June Favourites

Hi everyone!

~First of all, apologies for this horrendously late upload, but I’ve been suuuuper busy enjoying July - I’ve already started a mammoth blog post on that and then I forgot all about this one to be honest, so here is my disgustingly late upload, thank you for bearing with me and bothering to give this a read!~

I’ve decided to do a little bit of a breakdown and start a favourites series, where I’ll tell you about all of my favourite things about the previous month. It’s not just going to be physical things, it’ll include stuff like things I’ve done or experienced, things I’ve tried, things I’ve maybe only just discovered - the works. I’m hoping you all enjoy it, but if you don’t then ah well, at least we tried am I right?

June was a really busy month for me, I went to my first festival ever which you can hear/read all about here, I spent a lot of time being mad at Southern Rail and their appalling service (side-note: I completely stand with the staff on this issue, the company are at fault not their employees and dagnabbit Southern Fail sort it out ye?) I went to Lady Dinah’s which you can read all about here too! I also got paid a nice chunk of money because I’ve worked a lot of overtime lately because it’s summer and I don’t have a dual-contract like many of my pals so I’ve stayed in Bath mainly and racked up money that way in order to treat myself to some cool stuff. Said cool stuff consists mainly of vinyl and yummy food and booking trains to go cool places so happy days all round there. Said cool stuff is also all a part of this post, shocking I know. Let’s give this ‘favourites’ thing a go, shall we?

If you ever get a chance to get these albums or listen to them I urge you to, they're all so clever and beautiful for so many different reasons

Vinyl:

I bought a lot of vinyl in June, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot, like more than on food a lot. As you all know I have my beautiful record player and all my pals and people who know me know I have a pretty large record collection and possible addiction to buying vinyl, but it’s cheaper and far better for me than drugs so sorry not sorry. This month I was able to get my hands on some of my favourite albums ever and I’m gone tell you all about them

My thumb looks yuck I know, that's hyper-mobility and EDS for ya (But Killers vinyl always makes up for it)

Hot Fuss - The Killers

The Killers are one of those bands where you just can’t help but love them, and their debut album Hot Fuss is undeniably their best album beginning with ‘Jenny Was A Friend of Mine’ and transitioning flawlessly into noughties anthem  ‘Mr Brightside’ which everyone knows all the words to, and if you don’t then where have you been?! The album progresses and tells a story throughout that is so perfect it makes my heart happier than you’ll ever know. I know every word to every song they’ve ever done, but this album has a special place in my heart and I’ve been trying to track it down for ages on vinyl, so when I saw Banquet Records had pre-order available on the remastered album reissue I drunkenly impulse-bought it at 3am and it arrived a few days later and I listened to it three times and shouted along to every word (I’m pretty sure Trey was out, if not, sorry mate). It only cost me £18 as well, an absolute bargain for an absolute classic and staple for any indie kid’s collection.

This is my favourite Pulp album, and probably one of my most favourite albums of all time hands down, with rad artwork (and hey my thumb didn't do thing thing)

Different Class - Pulp

Mainstream music retailer HMV release limited edition vinyl every year the Saturday before Father’s day, and this year they re-issued every Pulp album alongside some limited edition coloured/marbled/reissued vinyl ideal for gifts for the fathers who deserved something special that day. They also discounted loads of amazing vinyl too, so this event is basically a HMV’s own record store day and I’m all about it. I managed to get my hands on Different Class and I was so excited because there were very few copies in Worthing’s store, but I got it and it’s so beautiful and every track is so well done. Jarvis Cocker’s words are more like poetry than lyrics and they fit with the rest of the band so well to create a unique and excellent album. This album is my favourite of theirs and has two Pulp songs everyone knows ‘Disco 2000’ and ‘Common People’ and having it on vinyl means so much more to me than anyone will ever know because it’s just one of those albums that I turn to when everything seems a bit weird and I feel a little lost. The whole album is a journey that exploits and highlights feelings and thoughts you had when you’re growing up - they’re all so relatable to pretty much anyone but people can relate to them differently which is hard to come across, but oh so beautiful. At £18.99, this album was an absolute steal and my only regret was not working more hours so I could’ve bought them all!

Patti Smith is one of the strongest and most incredible people ever, and her voice is beautiful and her lyrics otherworldly

Horses - Patti Smith

Patti Smith makes such beautiful music and has such a way with words that really appeals to me. She had one o the most beautiful voices I have ever heard, and on her first solo album, and also her debut album Horses, she is able to capture both the attention and the hearts of her listeners from the very first song. Poetic in her form again like Cocker from Pulp, Smith’s vocals tell various tales of her own experiences, and the raw emotion she portrays shows both her vulnerability and empowerment - her songs make me cry. She’s such an honest artist and I fell in love with her from this album alone as it was the first I heard. The album was on offer in the HMV sale at £12.99 and I couldn’t leave the store without it as it was the last copy and I knew I would end up regretting it as soon as I walked away. Albums always sound better on vinyl to me, and although it’s not an original like I may have preferred, it doesn’t sound as remastered as Pulp’s work and it has kept the little scratchy sounds between tracks that make my heart skip a beat, so happy days!

This beauty was a bargain buy, and a must-have for any record collector or music lover

Graceland - Paul Simon

The first time I heard this album was round my Auntie Di’s flat when I was helping her clean decorate her place, and she’s had an original copy that would make these little cracking noises and scratchy sounds which made me feel all warm and happy, they also made the songs sound way more authentic which I often find far nicer than remastered versions. It’s such a beautiful album and the artwork is divine. The album itself is a work of art and I do not feel it has gained anywhere near enough recognition as it should have done (what can I say, i’m a big fan) and I have made it my mission since to find an original copy of the album someday for myself. I was back home for Wildlife and I was checking out the little flea market shop in my hometown (I wanna recommend it by name, but I don’t remember it off by heart, it’s just around the corner of H&M in Worthing and deserves loads of credit because they sell some rad stuff!) and I found a mint condition copy with no scratches or even any dust, for only £3! I asked at the counter if it had been priced and placed correctly in store and said yes, and I told him I’d take it! It’s such a lovely album and is different to some of the stuff I usually listen to and what’s featured in this blog post, so go give it a go if you want something laid-back and beautiful to listen to!

I took this mainly to show everyone the size of Ulysses in comparison to other books that I love LOOK AT IT

Books:

Patti Smith's work, be it read, listened to or watched, is always best enjoyed with a mug of tea or warm beverage (as are all songs and books)

Just Kids - Patti Smith

Patti Smith’s brilliant ‘Just Kids’ is a semi-autobiographical work which also includes snippets of poetry as well as a reflection on her life. It is so beautifully written and reflects her life and her life’s work and highlights when the two intertwined and gives you a personal insight into her world in regards to her mentality, her thought-process, the way she writes and the way she acts. As a fan of Patti’s music and a book-lover, this book was a must for me to read. You feel such a personal connection to Patti when you read it, and it makes me cry every time. You can get a copy really cheap in HMV (I got mine for £2.99 when I bought my Muse vinyl about a year or so ago) and it’s worth every penny and all he time you’ll give it. I cannot recommend this highly enough and I re-read this this month whilst listening to the vinyl and I thought it would be criminal to not mention this too.

I had to read this, I read it three times and then I finally got my head around it, then I just read it for fun. I hate myself.

I would love to say half of it's an introduction, but there's literally 10 pages and then it gets straight into it, can you hear the sobbing?

James Joyce - Ulysses

I never thought that I would say that reading Ulysses has been fun in any way, shape or form, but it really kinda was once you didn’t have to read it for your degree and analyse everything. Once you get your head around Joyce’s unusual and somewhat unorthodox writing style, you really begin to appreciate his work and the brilliant way his mind works.It’s not worth me going into much detail about it, but it’s just brilliant if I’m honest and even though it’s basically a reworking of Homer’s The Odyssey, he has managed to capture moments that make you question your own existence and intentions as well as those of the characters. It’s worth the read, but you really have to bear in mind both the length and the complexity of the novel - it is not for those who want an easy or fast read, it will change your life, but for better or for worse I’ll let you decide.

TV:

I had been waiting a whole year and was so excited to get questions answered from previous seasons, and to see what's been happening to my favourite inmates at Litchfield

Orange is the New Black *NO SPOILERS*

It came back. It hit us all in the feels and made everyone question everything about the prisoners, the prison system in America, even America itself. I’d been waiting so long for the return of the show and it just made me so happy knowing it was after my exams were all over and done and all my coursework had been handed in. I didn’t manage to binge it all however, because I had a lot to do in regards to working and moving from place-to-place and generally making sure that everything was running smoothly. The show was hard hitting before, but this season was something else altogether and was far darker than any season before it, covering issues currently taking place in America regarding the treatment of prisoners and women. I refuse to spoil anything, but I urge you not to binge this because you will set off on an emotional rollercoaster with far more lows than highs, and you will end up in a pit of despair and sadness and be filled with such outrage you won’t know what to do - this is what I have been told by those who watched it all in one hit. 

That’s all, hope you found it interesting and worth the read, again apologies for the late upload but I’ve kinda moved out of halls and into a house as well as experiencing everything. I am hoping to make sure my July favourites is up mid-August at the very latest, so stay tuned! If you have any blog post suggestions or ideas I would love to hear them - feel free to let me know or just leave a little comment about whether or not you enjoyed - all feedback welcome!

It’s been real,

B x