Britannia Rules the (Radio) Waves!

During a recent trip, I visited the British Music Experience, a super cool museum which offers an interactive timeline of Britain's most famous musicians across a plethora of different genres. The museum walks visitors through different decades from the 1940s to present day, telling the story of how these genres started, grew or developed in Great Britain. 

The BME has a number of interactive exhibits such as video/headphone set-ups where you can watch interviews from experts and musicians, detailed timelines of each era where you can watch videos and read about events that took place, both musical and otherwise and even booths in which you can learn how to play a range of instruments with the help of experts and tutorials. Each time-zone has informative plaques surrounded by an array of nostalgic memorabilia such as costumes from artists, records, instruments, newspapers, letters, awards, stage props and even front doors from their houses! There are also regular shows in the centre of the museum and really cool clips played out across several screens of memorable concerts, gigs and performances from over the years. 

The museum is a must visit for any music and popular culture fans and since its move from London, it is now housed in the beautiful Cunard building in Liverpool - one of Britain's most famous music hotspots. I've always been a massive fan of music and have waivered in tastes as I've grown but my visit definitely made me appreciate and acknowledge the massive impact Britain's musicians have had and made me damn proud to hail from the same country as some of these talents. 

Inspired by my visit, I've compiled my top 10 list of British musicians that have had an influence and impact on me over the years. 

Disclaimer: I appreciate these won't all be to everyone's tastes and I'm by no means a musical expert, these are simply the British musicians that I consider to be a massive influence on me. There's a deluge of other talented and successful British musicians who could just as easily be a part of a list like this and the British Music Experience celebrates them all.

10: Biffy Clyro

Possibly not as well known as some of the other musicians in this list but Biffy are a rock band hailing from Scotland who have been on the circuit since the late 90s, achieving wider success and popularity more recently. I've been a fan of Biffy Clyro since around 2007/8 and have been lucky enough to see them live a number of times over the years. I've had several phases where Biffy have been the only thing I'd listen to on a loop and I always find myself coming back to them. Their live shows are incredible and they are easily in the top 5 live bands I've seen. They work extremely hard, perform their absolute socks off and are in my opinion, one of THE best British modern rock bands out there. 

9: Black Sabbath

There aren't many things most people would thank an ex for, but getting me into these is one thing I definitely do have gratitude to one of mine for. Black Sabbath, the dark, gritty, Birmingham born band who became worldwide trailblazers of heavy metal. Although around since the late 60s and inspiring a large majority of rock bands across the years, I first got into Sabbath in around 2011 when I saw a comeback gig at Download Festival. At the time, I'd only heard their most well known songs like Paranoid and Iron Man and whilst I went to the festival somewhat indifferent to their music, after seeing them, I left their new biggest fan and went on to fill my Spotify with their songs, buy their records and even purchase tickets to see them again in their own headline show. 

8: David Bowie

A British icon in his own right. David was a revolution of expression and someone who taught us to own our identity. His experimentation knew no bounds and so he pushed the boundaries of musical genre, pushed the boundaries of masculinity and femininity, pushed the boundaries with his style and exhibited a level of creativity so considerable that it has impacted popular culture in the most tremendous way. Generations of artists and audiences have been influenced by him, whether it's through Ziggy Stardust or the Goblin King and because of that, his stamp is permanent.

7: Amy Winehouse

An incredible talent inside a unique, straight-talking London girl who gave us so many brilliant songs before her demons took her away from the world in the most premature and devastating manner. Someone who has undoubtedly inspired a number of more recent females across the industry and someone whose modern ballads will continue to ring out for years to come. Back to Black was one of the first records I decided to purchase when I got my record player and is one of my favourites for a chilled evening, gin in hand, finding contentment in her truly stunning voice.

Black Sabbath, Bowie & Amy Winehouse featured at the British Music Experience

6: Arctic Monkeys

Northern, Yorkshire born and bred, of course these would be in my top 10. Like Biffy Clyro, in my opinion one of the best modern rock bands to come from our Isles. Arctic Monkeys’ Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not was one of the first albums I uploaded to one of those rubbish MP3 players from Argos back in the day after acquiring their CD from my dad. Since then, I've followed them album by album and seen them experiment and develop through a number of phases. I've also been fortunate to see AM live a number of times throughout these years and some of their tracks are now without a doubt up there with my all time faves.

5: Oasis

A band I grew up with. Whether it was a Sunday road-trip or afternoons washing the car with dad, these were always on in the background as I grew up in the mid to late 90s. At the height of Britpop, I was only 6/7 years old so not nearly old enough to experience it to its fullest extent but the fact that I knew the words to most of the songs on (What's the Story) Morning Glory? before I'd even learnt my times tables is something I definitely should earn cool points for. One of the musical poster heads for Cool Britannia, more swag than people in green parkas should have and the reason that most of us up North now can't say the word 'shine' without an over-exaggerated and elongated 'i'. 

Oasis & Arctic Monkeys featured at the British Music Experience

4: The Beatles

A favourite of my gran's but a band I've only truly appreciated as I've grown up. The Beatles are one of those bands where even if you don't necessarily consider yourself a fan, when you think of how many of their songs you actually know and love, you realise you absolutely are. The four lads who shook the world and probably one of the earliest bands to unleash the pandemonium that we now come to know as fangirling. If I could go back to any decade, I've always said it would be the 60s or 70s or the cross-over between the two just to experience that excitement and buzz around the music and fashion scene at the time. The Beatles were at the very heart of all that and have given us an array of classic songs that we all know the words to. Having recently visited Liverpool, its great to see how proud the city is of all their musical sons and daughters but The Beatles in particular. Now I totally get why gran loves them so much.

3: Queen

Like The Beatles, Queen are a band that have their die hard fans but due to their massive catalogue of hits, so many of us can consider ourselves Queen fans on some level or another. They have given us so many hits and we all have a favourite. (Killer Queen, if anyone wondered!) Freddie is considered one of the greatest front-men of all time by many and like Bowie was iconic in his creative expression and performing persona. These guys were incredibly talented and from footage and fan  accounts from those lucky enough to experience them at the time, they seemed to give their absolute all with every performance and continue to do so even without their original line-up. I would urge anyone to go and see Bohemian Rhapsody, the recent biopic about the band and their rise. Its a brilliant film and will make you appreciate this band even more than before.

Spice Girls & Queen featured at the British Music Experience

2: Spice Girls

I'm a female and was born in 1991, therefore there was probably a sneaking suspicion that these would feature. Like a lot of girls who grew up in the 90s, I was of course ridiculously obsessed with the Spice Girls. I had their albums, the film on VHS, the merchandise, books, annuals, used to collect absurd amounts of bits of rubbish like ring-pulls and crisp packets just to get exclusive info or merch and I really really really wanted to be the sixth member. They seemed friendly but feisty and for that reason, young girls all over the world latched on to them. Whether it was because you could relate to one of their personas or strived to be more like one of their personas, all of their fans had their favourites and I dare say that all of their fans, certainly around my age spent ages arguing about which one they wanted to be during playtimes. Not ashamed to say that I'll be making a 7 year old me's dream come true next month when I go see 4 of them performing live - something I never thought I'd be able to do!

1: The Smiths

The band I always used to whine about as a kid when my dad would play them over and over again and all I really wanted on was the Spice Girls or Oasis. That was until I grew up, went off to university and started to make sense of the world. Then and only then, did The Smiths start to make sense too. As a 19/20 year old embarking on an independent life, the lyrics penned by Morrissey & Marr started to not only ring true but it then dawned on me just how genius some of them actually were and I began to understand the appreciation my dad and auntie always had for them. As I started to grow into the cynical, sarcastic ball of pessimism and irony I am today, their songs became my soundtracks. The Smiths' songs are very much in keeping with my mindset and way of life, a sort of 'let's mock ourselves before anyone else does' mantra. The Smiths did this, but with society, relationships, politics and culture. I love their vibe, the working class gritty heart somehow tinged with knowing snobbery and all of their referential nods at popular culture, film, TV, at life up North and in Britain and what was going on there at the time. When you listen to The Smiths, it feels like you're up above looking down or in the corner of a coffee shop just watching people go about their business narrated with a very dry, very British internal monologue.

The Smiths featured at the British Music Experience

Cover photo taken from my personal record collection and all others from displays at the British Music Experience. 

If you want to visit the British Music Experience in Liverpool, check out this link.

 I'd strongly recommend!

Check out some of my favourite tracks from the above artists in the player below:

Is there such a thing as shopaholics anonymous?!

During July, I spent the whole month flitting between work and an empty flat. I had no exciting plans, no money and I was in dire need of human conversation with someone other than a customer. The month seemed to drag on forever and I couldn't wait for it to end so that I could look forward to all the fun plans ahead for me in the following month.

Now we are 2 weeks into August and as predicted, I have been rushed off my feet! I have been to Leeds, Manchester and of course in and out of Huddersfield which is where I live. I have met up with friends, seen a lot more of my boyfriend and just genuinely had a lot more fun already this month. One of the things I have been doing a lot of, is shopping. So much so, that I am now ridiculously skint and worried that I may have an addiction to buying things! With this in mind, I decided to show off some of the things I have been buying lately.

Most of these items have already been worn, so I'll do my best to remember the prices, or at least give a rough idea.

This first outfit is something I wore to my boyfriend's gig in Manchester earlier this week. The top is a simple black lace crop top which was around £5 from Primark. I was thrilled to find this, because I recently bought a similar one from Topshop and had to return it, as it was too tight and didn't fit nicely. This top however, is a great alternative for a fraction of the price. The leather look skater skirt was also from Primark at around £5 - a complete bargain when most places are selling them for £15 upwards. To finish off the outfit, I wanted some flatforms and luckily I managed to find these little bargains in Primark for £12. They are black with a suede/velvet feel, and have a dainty little ankle strap, which takes emphasis away from the chunky platform. I am in love with these shoes as they are so comfortable and will go with any outfit. Flatforms are great if you are useless in heels and can only cope with a wedge, like me. I just know these will be my go-to 'going out' shoe from now on.

The next item I bought from Primark is pretty basic but I am so in love with it, that I bought 3! (ooops!) It is simply an oversized batwing sleeved jumper, in a marl purple colour. The reason I bought 3 of these is because they are incredibly comfortable and look great over a pair of plain black leggings. They were an absolute steal at £5 each and have a lovely fitting, which comes lower at the back and sits slightly off the shoulder.

The next item is from an ebay shop called punk-never-dies which sells a wide range of band t-shirts, vests and dresses. They stock loads of artists and bands from Justin Bieber to Alice Cooper, so if you're into music of any kind, you might just find something to suit your tastes. As you can see, I bought a Black Sabbath vest as I recently became quite a fan of theirs after seeing them live at Download Festival last year. My boyfriend has loved them for years and my mum is also a fan, so after being converted myself, I decided to buy this vest ready for when I see them again in December. (Super excited!)

In keeping with the music theme, I also visited one of my favourite stores - Pulp. I always love having a browse at all the alternative clothes in this store, but rarely buy anything as I'm always skint! However, this time they had an offer on any 2 band t-shirts for £25, which I thought was fantastic, because some places sell one for that price. So me and my boyfriend took full advantage of the offer; me with this Metallica tee and him with a rather obscene Johnny Cash one. We got two t-shirts that we both love for only £12.50 each - bargain!

The next top I bought was again, from Primark. I saw this and shoved it straight in my basket because I just thought it was really cool! A tiger's face on a galaxy style background - whats not to love?! I also love the cutout back on this vest and it was only £6 so I didn't even think twice about buying it.

Apologies for how creased this blouse is! I have worn it to death over the last week! This isn't something I would normally buy but for some reason I just love it. It looks really vintage and 80s, but it was actually from Primark. It was £10 which in comparison to some of the other Primark things I have bought, is a bit more expensive, but I have probably got my moneys worth out of it already!

This lacy shrug is from Primark and was £6. I picked it up because I thought it was a nice alternative to a cardigan on a night out or just to put with a nice dress. I love how floaty and wide the sleeves on it are. Plus its lightweight enough to fit in my bag if I'm out and don't want to wear it. Primark had a few other nice shrugs in other styles so its worth having a look even if lace is not your thing.

Finally something not from Primark! These are both from Urban Outfitters, which is one of my favourite shops. I actually did quite well buying these two as they came to less than £25 with student discount and I am notoriously known among my friends for my Urban Outfitters sprees. The vest is a pinky purple colour with a cool pattern and is quite small and lightweight, perfect for Summer. It was only £12 which is really cheap for UO. The necklace was quite expensive at £14, but its a turquoise turtle for the love of God! I love turtles and I'd been eyeing this up for quite a while so I had to have it!

The final thing I'm going to post is possibly my favourite. It is considerably more girly than all the other things I've bought lately but its so pretty, and fits so nicely that I just love it. I saw this on Facebook by a page called Bows Boutique which I was unaware that I had 'liked' so it was more than a pleasant surprise when this came up on my timeline. The print on the dress is really nice and Summery. The actual dress itself is also really flattering. It is a skater style dress, and also has a little padding on the bust area which is great for me. I haven't had the opportunity to wear this out yet but I can't wait til I do as its beautiful.



After writing this post its suddenly very obvious why I am so poor at the minute! This is not even half of the things I have bought lately but I would be writing this forever if I featured everything.

There are also a few things I have bought which I'm not too sure on, so there could be another Ebay session very soon!

Hopefully its not just me that can be this reckless when it comes to shopping!