Record Store Day 2013

This year was my first Record Store Day, so I made sure to be able to visit a store!


I had been planning to go to Raves From The Grave in my hometown, but as I was going out in Bristol the night before I had to choose between the stores in Bristol. I opted for Rise since I hadn't even realised there was a record store there and I was curious!

It was very VERY painful getting up at 6.30am as I think we got in past 4am and I had only managed to get an hour's sleep (I've never had so little sleep before). I was still drunk when I got up, and was really hungover (vomit and all). So leaving Hati's on an empty stomach at 7am to lug my ass up Park Street wasn't the most pleasant thing to do!

I got to the store at around 7.30am, and my ticket was 172. So around 150 people got there ahead of me...I probably should have just gone straight to the store at 4.30! But there were over a hundred more after me, so at least there's that. The wait was painful. Thankfully I'd had the foresight to pick up a drink on the way, and managed to grab myself a stool. I was in enough pain sitting for the 2+ hours I waited, there is no way I could have stood! I ended up seeing one of my lecturers (and hiding from him), plus I'm pretty sure I saw one of my teachers from school which was a bit odd.



This one's from the Rise Bristol Facebook page, you can see me looking like death in the top left-hand corner right at the back!


After the wait (in which I ate a handful of Skittles for breakfast and skimmed a copy of NME) it was finally my turn to go upstairs to the store. I was so worried that the stuff I wanted would be gone. I panicked a little as I hate crowds, and people were not letting me through so I could see the stuff (being short lends no advantages, trust me!).

The first item on my list I saw was Duran Duran, which I'd decided to buy for my dad as a 'congrats on your new job' gift. He later texted asking me to buy it...waaay ahead of you, dad haha. Although apparently there was a Pink Floyd one he wanted too which I hadn't looked for, but I'm pretty sure I'd have noticed it as it was sooo pink!

Shuffling along the row I got my hands on the Frank Turner vinyl. No sign of the Rush or Funeral For A Friend LPs (much to my wallet's joy), but I was starting to worry...where was the Biffy Clyro one? I asked a member of staff and he said they must have all gone...NOOOOOOOO!

I circled the stand one last time in despair, but then out of the corner of my eye I saw a splatter disc! Someone must have picked it up and changed their mind and put it back, so I got the last copy in the whole store. I've never felt so lucky! That was the only one I really wanted as it makes my Biffy Clyro 7" vinyl collection complete (well, minus the American RSD one).

At that point I couldn't be bothered to look any longer for the other bits I wanted, so I just paid for everything and got the hell out of there to breathe some sweet sweet fresh air. Retreated down the hill towards the train station swinging my bag merrily and looking (and feeling) more haggard than ever, being irritated by some dude en route who sneered 'you queued all that time just for a single?'. I didn't realise personal value was proportional to size, but there you go.

My mini-haul!


Slept the second I got home...and spent most of the day after sleeping as well. But hey ho! I told myself I probably wouldn't put myself through all that again, but hopefully next year I can rest up beforehand and have some company to avoid the boredom of waiting (middle-aged men don't make small talk with young women so I was forever alone the whole time. To be honest it made me pretty annoyed that the only other women were there with men - can we have more ladies getting into music, please?).

Also hopefully next year I won't be hungover to hell so I can catch some live music! Was pretty gutted about missing out on stuff this year, but it can't be helped.

Did anyone else support a local store?

Frank Turner: Tape Deck Heart & Live 21-4-13

Frank Turner's new album Tape Deck Heart was released today! I actually received my copies (extended CD and vinyl) on Friday, so I got to give it a few listens before the gig.


The album is pretty good. It's quite different from the older stuff, much more polished and with really tacky percussion in places. But the songs are good, and the album definitely seems to be one that grows on you. My favourite song from it so far is Plain Sailing Weather (which is far too appropriate to my life this past year). Broken Piano is a dodgy track for me...the song itself is good, but it's all too reminiscent of Coldplay!

But yes, I went to see Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls live on Sunday evening for the 7th(?) time. First act was George Frakes, who played guitar incredibly.


Second act were Larry and his Flask, who were insane. In both senses of the word. The music was great, they had a standing drummer, and the double bassist threw himself around the stage as if he were playing an instrument one tenth the size, and the whole band were very energetic. They're definitely an act I'd love to see again!


Then it was Frank and his band! Of course, they were great as always, although the setlist was a bit of a letdown as far as I was concerned (I'd heard people saying they'd played Sailor's Boots and Worse Things Happen At Sea, but they must have both been requests unfortunately!).



And there was the flag that is travelling the country aided by fans, although it got confiscated on the way into the venue!


Highlight of the night had to be the whole room jogging to Recovery! Although it was a little sad that we weren't made to sit down during Photosynthesis as that's happened every other time I've been to a show, I think!


Aaaaand the setlist:


I'm afraid my blogging has been a little sporadic and I still have a few things to cover from a while back, but I'm getting there! Keeping myself organised isn't so easy at the moment...but anyway, to end here are a couple of twitch gifs I made since my camera kept taking 2 photos at once:

Update

Well I fiiiinally gave in my dissertation! Sadly it's really bad and I know I made mistakes and my discussion was crap and it was a right palava getting it printed and bound (I forgot to include something that has to be there even though we won't get marks for it and they probably won't even read it) but yeah...


I've also had to give 2 presentations this week and still have one to do next Tuesday, with a ton of other busy things too, so forgive me for not writing any proper entries for ages! After next week it should calm down a bit as I'll just have 3 essays left to do (wahh I don't want to do more work!).

Day Dream Carnival

Pretty behind on blogging, but thought I'd crank out a quick post while drinking my cuppa before dashing off to the library!

So the new(ish) Angelic Pretty print Day Dream Carnival has been causing a bit of a stir in the lolita community, and it's easy to see why. I love this print so much! I've had people say they thought of me when they saw it too, which is sweet. I guess it's due to the similarities with Sugary Carnival - it's very similar but much more mature in style, which I love as it's one direction I'd like to take with my style.


Choosing between styles was difficult though! Although for me colour was always going to be black as I don't wear colour so much any more. I do love sax and lilac though (ivory is too yellowy for my tastes). The headwear options weren't so difficult...


I think the bonnet looks silly, and I don't see how it costs so much when it's just a teeny bit of organza! I'm not a huge fan of the headbow either (not enough colour), but I figured I'd pick one up anyway.

The OP:


I think this is gorgeous, and I so nearly ordered it. But I don't think I could vary coords with it all that much, and I'd worry about my arms fitting those gorgeous sleeves. I also dislike the gold triangle lace, it looks less tacky in real life but still pretty nasty haha.

JSKs:


Originally I had wanted the tier one due to that lovely organza layer, but then I realised it was tier. I've never been a fan of tiered pieces, the shape just seems a little awkward to me and that lace look tacky to me as well, but I'm not keen on fully-shirred backs. The second version I only rejected as there isn't enough detail in the mid-section - I feel it should have some gold in there like the OP does. The back section is gorgeous though, with organza ribbons! I'd worry about how they'd hold up though, and the low back may not be flattering on everyone.

Salopette:


I'm pretty gutted about this, if I'm honest. The skirt section is gorgeous. If it had been a miniskirt I'd have snapped it up instantly, no need to stop and think. But sadly salopettes just seem inherently awkward somehow. I may search for one in future though once I've seen more worn photos, if it looks cute!

Skirt:


This is what I went for in the end. I'd rather it had a bow rather than that odd brooch, but I should be able to make varied coords at least. Plus I'll have two black carnival skirts when it arrives! I think black is the least popular colourway and skirt was the least popular piece, but that may work out in my favour far in future as less interest means less orders, so it'll be more limited in quantiity ;P haha but not really.

It's a shame I couldn't combine all the aspects I liked into one super dress really! There are so many things about this series that I adore but all the pieces had something off about them. Once my skirt arrives I'll endeavour to make an over-layer from organza like the tiered JSK has though, as once it's made I can use it for any piece I own.

The only let down is that they aren't remaking the cute little ankle socks or the tights for this series. I don't think they're making the totes again either (but they were over 5000 yen anyway).



I placed my order with AP international this morning, but it's also available direct in Japan (if you want to use an SS) and on the USA site. Since it's made to order they won't be sent out until September, but there's only about a week left to order one, so get on it if you wanted it!