# 7

Greetings! My latest from Contact, Temper Trap here and Japandroids here. Japandroids are fab. How can you not love them, just jook at those nice young men burn that drum kit!


Also on my radar are the stupendously mind blowing HEALTH. Since their album was sent to me my brain has been slowly liquifying and dribbling out my ears. Sorry for the visual but it's true! Find my review here.

Last day toiling in the fires of hell tomorrow! Hurray! Never mind about pesky impending unemployment, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I can always take up chain smoking and Jeremy Kyle. Compared to working in an office sponsored by The Change of Life where someone uses the word 'Fortuitously' at the start of every sentence, this looks quite attractive.

TTFN, Natalie x x x x

Favourites...

Who says having too much time on your hands is bad? All hail the geeks. x

# 6

I enjoy taking on so much, but it does feel like complete chaos sometimes.

So, I've got the following on the boil at the moment: some more BBC articles, including an interview with Castrovalva next week. Contactmusic ran my piece on Leeds Festival here and my Times New Viking and Julian Plenti album reviews here and here.

You can see my scribbles on the new Health album, the Japandroids and a couple of others on contactmusic soon. I'm changing jobs and applying for a couple of placements etc. so this may well be the last time I update for a bit.

Love Love Love.

# 5

Hello once more.

I'm finally back at work after what seems like one too many festivals. Four in seven weeks is quite enough for anyone, I feel. Showers and beds are massively underrated!

I've just got back from Leeds Festival, my review of which should be in Contact Music in the next week or so. I'll post it here when it's up. My review that I did for them of Le Route Du Rock in France can be found here. LRDR was a true pleasure to cover and for those who haven't been to Brittany, I highly recommend. It's beautiful and so laid back.

Before all this and somehow wedged between all the camping, I did a placement at The Metro in London. It was only a week but I was lucky enough to get this article published (see above). It's my first in print and I don't think I could be happier about it!

So to round up; I've got a few album reviews coming out for Contact within the next couple of weeks including Simian Mobile Disco, Times New Viking and Julian Plenti (Paul Banks from Interpol). I haven't done anything for BBC Leeds in a while, mosty because I've been so busy with everything else, but I'm going to try and sort out few more articles with them in the next few weeks. Watch this space.

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments about my work, you think more of it than I do! Love From Natalie xx

# 4

Apologies for neglecting this so badly, but I've been so busy. A month has gone by in what seems like a week!

Erm, so where do I start? Went to Benicassim (strictly hols, no reviews), which was hot and lovely apart from the 'hurricane' on the Friday (it was a bit of bloody wind really)... finally got to see TV on the Radio though! Absolutely amazing band, very special experience for me despite having to see them by myself, none of the other girls really like them like I do!
I got back and went straight down to London the next day to do some experience at The Metro- they're printing an article of mine sometime this month in the travel section.
So briefly, then. This is my BBC review i did for Chickenhawk for the Futuresound Leeds Festival Competition. It was an amazing gig, and rightly they ended up winning a place - well in lads!
Otherwise... this is the Toddla T review I did for Contact Music. He's probably the most interesting thing I've come across in a while... such an ace mish-mash of everything.

So off to Moor Fest in about 2 hours, and I'm happy to discover that the weather is going to be beautiful this weekend - I don't think it could possibly have been worse than last year's. And then I have a grand total of 3 days at home before it's off to France to cover Le Route Du Rock. Line-up includes My Bloody Valentine, Deerhunter and Crystal Stilts - if I'm lucky I may get to interview one of them so I'm really giddy. Will post up here as soon as I get time!

Ta, N xx

# 3

Here's my BBC feature on Stag and Dagger festival 2009, the most sonically pleasing festival to grace Leeds in some time:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2009/05/29/gig_review_stag_and_dagger_feature.shtml

# 2

A couple of reviews I did for Contact Music:

Scaramanga Six here

and Lucky Elephant here.

I've got a few more for that nice website that should be about in the next week. Including, amongst other things, Skanky Skanky by Toddla T. To be honest I did it on a bit of a whim, dubstep is hardly going to be my specialist subject on Mastermind!
But good result anyway: I think the album's pretty good. Or should that be bangin'? or filthy? God knows what the kids are saying these days.

In other news it's too hot to work today, so I don't plan to. Maybe some token photocopying to get me out of the office and away from The Wicked Witch of The West. Her voice is particularly shrill today, like a copper kettle on the boil. Bad times.