Midnight Memories

So as you may have heard, the lads have a new album out. It's absolutely AMAZING and a step in the right direction (haha) musically speaking. Of course it went straight to #1 and is considered one of the top indie/alternative albums of the year. Can you believe it?! I am so happy for the boys for finally getting the recognition they deserve! One review even called this album a modern Rubber Soul of sorts. Music-wise they are nowhere near the original lads (and Harry agrees), but 1D have come a long way since Up All Night. If you thought Rock Me was hardcore, just listen to Midnight Memories and you'll be rocking out all night, stumbling in the street, singing, singing...! What makes this album super special  however, is that the boys (Harry, Louis, and Liam to be exact) have co-written most of the songs on the album. Stand-outs include:  Happily and Something Great by Harry, Strong by Louis, Don't Forget Where You Belong (basically a love song for his 4 pals) by Niall with a little help from his friends McFly, and of course Story of My Life by all 5. I'm hearing a lot of comparisons to Mumford and Sons, but instead of banjos I'm hearing a lot more guitars, which is a good thing. I should also say that their voices are absolutely knee-shaking and heart-melting; just listen to Zayn hit those high notes (in You and I, OMG OMG), Liam sounding like he was meant to sing 70/80s rock, Niall's surprisingly lovely/cheeky tones, Louis' seductively sweet soft voice and the perfect compliment to Harry's deep, oh so sexy rasp (also Harry's rocker yell in Midnight Memories, wow wow wow!). I can honestly say all the songs are just fab and are a nod to 70s/80s rock, which is perfect for the stadiums they're playing in next year (and lucky me I get to go!).

Not So Silent Night

On Friday I skipped worked and braved the cold to wait in line for maybe over 3 hours for NSSN2013. The line-up included a local band whose name I forgot but the beanie-wearing bass player was real cute. Then Capital Cities played and they had the coolest trumpet player. And finally, the moment I had been waiting for, Arctic Monkeys! They came out looking pretty sharp, Alex and Jamie especially. My dear sweet Al has changed since last I saw him. For one thing he kept on moving and shaking those skinny hips of his (not that I'm complaining) and the dance moves during Arabella are pretty priceless. What I'm really happy about is that I got see them preform Do I Wanna Know? live, and the let me tell you, the performance was just as sexy as the song sounds. After AM came AFI, not really my type of music but I appreciated the energy onstage. This is when the crowd went crazy though; everybody pushed and shoved, pressed up on one another,  there were several crowd surfers. After that Queens of the Stone Age came on, I actually forgotten they were even playing so it was a nice surprise to see Josh Homme, one of Alex's good pals. After that, the other moment I had been waiting for, Vampire Weekend! They played a nice selection of all the songs I wanted to them to play, from Holiday to Diane Young. Ezra looked oh so cute in his Babar jean jacket and Chris Tomson was the only one who walked past right in front of the audience but silly me, I got too scared to even shake his hand. And the final act, Kings of Leon came one. To be honest the only songs I recognized were Sex on Fire and Use Somebody (1D did a cover of this song fyi),  but it was a great set nonetheless. Because of the crazy crowd, it was really difficult to hold my hands steady while trying to take a picture, also from where I was, I only really had a good view of the lead singers and occasional glimpses of the other band members, so that who I have pictures of.


Out of all the pictures I took during AM's set, these were the only two decent ones.

Here's one of Josh Homme.

Vampire Weekend! (ok so they're mainly pics of Ezra with a cameo from Chris T.)

Kings of Leon. (Just a pic of Caleb and his hot brother Jared)

Photoshoot: Little Mix in Wonderland Magazine

The ultimate girl-group of the moment; Little Mix are bringing the 90's back with their new album, Salute. With phenomenal vocals and a more mature sound (whatever that means), the songs will make you want to sing, dance, cry, and scream 'Girls Rule!' Here they are channeling their inner Elle Woods in a pink and classy Legally Blonde themed photoshoot, shot by Liam Warwick.

The Girlfriend

You either love 'em or you hate 'em. There is something fascinating about the lucky girls who get to call our favorite musicians their boyfriends.   For some people there's this sicking need to know everything about the girl. How does she do her make-up? Where does she shop? What does she order at Starbucks? The girlfriends (famous or not, I should add) even manage to garner their own fan base. Other's prefer just to ignore them completely and focus on their favorite boys. I personally have mixed feelings about all the girlfriends. Some I like, and the ones I don't, I ignore, or try to. But like it or not, the first time you find out about Harry and so-and-so, or Paul and her, your heart breaks even if it's just a little bit. So, this is just a list of some of my personal favorite girlfriends (from the 60's to now) I love to hate, or hate to love.

1. Pattie Boyd. The prettiest Beatle girlfriend/wife in my opinion. Model, photographer, and muse. Thumbs up to the pretty Pattie for punching one of those annoying fangirls.

2. Jane Asher. She was an actress, she was smart, and didn't put with Paul's cheating ass. Now she bakes fancy party cakes.

3. Marianne Faithfull. Singer, cultured, and fashion icon. She practically invented Mick Jagger.

4. Anita Pallenberg. Glamorous and evil. Fab sense of style but very problematic, especially since she got with 3 members of the same band.

5. Alexa Chung. Model/TV presenter/I'll be anything that lets me get close to the beautiful people who thinks she's special because she likes all things vintage. This girl has hung out with, interviewed, and/or dated everyone from Paul McCartney, Alex Turner, and Harry Styles. Name a band, any band, and Alexa's been there, done that.

6.Perrie Edwards. The only thing better than her amazing singing voice is her ability to look good with purple, pink, or grey colored hair.  She's a fashion hit and miss. Also likes to show off engagement ring given to her by the gorgeous Zayn Malik. And who can blame her really?

7. Eleanor Calder. Normal college girl who has over a million followers on both twitter and instagram. Practically lives in either TopShop or Starbucks. She also has blogs dedicated to identifying ever item of clothing she's ever worn. That's it. Oh yeah, and she's going out with the all around amazing Louis Tomlinson.

Slick is Back

Recent spread of our favorite modern teddy boy, Alex Turner, in the September issue of GQ.

The Black Trinity

After deciding to go to art school to study photography, I was faced with the questions of "Why? What do you hope to accomplish?" "I don't know," and "I just want to hang out with cool interesting people" were not good enough answers so that's when I turned to inspiration from the very people that inspired me to become a photographer in the first place (besides Linda, obviously). None other than the first real celebrity photographers turned celebrities themselves: David Bailey, Terence Donovan, and Brian Duffy. Called 'the terrible trio' by newspapers and dubbed 'the black trinity' by the great Norman Parkinson, Bailey, Donovan, and Duffy started one of the many revolutions that took place in the 1960's by deciding to break down existing photographic conventions. What's so fascinating to me is that these men became just as, if not more, famous than the people they photographed. And right there is my answer. These men captured and helped create my most favorite, most fascinating time in history: Swinging London. How mind blowing would it be if I could do that as well?! To capture and create and take part in a cultural scene that starts an art  revolution and changes history forever? And all the while rubbing elbows not only with musicians, but actors and royalty. It's the best of the both worlds that I want to be a part of and that sounds like a perfect answer to me. Below are just some of my favorite photos taken by Bailey, Duffy, and Donovan.

Bailey:

Duffy:

Donovan: