End of the Year Top 10's

So I'm currently sitting in study hall typing on some sticky ass keyboards thinking of what to do with my time. I mean, I should probably update my blog. You can expect many more posts on here from now till Jan 15th. To start off this fun time I decided to start my own little end of the year Top 10 of both fashion and music trends.
Lets get started!

#10

"Out with the pop, in with the alt. pop."
Never before have I seen the top 40 stations dominated with independent artists, house music,singer song writers, and what seems like millions of English "indie" bands.
This year alone we've seen sickly pop tunes slowly dwindle and turn into Ed Sheeran's "Don't" and "Sing". Most currently, Hozier's "Take me to Church" is taking over my local pop station along with Sam Smith and Tove Lo. Last year I would have never imagined this happening, the alt. stations are becoming more popular and tiny indie boy bands are blowing up into glorified pop stars.
Part of me is excited for this, but a part of me is frightened. Just like how Nirvana blew up in the 90's and people jumped on the punk band wagon, media capitalized rebellion and suddenly sadness was the new cool. Do other forms of music deserve to be on the top 40? Or should it stay dominated by auto-tuned, simple "music".
For god's sake, those who tune into stations and sing along to, "Take me to Church" think the song is entirely pro-church.
I guess I'll leave you with this question, just because a song is streamed and popular in the alt. scene, does this mean it should hop into mainstream? Does it become just a "good" song, rather than a piece of art that stands for something greater than itself?

I don't know. Does this make any sense? Probably not.
I'll be back sometime this week for my #9 most interesting thing that happened this year in music/media.

Kings Of Collabs | VS

Maybe I am a little bit biased, but Bastille's new mix tape "VS" is breaking all kinds of boundaries. A full album that consists entirely of collaborations. What? That's amazing, right?
It isn't new news (but it certainty isn't Bad_News) , the mix tape has been available for pre-order for some time now. But they just released the song I have been most excited for. "Bite Down" VS girl power band Haim.

You can listen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmPTfsoNsSM

In the meantime here's a mini review of all the released songs so far.
Torn Apart- At first listen, I'm not gonna lie, I didn't like it. After the 3rd listen, however, I love it. It's my favorite on the mix-tape so far (asides from Weapon...but we'll get there). The song is pretty pop, but still very alternative. A lot of the new stuff is very electronic heavy, including this one. Something about it is very uplifting and honestly makes me want to dance.There are tons and tons of layers in the song and the production quality is sick. If you listen closely you can pick out layers and it'll make things really interesting to listen to. Also, I'm not going to talk about the music video on here, you can figure that out for yourself.
The Driver- Again, I didn't fall in love at first listen. Right? I'm a terrible fan. After reading the lyrics and finding hard core Romeo and Juliet references, I fell in love. Lyrically, the album has been amazing so far and that's usually very hard to come by. Dan's vocals start off a bit wonky, but eventually pick up. And for the most part, I feel this album has been like that. They did record this while on tour so I don't have a problem. His vocals are still amazing and the lyrics/ rest of the guys make up for it.
Weapon- I heard this song about a year ago last year. Unreleased and live. I was expecting a version much like the live versions (the ones that start out with male vocals)..the recorded starts with nice strings and then hard core beats. It was different than expected, but the only song I heard and at first listen I thoroughly enjoyed. The ending is my favorite thing in the world. It completely changes and feels very R&B/ 90's boy band vibes, everything about it is amazing. Somehow, this song got tremendously amounts of hate for Angel Haze. I don't understand how because she is extremely talented. Search the lyrics for the song to see just how much thought went into the writing. It'll blow your mind. For those who think the band is changing their style, please check out their first 2 mix tapes and pre-Bad Blood stuff (which is on YouTube) I'm not going to waste my energy talking about how the band has not changed.
Bite Down- Like all the other songs, I took time out of my American day to stream these songs first plays from BBC 1. But again, I found myself disappointed at first listen. BUT again I found myself in love with it by the 3rd listen. Not sure why VS is doing this to me but I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. Like the other released songs there's heavy electronics and bass along with loads of layers. The song opens with I'm not sure if its Este Haim or Will from Bastille. Either way, its sick and leaves me somehow wanting more the rest of the song. The chorus's are very strong along with the lyrics, again a recurring theme. You can hear Haim in the background, I only wish there was a full verse of them. They become backing vocals, which is ok if that's what they went for. Overall I ending up enjoying this one a lot.

You can pre-order the new VS mixtape in the Itunes store now. Check out all the songs and give me your feed back, I'd love to hear!
(Also the cover art is amazing!)

Ben Howard | Lyrical Genius

((sorry about my recent hiatus...I am back))

I've been writing tons and tons of essays recently and have found it nearly impossible to write one without listening to good old Ben. His newly released album, "I Forget Where We Were", has been played countless times throughout the month. It puts me in a chilled, focused state where I can write my best. Listening to this album, thoughts and ideas pop into my mind. I don't think I've experienced anything like this before- an album so perfect and inspiring, I have become addicted.

My personal favorites are:
End of the Affair (specifically 4:40- the guitar playing is amazing)
Conrad
IFWWW (the title track, says it all)
In Dreams




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unz9gWteR1s

Style and Music - the Perfect Romance

There's more than just seeing a great artist when we attend concerts. The whole experience is really a romance between what we wear, who we meet and music. The thing about going to a concert or festival is that people have the oppurtunity to show individuality. Anything goes- 

Check out this shop which specializes in original shirts and things for bands. Honestly, she is amazingly talented and I would buy everything if I wasn't broke. 

http://www.indiemusicfreak.com/store

Past Shows May- October

This year I've been to a bunch of different shows, ranging from Sam Smith to Cold War Kids.
The best show I've attended so far has been the Radio 104.5 Birthday Show. It consisted of 8 bands split into 2 acts. Here is a little look into my life through gigs. Hope you enjoy!

 

Neon Trees 

 

Neon Trees

 

Dan Smith of Bastille running during flaws

Panic at the Disco- Festival Pier Philly

Walk The Moon (opened for Panic)

Magic Man (opened for WTM and Panic)

Completely by accident Bastille Bus was infront of us when we left. 10/7

Bastille during Oblivion 10/7 

Sam Smith, Hammerstien Ballroom in September. Front row GA, was amazing. 

Sam Smith

Sam Smith- September

Broods, great opener for Sam Smith

Welcome to GigStyle!

I've always been into music, and as a senior in high school- applying to colleges and undergoing massive amounts of stress, I needed to figure out what I want to be doing with my life.
In today's world, nothing really feels stable to me. So I don't want to be doing something I don't feel passionate about for the rest of my life. There is no way I'm going to use this one life to be miserable. So, I made the decision to go for it. Pursue a dream that would make me happy.
I would consider myself rather tech-savy, I started many a blog during my years- along with Youtubes and terrible attempts at Tumblrs, bloggers and so so so many freeweb sites.
I decided to start this blog because I need an outlet to express my addiction to bands and music, and also because I want to blog?... This year has been an amazing year for music in general. I started giging and finding myself through expanding my music preference. Anyway, I wanted to make a tiny community and share my love for music through the internet.
That's where the "gig" part of GigStyle takes it place, though.
The "Style" part comes from my love of fashion. We can all agree that fashion is a perfect accompaniment to music as-well, right? I mean the past couple of years Burberry managed to pull off stunning shows with live performances that are absolutely beautiful, and not to mention Coachella. The two are widely different, yet not too far away. Being only eighteen, I know what I will be majoring in (marketing) but I am still between Music or Fashion as my focus.
...is it absolutely necessary to choose just one?
Ok I'm probably not making any sense, so let me get to my point.
This site was created so I can mesh two things I obsess with together because choosing just one is too hard.