Come together and join the parade, And get back walk on lost in the trade. With the plants and the shimmering beats, With the wind in my hair, you’re free

I’m almost a week late, but I’ve finally found time to blog about the Rugby World Cup and its Opening Ceremony last Friday.

I had been sick since earlier last week, so was rather apprehensive about the idea of being out all Friday night for the World Cup opening – but nothing was going to stop me from a once-in-a-lifetime experience! The weather was spectacular, although for most of the day I had wished it wasn’t since my jacket was bogging me down, and the greater the weather, the greater the crowds. When the boy and I showed up at the ferry with absolutely nowhere to park, little did we know of the crowd troubles that were to plague Auckland for the rest of the day.

Let’s see what the shortest (aka least eloquent) way of describing last Friday I can handle writing is…

  • Got to ferry. Ridiculous queue that spilled out through the carpark and almost only the road.
  • Decided to take a bus. Bus filled up with middle-aged SA supporters that were far too rowdy and revolting. Girl standing next to our seat on the bus was wearing an awful see-through mesh top with a leopard bra underneath. Her gut hung out. She didn’t even have a decent rack! Sorry to say.
  • Said SA supporter’s cheering and rearing and singing and springing (sorry bad pun, for those that picked up on it…) echoed around and round in the bus and almost destroyed my delicate ears that I’ve tried so hard to look after over the years.


  • When we finally got off the bus, we found the Auckland Viaduct and general downtown area to be PACKED with people.
  • A lot of stupid parents decided to bring in not just kids and toddlers, but some brought babies along – in prams, macpacs, you name it – and they stayed in all night, too! How ridiculous, negligent, dangerous, retarded… my list of adjectives could go on.
  • Wriggled our way out by the Hilton hotel to watch the wakas at around 4pm.







  • Note the dudes without, umm, pants.
  • and it was rather impressive that there were wakas with females only…




  • We then decided to kill a few hours and avoid the crowds by getting some beer to drink in the common room at jazz school – which I was delighted to discover was recently adorned with a new, ancient couch that apparently belongs to my improv teacher’s mum. I got a lot of shit for the first thing I asked about it.
  • Dinner at Mentatz, followed by an Apocalypse-like  rush towards the waterfront as we were running around looking up at the sky trying to figure out which might be our best vantage point, with 9 minutes to go.
  • I feel like such a bitch for admitting that I wasn’t that impressed with what was meant to be NZ’s best/greatest/biggest fireworks display…
  • Watched the All Blacks vs Tonga game on the big screen. We got a bit sloppy and if the opposition were anyone else, we would have been punished severely by a worse scoreline. Personally, the victory was a bit borderline for me – we should have gotten more tries.





I’d originally drafted in my head a rather elaborate and certainly more eloquent post about this day… but after only three hours of sleep last night, I simply just can’t handle it right now. I miss writing about things I think and feel rather than merely what’s happened, but that’s all I have energy for at the moment. And don’t get me wrong, I had a fantastic day, and it was adventurous and amazing to see Auckland so jam-packed, but in many ways, the Rugby World Cup opening left a lot to be desired. The poor crowd controls and the public transport disasters that I’m glad I wasn’t directly affected by… it didn’t shed a very good light on Auckland and New Zealand on such a monumentally expensive day. Now I’m just wondering whether or not I’d like to go buy a number 10 All Blacks jersey. Anyone got a spare couple of hundey?

want to hate you but then I kiss you, want to kill you but then I’d miss you – you drive me crazy but I love you

Edit: PAGE OF THINGS FOR SALE HERE!

I feel absolutely dreadful today. I think I contracted a cold overnight, and that, mixed in with my allergies today, means I just feel physically miserable. So I dug up a photo of a nice view from a very happy day, and just thought, oh take me back there!

Taken in San Francisco back in last November – I can’t believe it’s been ten months since I was there – I really, really want to go back there again. I’ve got to! One day, when we can afford it, I’m going to twist the boy’s arm and make him come with me. Not that I think any arm-twisting is actually necessary… that is, once the “when we can afford it” part is sussed. Speaking of going away though, we have another trip (this time overseas!) brewing in the works, for Christmas/New Years – just have to book the flights and suss it out. It’s going to be absolutely amazing.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I love traveling. And I’m currently using happy thoughts and memories of it as a means to feel less miserable. I REALLY cannot afford to be sick right now, what with uni resuming again on Monday (I have a test that very day!), and the Rugby World Cup starting on Friday night – which means a big night out, I’m certain. The good news of the day is that the job interview I had yesterday was successful, and now I have part-time/casual work that will pay fairly well. No doubt the funds collected from that job will go towards traveling elsewhere again. I swear, I’m more than happy to empty my entire bank account into two things: travel and fashion – and to be honest… it seems that’s all I’ve been doing since last year.

Which brings me to the next bit – I think I’m going to start trying to sell some of my old stuff on here for cheap. Because Trademe/Ebay and the like are honestly far too much effort, so selling directly here only seems to make sense. My life has changed so much in the past year, that I guess it’s only fair enough that my wardrobe should too. Since it’s been a constant “in with the new” in both life and attire, I guess it’s about time I get on with the “out with the old” part as well. My friends and the boy only know too well how much difficulty I have with letting the past and old things go, so… well this might be a small step towards that. I swear, I often “test” myself by thinking about the worst things possible from the past, just to see how much I can bear it. Like, what the hell is wrong with me?!

Sooo, playlist time:

1. Take Off Your Cool – Outkast with Norah Jones
I love how this song opens with acoustic guitar that sounds nothing like Outkast, and then the crooning comes in… and you know it. Norah Jones is sexy as always though. I remember being a 12-year-old and singing along to her album that mum would play in her car.

2. Crazy For You – Best Coast
Uhh, pretty much how I feel about the boy. Ref to title. That’s all. Oh yeah, except for the bit where I really am, for sure, definitely crazy.

3. Heart in Your Heartbreak – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
I remember hearing this album for the first time and thinking, oh my god, I swear I’ve heard this before! It’s just a really familiar-sounding album for me, and I mean that in an endearing way. This song is retardedly sweet and painful and all those silly things that I adore.

4. Blindside Kiss – Neon Indian
A couple of hours ago the boy txted me saying that I should listen to Neon Indian’s new album, because he thought that I’d like it. And I do. No more, will I get them confused with Ariel Pink. This album is much more shoe-gazey-and-hazy, and this song is a prime example. I need a lot more listens. The link doesn’t go to Youtube, but goes to some place where the album is streamed, by the way.

5. Strangers – White Lies
Is it fair on White Lies to say that this song is the epitome of what I think of them as? A running bass line, recurring melodic idea on synth, same old deep vocals… I’m making this sound awful, but I swear it’s not. It’s nice. That’s why it’s on here. I’m rambling now. Because I just had to blow my nose three times in a row and now my ears are under pressure, my head hurts, my throat hurts, and the point is, I lost my place as to what I was going to say about this song, dammit!

6. Clinging On For Life – The Hoosiers
This song seriously makes me want to cry.

7. Rome – Phoenix
Because Phoenix are fucking awesome! And listening to them makes me think of the film Somewhere (that they largely hogged the soundtrack of, obviously…), and it’s funny because I had watched that film right after I got back from California, and it was so surreal going “woah I drove down that street too”, or whatever. Who’s the boy you like the most?

True and everlasting that’s what you want, True and everlasting that’s what you want. Do you remember when 21 years was old?

It’s finally mid-semester break, signalling the long-awaited two weeks of pseudo-holiday that we’ve been longing for – before this semester even began. The boy and I just got back from our half-secret trip to Rotorua yesterday, and it’s no surprise that I’ve taken hundreds of photos that took forever to sort out. It’s been three of the most relaxing, beautiful and unforgettable days of my life, spent with the most unforgettable person I know. I can’t wait to get my films developed so I can see the rest of my photos! And I also can’t wait to do something like this again… summer, please don’t be too long.

Photo diary with chronological commentary:

We stayed in a log cabin for the first night. Since I accidentally (stupidly) revealed to Daniel a couple of weeks ago as to where we were going, I’m glad I’ve managed to keep the more special parts secret – where we are staying, precisely. It was definitely worth the effort just to see the delighted look on his face as we drove up to the cabin and stepped inside – we’d been talking about wanting to stay in a “log cabin” for a while now, so I’m glad that it’s turned out to be exactly what we were after. It was the coziest, cutest thing – perfect.

The boy setting the GPS, before we had quite figured out where things were in Rotorua.

Luggage. Mostly consisting of towels and cameras.

We decided to visit the Polynesian Spa first, and this was the view we spent our first afternoon with. A worthwhile $21.50 for the Adult Pools, albeit the all rude staring men (and some asian girls that followed me around with their eyes). Where Daniel exercised territorial glances and I translated the ridiculous conversations of self-righteous Chinese tourists who decided it would be okay to include me in their conversational topics, without realising that, yes indeed, I may just understand every single word.

There were a lot of seagulls as the Spas looked out over Sulphur Bay.

The stunning view that the 41C spa had – if only that spa had been cooler, we wouldn’t have had to sit on the edge the whole time, whilst I got chilly shoulders and mozzie bites!

The golden, hard-to-pry-for-a-photo smile.

He took a photo of me, taking a photo of him.

The aforementioned spa. It was the most crowded one, as it had the best view.

View from where we bought burgers and fries for dinner.

Eating dinner, lakeside, with the last fading rays of sunset.

Lake Rotorua.

Back inside the cabin, where we devoured Shingle Peak Reisling and chocolate biscuits.

Feeeeet.

We woke up the next morning to a shock score of Arsenal losing 8-2 to Man U. And spent much of the next couple of days returning to “OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED!!! EIIIGHT-TWOOO!!!”

We brought a pot of dumplings to cook for breakfast… but the fridge kind of froze the pot.

Locking up the cabin.

This was an absolute failure of a stove. Several attempts and a change of stoves later, we finally cooked the dumplings.

Back to the cabin we go…

…with rather destroyed-looking dumplings.

Trying to eat with a plastic spoon.

The dumplings were all mushy and stuck together because they had been sitting in warm water for far too long, before the stove decided to heat up enough to achieve boiling point.

Teeth brushing.

All packed up and ready to leave. I miss this cabin already.

At Hell’s Gate Thermal Reserve.

Kakahi Falls, “the largest natural hot waterfalls in the southern hemisphere”.

Unsuspecting photo by the generous camera-bag holder.

The landscape was so desolate and other-worldly and we loved every minute of it. Also, thanks largely to my photographing ways and knack for pointing out and staring at every nook and cranny, we stayed much longer than the prescribed 45-ish minutes for the walk.

At first we complained that it was cloudy and the weather wasn’t great, but then we decided that it made everything look far more volcanic and appropriate.

Another unsuspecting photo taken by the boy.

Black mud. Really, really hot stuff.

More hot stuff. Haha.

Caught-off-guard photos.

I think I like this one the best.

And then I attacked with a flick of the scarf.

The “steamy photo” of the boy. We had a bit of a misunderstanding about that phrase later on… haha. I made this photo black and white because I think it makes it look far better. I also took photos on black and white film, but I won’t get to see them for a while yet. Well worth paying $30 to enter the reserve, just to get this photo.

Apparently this mud volcano is still growing…

Hand holder.

Playing with the grey mud that we were allowed (and recommended) to touch. It felt really good on the skin, too.

Instead of visiting the Red Woods, we hit up Hamurana Springs instead – where the water was clear and purely amazing!

Makes me think of the Forbidden Forest. I’ve always preferred “forests” over “bush”, but New Zealand is mostly covered with bush – that’s why I enjoyed this so much. Although it was largely a blend of the two.

Yet another unsuspecting photo of me and my red scarf.

Self timerrr.

One of my favourite photos ever. It looks really constructed and cropped, but that’s just how the camera happened to drop onto the tree stump that I set the self timer onto.

The head of the spring, which is the largest in the North Island. It’s approximately 15m deep, and can you believe this thing has about 4,500,000 litres of water flowing out of it every hour?!

Don’t fall in.

Pleaase.

View from above.

Ferns.

Reflections #1.

Reflections #2.

Late lunch at Thirty1Five Restaurant.

$10 Beef Nachos – sooo delicious and incredible value for money. I think for the first time in my life I had more ingredients than I had chips to scoop it up with!

King Spa Deluxe Room I got a deal for at the Rydges Hotel. The boy looking pretty pleased with himself…

…and pretty pleased with the fact that we then got to watch the football highlights on Sky Sports.

Post-swim complimentary drinks at the Mezz Bar in the hotel. The bartender had just shut down the bar and was delighted that we made his job easy with 2x Monteiths orders.

Wreckage.

Indulgence.

More indulgence.

The next morning we rocked up to our free buffet breakfast at 10am, only to discover that the buffet shuts at 10am. Luckily they let us fill our plates with as much food as possible, before they cleared the buffet away. Won’t make that mistake next time!

Crazy kids.

The morning after.

We decided to go for a walk around Sulphur Bay – the bay that the Polynesian Spas had looked out on.

Sort of didn’t exactly “stay on the footpath” as signs had warned. The idea of DANGER DANGER was too exciting. Plus, how often to you get to check out boiling pools of water in the ground?!

The whole bay was steaming.

Marbled sulphur.

At the Government Gardens.

Me being ruining a perfectly good photo, haha.

Sweetness.

Car ride home.

The corrugated iron sheep at Tirau.

Fucking amazing trip. The End.

This one goes on to you, All the reasons I know. This one goes on to you, I never had a clue.

Meet Kevin Bacon – he’s the award that the player of the day in my hockey team gets to take home for a week. Said player is then also entrusted with the duty of bringing a box of half-time oranges to the next game. So that was me, last week. Although I finally got a goal on Saturday, I’m kinda bummed it wasn’t the cleanest of goals… but I’ll live. I was all too happy to pass Kevin Bacon onto a teammate for her tough efforts in defense this week though. We only drew 1-all, but hopefully it will do the trick we want it to do on the points table.

Isn’t Kevin Bacon cute?

I’ve actually just gotten back from the boy’s house where I was helping him out with his honours presentation that he has to give tomorrow. At first I felt a little picky, pointing out “things to improve” and getting him to re-order and re-structure some things but I’m glad he actually found me helpful rather than annoying. And I feel like I gave him some good points that’s helped to set off some major improvements which can’t hurt. I’ve got so much work I still need to do for my transcription due on Wednesday, which is going to be tough, but in the meantime, I certainly don’t envy being the boy. Which is worse? A 50minute presentation on a hard topic for which ten thousand words is due in a couple of weeks’ time, OR a 64-bar transcription, bebop composition assignment complete with a shout chorus, improvisation playing test, and a jazz combo recital? All of which is really… daunting. Anyway, pointless non-comparisons aside, what’s getting us through these grueling two weeks until our two week mid-semester break is a 3-day trip that I’ve planned for us to take on the 28th-30th August. To be more precise, “I’ve planned” it in the sense that the boy has no idea where we are going, except for the few hints I’ve given him. Two nights away at some mystery spot somewhere south of Auckland, within 5 hours’ drive away. I’ve also told him that we’re staying at two contrasting places for each night, that are only (according to Google Maps) within 6 minutes of driving time from one another. And that we need to bring bedding for the first night. It’s going to be amazing. I’m so crap at keeping secrets and surprises to myself that this is really proving to be quite the challenge, but I’m sure the look on his face will pay off. I think I’m going to end up asking him to drive so that I can take photos along the way. So it will go something like “keep driving, turn here, hold on, are we going the right way? I hope so, because you don’t know where we’re meant to be going”, haha.

Playlist of the evening:

1. Dawn – Kordan
I stumbled upon this band and fell for them only a month ago. I remember so clearly when I found them, because I was just about to go over to the boy’s house, but a link had brought me to their band’s website and the video for “Closer” (the song below) was on autoplay and made me sit down and really listen to them. I wish this song was longer. There’s a weird, almost dissatisfying feeling about this song, because I feel like “something” ought to happen in it, but does not. Anyway, I think this is a great album opener, thus a great playlist opener.

2. Closer – Kordan
Probably my favourite song by this band. It’s right up my alley with its dreamy, shoe-gazey sound that is coupled with sweetly endearing lyrics. It’s the sort of music I like to listen to at night either alone or tucked up with the other half.

3. Boxcar – The Embassy
The boy acquainted me with this artist, and I was saying to him the other day how undated and “relevant” this album still sounds, even though it was released almost a decade ago. I can’t think of anything else in particular from 2002 that I would label as having a “fresh” feel even today. It’s a deceptively cheerful-sounding song that actually has rather sad undertones in the lyrics, and is also where this post’s title comes from.

4. All We Ask – Grizzly Bear
I’ve had this album sit on my computer for two years now, and never really gave it a chance until a couple of nights ago. For some reason this song almost sounds-waltzy to me, and it’s really just so soft, soft, lovely. I’m such a sucker for romance.

5. Say Something Say Anything – Blood Red Shoes
I might have even put this song in a much older playlist but I don’t remember. I just have a faint recollection of having blogged about this song at some point, I’m pretty sure. Yeah, yeah, I wouldn’t say this song is musically amazing or anything, but once again it falls under “songs/bands I love for un-obvious reasons”. One might hazard a guess that I like this band because it’s a male/female duo (as I mentioned a couple of playlists ago of my affinity for them), but that’s never a good reason to like a band. They just have songs that snap at me and makes me want to listen and keep listening. They do their style so well, I don’t even care about listening to “similar artists”. To be honest – and anyone who’s been in my company whilst I’ve screamed along to this song in my car will have been told this many times – I really only listen to this song for the line that kicks in about three quarters of the way in, during the bridge, repeated all the way to the end: so tell me, how long, how long, how long can you miss someone?

6. Neat Little Rows – Elbow
Apparently this band is amazing. So I gave them a listen. And they’re not bad. I haven’t quite fallen for them yet though, but they are pretty good. Although, when I went on Youtube to acquire the link for this playlist, I couldn’t sit through the video since… well I am not a fan of seeing fat men sing passionately in a set-up situation, and would rather let the sonic merits of his voice (and the band) shine through, unaffected. That sounds bitchy though. But I always think that if you are going to spend that much money making a video… Regardless, I like their new album, Build A Rocket Boys!

7. Lovely Allen – Holy Fuck
Holy Fuck is definitely one of those bands that I started liking twice as much (if not more) after seeing them live. I especially like bands that can pull off instrumentals, and they definitely do. I have no idea if this song has or not, but I always feel as if it must have been used in a movie or something. It starts and ends so beautifully, too – a well rounded, happy-ending kind of song, thus, bringing this playlist to a close.

And oh yeah, in a spout of madness on Friday, I bought these shoes from Topshop. I had been waiting for them to come out online for soooo long and had checked daily for months – but then they happened to be released on the two days that I didn’t turn my computer on at all and were sold out immediately. They’re now being scalped off ebay and the like for around twice the price. Yikes. So maybe there is an upside to The Department Store now having Topshop after all. I know, I know, they’re incredibly sparkly and to be perfectly honest, little over a year ago I would never go near them, but I think my shoe-thing all began with infamous patent aqua Dr. Martens. I was tossing up between the black glitter and these silver ones, but then thought, oh heck, if I’m going to do glitter I may as well really sparkle. Plus I have black boots anyway.

Do it without me, do it when i’m gone. Do it without me, do it when it’s wrong

It’s been a roller coaster of a day, of a week; an absolute storm in my head. Which is fitting that I happened to stumble on this photo that I took in Sydney last year – it’s pretty much a visual representation of how my mind feels like right now. In constant motion. Multi-faceted and slightly confusing. Several planes functioning at the same time…


Sydney, 2010.

As per mentioned earlier this week, I’ve decided to compile a playlist. This one is mostly consisted of music I’ve acquired recently, which have been on high rotation. As usual, I’m absolutely anal over the number of tracks and the order that they go in – and I’m still not perfectly happy with the lack of flow in some places, but there’s not much more I can do right now except post the darn thing!

1. Four More Years – Teen Daze
So the most recent evidence of the boy’s influence on my music taste is “chillwave”. I’m not even going to discuss it because it took me a long time to get into it, and I have to be in the right mood for this stuff – but it’s brilliant right now, because I have a terrible cold and this music is good (or bad) for the middle of winter when you start daydreaming of summer escapades. If we end up executing some ideas we tossed around, I’m sure we’ll end up taking a long drive listening to stuff similar to this playlist, and immortalising summer with the graininess of film.

2. Undercover Martyn – Two Door Cinema
I literally only heard this song a few hours ago and immediately had to put it on repeat for a while. It sounds exactly like something I’ve been craving for some time, without even knowing how or why.

3. When I’m Yours – Film School
I love music like this. It’d been a long time since I listened to bands or songs with an atmosphere like this, and I’ve really missed it. In saying that, the music snob in me will say that “this isn’t amazing music” per se, on a strictly musical level; but as I was saying to the boy (who isn’t so hot keen on this type of sound), that this song is “really good for what it is”. It’s got the driving bass, the whispery vocals, a decent hook, snare hits in the right places, blaaah! Okay I’ll stop analysing it now. It was funny though, because he said that if he were to think of a type of music as being “Amanda”, this would probably be it. It also makes me miss shoe-gaze.

4. Echoes – Washed Out
Within & Without is hands down my favourite record by Ernest Greene. Sure, his other stuff are great (and very summery, once again), but this album is far more intimate compared to his EPs, and this track is one of my favourites. It also has a killer album cover that I desperately want to re-create…

5. Despicable Dogs – Small Black
It seems to be a recurring theme that I like swirly-sounding songs. What I love so much about songs with this quality that sounds like it’s swirling in circles is how lost I can get in them. You lose track of time. You have no idea how much more of the song is left. And usually, it will have a façade of positivity through the use of major keys, but with a heavy undercurrent of something darker, sadder. Mmmm. The title of the post comes from this song, by the way.

6. Abducted – Cults
According to my music taste, I have a huge thing for trios and duos. Especially two-pieces consisting of a guy and a girl, so this band falls under that category perfectly. Asides from the fact that I don’t believe Brian’s actual last name could truly be as awesomeawesmoeawesome as “Oblivion” – and the fact that they come from San Francisco (which I’ve said enough times that I LOVE = awesome), are based in Manhattan (which I desperately want to visit = more awesome) and attended NYU (come on, I can’t even afford the flights there, let alone attend NYU, dammit! = even MORE awesome) – I really like their voices. On top of that, she’s pretty (has nice legs) and her voice has this weird pleading edge to it that I just can’t achieve with my voice which is about a whole octave lower. Maybe she’s the new #3 on my list of “ladies I’d like to be/like”.

7. Lofticries – Purity Ring
Good song. That’s all.

8. Baby Says (Acoustic) – The Kills
An acoustic version of my favourite track from The Kills’ newest album: click here for the album version. As mentioned above, I love guy/gal two-pieces, and The Kills is possibly my utmost favourite duo. There’s a weird familiarity in this song, even during the very first time I heard it, so that’s probably why it’s my top pick from Blood Pressures. Plus, I haven’t mentioned them since forever, and Mosshart is my #1 “lady I’d like to be”, after all. Except that I used the word “lady” in reference to Madeline Follin, above, but that word is terribly inappropriate and ironic for Mosshart.

9. Lady Daydream – Twin Sister
I don’t have any particular attachments to this song, I just think it’s nice. Twangy guitar. Dreamy vocals. Nice bass tone. Yup.

10. Coma Summer – Weekend
Had a huge nostalgic need for some psychedelic/shoe-gaze music a week or two ago, and this San Franciscan band fitted the bill nicely. I have a terrible habit of posting album openers on my playlists, but that’s the thing – the reason they’re the first track on an album means they’re good and reflect the band or album precisely. For those not into this genre, this would probably at best only be a “put on in the background whilst you read news online or pretend to study” kind of song, but I dig it nonetheless.

11. Trying Something New – The Honeydrips
I’m afraid the link takes you to the track on Myspace because I couldn’t find it on Youtube. Once again influenced by the boy, his love of Swedish artists has really rubbed off. Although it doesn’t have many lyrical merits, it’s one of those songs that still manage to sound good with the same lines and hook repeated over and over again. And for some reason, I really think that the hook of this song sounds like Real Estate’s “Beach Comber”, even though they are completely different-sounding songs.

12. I’ll Be Your Man – Anna Calvi
After several sources mis-quoted, I finally found a reliable source (BBC) which said that Brian Eno called Calvi “the biggest thing since Patti Smith”. Whilst I had tried and never really caught onto Patti Smith, something about this particular Calvi song struck a chord with me. I hate that term, because it’s a shitty and unintentional music pun, but I honestly couldn’t think of any other way of putting it right now. Anyway, before this playlist-making business completely destroys my self esteem, I need to point out how admirably talented and sexy Calvi is. I don’t play guitar mostly because I hate the way it feels in my hands and prefer the musical function of bass anyway, but it’s people like her that makes me go, damn, I need to learn how to do that, properly. Her technique! She plays guitar like a man. Like a particular man I know, but my my, how many men would want to be that guitar in her hands. (Live version of this track here). And oh damn, maybe she’s the new #3 and Follin will have to be #4. Because she trumps her both on musical and physical merits. Shhh.

13. Neon – Teen Daze
I don’t know why I like doing this, but I’ve just realised that this is not the first time I’ve started and ended a playlist with the same artist. It just seems well-rounded or something. Plus, this song is dreamy and sweet and very nostalgic-sounding – which makes me wish I was a teenager all over again, and furthermore, makes me want to repeat all my mistakes slightly differently. If only.

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