Musical Moment: Jamie Lawson ('Wasn't Expecting That')

Earlier this year, British singer-songwriter Jamie Lawson was the first artist asked to sign to Ed Sheeran’s aptly named label, Gingerbread Man Records.  Equally talented and heart-meltingly soulful, it was a match made in singer-songwriter heaven.  Jamie’s first single, ‘Wasn’t Expecting That,’ which has skyrocketed to number one on U.K iTunes, tells the story of a couple, going back through their lives together.  It will LITERALLY have you all kinds of choked up.  Honestly, I’ve just watched it three times and I need a hug.  Perhaps I’m overtired, possibly hungover (don’t judge) or maybe, just maybe, I’m a sentimental ol’marshmallow, but weeping at my desk?... I wasn’t expecting THAT! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

"Oh and isn't it strange
How a life can be changed
In the flicker of the sweetest smile..."

Musical Moment: Walk The Moon ('Shut Up And Dance')

I still cannot help but jump for 1980’s joy when I hear this crazily catchy song by Walk The Moon.  It has definitely been one of my most played tracks of this summer.  

Inspired by when the band’s frontman, Nicholas Petricca, feeling creatively frustrated and having waited faaaar too long standing in a Los Angeles bar queue, was asked to ‘shut up and dance’ by a girl in a backless dress and beaten up red sneakers.  In an interview the singer has summarised the song's theme as "encouraging people to let go of whatever it is that’s bothering you and get into your body and out of your head."  Mission accomplished! Now, shut up and... 

"This woman is my destiny
She said, "Ooh-ooh-hoo,
Shut up and dance with me..."

Musical Moment: Ellie Goulding ('Love Me Like You Do')

Despite probably being the only woman on earth to have not read or seen 'Fifty Shades of Grey,' I am currently totally obsessed with Ellie Goulding’s latest song, written for the film's soundtrack.  ‘Love Me Like You Do,’ has been the fastest selling single of the year so far, knocking Mark Ronson off the top of the charts.  Clearly a catchy song, I do wonder however, if this musical furore maaaay also have a little something to do with the sporadic images of Jamie Dornan’s ripped torso flashing up in the music video?!... 

"You're the light, you're the night
You're the color of my blood
You're the cure, you're the pain
You're the only thing I wanna touch
Never knew that it could mean so much, so much..."

Musical Moment: Sam and the Womp ('Bom Bom')

Fronted by Bloem de Ligny, Sam and the Womp are an 8-piece British group who formed in 2009 who fuse Balkan Music, Jamaican Ska and disco (intrigued?!)  ‘Bom Bom’ was released earlier this month and is the perfect, euphoric, happy song to get you in the mood for the The Notting Hill Carnival this Bank Holiday weekend.  Enjoy! 

"But I'm so cool, and I'm so groovy,
when I go Bom Bom Bom!"

Wilderness Festival 2012

Last weekend I went to the idyllic Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire to enjoy the  funshine at Wilderness.  Organised by the team behind the Secret Garden Party and Lovebox, the two-year old festival is distinctly original and unlike any other I have been to.

With an emphasis on ‘feasting, lounging and partying,’ Wilderness attracts a diverse, family-friendly crowd (there were as many beer-hungry ravers as there were milk-hungry babies) as it combines music, food, talks, debates, outdoor pursuits and late-night parties in equal measure.

With a beautiful boating (and for the more brave/buff, skinny dipping) lake, horseriding, fly-fishing, a spa sanctuary with hot tubs, yoga classes, massage tents, screenings by Secret Cinema, theatre, talks, debates, an array of craft stalls and an exceptional array of delicious food, the whole occasion is both creative and relaxing.  Tim Harvey, who organises the festival said, “Wilderness is more than just a feast for the eyes and ears… It’s a place to indulge the senses, relax, and eat well.”  And Indulge I certainly did....

Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Lianne La Havas, Spiritualized, Crystal Fighters, Temper Trap and Wilco were all playing at the festival, but the real headliners were the celebrated chefs Yotam Ottolenghi, Fergus Henderson and Valentine Warner who all staged decadent banquets across the weekend.  There was also a very popular Moro Souk Tent (below) and the Thyme Cookery School were at the festival offering some excellent classes. 

The copious, delicious food stalls spread generously around the park were certainly not offering the usual greasy festival fodder… With Fin and Flounder, Poco Loco, Churros Bros, Annie Mae’s, and my favourite chilli wraps from Arancini Brothers ('World Famous in ALL Posh Towns!') I could have been rolled home on Sunday.

​​Below: Festival Style - I loved these unfussy, simple and chic looks.  

This year Wilderness joined forces with The Vintage Festival (previously held at London’s Southbank.) So, admist the more usual festival attire (flower garlands, hotpants, colourful Hunter wellies) there was fantastic retro and sexy pin-up fashion in abundance (left and below).

Adding to the eccentricity of this festival, there was an immense vintage market (which I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to vacate), a 1950’s beauty parlour, a roller disco, and a stunning swing/jazz club offering dance classes.

Below:  Not a festival trend I EVER wish to see again... Leave the tails to the children!

​Below:  I felt like Joan of Arc in this incredible Prangsta Costumiers Head Candy.

Love. Want. Need. Please. 

Below:  The wonderful Jack Savoretti
Watch my video of Jack singing 'Take Me Home,' one of my favourites, here.

The highlight of my weekend however, was The Old Vic Tunnels Masked Ball. An enormous masked crowd were led by an African percussion troupe in a midnight procession, from the Wilderness Stage into the Wychwood forest, for a magical extravaganza which had three DJs playing throughout the wood into the wee hours.

(Above: With You Magazine's Amy Williams and Old Vic Tunnel Director, Hamish Jenkinson.)  Amidst the corsets and stunning venetian masks I found myself, in a leopard print catsuit and cat mask, dancing alongside an array of heroic Batmen, a Skeletor, various furry faced animals, several morph suited revelers, and some bloke in a mankini…

Below: The Old Vic Tunnel's Masked Ball certainly put the 'Wild' into the Wilderness.

Early Bird tickets are already available for Wilderness 2013 here.
Sign. Me. Up.

Musical Moment: Fun ('We Are Young')

New York-based indie rock group Fun, comprising of Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff, have very loudly and very proudly brought rock music back. 

Their awesome single 'We Are Young' featuring Janelle Monáe topped the global music charts soon after being sung on on Glee (by Rachel and Finn) and being featured during the Super Bowl...

This song makes me wanna have FUN!

"Tonight, we are young, so let's set the world on fire, we can burn brighter than the sun..."

www.ournameisfun.com

Musical Moment - Lana Del Rey ('Video Games')

I have fallen in love with this 24-year-old former jazz singer (real name Lizzie Grant) from New York. She is a self-styled "gangster Nancy Sinatra" and has the most memorising face (those lips!) and haunting voice. Her old-school glamour reminds me of a 1960’s Priscilla Presley. I can’t wait for her album.

"It's you, it's you, it's all for you
Everything I do
I tell you all the time
Heaven is a place on earth with you
Tell me all the things you want to do
I heard that you like the bad girls
Honey, is that true?
It's better than I ever even knew
They say that the world was built for two
Only worth living if somebody is loving you
Baby now you do"

Musical Moment - Beyonce ('Best Thing I Never Had')

I love Beyonce as much as the next person… as long as that next person isn’t my boyfriend – he loooooooves Mrs Z - and the first scene of this music video will do nothing to suppress his crush.

Every one of us has someone (or sometwo… or somethree... hey, whose counting?!) that this song could be belted out to - so this song is dedicated to all the douche bags - the best things we never had…

Musical Moment - SoKo ('I'll Kill Her')

I love this song by SoKo - featured in a 2007 Stella McCartney fashion show – her frank, unapologetic threats to the blonde girl who is now dating the man she has imagined, in psychotic depth, to be ‘the one,’ are issued with the most perfectly distant, ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude, that only a French girl can pull off.
http://www.myspace.com/mysoko

"I would have met your friends, we would have had a drink or two
They would have liked me, coz sometimes i'm funny..."