Bali Playlist 2016 (JANUARY)

1. Dream Cave- Cloud Control
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-BIyo-UkUQ


2. Colours- Halsey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNt28Tx-cw0


3. Scar- Cloud Control
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzLYf366bVg

4. Gooey- Glass Animals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIA1XQnAv5s

5. Waves- Shallou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmK6j6tN_1A

6. Avant Gardener- Courtney Barnett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcnIhzaDTd0

7. Curveballs- The Wombats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXbn-pRpl_E

8. Stole the Show- Kygo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgfcToAjfdc

9. Breathe In- Japanese Wallpaper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td_sGb2CRMo

10. Kiss With a Fist- Florence and the Machine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmxVCM39j4

Elena, xxx

Passion

Passion, taints my sanity and changes my mindset, it warps my judgements so that I become spontaneous, sometimes irrational but free and intoxicated.

The feeling of infinite positive human energy. Likeminded people in a screaming,dancing singing mess. A joyous atmosphere and an endless passion. Happiness within friendships, happiness within new people and new connections, good music, a packed car and meaningful and genuine conversations. A virtuous feeling of insanity and defeat. A daze and disconnection from reality. No sense of time and responsibility. A feeling of indescribable bliss and comfort. A surge of vitality. 

I feel charged with inspiration and ambition. Ready to take on the world with an open mind and a realistic view of future hardships. 

Learnt, is the idea that emotions stretch beyond ordinary everyday life and prove to be so much deeper than a smile or a frown.

Elena, xx

A Joyous, Monumental and MUDDY Splendour

What more could you wish for?

 I sang my lungs out to Beyonce along the pacific highway and smiled bright eyed despite a 5am start and a burnt McCafe coffee. The sky was lit with iridescent colours as the earth invited us on an adventure towards Byron Bay.... 8 hours and 50 minutes to go. Nature at that moment, supported pure feelings of euphoria. The feelings were nothing short of satisfied and content. I was fulfilling, along with my best friend a dream we'd had since we were 16 years old. This trip was a monumental moment, a symbol of a new found freedom and love and a new age of adventure and music and friendships. It was a reward to myself, I was taking on a promise I'd made as 16 year old Elena (and Steph). I had a pact with my worries to let go and run wild and flow with all present feelings... to embrace autonomy. I think that under my terms, I most definitely did so.

10am woodstocks, Kings Cup, paranoia, Joseph's breakfast Mie Goreng, The Wombats and Florence and Meg Mac epitomised Splendour....The Wombats featured not only the flawless Mathew Murphy and his infamous words 'lets all scream like we're giving birth', a sore voice and a satisfied crowd but a sense of community and a shared love. Everytime I turned towards a friend, it was hard not to smile and squint while piping the lyrics to 'Your Body is a Weapon'. A mans eyes had rolled as his curly mop of a head bopped back and forth (untimely) to whatever slow motion bass was playing for his personal enjoyment... he was having the time of his life. Florence, on the other hand is a gleaming angel who has such an energetic and positive stage presence. She fulfils the role of a perfect artist and performer. She performs and she delivers and it was more than absolutely brilliant...  Meg Mac.... She is my only love (not really, I'm open to others). She has no album, just an EP but she kills the songs that she does have as well as her rendition of the Broods', 'Bridges'. I saw her at Groovin' and would absolutely see her again. Xavier Rudd.... what an insanely incredibly beautiful man. I had the urge to dance and sing and his passion radiated within the GW McLennan tent. His music has meaning and it is spiritually and emotionally aware and awakening. His sympathy and connectedness to Australia and its vast landscape and culture is so prevalent.

I can't forget all the other wonderful people I saw:
- Mark Ronson
- Of Monsters and Men
- Porter Robinson
- San Cisco
- Japanese Wallpaper
- Mansion Air
- Harts
- The Rubens
- Pond
- Dune Rats
- Tame Impala (insane)
- Alison Wonderland
- Last Dinos
- The Vaccines
- Alpine
- Royal Blood
- OH Mercy
and more.....

I'll tell you one mud story. My friend Steph and I ventured out to grab a few drinks before the Wombats and Florence palava and fun. The drink stand was strategically (NOT) positioned at the top of the hill above the amphitheatre. Stick it together...  nights and days of straight rain.. and a large hill. It didn't end well but we were determined and although at times I felt like giving up, I was egged on by the tango line of extremely attractive men that pulled and pushed me up the hill (thankyou Stephanie for laughing and documenting this on snapchat- muchly appreciated). I received a Smirnoff ice RED (never drinking again) and a bourbon and coke and slid down the hill to the comfort of friends and a sense of ultimate achievement and success.  Add to a funny story... I lined up for the compost loo for about 20 minutes and in festival toilet time that isn't too long. Just before I went in (I didn't) the guy before walks out and says to his friend, "mate, thats revolting, there's no room left in that toilet for anything'...

I have all the plans to go back next year and to experiment with other festivals as they come around. I haven't stopped listening to the set lists and I don't think I ever could...
I've said it so many times but thankyou to Steph, Sayuri, Juzan, Maia, Joe, Sarri, Stank, Samir and Jeremy for being great company and for allowing me to come into your weirdly incredible friend group. Sarri summarised it pretty well...

"We faced many hardships, battling the deadly monsoons, wrestling with the quick-mud, Joe's earth-shaking snore, goon overload, paranoia, noise complaints and the speed limit. In these hardships we lost many good shoes and clothes... Nevertheless, the goodtimes outweighed the bad. Some found love in unexpected places- notably the packed mosh of the florence set while I was stuck right behind you, you two sickos (I saw everything). We made friends, including but not limited to, three day pinga deep guy, the reverse dinga guy, 600 pingas deep guy, the sexually charged hipster guys, the bathroom coke guy, tommy the songwriter, Jazzy Jeff, and so on. Many horrendous snapchats were made mainly involving Joe sleeping, aka dying. In the end, we all made it out alive and Jeremy didn't get lost. Also, the music was good too. TL:DR. Splendour was fucking awesome."



Ill leave you with that.

All ze love, Elena xxx

My Ultimate Travel Playlist

I'm only 10% through my trip and I've been on aeroplanes and trains for atleast 50 hours.... Music has been a necessity. 

1. Childs Play- SZA ft. Chance the Rapper

2. Arthur remake- Chance the Rapper

3. The Wolves- Ben Howard

4. Creature Fear- Bon Iver

5. Say You Love Me- Jessie Ware

6. Toothpaste Kisses- Macabees

7. Wide Awake- Josh Record

8. Crazy (Gnarls Barkley Cover)- Daniela Andrade

9. To Build a Home- Cinematic Orchestra

10. Home (RAC Remix)- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes

11. Everyday People- Arrested Development

12. 99 Red Balloons- Nena

13. Asleep- The Smiths

14. All I Want- Kodaline

15. Nina- Ed Sheeran

16.  The Boss- James Brown

17. Heartbeats (Filous and Mount Remix)- Jose Gonzalez

18. Liquid Spirit (20syl Remix)- Gregory Potter)

There you have it. My top 18 songs in my ultimate Europe/Travel playlist. 

Elena, x

P.s. Sorry I don't have YouTube links but I have limited access to computers so it's all on my phone...

JULY/AUGUST- Favourite Music

Hey Guys,

Excuses excuses... over the last few months I have been doing my trial HSC exams (for all you non-Australia- It's just final school exams) and haven't had the time to write a blog post....

I'll start with my favourite music but seeing as we're are already half way through August, it will be a lil' mixture of July and August!

Here we go....

1.

Troye Sivan- Happy Little Pill

2. Chance the Rapper- Cocoa Butter Kisses (feat. Vic Mensa and Twista)

3. Ed Sheeran- Afire Love

4. Bon Iver- Holocene

5. Beyonce- Pretty Hurts

6. Jezabels- The End

7. Hilltop Hoods- Nosebleed Section

8. Flume- On Top

9. Vampire Weekend- Dianne Young

10. Jinja Safari- Hiccups

JUNE- Favourite Music

I thought a nice little monthly something-something would be quite pleasant.
So every month I'll be doing a recollection of all of the music I have been listening to throughout the month with links to them on youtube... Eventually I hope that my viewers will be able understand my music taste... it's incredibly versatile and please place some recommendations in the comments!

Here we go.....

1. London Grammar- Stay Awake

** I've actually loved these guys for a while but have stayed within my safety zone by listening to Hey Now and Strong... This month I ventured to experience some of their other stuff and experienced this.. enjoy. 

2. Haim- If I Could Change Your Mind

** Haim is my ultimate favourite, I cannot say enough about this insane band!

3. Alt J- Tesselate 

4. Ariana Grande- Problem 

5. Lianne La Havas- Is Your Love Big Enough

6. Benjamin Francis Leftwich- Atlas Hands

7. Daughter- Youth

8. Tame Impala- Elephant

9. Ball Park Music- Surrender

10. Kanye West- Bound 2

** I know it's incredibly sexist, however I can't deny the appeal of the chorus....


Tata for now, until next time.

Elena, x