weeks in the States at Fest in Gainesville they managed to get me up and dancing. The album is from 2013 and they’ve another being released soon, so keep your eyes out:

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Monthly Music – June Jams

Monthly Music June

I like music, in fact I’d go as far as saying I love music. As anyone that follows me on twitter or Instagram will know, or anyone that has seen any of my posts about festivals I’ve travelled around the world to get to, I talk about music quite a lot. I spend a fair bit of time recommending music to other people as well. So I’ve decided that I’m going to start doing monthly round-ups of bands/music I’ve been listening to for that month.

Worth noting is that there is almost always an underlying amount of Thrice, The Hotelier, The Smith Street and various Post Rock bands to go alongside this. But I’ll try and keep this on either new discoveries or bands that have really stuck that month.

I listen to a lot of sad jams (read old school emo a la American Football), punk rock, post rock and pop punk but there may well be something here for everyone’s tastes so don’t discount anything. If you’re interested then follow me on Spotify

Somos – Temple of Plenty
At the start of the month I asked a few of my friends for some recommendations and Somos were one of those. I’ve been listening to this album on repeat ever since. Think undertones of American Football but with a slightly more upbeat and poppy vibe. Plenty of singalongs and perfect for summer.

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