TRACK | WESTCOAST | LANA DEL REY

I've been a fan of LDR's since Born To Die and even have listened to her old music before that era. It feels like forever since she released any new material. 

Today WESTCOAST off her second album ULTRAVIOLENCE got it's first airplay on Radio 1. 

First thoughts were it was quite Black Keys-esque which makes sense as it was produced by Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys. I really love the simplicity in the heavy guitar driven ballad and Lana's usual breathy emotionally tinged vocals. Her lyrics are still amazing and despite the retro feel it still sounds fresh and she literally never disappoints me.

If this song is anything to go by I'm really looking forward to the new album dropping.

What do you think of her new song?

LOVE VANESSA xx

UPDATE | NEW BLOG THEME

This is just a little update I've changed my theme now so it fits more with the kind of content I'm going to be posting from now on. Hope you like it and this is a sign of new phase for the blog. :)

LOVE VANESSA xx

THE GIG POST | BANKS

So last friday I went to see BANKS in concert at O2 Academy Oxford. If you don't know who BANKS is she's a singer from LA and her music is what I'd call electronic RnB with some Lana Del Rey/Lorde/Grimes vibes thrown in too. She's also the queen of wearing all black, a girl after my own heart.

I've been listening to her music since late 2013 and have loved everything so far, my favourite songs are Change & Brain.

The gig itself was sold out but was really short and went by too quickly. Time definitely flies when you're having fun. She was supported by Eclair Fifi on the entirety of this tour. I managed to get to the barrier so I had an unobstructed view of the stage which was brilliant as I'm only 5ft tall although I was wearing heels that night.

She performed songs from her EPs alongside two covers one of Aaliyah's Are You That Somebody and The Weeknd's What You Need. She also performed 2 songs Stick & Goddess from her album coming out in the summer. Her voice is amazing on record but live is truly phenomenal you really feel the vulnerability and the honesty of her lyrics.

Anyway I didn't take too many pictures as I was enjoying myself way too much to get my phone out but here are 2 of them. I did film the songs Stick and Waiting Game but I'm not going to be posting them online.

BANKS

LOVE VANESSA xx

THE FOOD POST | CÔTE

So as I stated in my last update post I would be looking at developing and changing what type of things I would be posting on here. One of those is going to be having a different type of post entitled with what I'm discussing. This post and all the future ones that will cover similar content are going to be called "The Food Post."

I recently visited Côte Brasserie in Oxford for one of my flatmates' 22nd birthday. It's a little restaurant that serves French food. It's a quaint and intimate place but I was slightly disappointed as it didn't have a very French vibe but that was not something to worry about at all.

I ordered Half Chargrilled ‘Breton’ Chicken with Frites which was effectively just glorified chicken and chips but it was lovely and tasted delicious.

And while my friends had some wine I was the responsible one with my Coca Cola ha ha. :)

All in all it was a nice meal but the restaurant was just a tad pricey for some of the food but I was paying for the atmosphere and would still recommend it if you happen to find yourself in Oxford anytime soon.

LOVE VANESSA xx

UPDATE | IT'S BEEN A WHILE...

Hello,

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend. Well as the title says it's been a while since I actually posted anything on my blog which is very remiss of me. I say it's been a while it's been 4 months... so apologies to you lovely followers.
Every time I decided to sit down and write something assignments would need doing and I'd put blogging on the back burner again. Also I'd struggle to actually write anything decent, I'm kind of at that early stage of blogging where I'm testing the waters and trying to work out what fits. But I've gotten myself a diary and intend to use it to manage my time better so blogging can have space to actually happen.

So hopefully I can continually update my blog more often. I was at London Fashion Weekend earlier today and was watching the Social & Creative Careers talk with Abisola Omole, Shini Park of Park and Cube and Serena Guen of Suitcase Magazine. What was really prevalent in the talk was that if you're serious about blogging or intending to be it's all about consistency and constantly creating content. Also you don't necessarily need to have studied a subject e.g fashion to blog about it. After this I was feeling incredibly inspired by the talk which also kick-started me getting back into the blogging game.

I was thinking I could post as regular posts like monthly favourites which I used to do or a round up of my week although I mostly study during the week so not sure how that would pan out ha ha. Any suggestions would be mightily appreciated. :D

LOVE VANESSA xx

THE MOVIE POST | THOR THE DARK WORLD

So I waited till Thor The Dark World was released in the US to write my review. I live in the UK so luckily the film came out on the 30th October.

Have to say there was a lot to live up to after the massive success of The Avengers & Iron Man 3 didn't really truly accomplish that task.

This is where Thor The Dark World is a success. It is a refreshing take on the Norse God of Thunder's adventures in Asgard & beyond. A far funnier and more realist approach to his trajectory and no less Shakespearean than the first Thor.

Thor The Dark World is basically about Thor trying to save the universe from the darkness the elves of Svartalfheim headed by Malekith intend to plunge it into. In order to do this he must enlist Loki's help and thus brotherly bonding and a road-trip ensue.

Thor is brilliant. Chris Hemsworth portraying him as a young man coming to terms with the fact he's becoming King and trying to protect the nine realms and those that he loves; Jane.

Sif & the Warriors Three have more of a role as does Heimdall & Darcy. Selvig is hilarious running naked around Stone Henge talking about the Convergence.

But the one character who steals every scene he is in is Loki. Tom Hiddleston is Hamlet like. He gives the character depth and complexity mixing vulnerability with indifference, anger and biting sarcasm. I've been a long term fan of Hiddleston's for about 5 years now and it's great that he's been given such an amazing and intelligent role as Loki.

The movie overall is funny, sad and there are so many twists and turns that you find yourself asking what is going on. If you like Game of Thrones you may like the tone of this film. The ending is particularly interesting and I wonder how Thor 3 will play out if that movie does indeed happen (nothing has been confirmed). The two after-credits scenes are intriguing and set up Thor's placement in the next Avengers film The Avengers Age Of Ultron and Thanos' role in terms of the Infinity Gems.

I really enjoyed this movie and can not recommend it enough, so if you haven't gone to the cinema to see it yet, go watch it!

LOVE VANESSA xx

THE BOOK POST | IT BY ALEXA CHUNG

Hello, 

I recently bought Alexa Chung's book "It" and I thought I would do a little review so here goes...

Now I'm not one to usually read something just because there is a lot of hype around the book it happens fairly rarely. Which is why it took me a while to decide whether I wanted to purchase Alexa Chung's book "It." 

I love Alexa Chung don't get me wrong, I think her style is the perfect mix of feminine and masculine but I wasn't sure about her writing a book. I love books but I don't tend to read biographies or anything close to that type of book. On this occasion I threw down the gauntlet and I decided to buy Alexa's book. I don't regret it one bit. It's not your typical biography it has a lot of photos and illustrations and very minimal writing. It doesn't tell you about her whole life but she has written little anecdotes about her style icons, her friends and a few tidbits about when she was younger. If you're looking for tips and tricks from her you probably wouldn't find many in the book but that's not too much of a detriment to the idea of the book at all. 

For me in a literary sense it's good but it fairs better in terms of the visual elements, it would definitely make a great coffee-table read. Overall I'm pretty happy that I bought the book it's nice that she has given us an opportunity to get to know the girl underneath the public persona. 

Have any of you read Alexa's book? What did you think of it?

LOVE VANESSA xx