Life For Teenagers- Euphoria

Diary #2

Feeling Good

I thought today I'd talk about something positive! Feeling euphoric, elated, happy, excited and joyful is a great thing, but how do you get to feeling like this?

1. Find something you enjoy doing.
I do singing and acting and feel great when Im up on stage and enjoying myself. Others may find doing a certain sport will help them achieve a positive state of mind.

2. Never get pressured.
Try and stay out of pressure as much as you can, it will only stress you out. If you're going to offer to do something, make sure you can before you say you will, if you're running behind you will only get stressed. Never put too much strain on yourself either.

3. Only do things you want to do.
I know there are things you don't get choice in (like compulsory subjects at school) but where possible do things how you want to do them. Make things fit around you if you can. In my case, I'd refuse to do a song if I didn't enjoy it as it will only stress me out and make me miserable

4. Be adventurous.
Take a risk every now and again. Obviously without contradicting the first 3 points, you need to take a leap into the unknown every now and again. If you don't like it then stop, if you do then great, continue and you can do the first 3 points!

5. Be helpful.
There is no greater feeling than helping someone else. This doesn't always mean charity work, it can be being polite or having basic manners. Simple things go a long way.

I hope if you try this then you will feel better yourself! When you're happy it will also help to make others happy!

Charlotte Church- Glitterbombed

Review #4

Charlotte Church is known for originally being a choir girl but soon became a 'Crazy chick' and did a Pop album. Now she's gone down the alternative route with her new track Glitterbombed. It is heavily reliant on the music but her vocals really shine in the chorus with a belter of a hight note- which is enforced from years of her classical music training.
The song takes deep drumming, synthesisers and an overdrive guitar and puts them all together to create what can only be described as an epic-movie-style-soundtrack sound. It has that full feel that is needed to fill out a film. But it also is marketable as an indie or alt piece of music as it takes on a style that hasn't been seen since the 80's. It takes a slow break in the middle accompanied by 'pick guitar' and some sic-fi sounds which then drops back into the chorus full throttle.
It was released today (December 20th) and is definitely a track to grab!

Click here to listen to it as there is no Music video!!

Life for Teenagers - Exams

Diary #1

EXAMS!!

The end of term is nearing and the Christmas holidays are fast approaching but for Year 11's across the UK, its not such a happy holidays this year. With exams in January it can only mean one thing. Revision. Where do you start? I mean I've got an external (So not in school) singing exam tomorrow so have been practicing for that first. I want to spend time with my family though and exams don't matter as much to me. That will differ from person to person. I'm more of a homely type of guy whereas others are more literate and will revise like mad.
I'm also very lucky and have at least 5 days between every exam so have lots of time to spend on one particular subject.
My main thing with exams is to not stress. I'd rather have a cool head than cram information in and panic. I find it works for me and when I get stressed I get annoyed really easily and let it out on others. I mean what good is panicking? Where is it going to get you other than no-where?
For those that do have exams good luck though! Just remember to keep calm and carry on!

One Direction- Kiss You

First Impression #2

Kiss you is the second US single from One Directions 2nd album Take Me Home. It is an uptempo track that runs for just over 3 mins. Based around skilled guitar rifts and drum beats it is a really uplifting song on my first listen. The verse and chorus sound like they are from different songs which is reminiscent of Biology by Girls Aloud which was separate songs at first. I notice that the album title also comes from this song as well, which is always a great find when you listen to an album!
The lyrics are fast and catchy for the verse, but then change and slow for the chorus. There is also a very catchy YEAH YEAH YEAH which is a significant base of the song. It is quite a generic pop sound, but does have appeal to that rock-pop genre as well and it's something I don't regret trying out!
Unfortunately there is no music video for this yet so I'm going to put the link to the 'Bring me to 1D: Kiss you premiere' where it shows the preview of the video.
WARNING: Contains screaming fan girls!

Ed Sheeran- Give me Love

First Impression #1

In these posts i'll be listening to a song I've never heard of before and giving a first impression review.
Give me love is the final single from Sheeran's debut album + and was released on the 21st November 2012.
My first listen was much more than I expected from Sheeran. He is an acoustic guitarist and that is what I was expecting to hear more of, but I was surprised with the amount of other live instruments used. There are some lovely strings underlying the song that add to the love song and give it a movie quality feel. The bridge of the song isn't what I was expecting. But in a bad way this time, it has some weird voice effects added so his voice is really deep. His vocal acrobatics are fab above this, but the low parts are really off-putting.
The music video plays on the idea of cupids arrow which starts with what appears to be a murder. There is some weird stuff where she has wings and Sheeran only features in the background of the video.
This song has definitely opened my eyes to Ed Sheeran's music and I think I can consider much more of him as Im not really a fan of Ed Sheeran.

Rita Ora- Radioactive

Review #3

Radioactive is the upcoming single from Rita Ora. It is going to be released on 11th February 2013 so a while before it's single release, but is available as part of the album already.
This song is a lot more electronic and plays on the club element of ORA as opposed to the rock music also included. The album itself is quite varied and at a first listen it is maybe a bit over-done and doesn't actually give an amazing impression, but this song is one that I did really like when I listened.
It has a repetitive beat, but not annoying like some songs in a club do. It has a funky piano part that runs throughout and makes this song quite vintage for a club. The lyrics are generic club lyrics and nothing special, but theres nothing wrong as its a song meant for partying.
Overall I'd say it is a highlight to ORA and is a nice tie between the more club and RnB music with the Rock Pop music included.

Will.I.Am Ft. Britney Spears- Scream & Shout

Review #2 

Next to James Arthur's Impossible, this is the second song competing for Sundays Number 1. This song is more heavily based on the electronic sound produced by Will.I.Am so is more of a club track than a pop track. It's ridiculously catchy, repetitive and isn't too heavy for a club song. The beat doesn't ever 'drop' so it stays light. One thing I adore about Will.I.Am is that he admits that he can't sing and this is shown through the heavy auto-tuning, but it does add to the feel of the song being more produced and electronic. The feature of Britney is a great addition, but one needed? Her parts are some of the best in the song, but I feel like she isn't used enough. We know she can sing, but she is also auto-tuned just as much as Will.I.Am.
I do like this song and do think it is at a good tipping point between the pop and club worlds. I don't think it will get Number 1 due to the sheer mass of sales from James Arthur, but it doesn't take away from the song itself and I'm sure in other weeks it could shift.

WARNING: Video contains swearing.

James Arthur- Impossible

Review #1

The X Factor final saw James Arthur crowned as the winner. This meant the release of his cover of Shontelle's Impossible. It is really a beautiful song and I adore the original. However James Arthur's urban edge really adds to the depth of the song and makes it feel like it means much more. It feels like some of the more electronic sounds do assist the song in it's meaning and message. The mid to slow tempo makes it easy to listen to as it isn't so fast that it become sangry, but isn't so slow that it's boring. 

The release is also this years X Factor charity single. This year the cause is Together for short lives which helps to fund research and projects for young people with life threatening diseases and conditions that will cause them to die at a young age. This is a fantastic cause, I think it does deserve the money and with this song being such a hit I can see lots of money and awareness of this charity coming around.

The rendition of the song is already the fastest selling single of any X Factor winner beating Alexandra Burkes previous record. I think it is very likely to become the No.1 on Sunday which will be great as the original only ever reached Number 9 in the UK charts. 

I am very impressed with this winners single as it isn't the power-ballad that normally wins. I think James Arthur is definitely a modern artist that will sell records and make meaningful music.