Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts

Monday, November 23, 2015

Album Review! Adele - 25

So you probably would have heard at some point over the past month (especially if you follow me on any social media site), that a certain someone has finally released her new album! That's right! Adele has finally dropped '25'!
Adele's 3rd album is about forgiveness, reflection and growing up. Following the success of '21', the task she faced when writing with album must have been massive. But after hearing 'Hello', we can all be rest assured Adele is back and as fabulous as ever! 
The album starts with 'Hello', a giant track that pulls your heart strings straight away. I think it was the perfect track to introduce the album, something we can all belt out at the top of our voices and relate too. When I first heard 'Hello' I must admit, I did instantly think of Lionel Richie's 'Hello'. I mean considering that 2015 has been a pretty big year for him, especially with his tour and being the act that drew the biggest crowd at Glasto. However, after watching every compilation video on Youtube and Facebook of Adele's 'Hello' mashed up with all sorts of responses, I think the track has become it's own. The music video displays some of Adele's acting skills, which we haven't seen much of before, which made a pleasant surprise and was very good (considering she was using a flip phone). If you want to see some of Adele's acting skills in action, watch the video below.


As I said '25' is about forgiveness, and with songs like 'Hello and 'Send My Love (To Your New Lover)', which echoes elements of '19' with its use of acoustic guitars. 'Million Years Ago' is another track that uses acoustic guitars. This time as the only form of accompaniment, which adds a sort of Spanish feel and simplicity to the track. 'Remedy' is another simple track, but uses just piano as an accompaniment instead. It is certainly one of the tracks about growing up and reflection, along with 'River Lea', the 'Hometown Glory' of '25' and 'When We Were Young', another track we can belt our hearts out to.
Personally I feel Adele has hit the nail on the head with this album. It's no '21', but it's not suppose to be. It's so much more mature than '21' and follows it perfectly. The best example of this maturity is 'Sweetest Devotion', which is about her son, Angelo. However the track can still relate to everyone, not just those who have had children. So once again every track in '25', you can relate to in some shape or form. I think 'I Miss You' has quite a different sound to the stuff we are used to with Adele. Instead, it sounds like something something Disclosure could have done featuring Adele, I think this one will be a good one to remix.
'Water Under The Bridge', one of the more upbeat tracks on the album, I personally find I can really relate to which is why this and 'Love in the Dark', an emotional one, are two of my favourites. At the moment my favourite seems to be 'All I Ask'. With hints of Abba's 'The Winner Takes It All' in the chorus and essence Paolo Nutini's 'Last Request' in the message, this track reminds me of 'Take It All' from '21' with its rawness and well, Awesomeness!
Adele and '25' continues to break records and the internet with this album, selling 2.3 million copies in just three days! Am I surprised? NO! The album is different in the ways it should be, and same in the ways it needs to be. Now all I need to do is see her live!

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Halloween Playlist

Now I love a good excuse to dress up, and with Halloween around the corner, I'm very excited. So when Alfie Lawrance suggested I make a Halloween Playlist, I jumped at the challenge.
There's some obvious tracks in there, (What's a Halloween playlist without Ghostbusters?!) as well as some less obvious ones, which I hope will get you thinking?
So here is my Halloween playlist, let me know in the comments, Twitter, Facebook or on Instagram, what you are going as for Halloween and if you listen to the Halloween playlist at your spooky party or over this gruesome weekend!




Thursday, October 8, 2015

Another quick update!

Hello!

So last time I did a quick update, I mentioned I was going to university. Well now I'm here! I moved in just over two weeks ago and I'm having a blast! However I'm still settling in and getting things sorted, so please bare with me while I finish balancing everything out. 

I do have a quick, little announcement to make, I now have my own Spotify account! So you guys will soon be able to access playlist on there and follow them. I should mention though, it is my personal Spotify account. So keep that in mind when you see that I mostly listen to Gabrielle Aplin's and Disclosure's new albums at the moment.

Back to the blog. So the next post will be by the wonderful Alfie Lawrance and I'm very excited to share it with you! Once I get sorted I'm going to start doing some shorter posts to keep you up to date, as well as in the know. I would really like to hear what you want from the blog as well. So get in touch and let me know in the comments below or on social media!

Don't forget to follow me on:


Thanks guys, can't wait to get started... again!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Quick (EXCITING) update!

Hello! 

So after having a busy couple of weeks, I'm finally back...Although only for today. I'm off to Green Man Festival tomorrow, but will be posting again once I'm back. I'm going to be very busy over the next month, so posts will be a bit all over the place I'm afraid. However to help combat this and because he is awesome, I have some very exciting news...
I have now recruited one of my lovely friends Alfie Lawrance, who will also be blogging for What's The Set List. Woo! He has some brilliant ideas and a fabulous taste in music. I can't wait to be sharing his post with you guys. The first one coming later today! 

As some of you may have noticed, I have been blogging with the lovely blogger Joey Tamburello recently. Her film blog Let's Start With This One also has a Youtube channel (Here's the link to her Youtube). A couple of weeks ago we decided to do a vlog for her channel. Unfortunately it's in the editing stages at the moment, as we have had some problems with moving the video around. However once it is up, you will be the first to know and I will post a link on the blog. The plan is that What's The Set List will also start vlogging soon! But once I have some more free time and a decent camera.

So if I can get internet at Green Man, I will post my latest Festival Friday for you guys. My review of Wilderness 2015 is in the spell check stage and should be up later today. I'm also off to the theatre this evening to see my favourite musical/ film/ show, High Society, so be expecting a post on that in the not so distant future. 

One last thing, a quick reminder to follow the blog on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. As well as my Youtube channel for playlist and, at some point, vlogs. Thank you!

Right, now back to the music!

Tessa x

Friday, July 17, 2015

21 Songs you should listen to in the morning.

Good Morning! 

Whether you are an early riser or you like to sleep until noon, having the right sort of music to get out of bed to, I find, can really influence what sort of day you are going to have. So that's why I have come up with 21 songs that you should listen to in the morning to help you get going and put you in a good mood. 

In no particular order, here are the 21 songs you should be listening to in the morning!

  1. Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson
  2. No More Running - Michael Kiwanuka
  3. Good Morning - Kanye West
  4. Valerie - Amy Winehouse 
  5. Lovely Day - Bill Withers
  6. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!
  7. In The Long Run - The Staves
  8. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life - Stevie Wonder
  9. Wake Me Up - Avicii
  10. Easy - Lionel Richie
  11. Breakfast w/ Fleur Earth - The Ins X Miles Bonny
  12. Englishman In New York - Sting
  13. Morning -  Beck
  14. A Change is Gonna Come - Maverick Sabre
  15. Good Morning - Singing in the Rain
  16. Street Life - The Crusaders
  17. Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
  18. Sunday Morning - Maroon 5
  19. Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae
  20. Rock With You - Michael Jackson
  21. (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay - Otis Redding

I have so many more I want to add to this list! What would you add? What's your favourite song to wake up to? Let me know in the comments below, on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter!

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Glastonbury 2015!

So after a week at Glasto, I'm finally home again and fully recovered. Sorry about the lack of posts, it's been pretty mad and I was having too much fun at Glastonbury. I did have my first Festival Friday post scheduled to post on the Friday, however for some reason it didn't post. Oh well! 
I got to Glasto on the Tuesday last week, I started work on Wednesday doing the morning shifts throughout the festival. I went to see The Vaccines, The Courteeners, Billy Bragg, Gregory Porter, Pharrell, Kanye West, Lionel Richie, Lianne La Havas, Jamie T, The Who, Chainska Brassika and that's just the music acts I saw!

Lionel got the biggest crowd, which is unsurprising as he was brilliant and played all of his best hits. The Who put on a great show and although there was no guitar smashing, they did pull down the drum screen and knock over a couple of mics. However, from the moment he first got announced, to The Who making a dig at him during their set, Kanye West has to be the most talked about act at Glasto. There seems to be a divide between all that saw him. Some absolutely loved it, some absolutely hated it! From watching it again on BBC iPlayer, it looked better on telly than it did live. In my opinion, it was unrehearsed and I don't think Kanye was used to doing that sort of performance. I found that the long gaps between songs and the fact he kept stopping during the songs unprofessional and ruined the atmosphere. Not that there was much atmosphere as every time he got going and started to get the audience involved, the song would change or he would stop the performance. I'm not a giant fan, but I do know the big hits. I gave Kanye the benefit of the doubt and stayed for the whole set, many people left after 4 or 5 songs. The lighting was awesome, even if he did hit his head. Lee Nelson running on for less than a second to imitate the Taylor Swift incident  wasn't funny, and 'Touch The Sky' on a cherry picker was actually pretty awesome. There was a lot of booing and when he tried to sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody', and claimed to be the 'Biggest Rock Star on the Planet' while rapping 'Gold Digger', well I wasn't really sure what to make of that. I think I mostly found it funny, typical Kanye and all that. The fact is, he probably is one of the biggest stars on the planet at the moment. However I think 'Rock Star' is the wrong claim as that title was taken by the likes of Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury and now maybe Dave Grohl. But as you can see, he got me, all of Glastonbury and all that watched it at home talking. But was it talking for the right reasons?
My favourite act was Lianne La Havas, she was amazing, her voice was incredible as always and her set was perfect. Couldn't fault it. I also met the wonderful Gregory Porter after watching his set at West Holts on the Saturday. I embarrassed myself by being super uncool as usual, and then he made me feel worse by being super cool about it and signing my vinyl record of his latest album, Liquid Spirit and getting a picture with me. So that made my day/ year really.

This year I managed to have another explore, so found a lot more stuff and little stages than I did last year. I also was told to go and see Arcadia Metamorphosis, which was incredible! I also managed to get in to Shangri-la and all those areas, this time at night, so I got to see the full effect, which was amazing and felt like you were is a completely different world almost.

I think this year was better than last year for me, although nothing can beat seeing Dolly Parton live really, I got to see more acts that I really wanted to see and some I had seen before, so I got to appreciate them more. I saw a lot more this year as well and got to explore all the different areas properly. The weather was better as well which helped. 
Glastonbury 2015, you were awesome!

Let me know about your Glastonbury festival experience or what you thought about Kanye's performance in the comments or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!












Thursday, June 18, 2015

Festival Essentials, what to pack!

Whether you are a last minute packer or have planned each outfit for the past month, at some point you will have to pack for your long weekend of festival fun. 

So with a summer of music festivals starting just around the corner, I thought it best to start off with a packing list of what to take with you. From what I would class the essentials, to if you want to go all out and pack the kitchen sink (not literally though). This list has everything you will need!

Essentials
  1. A tent,  so guy ropes, poles, pegs and ground sheets
  2. Sleeping bag / duvet / pillow
  3. Sleeping mat / Air bed
  4. Wellies / Sturdy boots
  5. Waterproof coat / overalls
  6. Towel
  7. Festival Ticket
  8. Money / Cards
  9. Enough change of clothes, incase you get wet / clean clothes to go home in:
    • Shorts
    • Jeans
    • Dresses
    • Trousers
    • Skirt
    • Tops
    • Underwear
    • Skirts
    • Socks
    • Jumpers
    • Bras
    • Tights
    • Leggings
  10. Phone
  11. Head Torch / Torch
  12. I.D / Driving licence
  13. Camera
  14. Lightweight / plastic bags, for dirty clothes or shoes
  15. Toiletries, so you can at least pretend to be clean after not showering all weekend:
    • Shampoo / Conditioner
    • Toothbrush / Toothpaste
    • Wet wipes (Biodegradable)
    • Sun cream
    • Contraceptives
    • Medication, (Inhalers / Prescriptions / Meds info on allergies)
    • Hand sanitiser
    • Toilet roll
    • Glasses / Contacts and solution
    • Tampons / Sanitary towels
    • Hair brush
    • Dry shampoo
  16. Rucksack, so you can carry all this stuff!

Not so Essential
  1. Ear plugs / Cotton wool buds, for when you have a loud snorer in the tent next to you.
  2. After sun, incase you are silly enough to not put sun cream on and get burnt
  3. Sun Glasses
  4. Chargers, however most festivals have somewhere where you can charge your phone or camera
  5. Stuff to do when there is nothing on you want to see:
    • Frisbee
    • Ball
    • Book / Magazine
    • Hula Hoop
    • Playing Cards
    • Pen and paper 
  6. Reusable water bottle
  7. Hats / Gloves / Scarfs
  8. Spare batteries
  9. Camping chairs
  10. Tent decorations, To make your tent easier to find and stand out from the crowd
    • Fairy lights
    • Bunting
    • Hammock
    • Flag, you can also use this when standing in a big crowd so people know where you are
  11. Mini speakers, so the party can continue in your tent
  12. iPod
  13. Mallet, to help get those pegs in
  14. Extra Blankets, it can get very cold 
  15. Lantern
  16. Cooking tools, it's best to figure out what meals you are cooking, then bring the relevant utensils to make that dish. Most festivals have food stands where you can get some amazing food from all around the world, however sometimes they aren't in the camping areas so on the day before and the day after you may have to make your own food.
  17. Febreeze, for when your tent inevitably starts to smell
  18. Rubbish / Recycling bags, help the festival by making as little rubbish as possible and recycle!
  19. Car inverter, so you can charge things in your car
  20. Shade awning, for when that little bit of sun breaks through the clouds.
  21. Solar shower
  22. Fancy dress outfits and other accessories to make you stand out from the crowd.
  23. First aid kit
  24. Mosquito repellant / sting relief
  25. Locks, to lock bags or tents up
Now each festival is different, so sometimes you will find that things that wouldn't normally be essential items become essentials, best to check the festival website if you are unsure. Most festivals have stalls where you can buy many of the things on both of these lists incase you do forget something, however if you use these lists properly you shouldn't have to worry. If you think I have forgotten something or you have used this list to help you pack or create your own detailed packing list, let me know!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Welcome!

Welcome to What's The Set List?!

I'm Tessa and I will be posting all sorts of music related news, with everything from festival fun to new music releases and bands to look out for. 

I always listen to music, exaggerating slightly, but I couldn't live without music. I like a variety of music, and am always looking for new bands and artists to listen too. 

I love festivals, the atmosphere, the music, the mud! There is always something going on and when there isn't, you have just enough time to grab a quick 40 winks before it all starts up again. Last year I worked with a festival catering company, attending 8 festivals throughout the summer festival season. I would work in the mornings, then would spend the afternoons taking part on all sorts of festival madness. I will doing the same thing again this year and can't wait to share my experiences, both good and the bad, with you. 

You can also follow my updates Facebook and Twitter. I look forward to hearing from you, as well are hearing your festival experiences.