Band of the Week

                     

A quick one this week, as this band don't need much explanation. This is We Have Band. I'm not a massive fan of the overuse of DIY when describing music, but We Have Band are definitely DIY. Three Ex music label employees who decided to make a record of their own backs, with previous little experience. Pretty impressive, I'd say. 
Electro beats are not normally my thing, I tend to be a guitar girl, but We Have Band do it just right for me. It's like a Hot Chip kinda thing; electro for the indie generation. And, just like Hot Chip were, you can imagine them being a staple in the cool kids record collection to be brought out at parties to get everyone on the dance-floor. 
Having said that, We Have Band do the acoustic thing pretty well. Here is the video for the acoustic session version of 'What's Mine, What's Yours'. It kind of defies all the assumptions you make hearing their records and showcases the pure talent and vocal ability within the band. Maybe, on the next record, we will hear a domination of this style...?

Visit We Have band at their official site.

Birthday + Christmas =.....

Bristmas! This may sound odd, but bear with me. Me and Ad both have our birthdays in January (5 years and 4 days apart to be precise) and it is always such a busy time... So, we have Bristmas! A combination of birthday and Christmas that is just for us. This year saw a trip to the lake district and Scotland, which was cold but lovely!

I got some lovely things, including the annual mixtape cd (mix-cd?) and horrible histories DVD. But I also got this beautiful Amelie print, tickets to see Jon Richardson and a mini break to Edinburgh and Northumberland! Spoiled to the max... But he did get a ton of presents and I actually maimed myself whilst making some of his gifts, so its even, right? :]
I think I like bristmas better than Christmas. It seems private and nice. Does anyone else have any altered holidays with their families/ loved ones?

Birthdays come but once a year...

And aren't they lovely? It's quite weird having a birthday so close to Christmas, as people often as what gifts you'd like, but I've already got things I need! This year has been rather lovely. Although 24 sounds so much older than 23! 

Anyway, thought I'd do a little gift post, as some things are just too cute to hold back!

                                

 Me and my work friend, Linzi, are always discussing nail varnishes and she's bought me the three we were discussing last! They are all Miss Sporty, which you can pick up from Superdrug, and are such nice colours. One is a glitter one I've been wanting to try, so I'll show you as soon as I do! There is also a delicious cocoa butter vaseline, a pack of three cute nail files, a happy birthday teddy (which is adorable!!) along with two mini figures and a Chilli Pepper eye palette. 

Honorable mention for the cute kitty bag that Geena got me, on the right. If only there was a kitten inside... Instead, there was Season one of Gilmore Girls!! She got me into it and it is amazing. Can't wait to see little Lorelei and Rory again, without Jess around to mess her up. Random reference, so sorry if you haven't seen Gilmore... But you should! I also got some cute chocolates, which are far too tempting, and a new diary. I was just considering buying a new diary, but now I don't have to! She has also customised it for me, with the obligatory cat picture (my uni files were full of her cat and pigeon drawings!!) and the inclusion of my birthday!

Lovely cat drawing!

In case I forgot...

I also received "An Idiot Abroad 2" DVD, which I'm super excited to watch again, and some money. Already been sale shopping and bought these lovely things:

Dress: Dorothy Perkins

Moustache Brooch: Topshop

I swear I look like a cross between Mario and my Dad....

Expect a couple of upcoming posts about BRISTMAS!, review posts of my birthday gifts, and some really exciting crafting how-to's.

Band of the Week

Everyone in the music biz and blog world must have heard of this band by now. Spector were included in the BBC's 'Sound of 2012' list, which is no mean feat! Past listees include Adele, Florence and the Machine, Jessie J, Mumford and Sons, James Blake and The Vaccines so you know the kind of calibre this list produces. 
With confidence to live up to their namesake, (the prolific record producer Phil Spector of course), the London quintet nestle in nicely with the hipster indie scene: Seemingly randomly picked name, Dalston lads, energetic and moody with a good looking bespectacled front-man. Perfectly hipster, right? They have substance to back it up, though, don't worry! Synth-laden indie rock with wistfully melodic lyrics. It just helps that the singer is nice to look at, ok? It is the glasses, honest...
That aside (*calms down*) Spector are definitely a live band. Yea, it's nice to go home and listen to the moody 'Grey Shirt & Tie', but it would be even better surrounded by a roomful of like-minded music lovers, a bit intoxicated with cider, swaying and proclaiming 'it's their favourite song ever!!!
Maybe it's trying to hold on to my youth (the big 2-4 hits tomorrow!!) but I enjoy Spector for the youthfulness they imbue. With nothing to hold them back, nothing to stop them, they have the world ahead of them. Lucky, young lads...
Check out the video for The Vaccines sound-a-like 'Chevy Thunder' and enjoy the suits and the songs.

Visit Spector at their official site here.

Round 2: Cake Pops

 A firm favourite in my house this year was cake pops. I saw a lot of cute pictures on tumblr and it made me want to try them as a unique gift idea. They seem to be more popular in american, but you can find the odd one or two in places like Selfridges in the UK, but they obviously cost a fortune! And, we all know home-made is cuter as a gift, right?
I initially used this post  as an idea, but just kind of made it up as I went along! I'll try to give you the recipe as clear as I can make it!
You can use any cake you prefer, but I feel like a variant on sponge works best. If you have any other cake ideas that work just as well, let me know! I made a basic sponge for this one. 


For the cake:
4oz butter
4oz white sugar
4oz white self raising flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk (secret ingredient for moistness!)


Preheat oven to 180 degrees (little less for a fan assisted oven!)
Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy (I tend to do it for around 4 or 5 minutes with an electric whisk).
 Beat in the eggs along with 1 tablespoon of sifted flour, this helps to bind it.
 Beat in the rest of the sifted flour until fully combined. 
Beat in the Milk. 
Pour the mixture into your tin (I use a slightly greased silicone one, then it cannot stick!) 
Bake for approx 12 minutes. To check it is cooked, poke a clean skewer in the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. If any mixture clings to the skewer, leave for another five minutes until cooked. 
Remove from the tin onto a wire rack and let cool completely. 


Now for the cake pop making:
Frosting ( I bought this, which you can get from most supermarkets now but you can use your own!)
Candy coating (The only one I could find was this, which I got from Hobbycraft, who have a lovely cakepop section!)
Lollipop sticks (Cheekily, I used wooden coffee stirrers. They worked OK, but not as good as plastic)
Cellophane and ribbon for wrapping


Once completely cooled, crumb the cake. This is easier than it sounds! Use your fingers and rub the cake until it is in small enough pieces, like breadcrumbs. 
Add the frosting, spoon by spoon, and mix until the cake and frosting is combined. It is easier to do it like this, so you don't use too much frosting. It should be moist, but still able to hold its shape when rolled. 
Roll the mixture into balls, as big or small as you like!, and place on a baking tray or similar to put into the fridge for a couple of hours. 
Take the candy coating and melt in the microwave according to the packet (it is made for the american market, so you may need to adapt!) 
Now get the cooled balls, a couple at a time, out of the fridge. Dip the end of the lolly stick, the one that is going into the cake pop, into the candy coating at the tip. 
Holding the cake pop firmly, push the lolly stick in gently, until it is no more than half the way through. 
Now hold the stick and gently coat the cake pop in the coating (a swirling one-move motion tends to work best, but you can always smooth it round with a knife or small palette knife).
Before it hardens, and it does this pretty quickly, sprinkle with what topping you like. I used edible glitter in green and white, festive!
Pop your cake pops somewhere to cool. Some blogs suggest Styrofoam, but I actually used the oasis you get from the flower shop and some small glasses too, and got brilliant results!
When they have completely hardened, wrap and decorate your cake pops as you wish. I use white dotted cellophane and green ribbon for a festive nod.

Not my image. From this blog as I was too 

excited to remember to take a photo! Oooops!

And, there you have it! I pretty and edible treat for those you love. What do you think? Have you ever made these before/want to make these now?

Round 1: Coffee syrups

As you may have noticed, I love making things. Creating something from scratch is so satisfying! So I thought I would do some tutorial/recipe/idea posts, kind of like a 'Heather Makes...' type thing, but not called that because it sounds oh, so corny! I thought I would start with my crafting Christmas extravaganza, as I loved everything I made!

Cherry, Vanilla and Chocolate syrup. Caramel syrup not pictured.

If you love going to the coffee shop and getting something that is just that little bit different (my favourite this festive season was the black forest hot chocolate!) then these are for you. All you need is your favourite coffee/hot chocolate/ maybe even tea and one of these to make your regular drink something special. They all start with a basic syrup mixture of sugar and water, then a flavouring. It really could not be simpler! Here are the ones I made.

Cherry Syrup: 2 Cups of Water, 2 Cups of Sugar, 1 cup of Fresh Cherries (depending on taste).

In a small pan, heat the sugar and water over a low heat, stirring continuously until all the sugar has dissolved. It is better to use a silver pan if you can, so you can see the bottom of the pan and know when it is fully dissolved (it should look as clear as water with no grains left in it). De-stone the cherries and mash them up a little to help release the juice, then stir through the syrup. Take off the heat and leave to marinate for as long as you can (if you don't have a lot of time, 5 minutes will do, but it may be a weaker taste). Pass through a sieve and pour into your container. Leave to cool then seal. If your cherry syrup is not as "cherry-ish" as you would like, add a little cherry juice or cordial to taste before you bottle ( I did this and it made it even better!)

Vanilla Syrup: 2 Cups of Water, 2 Cups of Sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of clear vanilla extract (depending on taste). In a small pan, heat the sugar and water over a low heat, stirring continuously until all the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the vanilla extract and pour into your container. Leave to cool then seal.

Chocolate Syrup: 2 Cups of Water, 2 Cups of Sugar, 2 Cups of Cocoa Powder (depending on taste). In a small pan, heat the sugar and water over a low heat, stirring continuously until all the sugar has dissolved. Sift in cocoa powder and stir until combined (it may seem like it won't, but it will!) Pour into your container, leave to cool and seal. 

Caramel Syrup: 2 Cups of Water, 2 Cups of Sugar, 1/2 Cup of Caramel Syrup (depending on taste). In a small pan, heat the sugar and water over a low heat, stirring continuously until all the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the Caramel syrup and pour into your container. Leave to cool then seal. 

You may be wondering why the caramel syrup isn't pictured. Well, I learnt the hard way about the temperatures of boiling sugar in my attempt to make my own caramel sauce (which involves boiling sugar at a VERY high temperature). Needless to say, it was not pretty. A blister the size of my finger, and just as deep, that still hasn't healed properly three weeks later and was the worst pain I have ever experienced. So, let this be a lesson to you crafting kids: be careful when using any form of hot or boiling sugar! Be careful and enjoy!

Band of the week

Photo by Sam Butt, featured here and taken from here

Hi all! It's that time of the week again, and this week is as easy on the eye as she is on the ear. 

You know someone is going in the right direction when they offer their forthcoming EP as "Vinyl/tape/download." Yes, actual physical tape, all red and everything. (Her online shop also features an illustrated picture book and a hand painted walkman to play your cassettes on!) So, you could almost forgive those that thrown the term 'hipster' as a from of attack. A beautiful creative with ever changing hair colours/wigs and a penchant for reading and blogs. Fortunately Foe, real name Hannah Clark, is incredibly aware of this (see this tumblr post) and clearly doesn't care! 
So, aside from her indie credentials and her insane good looks, what makes Foe great? She perfectly imbues the riot grrl attitude for the pop age, which provides the backbone for her music. A mixture of piercing electronics, heavy guitars and a smooth vocal are united by a beat you cannot ignore. Stand out tracks, however, come when she incorporates instruments that you would not imagine would work. 'Ape Song', a personal favourite at only 1 minute 36 seconds long, begins with an impassioned vocal accompanied by an accordion, Beirut style. 
There feels like two sides to Foe. The side you can imagine being played at an uber trendy night out while you dance like a lunatic versus the mellow night in with wine and the cat. Either way, it's pretty great!


Visit Foe at her tumblr and soundcloud.

Band of the Week

Greetings! Quick one for you this week, but I have stumbled across another little beauty in the form of Easter. A rather elusive outfit, (whatever you do, don't try google searching Easter, unless you want to know about Jesus, Easter eggs and foreign islands before music...) but talent speaks louder than biographies! 

Easter has a basement and bedrooms feel to it. The fun and freshness of someone playing for the love of it shines through each track, equating to pure unadulterated DIY perfection.'All The People That I love The Most' shows just what can be done, with a beautiful acoustic start bouncing into heady, heavy guitar, both done just as perfectly as the other.

I think there could be a place for Easter in the UK music scene, as long as everything that makes him great isn't sucked away by execs and over-production! Long Live DIY!

If you want to check out Easter for yourself, then head on over to the bandcamp, where you can download a free four track digital album! Enjoy!