Goodbye Julia's Review Blog, hello Jolly Symphony!

Come along - the blog is moving. Goodbye Julia's Review Blog, hello Jolly Symphony!

It is a new chapter and it is about time. I wanted to change the name of the blog for quite a while already. I realised that I've gone from writing only reviews to writing about a lot more things and that it wasn't fitting anymore so I started to search for something else. One day, this came into my mind:

I quite liked it and afew days later I loved it - there the journey to the new home began. When you give something a new name why not give it a makeover as well?

And this is why there is now a brand new blog which you will find at

http://jollysymphony.com/

Please come along! All the post from here moved as well, hence you can find everything else over there as well. I will be posting as usual but only on the new page from now on.


I hope you will move with me, see you on Jolly Symphony.

Lots of love
Julia x

Songs of the Week [31]

Hello August, hello Monday, hello new week, hello new music!

Lot's of hellos there - I wish there was a fitting new song to accompany that but Adele was too early with her release for me.

As always I listened to loads of new releases over the weekend and on the list today are the six tracks that I enjoyed most.

I put them all on my Songs of 2016 playlist (Spotify // Apple Music) and these are the new additions of the week:

I want to start this week with a tribute to Viola Beach, the band that died in a car crash this year. Their self-titled album was released on Friday by their families. It's a great album and it's very sad that they're not here anymore to witness how well their music is going. Go Outside is a track from this album which I really like, so I hope you do too.

This is the song you've probably been expecting on my playlist this week: Fake It by Bastille. They've released another song from their upcoming album Wild World which will be out in September. Fake It sounds so different to the brilliant first new single Good Grief, that was released some weeks ago -  it's got electronic and hip hop elements but is nevertheless a decent pop song. Also, the song itself goes through some kind of change in its four minute length and features loads of different sounds. It is a proper musical experiment and it's a good one.

Furthermore, there is a new single by Buster Moe, a singer-songwriter from Sweden. Good Kinda Crazy is his third single. It's uptempo, happy and has a real good saxophone on it - I love that. And aren't we all a little crazy?

Honey Sweet is another brand new song by British indie pop rock band Blossoms, whose song At Most A Kiss I really enjoyed. The new one is a good follow up - it is again very melodic and has a very relaxed sound.

NAO is a British singer-songwriter from East London. She was featured on the BBC's Sound of 2016 list and her debut album was now released last Friday. Get to Know Ya is taken from said album and it's the song I like the most. It's funky and has a very catchy R&B vibe.

The last song is a collaboration of singer-songwriter Sinead Harnett and producer GRADES. It is called If You Let Me and is another fine R&B track. I like the minimalistic production and her beautiful voice - a great combination.


And this is it - I hope you enjoyed all the brand new Songs of the Week. What is your favourite new song at the moment? Just leave a comment below, I love hearing your opinions.

Songs of the Week [30]

Hey there - I wanted to take a break this week to sort some things out (concerning the blog and some personal stuff as well), but I couldn't let you live without some new music.

Therefore, I added another six new songs to my Songs of 2016 playlist (Spotify // Apple Music) and I hope you enjoy the new Songs of the Week even though they are coming your way a day late and uncommented.

It's time to enjoy the music now, so here you go:

I hope you enjoyed all the brand new Songs of the Week and if you do or if you don't why not let me know? What was your favourite new song that came out last Friday? Just leave a comment below, I love hearing from you.

Love Julia xx

Red Earth & Pouring Rain - Bear's Den [album review]

British folk/indie duo Bear's Den (Twitter // Facebook // Website) had an album playback "party" on Facebook last Tuesday and I was there to type along my thoughts for you - here they are:

I am currently sitting here with a cherry ice pop in my hand waiting for Bear's Den's Facebook stream to start. I really loved their debut album Islands, hence I am really looking forward to hearing the new stuff.

As you might remember I had their first single Auld Wives of the new record on my Songs of the Week a while ago as it's a brilliant song and I really hope the album will live up to that great sound... I am so excited to hear this album track to track now and to let you be part of it - here is my track to track commentary.

It's time for the first song now - Red Earth & Pouring Rain. It took exactly two seconds for me to know that I will love this album. The beginning of the title track is just amazing! And the rest of it sounds great as well, I'm so glad.

"Can't you hear it in the silence?"

And that's the first song over already, it's kind of cute how Andrew and Kevin look a little bit scared and anxious about how the reaction is going to be.

Songs of the Week [29]

Hi there - I think I'm slowly running out of introductions to these weekly posts...

...but I will never run out of music!

I have been going through all new and some recent releases over the weekend and on the list today are the six tracks I enjoyed most.

I added them all to my Songs of 2016 playlist (Spotify // Apple Music) which is getting really long now we're already halfway through the year - and these are the new additions of the week:

The first track is called Unstoppable and is the brand new one by indie pop act The Score. They have created an infectious and powerful pop anthem, that predicts exciting times when more music of them will be coming our way. You should check them out, especially if you enjoy the pop tracks by Fall Out Boy or Imagine Dragons.

If you followed my music posts throughout the year then you might remember HONNE and the track they did with Izzy Bizu called Someone That Loves You. I really liked that and it's just the same with their newest single Good Together. It's a calm, chilled out but also sweeping song. Their album Warm On A Cold Night will be out this Friday and I am certainly looking forward to listening to it on the weekend.

Cool My Rush is the dancey debut single of Kiara Nelson, a Finnish-Swedish-American singer from Helsinki. It's fun and catchy and a great song for the summer. She is currently working on new music that will be released later this year

Numbers is next on the list and it is by Nashville singer-songwriter Andrew de Torres better known as Kaptan. The song is emotional and just beautiful without being to sad, I really enjoy that.

The next one is not a new song - it's a new version of a song I already enjoyed but not quite enough to put it on the list before. But with the acoustic version Jonas Blue and JP Cooper have turned Perfect Strangers into a song that's totally worth being featured on my Songs of the Week. It's great for your summer playlist, so add it!

And I want to end this week on a pop high - BB Diamond's Praying. It's a bit 90's girl band with the background choir and everything, but in this case this isn't a bad thing. It is an enjoyable, happy, upbeat track that will make you happy.

Happy Music Monday everyone!

I hope you enjoyed all the brand new Songs of the Week and if you do or if you don't why not let me know? What was your favourite new song that came out last Friday? Just leave a comment below, I love hearing from you.

Me Before You [film review]

This film is the lovestory of the summer and at the same time one of the best book adaptions I have seen recently.
Me Before You is based on the book by Jojo Moyes, who also wrote the screenplay for the film and I have the feeling that this is the reason why it's so close to the book.

For those who haven't read the book, here's what Me Before You is about (it's the blurb of the book):

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

The film is great to watch whether or not you read the book - it's so close to the book and made with so much love for the book, that the one's who have read it won't be disappointed and it's such a great, funny and touching story, that you don't need that little bit more backstory that reading the book gives you.

Songs of the Week [28]

I'm back from my holiday in Malta (it was beautiful, I will tell you on Thursday), but I am not feeling very well and had so much to do since we came back, so you will have to cope with a short post today again.

But the music is still great. Olly Murs is back with new music, more precisely a single called You Don't Know Love and I am very pleased by the sound, I hope it's going to be one of the songs of this summer.

Also, Biffy Clyro's album Ellipsis was realesed last Friday (listen, it's amazing) and to celebrate I have put another song of them on list - Howl.

The other songs are Run (Beautiful Things) by American indie band AWOLNATION, who you might remember from their great song Sail, Fountain Of Youth by Local Natives, Haux's new song The War, which is really beautiful and The Storm In Everything by the Danish band NovemberDecember, who you should really check out.

And now - just hit play on the list below, have a great day and enjoy the music.

There you go, another six new tracks added to the Songs of 2016 list. I hope you enjoy them and if you do or if you don't, why not let me know? What was your favourite new song that came out last Friday? Just leave a comment below, I love hearing from you.

If you are in need of even more music, feel free to listen to the whole Songs of 2016 (Spotify // Apple Music) playlist or my Currently Listening list (Spotify // Apple Music). 

The Fifth Estate [film review]

Three years after it has been released this film is still relevant. The Fifth Estate is one of these films you should have seen at least once.

It sadly flopped when it comes to the takings-to-budet ratio in 2013, which might be due to the heavy topic and the fact that it isn't an easy watch, but it is still worth watching.

The Fifth Estate tells the rise and fall of Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his underground watchdog organisation WikiLeaks. IIt flashes back from the biggest data leak in history in 2010 to the creation of the network and tells the story of the white-haired genius Assange getting in a conflict with governments and intelligence agencies, co-workers and friends and also himself.

The film focuses on the relationship between Julian Assange and WikiLeaks spokesperson Daniel Berg (Daniel Brühl), which is reflecting the tension between investigative journalism, the hunt for the truth, integrity and moral that WikiLeaks was facing with its revelations.

The film is a biopic that couldn't be more thrilling and upsetting than it is. Or maybe it could - I was a bit disappointed that the film makers obviously tried not to provoke to much and was very careful with allegations against Assange as well as the media and governments involved. There could have been more.

Songs of the Week [27]

It's Music Monday again - let's celebrate with some brand new tracks that were released last Friday (or in one case some weeks ago).

I am currently on holiday in Malta, which is why I won't be able to give you all the background information on the songs  as usual. Maybe I will add it, when I am back home, but for now I hope you can still enjoy this week's playlist.

It is a wild mix of musical genres - there's rock, alternative, a bit of R&B and synth pop. And there's a proper dance track for your summer party. So, I think there is something on there for everyone this week.

Make sure to check out Louis Berry and Mabel, they are brilliant and brand new artists, don't miss out.

And now, just hit play on the list below and have an amazing day.

Best wishes from hot and sunny Malta!
Julia x

P.S.: If you are in need of even more music, feel free to listen to the whole Songs of 2016 (Spotify // Apple Music) playlist or my Currently Listening list (Spotify // Apple Music).

And if you want to follow our travels through Malta, add me on Snapchat, my name on there is juliasophied :)

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer [book review]

I bought the whole Southern Reach trilogy as one single book, but I have only made it through the first one so far. Still, I didn't want to keep you waiting for my review as I am not sure if I will read the rest of it to be honest. But first, here's the blurb so we all now what the book is roughly about:

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer. This is the twelfth expedition. Their group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself. They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them, and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another, that change everything. 

Sounds exciting, doesn't it? That's what I thought, but sadly it isn't. At the beginning the reader get introduced into the rather strange expedition and I got excited and hooked by the unknown world the group are discovering. There are mysteries building up and I started to look forward what's it all about.

Songs of the Week [26]

This week is so different to the last one. Whilst it was very hard to pick the best of the many great songs last Monday, this week it's hard to find six songs I genuinely like.

There's a slightly strange remake of the Ghostbusters song by Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott, which is just confusing (and normaly I'm a fan of nearly everything FallOut Boy do...) and then there's acoustic or duet versions of songs we already heard a lot before, like James Bay's Craving and Troye Sivan's WILD - don't get me wrong, they're good songs, but not very exciting.

Nevertheless I have done my best to pick the best (quite) new music for you to listen to this week.

Bonfire by The Hunna is the first song on this week's list. The song has been released on Spotify last Friday and is leading up to the release of the indie rock band's debut album 100. It sounds quite exciting and I love the guitars on it.

The second song for today is by Scottish singer KT Tunstall, who's been releasing music for over ten years now. You might remember her song Suddenly I See (if not, click here) and her newest single is called All Or Nothing and it's nearly as catchy and definitely a really great song.

Mainland's Beggars -is a proper punk pop and 90's alternative mix. "Don't stop, don't give up" seems to be the main message of the song and therefore it's really motivating, not only lyrically, also the music is quite uplifting.

Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya was a track of the day on BBC Radio 1 last week or the week before and I liked hearing it all day on the radio. It was already released in May, but I seem to have missed it. However, it's not too late to make it a Song of the Week, isn't it?

Rihanna has dived into the Science Fiction world and premiered her song for the Star Trek Beyond soundtrack: Sledgehammer. The song sounds epic and I hope that's a good sign for the film. The song was written by Sia and you can hear that instantly - at first I wasn't even sure if it is really Rihanna singing it.

Speaking of Sia, she has recorded a song for the soundtrack of The Neon Demon and it is called Waving Goodbye. She's teamed up with Diplo for this song andyou can hear his dance-hall influences. This combined with Sia's extraordinary voice and style makes a great electronic pop track.

Here you go, another six new tracks added to the Songs of 2016 list. I hope you enjoy them and if you do or if you don't, why not let me know? What was your favourite new song that came out last Friday? Just leave a comment below, I love hearing from you.

If you are in need of even more music, feel free to listen to the whole Songs of 2016 (Spotify // Apple Music) playlist or my Currently Listening list (Spotify // Apple Music).

A Week In England [Part II]

So here we go already, it's time for part two of my UK trip. If you haven't read part one, just click here and catch up. After reading that, you know that after a weekend on the road I arrived in my hotel in London, where I stayed for the next five days.

I don't want to bother you with my daily schedules again, so I will show you some photos of the highlights of my stay. It was quite hard to pick just a view, so I hope you like loads of pictures.

It was not my first visit to London, so I didn't do all of the touristy stuff you do when you're in London for the first time, but of course I stopped by the London Eye and Big Ben, I can't go to London without doing that and because the light was so beautiful that evening I even took pictures again.

 

It was so nice outside that I took a long walk that evening and also crossed The Mall, that was already decorated for the Queen's birthday parade.

Songs of the Week [25]

What a week when it comes to new music releases. So many good songs came out last Friday, that it was quite hard to decide which six to pick. There were some obvious choices, but the rest of it really wasn't easy to narrow down.

Also, I kind of wanted to put the new Bastille song on there six times, to make you listen to it on repeat as I am so excited about it. But luckily for you, I decided you should choose to do it yourself, if you want to. So here's this weeks list with six different songs.

Bastille have chosen the best way to come back with new music - a song that on the one hand sounds quite new and different to their previous singles and on the other hand has the typical depressing yet beautiful lyrics and musical elements. Good Grief merges exactly these confusing and depressing lyrics with a very catchy and also slightly happy sound which turns it into a fascinating first single. Their album Wild World will be released later this year and it is looking like it's going to be fantastic!

Another band who finally released new music after three years is Two Door Cinema Club. The indie rock band from Nothern Ireland has premiered their new single Are We Ready? (Wreck) last week and it sounds great. I would say the answer is yes. Yes, we're ready to hear the new album Gameshow in October.

Life Can't Get Much Better is the next new single after Life Changes from Good Charlotte. I'm starting to wonder if the next one will have the word life in its title as well or if the new album will be called Life. Sadly, it isn't. It will be called Youth Authority and will be available on 15th July. Nevertheless, the newest single is such a happy track, it puts you in a good mood instantly.

Thanks to the makers of The Legend Of Tarzan and the accompanying soundtrack we also get to hear new original music from Hozier. The new song he has written for the Disney film is called Better Love and I forgot how special his voice and style is - it's a joy to listen to.

Speaking of music from movie soundtracks, Twenty One Pilots have recorded a song for the film Suicide Squad. Heathens sounds mysterious and creepy but still fun - I hope that's what the film is like because that would be brilliant.

The last track for this week is a bit older, but the EP it is taken from is brand new - I'm talking about Johannesburg by Mumford & Sons and There Will Be Time is my favourite track from it, so I put it on this week's list. Nevertheless you should listen to all five songs on Johannesburg because it has an awesome sound combining the sound of the British folk rockers with the African elements from Senegalese vocalist Baaba Maal and Cape town band Beatenberg.

Here you go, another six new tracks added to the Songs of 2016 list. I hope you enjoy them and if you do or if you don't why not let me know? What was your favourite new song that came out last Friday? Just leave a comment below, I love hearing from you.

A Week In England [Part I]

I have mentioned it before, but now it's time to write about it properly - I am talking about my trip to England of course.

I came back last Friday and was there for a full week which was really nice. I had a great time and I thought it would be nice to share everything with you. And because it's a bit much to tell all in one post I've split it up and today's part is about

The Roadtrip

My good friend Maria and I went on a little roadtrip around South West England for three days. She has blog herself, so make sure to check it out here.
I didn't want to stay in London for my whole week in the UK, therefore I asked Maria, who is living in London, if she was up for a little bit of travelling with me over the weekend when she doesn't have to work and luckily she said yes. We planned on going to Portsmouth and Bath and we quickly learned, that going by car would be the cheapest and most convenient option (seriously, rental cars in the UK are really good value).
So we got ourselves a car from a car rental at Heathrow Airport (after a slightly complicated journey to get there) and then we hit the road.
I have to make a quick remark about the driving itself: I was our driver for the weekend, I had never driven in left-hand traffic before and I was really nervous about it. But I (like to) think I did alright. At first it was horrible and I felt like the worst driver ever, but after a while I got better and on the last day I was nearly as relaxed whilst driving as I am in Germany and the good old right-hand traffic. However, back to our journey.

Portsmouth

Pretty houses in Portsmouth

We arrived in our hotel in Portsmouth Friday night and went out to stroll around the town and get some food, which wasn't easy as it was already half past nine and apparently nearly everything in the area we were closed at ten. So we got ourselves something to eat from a supermarket and sat on a bench at Southsea and it was really nice.
On Saturday it was time to explore the city by day, so we went to the town centre and past the Portsmouth Guildhall where we met the mayor. Well, not really, there was some kind of celebration and the mayor was present.
After watching on we went on to the Gunwharf Quays, that's a shopping outlet which looks pretty impressive especially with the Spinnaker Tower reaching out into the sky providing a great look over Portsmouth's harbour.
Speaking of the harbour - that's where we went next to have a look around and have a peak at the Historic Dockyard.

Portsmouth Harbour

We haven't seen everything of Portsmouth in our short time there, nevertheless it presented itself as a very fine town with lots of old ships - if you're into ships and the navy you should definitely go there.

Portsmouth Guildhall

Spinnaker Tower

 

Stonehenge

On our way from Portsmouth to Bath (or should I say Calne, that's where our hotel was) we decided to make a little detour to Stonehenge because why not? You are most probably aware of the mysterious ancient stone circle and as there's so much fuzz about it, I just wanted to see it. Now I have. We didn't want to pay the 14£ entrance fee, but it is actually possible to get quite near to the stones without doing it. We walked the path to the ticket-only area and just walked a bit around it and you get a pretty decent view of the collumns from there as well. They're quite impressive standing there in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a beautiful landscape. And as the surroundings were so beautiful we spent over an hour walking around and enjoying the silence.

Afterwards we made our way to Calne and our hotel and then we drove to Bath to get a first impression as well as to get dinner. I ate my first ever Nando's and it was super tasty.

Bath

After we already spent the evening there we made our way back the next morning. There are free guided walking tours through the city (Sunday to Monday at 10:30 am and 2 pm), so we took part in one of them and it was very good. Our guide, Anthony, was really nice and had a lot of stories to tell during our two hour walk. I would recommend the tours to everyone visiting Bath (click here for more information on the tours). You really get a good impression of the city, its history and the beauty of it. Bath really is a pretty town!

Royal Crescent

Following the tour we went into the Roman Baths. It's 15£, but it's kind of worth it. The old baths are impressive and the included audio guide tour is really good as they're telling a lot of stories about the people in the Roman times and how everything was back then - it's very good storytelling. There's also a special tour for children which is really cute.
And then we already had to say goodbye to beautiful Bath because we had planned a few more stops on our way back to London.

Bath Abbey

Maria and Me

Me at the Baths

The Roman Baths

 

Box

This cute little village was on our way from the hotel in Clane to Bath and because it is looking gorgeous when driving through it, we just had to stop and it was worth it. Besides the name being very funny, Box has a lot more to give such as lovely little houses and a beautiful landscape with (slightly confusing) public footpaths around it. We had a great walk (and got ourselves an impressive sunburn).

 

Windsor

We had a spare hour on our way back and as Windsor is very near to the M4 and Heathrow we made our way there to get a quick look at the Queen's house and it is very impressive, especially at dusk. Also, Windsor looks like a very charming town with loads of restaurants and parks, I might have to com back for more.

Windsor Castle

And that's already it, we made our wa back to the car rental safe and sound (as did the car) and Maria went home and I made my way to my London hotel - to be continued...

Supplement: Read part two here.

Songs of the Week [24]

Happy Monday everyone. Did you have a nice weekend? As always I have prepared a six song long playlist for your start into a new week with new music. The Songs of the Week today are something for guitar lovers and (alternative) rockers.

The first song on the list is the new single by British indie rock band Bear's Den. The song is called Auld Wives and is a powerful and moving ballad from their upcoming second album Red Earth & Pouring Rain which will be out by the end of July. Bear's Den stand out due to their poetic lyrics and calm and beautiful sounds. If you like this song, you should listen to their first album Islands, it's really good.

Yes, The Stone Roses have released another new track! It has taken them over twenty years but at least they're coming back wih not only one but two great songs. After All For One, the new one called Beautiful Thing is a funky psychedelic rock song that embraces the great sound for seven minutes without getting blunt.

So Much Sky is by Australian rock band The Temper Trapand it has been taken from their third studio album Thick as Thieves, that was released last Friday. If you're up for happy soft rock, this is the one for you.

We Turn Red is the newest release of the very well-known Red Hot Chili Peppers and it's really groovy, I'm glad they're back.

Local Natives are an indie rock band from the United States and they have shared the first single from their upcoming new album Sunlit Youth. The new song is called Villainy and it's untypically guitar-less but still melodic and really good.

The last song on this week's list is Rabbit Hole by punk rockers blink-182 and with this one it's the lyrics - I can relate to them a lot and together with the typical blink-182 sound it's just a very enjoyable song.

So, do you like this week's songs? I would love to hear from you, just leave a comment below.

Also I would like to recommend you Tom Odell's new album Wrong Crowd, it's really good and was released last Friday featuring his great single Magnetised, which I have written about here.

And finally, if you are in need of even more music, feel free to listen to the whole Songs of 2016 (Spotify // Apple Music) playlist or my Currently Listening list (Spotify // Apple Music).

My 6 Favourite Classical Albums

I like all kinds of music as you might have already realised whilst listening to my weekly playlists. But there's one more music genre I like listening to from time to time: Classical music.

It's the music I go to, when I am studying, writing or reading mainly because I don't get distracted by the lyrics as there are none. But sometimes I go on a walk and listen to it and get lost in the music and that's wonderful as well.

It's not the type of music I use for my playlists and therefore I thought it would be nice to give you a bit of inspiration if you want something completely different to listen to. And what is better than a little list? Right, nothing. Hence, I decided to pick my six favourite classical albums from the ones I own and listen to quite often. There are a lot more brilliant composers out there, but I didn't want to bombard you with too much information.

There are four albums that mainly contain piano music. I love the piano and playing it. I had lessons for about 8 years but sadly I am not really good at it - I wish I was. But what I am good at is listening to other people play the piano and I like it a lot. The other two are brilliant pieces by some of the greatest composers of all time.

Songs of the Week [23]

Hello everyone - how is it Monday again?

But don't worry, this also means a lot of new music came your way last Friday and I have picked the best new tracks for today's post.

I am currently traveling around the UK and today is my first day in London. I'm having a lot of fun and have seen some great places already, Portsmouth and Bath to be precise, and I think I will write a special blog post about my trip, if you're interested, so let me know.

And even though I am abroad, I made you a little playlist. I just couldn't write about all the songs because Blogger doesn't want to let me edit my blog properly on my iPad, it takes ages and I haven't got my laptop with me. I really need to find a solution to this problem for my next trip...

I hope you enjoy this week's music which is a wild mix of genres - pop, alternative, dance....

Make sure to listen to the end since the last one is my favourite. After his huge hit Faded from last year, Norwegian producer Alan Walker has released a new single called Sing Me To Sleep. It is again featuring the voice of Iselin Solheim and is another melodic and catchy song. I hope it will do as well as his predecessor.

Do you like this week's songs? And if not, what's you're favourite new single? I would love to hear from you, just leave a comment below.

If you are in need of even more music, feel free to listen to the whole Songs of 2016 (Spotify // Apple Music) playlist or my Currently Listening list (Spotify // Apple Music).

Lots of love from London
Julia x

The Jungle Book [film review]

Now I can finally review this film for you: The Jungle Book.

I wasn't too sure if I wanted to see it or not but afer I heard some people saying that it's really great and as it was the only presumably good film in the cinema that night I went to see it.

I am normally not a huge fan of remakes because most of the time the original is so much better. But this might not be the case for Disney's recent phase of turning all their animated movies into live-action films. I am really looking forward to The Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson next year (watch the teaser trailer here) and The Jungle Book was the trial for me to see whether I like these new versions or not - and I did.

I was utterly mesmerized by how realistic everthing looked, even though the animals are still animated and that poor little child has to imagine so many things and try not to laugh when seeing all these people in blue body suits. And when I say child I mean Neel Sethi, the 12-year-old who plays Mowgli. He is amazing as is the rest of the cast in the English original: Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupitao Nyong'o, Scarlett Johannsson and Christopher Walken - what a line-up.

Songs of the Week [22]

Hello there - I'm back and there's a lot of new music to dive into this week, so let's get straight to it.

The first one on the Songs of the Week list is a brand new track by the makers of hit song Rather Be. Clean Bandit have teamed up with the UK's latest X Factor winner Louisa Johnson for her first single since her winner's song Forever Young. Tears is yet another masterpiece of the band when it comes to mixing classical instruments with electronic sounds and Louisa Johnson's voice sounds really powerful and good on it.

Songs of the Week [21]

It's already Monday again and it's the first day of my last week as a university student. I have my final presentation this week, which is why I have been so quiet.

But as promised here's my weekly playlist with the best new songs. It's a week full of bangers among others the newest cooperation of Sigma and Take That and a new Craig David single and I sneaked another German song in again.

I hope you enjoy the music, let me know what you think and I promise that there will be a proper post again next week.

To make sure you don't miss out on the new songs, follow me on Spotify or follow my Songs of 2016 playlist. And to keep up with what I am up to, feel free to follow me on Twitter. And if you are in need of even more music, feel free to listen to my Currently Listening list (Spotify // Apple Music).

Songs of the Week [20]

Hello music friends - I have some very busy weeks ahead of me, which is why I won't be blogging for the next two weeks. Nevertheless you will get your weekly playlist, just without my comments - I can't let you down completely, can I?

To make sure you don't miss out on the new songs, follow me on Spotify or follow my Songs of 2016 playlist. And to keep up with what I am up to, feel free to follow me on Twitter.

And without further ado, here is this week's playlist:

If you are in need of even more music, feel free to listen to my Currently Listening list (Spotify // Apple Music).

Love
Julia

Innuendo Bingo Favourites

Hello there - I thought it's about time to talk to you about another one of my favourite silly and funny radio/TV features. I already showed you my Carpool Karaoke favourites some months ago and today it's time for Innuendo Bingo.

For everyone who doesn't know it already: It's part of Scott Mills' and Chris Stark's weekdays BBC Radio 1 show and in Innuendo Bingo season on once a week. They collect funny innuendo audio clips from TV or radio shows and play them whilst to people have water in their mouth trying not to laugh (or trying to make the other person as wet as possible, I'm never sure).

Sounds weird? It is. And it is super funny and you can even play along if you want to make a mess or your floor needs cleaning anyway.

Songs of the Week [19]

Radiohead are back, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are back and also Justin Timberlake has finally released new music - what a week, let's dive into the music right away.

The first song on this week's playlist is Justin Timberlake's new song which is called Can't Stop The Feeling. It is part of the soundtrack from the upcoming animation movie Trolls and it might become the summerhit of the year. It's happy and makes you bop your head or even dance.

Hotter Then Hell is the next single by my favourite new singer-songwriter of the year 2016 - Dua Lipa. I really enjoy her vocals on every track and this song is particularly sexy and catchy, it's great.

After five years of silence there's new music by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The first single release of their upcoming album The Getaway is called Dark Necessities. It is funky and cool and reminds of some of their older songs from ten years ago.

Private School is by Canadian rock band Arkells. The lyrics are a bit weird, but the music is funky and cool.


Young the Giant is an American indie rock band who are releasing their third album Home Of The Strange in August. The new single which is the second to be released from the upcoming record is called Something To Believe In. Its haunting lyrics and great guitar chords make it a great choice for a single release.

And the last song is the highlight of the week: Radiohead's new single Burn the Witch. They have surprised everyone with their album release yesterday. The new record is called A Moon Shaped Pool and is great! Burn the Witch is the first official single release and it is really good. It sounds ambient, a bit experimental and emotional.

That's it already. Do you like this week's songs? Which one is your favourite? I would love to hear from you.

If you are in need of even more music, feel free to listen to the whole Songs of 2016 (Spotify // Apple Music) playlist or my Currently Listening list (Spotify // Apple Music).

Captain America: Civil War

Twelve superheroes getting into a conflict that ultimately makes them fight each other.

Wow - Captain America: Civil War is 147 minutes of thrilling storytelling. I would say it is the best film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet. It is dramatic, witty and thrilling.

It's really good that there isn't one big really bad guy they have to fight (there is someone, but he's not the main problem) all the superheroes are fighting against and that instead they are up against each other. It is an opportunity to get to know our heroes a bit better, what their characters are like as well as how they think and Marvel has taken this opportunity very well. You get to know more about the relationships between them which is brilliant - it adds more emotions to the action-packed film.

Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Falcon, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Spider-Man - it's a bit of work to understand everything going on with all the characters, but it's definitely worth it. If you make sure you're up to date with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (at least with the films) it will be a bit easier to keep up.

The fight scenes are beautifully choreographed and fun to watch. The introduction of the new characters Black Panther and Spider-Man is very well done and the actors very well picked. Especially Tom Holland as Spider-Man is turning the superheroe alliance on its ear. He might be a bit naive but he is so cute and witty at the same time. It is going to be exciting to see the new heroes in their own movies.

All in all, Civil War has a great balance of action scenes like fights and chases and emotional scenes with encounters of the characters either funny, sad or angry. It feels like it's the most thoughtful and mature film in the anthology. Watch it!

If you have seen it already, let me know your opinions in the comment section, I would love to hear them.

Songs of the Week [18]

Looks like the whole Beyoncé album has entered the charts everywhere. And the rest of the charts are several Prince songs - with good reason.

But that's not all there is. I have picked some great new songs for this weeks playlist.

This is what you came for, right? Lot's of new songs. And guess what...

This Is What You Came For is the first song on this weeks list. It is the newest collaboration of dream team Calvin Harris and Rihanna (We Found Love). It's good but not as good as his predecessor.
I have been watching Calvin Harris' Snapchat stories in which he is producing songs for weeks now and was already wondering when the first single is going to be released and here it is.

Shakespeare Live!

Last Saturday (or maybe next Saturday, the historians aren't too sure about it) 400 years ago one of the greatest writers of all time died - William Shakespeare.

His plays are brilliant, he has changed the English language and he has inspired so many people. If you want to know more about his life visit William Shakespeare: The life and legacy of England's bard by the BBC, it's very well made and interesting.

In course of the celebrations of the anniversary of his death there are many tributes, stories and events. One of these was Shakespeare Live! From The Royal Shakespeare Company.

The show which was broadcasted live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon was a celebration of the all his plays and his influence on music, dance, opera and theatre today.

David Tennant and Catherine Tate (yes, the Doctor and Donna or - as we're talking about Shakespeare - Beatrice and Benedick) presented the star-studded show.

Songs of the Week [17]

The past days have been full of music news, bad and good.

Firstly, the tragic news on Thursday that another icon has left this world way too soon - Prince. 2016 really hasn't been easy on the celebrity world so far. Prince was an inspiration to so many people especially musicians. If you don't know a lot about him, go to my Facebook page, I shared some tributes to him on there.

Secondly, there's a new Beyoncé album and that is certainly good news for her fans. Lemonade was premiered on HBO in America on the weekend and is so far only available on Tidal - her husband Jay-Z's streaming service, but you can watch the hour-long stream here.

And for those who have already filled their weekend with Beyoncé's and Prince's music, here's my Songs of the Week for even more great music.

Spring Randomness

Hello my dear readers,

Blogger thought it's cool to be mean to me and didn't save the post about 30 Rock I wrote last night and as there is beautiful weather outside today, I really don't want to rewrite it tonight.

But as it's spring I decided to share a few photos with you I took in the past days and I hope you like them.

We've got the most wonderful cherry tree in our garden and every spring I fall in love with it again. Also, I used to enjoy climbing on it as a child to read or just to sit there and watch the world go by.

And because I adore cherry blossoms, here's two other one's from our little sour cherry tree.

What is your favourite thing about spring? Let me know.

If you enjoy my photos, you can also follow me on Instagram.

I will be back on Monday with the brand new Songs of the Week. If you haven't checked out this week's songs yet, click here.

Have a lovely weekend!