All Things Music: Day Two

So I stayed up to listen to Nicki Minaj's new song on some obscure American radio station. It was 45 minutes late, so I spent even longer listening to random music than planned before I went to bed.

I woke up to my alarm again (Jessie J's album today) before listening to my iPod on my way into uni. We were doing filming today so I didn't have time to slack off, 'ahh this should bring down my music hours for today' I thought. Wrong.

So we had to go to a Cider and Ale Festival at Cardiff University for our story. There were loads of barrels of Ale and Cider, and bottles of wine and mead. So much mead.

There was a DJ to the side of the stage who was playing some really good mixes.  He was mixing them himself as we were all milling about, which impressed me.  He started talking to one of our team and gave us his Soundcloud link, so I'll have to check him out again and see if he's got any cheeky downloads available.

When we'd finished filming, we were invited back to the festival to check it out.  This time they had live bands playing, some were quite alternative but it was fun to check out some of the local talent, most of which were Cardiff University students.

I drank a bit too much mead during the evening, so wisely decided at this point to head home to bed.  (Never drink mead: it's not a good idea!)

So my music intake was really high again today, even though a large portion of that was subconscious, but it's really hard to escape background music - it's everywhere.  Even supermarkets have radio stations these days.

All Things Music: The Challenge

I walk into the kitchen with my friend Tom to cook some noodles while we have a break from the essay we're working on for uni. I flick the radio on as we walk through the door. "Do you have to have music on to do everything?" Tom asks me. I think for a minute... It seems that I would.

My laptop is still working its way through my playlist in the other room because I can't concentrate without background noise and anyone in the hallway is definitely experiencing some conflicting sounds.

So I'm looking at my life. I do listen to music a hell of a lot, who doesn't? But I'm interested to see just how much. Therefore, I present The Challenge. I will keep a record of how much music I listen to and how I listen to it for a week. And I will share it here, with you.

Day One:

I woke up to Jeff Buckley singing Hallelujah from my iPod alarm; score 1 for music and I haven't even opened my eyes. I have to walk into town to sign for my house so chuck my headphones on and work my way through Jessie J's album until I get to the estate agents.

When I get home I put the radio on in the kitchen while I spend a good hour cooking an amazing paprika tortilla and cleaning the kitchen - it is now spotless! I return to my room to eat so put Loose Women on in the background while I sort e-mails etc. I mute it occasionally to listen to some youtube videos; my music intake is increasing rapidly...

I shower (in silence!), get dressed (to music), then put my headphones back on to head to my mates house to do some uni work. I'm there all afternoon and evening (we have a vair important deadline tomorrow), and while I'm there we take random breaks to show each other new music that we haven't all heard before on Spotify and Youtube. I also put my headphones on from time to time when I'm really trying to concentrate and drown out the boys bantering with each other.

I listen to my iPod again on my way home and put it back on my alarm clock, ready to wake me tomorrow. Then I start my TV intake, no more music tonight.

Wow, day one alone seems to have shown a lot of music in my day-to-day life. I'm in lectures tomorrow though, maybe that'll change things a bit. In the mean time I'm waiting until midnight when Nicki Minaj releases her new song online...

All Things Brit Part 6

Will.I.Am and Rob Brydon announced Lana Del Rey the winner of International Breakthrough Act.

International Breakthrough Act

• Aloe Blacc
• Bon Iver
• Foster The People
• Lana Del Rey
• Nicki Minaj

Del Rey appeared very emotional during her acceptance speech and hurried off stage. Personally I was hoping for a win for Nicki Minaj, although I'm definitely a fan of how powerful Lana's voice is on Born To Die.

Rihanna was next to perform in a perspex box, wearing a ripped white t-shirt and hiker boots. As she stepped out of the box, her dancers began throwing bright paint around the box walls whilst she sang and danced to We Found Love. Again, the scenes were familiar to something from a neon rave. It was a little disappointing that Rihanna didn't dance as much as the song, which features music from Calvin Harris, usually provokes listeners to dance. It was still a good show though...

Blur were then announced Outstanding Contributors to Music by Ray Winstone. Followed by them making a loooooooong speech. Cue ad break.