Dawn of the Dead?

After all the excitement of the halloween festivities and a heavy night on the cider, the thought of facing another working week may leave you feeling slightly zombified. Bits of decimated pumpkin scatter your street and your house looks post-apocalyptic after that ill advised halloween party (never again you say, until next year of course). Sound like you? Well, don't go fretting, all hope is not lost. The mighty power of Spotify will help you put the spring back in your step- slowly but surely.

Et voila:

Teenage Kicks- A Spotify Playlist

Tracklisting:

1. Jonsi- Animal Arithmetic
2. Elephant Parade- Friday Night (perfect on a Monday morning)
3. Radiohead- Idioteque
4. Peaches- Give 'Er
5. Cold War Kids- Hang Me Up to Dry
6. Dan le Sac and Scroobius Pip- Thou Shalt Always Kill (a favourite here at Irrelevant Twaddle)
7. Metric- Gimme Sympathy
8. Frightened Rabbit- Keep Yourself Warm
9. Lykke Li- Dance, Dance, Dance
10. Alessi's Ark- Magic Weather
11. Pixies- Monkey Gone to Heaven
12. The Go! Team- Get It Together
13. Newton Faulkner- Feels Like Home
14. Babyshambles- Albion
15. The Postmarks- Summers Never Seem to Last
16. Nicholas Stevenson- Cambridge
17. Johnny Foreigner- Sofacore
18. Mumford & Sons- Sigh No More
19. Noah & the Whale- Love is an Orchestra

We don't pretend to be miracle workers here, but 9 times out of 10 it's been proven to inject some much needed oomph back into even the most hungover scoundrel (as tried and tested on the Irrelevant Twaddle minion).

The Art of Silence

I apologise for my lack of substantial posts, a lot's been going on lately so my mind has been elsewhere. Truth be told, for the past month or so I've become musically apathetic. Now, for any normal music fan this might seem a little strange but nothing out of the ordinary: people go through music phases all the time, but for someone who has music practically coursing through her veins, this struck me as a little odd when I came to think about it.

I've been obsessed with music from as young as I can remember; my mother never ceases to bring up the embarrassing tale of when I was but 4 years old, sat in the car in traffic with my mum, Radiohead's Creep playing with the windows down. I'd only really just got past the stage of singing nursery rhymes but appeared to have fallen in love with this band, as I allegedly started singing 'You're so fuckin' special' at the top of my lungs. To me that was my first rockstar moment, to her it was completely and utterly cringeworthy, the looks she got from other drivers stuck in traffic were a picture to behold, so I'm told, I mean what innocent blonde haired blue eyed kid would be expected to be a fan of Thom Yorke's?

I was raised on a strict diet of The Smiths (hence my Morrissey addiction, see older posts for evidence), Placebo and the aforementioned Radiohead, and when music wasn't playing, there was always something else going on in the background, I can scarcely remember a time of silence in the past 17 years of my life at home. Everything was always so up tempo and loud that it's made me wonder why I've always needed something to block out the rest of the world.

So, a few Saturdays ago, with nothing to do, I logged on to the interweb as per usual, but instead of blasting some Pixies through my pathetic excuse for speakers or aurally attacking my neighbours with some Peaches, I just listened. I listened to the stillness of the house, the garden, the dog, everything- just to stoic and calm. Instead of being mortified of this sudden exposure to the world around me, I indulged in the quietness for the first time. Obviously I've been in silent conditions before, living in one of the most tested countries in Europe, but this was the first time I'd chosen to just sit and hear the silence, and I have to admit, it was a lot more powerful than anything Thom could have written.

So this is my weekly routine now. Instead of coming home from college and putting the first song I can find, playing it full throttle on my iTunes, I just sit and enjoy the nothingness.

I know this sounds very airy fairy and state of the obvious, but to me it was some kind of epiphany. In order to really enjoy music you have to be able to relish the silence that goes along with it. For if there was no silence, then the music wouldn't be half as fulfilling.

I'm taking a break from my blog, a mini hiatus if you will. What with college work and a thousand and one things to think about, I think I'll just enjoy the silence for a while.