HAPPY NEW YEAR! - Sum Up, Resolutions, Best Of 2013

I don't know why, but I'm really hyper right now and this is my last blog post in 2013 and unlike usual, I have quite some stuff to say!

2013 was the craziest and most chaotic year ever, I can't believe it's already basically over. I can surely say that music came out of nowhere and completely turned my life around. Of course it's been in my life ever since but in 2013 I developed a whole new connection to bands and lyrics and fans. I started to look at music from a completely different point of view and music might or might not have become the centre of my life. I created this blog in February and 99 posts and quite some clicks later, I work for an online magazine, I get to interview bands and I couldn't be happier about the direction my life is heading in.
2013 might have been weird at most points, but it gave me a whole lot of amazing moments. I saw 30 bands live, I had interviews with 6 of them, I met All Time Low and I attended my first festival ever. Music, or the people behind it, taught (and still teaches) me a lot about life and the attitude you could (or should) have towards it and I think these people helped me a lot to become the person I am today. 

Before this gets too emotional, I came up with some resolutions I probably won't stick to anyway but it became a tradition for me to think of some resolutions, if I stick to them or not. 

• read 100 books (I'll have to think of ways to afford this but yaay books!!)
• worry less, act more (this has been one of my resolutions for the past few years but I think I get better at it every year so I can't forget about it
• don't procrastinate that much (I am really good at procrastinating, sometimes I even procrastinate things I actually want to do and it needs to stop)
• write more (and when by saying that I mean reviews and stories and just everything that comes to my mind. Writing has been a big deal for me for a few years now and I just enjoy it but I never find the time to sit down for a while and just collect ideas)
• be more open-minded when meeting new people instead of directly judging them (sometimes I do this thing where I judge people from the sound of their voice, so if somebody has a voice that sounds unpleasant in my ears, I don't even talk to them and that's bullshit and I know it and I'll work on it!!)

Let's talk about this again in 12 months and see how far I got with these. What are your resolutions, if you have any? And if you don't, why not? Leave everything that comes to your mind in the comments! 

Last but not least I collected a list of my personal Best Of songs in 2013, so basically this is a collection of the songs I discovered this year and still listen to.

1. All Time Low - Time Bomb
2. All Time Low - Backseat Serenade
3. All Time Low - Me Without You
4. A Day To Remember - I Remember
5. Asking Alexandria - White Line Fever
6. Bastille - Things We Lost In The Fire
7. Biffy Clyro - Bubbles
8. Bring Me The Horizon - Sleepwalking
9. Bring Me The Horizon - Can You Feel My Heart
10. Fall Out Boy - Young Volcanoes
11. Of Mice & Men - Second & Sebring
12. Paramore - Still Into You
13. Pierce The Veil - Hold On Till May
14. Tonight Alive - Come Home
15. Tonight Alive - Hell And Back
16. We Are The In Crowd - Exits And Entrances
17. We Are The In Crowd feat. Alex Gaskarth - Kiss Me Again
18. We Came As Romans - Fade Away
19. We Came As Romans - I Am Free
20. You Me At Six - No One Does It Better
21. 30 Seconds To Mars - Do Or Die

What are your best of songs in 2013? Leave your list in the comments, I'm always happy to receive recommendations of new music!

I wish you all a happy, successful new year, let's close this chapter and open a new one! 

Album Of The Week: Biffy Clyro - Opposites

Hands down, the three guys from Scotland were my new discovery and biggest surprise at Rock am Ring (no, I'll never shut up about it). I still remember how Simon changed his guitar for every song - one was blue and one was red. I also remember how blonde his hair was and how they didn't wear shirts. What I'm trying to say is that Biffy Clyro is a special band and I'd like to discuss their current album Opposites now. 

Opposites was released on January 28th and contains 14 songs. The first thing I noticed after listening to the whole record was that there's a pattern in the arrangement of the songs: Slow songs alternate with fast songs which creates a balance -  neither the slow nor the fast songs outweigh the other. 
If you take a closer look at the lyrics, you'll see that most of the songs have a slightly dark touch. In Black Chandelier for example it says "we begin to relax when it’s just the two of us, and a cute little cup of cyanide". Cyanide is toxic, so it could be a metaphor for a toxic relationship. Skylight leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when you hear Simon singing: "Looking alive with a broken mind, why don't you ever take my side?" or later in the song: "We're users but at least we use each other."

There's something about Simon's voice that makes you forget everything around you. Combined with the instruments, these tunes capture you and take you on a journey from reality to your deepest thoughts and secrets. Suddenly you forget to blink, you forget where you are, you even forget to breathe because in these 55 minutes nothing else seems to matter. With songs like Black Chandelier, Biblical or The Thaw you easily lose yourself in the sounds and I recommend you to take your time when you decide to check this record out because it deserves your undivided attention. I recommend you let Biffy Clyro do their magic and show you what great artists they are because I'm already a big fan and I'm sure you'll like them, too. 

All in all I can say that Opposites is an amazing piece of work. It doesn't matter whether you've been a fan of the band for a while or if this will be your first time listening to them - Biffy Clyro know exactly how to fascinate lovers of good music. 

ROCK AM RING: Day Two

Compared to Friday, Saturday was very relaxed. We went to the venue at around 3pm to see Papa Roach - I have to admit that I only knew Last Resort but the atmosphere was awesome. After being a band for 20 years, these guys know how to please such a huge crowd.

After Papa Roach, we had to kill three hours so we walked around on the venue, got something to eat and relaxed a little before Biffy Clyro played. I didn't know them at all but the girls wanted to see them and I don't regret joining them. The vocalist has such a pleasant, powerful voice, I could listen to him forever. They're definitely worth a listen, I'll take a closer look at their current record soon! Go check them out in the meantime!

The next band we watched was Phoenix. Again I didn't know them and I didn't like their performance either. Their vocalist was cute but the band didn't manage to transfer any energy or passion to me, in fact they bored me pretty much. They were okay to watch but if they played in my area, I most likely wouldn't go. 

However, they weren't the worst band I saw on that day, in fact it was Hurts. First of all I don't really like their music, just not my cup of tea. Furthermore the bass wasn't tuned properly but much too loud, I could literally feel my inner organs shaking and I don't need that. To be honest that was annoying as fuck so I couldn't enjoy their performance at all. The only thing I liked was the singer throwing white roses into the crowd, that was cool. 

After waiting for around eight hours, The Killers finally played. I never really found a connection to them until I actually saw them live. The atmosphere was fantastic, everybody was so excited and happy and we danced and jumped and sang and there was confetti and a firework and yeah, I finally realised what an amazing band they actually are. (Unfortunately I couldn't find pics of their show anywhere, sorry for that!)

That was already day two, time flies at a festival, I don't even know. Day three was the craziest, best, most unreal day of my life - more tomorrow! 

PS: You can find all the pictures I used in this entry and more here!