Albums that mean something to me...

1. Vanessa Carlton – Harmonium

2. Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit

3. The Kooks – Inside Out

4. How I Became The Bomb – Let’s Go

5. Delta Goodrem – Mistaken Identity

6. Bond - Born

7. Joan As Policewoman – Real Life

8. High School Musical 3 – Senior Year

9. Garden State Soundtrack

10. CSS - Cansei De Ser Sexy

Vanessa Carlton’s ‘Harmonium’ is my lucky gem. I asked for it for Christmas one year, knowing I probably wouldn’t get it; the record was quite obscure. So opening it up on Christmas morning is just one of those moments I’ll never forget. The track ‘Half a week before the winter’ showcases Carlton’s earthy voice; the use of twinkling harps, arpeggiated piano patterns and the delicate oboe along the top all altogether remind me of winter; I’d play that song and look out my bedroom window at the snow settling on the ground; even the grimmest of back lanes can be made beautiful when coated with snow.

I first heard of Belle and Sebastian in school; I was reading a series of books, and the main character used to listen to Belle and Sebastian records, and I thought, ‘that band sounds really kooky’. I bought ‘The Life Pursuit’ having not heard any other stuff. Now I adore the band. It’s not their best album, but it was the first one I bought, and that rush of anticipation still gets me every time I listen to it.

The Kooks’ ‘Inside Out’ is a record bursting with nostalgia. I was in college at the time, my friend Holly and I would listen to this album and joke that we knew it ‘inside-out’, yes, it wasn’t a funny joke, but itmade us laugh. Luke Pritchard’s simple yet edgy voice, along with his intricate guitar picking all help make for a listen which is as raw as a knee scuffed on the first day of school.

How I became The Bomb aren’t well known, I saw them quite randomly in a bar in Huddersfield. When I drove back home for the summer, I played this in the car; there’s something quite exhilarating screaming the words "Fat girls talk about cardio, oh oh oh" at 70mph on the motorway, no seriously, it’s the ideal bitchty-girls therapy session. A good rant record; ‘you think you’re so much better than me’ is another one.

Ever since I was about 14 I was addicted to watching Neighbours. My addiction got so bad I made several 'Best Of' videos where I'd tape an episode and clip the best bits...you get the jist. It was on hereI first was introduced to Delta Goodrem, who played my favourite character, Nina Tucker.

After leaving Neighbours, Goodrem suffered from Hodgkins Lymphoma, and, for one reason or another, I sympathised with her, probably because my health wasn't too well during that period also. Mistaken Identity reflects on the pain and suffering. It is dark, mysterious, and at times so heart-achingly tragic. The lyrics, "I was always walking one step ahead, or so I thought until the monster crawled into my bed" really struck a chord with me. I liked the way Delta personified cancer, she really tried to explain to her fans exactly what that period of her life was like. I could go on for hours about Delta Goodrem, but I'll save it for a rainy day...

I saw Joan As Policewoman at a Guillemot’s gig, and I just couldn’t keep my eyes off her. She played a glittery acoustic violin, and it was there and then I began my on/off lesbian affair with this girl. ‘Real Life’ takes several listens to get to grips with, but like the best cream cakes and cherryade, they may give you a long-standing ulcer, but right now it’s exactly what Dr Fiction ordered by the bucket load.

It’s hard to choose a favourite among the High School Musical albums, but I’ve settled on the third one. Oh the decisions in life we have to make!

People can laugh and turn their noses up, but I don’t care, I’m proud of my music tastes; I don’t hide my HSM bedcovers when my boyfriend comes round nor am I ashamed of using my HSM cups, notepads, underwear set, oops... did I just share too much? Anyway, aside from my eternal love for Zac Efron, this is an inspirational and happy-go-lucky album; the one record that you should always be able to rely on to make life taste a little more like sprinkled sugar on top.

First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit

Two sisters from Sweden are lost in a forest that is Planet Earth; little pixies who can’t find their way home so sing songs about housewives, animals, baking and love. They sway about on stage with their cherub-like instruments, 70’s middle-partings and perfect harmonies. After only one gig I am already under the spell of First Aid Kit.
I thought everyone would fall in love with them but, evidently not:
After including them on a party playlist on iTunes, a friend of mine asked to turn the song over - like her music is much better than mine??!
It proves that this band of harmonies as lush as warm butter on toasted bread are not everyone's cup of tea. And for once this makes me happy; I'd prefer a handful of people completely appreciating the Scandinavian pair than an army of clueless twits 'lavvvving' them, any day :)

How come all non-conformists look the same?

How come all non-conformists look the same?

When did music and fashion become a joint force not to be reckoned with?

Does music dictate fashion?

Or does fashion dictate music?

One of the first times fashion and music became a marketable concept was in the early Seventies, when Vivienne Westwood met Malcolm Maclaren, and they opened the King's Road emporium. Maclaren's band, The Sex Pistols, wore Westwood's anti-fashion designs to their first gig.

Punk was born.

The iconic figure of Sid Vicious in a ripped T-shirt continues to remind us of the power of the image and defines a turning point in the history of style.

Every group in society has their own clique, and each clique has their own cultures, characteristics and ‘rules’ one must abide by, music

being one of the most important elements.

It is becoming increasingly clear that fashion is not only dictating music, but the personalities and definitions of ‘cool’.

Today, fashion dictates our lives and what we wear. Whether at a party or at work, we want our dress to reflect our taste and attitude. On other occasions, we are keener on making a personal style statement.

Rachel Clark, a fashion student at Huddersfield University believes that groups such as goths and emos take their own twist on the meaning,

“You do get the people who look exactly the same, but then you get the extreme people who do everything on a huge scale, like dye their hair a crazy colour and shave bits off and put beads in the beards. The majority of the people who want to look "different" do end up looking like everyone else who also wants to look "different" and I think they have just got the wrong end of the stick.”

I wonder, what is it about music and fashion that go so hand-in-hand?

Fashion Rocks is an annual charity fundraiser event which features fashions by the world's top designers, being presented to live performances, by popular music acts. Naomi Campbell, supermodel and A-List bitch, has her take on the two art forms,

“Fashion and music go hand in hand, whether a catwalk or a concert, you take away the memory of both sound and style.”

Singer/songwriter Rosin Murphy echoes this,

“I definitely use fashion as part of my performance; it helps me get what I’m trying to say across a bit more.”

Amy Molyneaux of the trendy label PPQ thinks that they are many ways to analyse the parallels between fashion and music.

“I see them as two very separate things both shouting back at each other, verbalizing and visualizing the emotions of an era."

Molyneaux makes a great point, and this couldn't have been more apparent in the punk era.

Photographer Shoichi Aoki, founder of Japanese fashion magazine ‘Fruits’, specialised in capturing street fashion in Tokyo's Harajuku district. People from Harajuku have definitely grasped the idea of looking different from one another; they all dress with themes in mind and those themes range from anything to everything; candy-coloured, eye-catching ensembles, creatively mixing and modifying designer-label items with T-shirts and thrift-shop gems, coining the ‘gothic’ and ‘lolita’ looks.

The New Yorker said that though recognizable types-punks, hip-hop kids, jocks-regularly appear in the photographs, the over-all effect is less that of a tribal identity than of a super-cute costume party.

The Harajuku scene displays the street fashion of Tokyo, and believes that it can be individual and creative whilst still having fun.

Brett Anderson said on the BBC documentary series ‘Seven Ages Of Rock’, that any burgeoning movement starts of as a brilliant scene, but when the corporate giants think 'Ah-ha, that's what the youths are into', it becomes totally mainstream and destroys it. Perhaps this is why non-conformists are constantly moving away from the status quo? For example, the reason why punk started in the 1970’s; as a reaction against the empty stadium rock and hedonism of the hippy era.

People who say they're not following the crowd nor want to dress like everybody else are insecure with themselves or have low self esteem. They appear that they are rebelling against the norm, when in fact they're conforming to another group of lookalikes.

I dictate my fashion of course, but I find music videos, store windows, musicians, television programs, designers and just the general scene of a particular location have some impact.

From the Harajuko girls in Japan to chic Parisians, location on top of everything else influences your style.

So in answering my first question: yes, music influences fashion, and fashion influences music, but then again so do many things.

The comic genious of South Park sums up my point nicely:

Whilst Butter's appears to be the conformist and the conventional one because he's not in the Goth-Gang, reaffirms that, in actual fact, Butter's is the real non-conformist. He follows no rules therefore does not have to abide by what is expected of him. Some would argue he is the real 'punk'.

Fashion and Music definitely have an effect on each; northern soul and the Mod era, Vivienne Westwood and punk music, nu-rave with neon’s 80s/90s revival. Everyone I have interviewed has told me the same thing; wear something that defines you; that makes you a leader not a follower.

Cheryl

Cheryl


It's only natural to forget that the former Mrs Cole is actually famous for being a popstar, and granted, she doesn't write her own material nor does she have the best voice, or play a musical instrument...wait a minute; why am I writing about her again? Oh yes, her new single.

Cheryl Cole’s third offering is another collaboration with the genius that is Will.i.Am. The lyrics may be cheesy but the energy this song exudes causes shockwaves through all who listen. The military drums and sparse instrumentation take you to a Spanish court yard of tapas and sangria, with Cheryl repeatedly purring in a low growl: “I don’t need a parachute, baby if I got you / Baby if I got you, I don’t need a parachute.”Definitely the best single so far to come from her album 3 Words with an enticing video to match.

Are artists such as Cheryl merely glorified karaoke singers?

Sometimes in life, someone is able to express a situation or a feeling so much better than you ever could dream, and this is the case with the 3 Words album. Songs like Fight For This Love, annoying yes, but admittedly a good pop record. It expresses to the world the state of the starlets marriage in lyrics and melodies this young Geordie could only dream of. I have nothing good or constructive to say about 3 Words, the song that is, not the album. Such a bland 3 and a half minutes with an equally dull video. Sometimes even Cheryl needs to form an opinion without thinking everything Will.I.Am touches turns into gold because lady, this is arguably the weakest song on the whole album.
Despite this, this album is better than most critics predicted.

No one has owned the past twelve months like our Geordie princess.

Blonde Ambition

BLONDE AMBITION

What is it about Blondes that music so interesting?
The ones you can rely on to make life taste a little more like sprinkled sugar on top?

Debbie Harry famously dyed her hair blonde, leaving only a square patch at the base of her hair her natural colour; why did she dye it that bit lighter? Why does anyone?

Delta Goodrem produced some of her darkest music when she had a mop of brown hair, granted, she had just recovered from cancer thus provoking such emotions, but later when she dyed her hair back to blonde, it was like shedding skin. She felt free and in love with music again.


Madonna, the chameleon of them all, has changed from all manner of shades, yet always migrated back to the honey tones she fashions today.
Hair colour, obviously, has nothing to do with music, yet when one dyes their hair they feel like a different person; a new person. Naturally, we find ourselves acting 'how a brunette would act', which is basically stereotyping a person by their hair colour, however, this must have an impact on the minds of individuals and thus the music they create, right?




Madonna's Frozen was moodier than Hollywood:





Delta's Mistaken Identity darker than In This Life:



Christina Aguilera's Fighter more serious than Candy Man:




Pinks Family Portrait and Just Like A Pill were a lot greyer than So What



...Is this intentional? A coincidence? Are all of these talented ladies victims of the stereotype?

"My hair is darker therefore I feel/should feel more mature, sensible, sensitive, mysterious..."

Is the Betty/Marilyn debate a marketing tool and really, shouldn't matter at all?