life – Page 26 – that lemon life

My Songs of 2017

Hola everyone.

The year is really coming to an end, isn’t it? I think not even my shock can change that. And as the year is ending, I thought I’d look through all of the songs I added to my playlist this year and then make some kind of list of my songs of the year 2017.

And what a year it has been. There were so many amazing songs and albums published. Ed has pretty much taken over the year with his album “Divide” and became the most streamed artist of 2017. And I’m so proud of him. I really am. And Paramore. Their new album “After Laughter” is pretty much breathtaking. And Nothing But Thieves surprised us all with their amazing new album “Broken Machine”. And I found my love for the fascinating Tom Rosenthal and his beautiful, calming songs. And Fall Out Boy teased their new style of music with three singles and I can just say, I’m pretty stoked for their new, upcoming album which is being released in the first half of January. And Martijn also released so many amazing songs, not to forget the show in Amsterdam I went to. I still can’t really believe that I experienced that. So crazy. And also all the other amazing, unbelievable concerts I attended. I flew to Zürich to see Ed – one of the best nights in my life. I saw Paramore and The 1975 in a matter of three days. I went to a festival to see Kings of Leon for the second time and had some kind of reunion with Two Door Cinema Club in Vienna, the one band it all started with. And so much more. What a crazy, amazing year it has been.

So, without further ado, here is my list of the songs of 2017. Please enjoy:

The Killers – Mr. Brightside
Saint Raymond – Night Crawling (Re-Edit)
Bad Decisions – Chills
The Hunna – Sycamore Tree
Hippo Campus – Monsoon (live)
Ed Sheeran – How Would You Feel (Paean)
BØRNS – 10,000 Emerald Pools
Fall Out Boy – Young and Menace
Paramore – Rose-Colored Boy
Kristian Kostov – Beautiful Mess
Kraftklub – Chemie Chemie Ya
Sidney Bechet – Si tu voics ma mère
Imagine Dragons – I Don’t Know Why
Martin Garrix – Pizza
The Wrecks – Favorite Liar
Nothing But Thieves – Amsterdam
Tom Rosenthal – Bob in the Rain and the Lizard of Hope

All of these songs mean something to me. Some of them are my favorite songs of an album. Some are songs I’ve been listening to basically 24/7. Some of them are songs that I just recently fell in love with all over again. And some are connected to really important, lovely memories of this year – whether it was a special moment at a concert, a nice evening on a holiday trip or a track in a movie. They all mean something. And through that they’ve all become a part of me, a part of myself.

And also, it seems like I wasn’t the only one who had the idea of doing some kind of musical summary of 2017 – Spotify did too. So they made some kind of list and statistic of my year on Spotify. And it’s pretty fascinating, I have to say. But it describes me in the very best way.

I think it perfectly shows what I enjoy most in music. The only thing that shocks me is that Martijn is missing from the list. But I think it’s so funny that the list of my favorite artists starts off with Tom Rosenthal and Ed, both really slow, calming musicians and then it does like a 180 degree change towards the more indie rock and pop zone with Nothing But Thieves, Fall Out Boy and Paramore. Also, I’m actually pretty proud of the amount of minutes I’ve listened to music – 17.408. That’s like 12 whole days. How crazy is that? Especially when you look at the amount of minutes of 2015 – just about 4700, I think. That’s a pretty huge increase, I’d say.

So yeah guys, there you go. That’s my musical year. And actually I already have so many concerts planned in 2018 – I think I’ve never had so many concert tickets waiting in my drawer. And I can’t wait to attend all of them. And I can’t wait for all the albums, songs, concerts and festivals that are waiting for me, waiting to be published, waiting to be attended. I’m really excited to see what 2018 has in store for me. And until then I’ll just enjoy what 2017 gave me. And I hope you do too.

Also, guys, I won’t be posting anything on Monday, as it’s Christmas, of course. So I wish you all an amazing Christmas and nice holidays and happy days with your loved ones. And I hope you enjoyed this little post. And, as always, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below and thanks for reading. x

Christmas Is Coming

Hola everyone.

First of all, sorry for not posting anything last Friday. I had my last exam of this year in the evening at 8 o’clock and I basically spent the whole day studying and preparing for the exam and then I just didn’t have any time at all, to be honest. So yeah, I’m sorry.

But the positive thing is, the exam was pretty easy and I think I pretty much nailed it and since then I’ve been in such a good and christmasy mood. Which also quite surprises me, as I felt anything but christmasy the last few days and weeks. I actually thought it would stay like that – but here I am, feeling the whole christmas magic filling up my heart. It’s actually so shocking that christmas is just around the corner. And that the year is really coming to an end. It feels like days ago that I came back home from my time in Berlin. So, so crazy. But I guess we are all also pretty much looking forward to 2018. At least I hope so, because I am, honestly. I mean, 2017 has both been one of the shittiest years for the world and one of the best years for me. So it’s kind of complicated to really decide on how to look back at this year. So I really do hope that 2018 is going to be a better, even more amazing year for me, for us, for the world. Because we really need it.

But that’s not what this post is about. It’s about feeling all christmasy, so let’s get right to it. So, my parents just came home today from their vacation and actually, yesterday, I had planned on going to a ball. I mean, I seriously have one of the most amazing dresses ever. I’ll once show it to you, I promise. And it would have been the ball of my own school, so yeah, I had planned on going. But then I basically lost every single sense of motivation I had. I remember standing in front of my mirror, dressed in this beautiful, breathtaking dress and I just didn’t want to go. So I stood there, looking at myself, and then I suddenly had a really cool idea. Because last year, when I got home for the holidays from Berlin, my parents had already put up the tree and the house was all christmasy and I loved it so much. So I had the idea to do the same for them and put up the tree myself. At one o’clock in the night. Yes, I was this motivated.

So, I took out my phone, put an indie christmas playlist on (thanks Spotify) and got to work. And it was so soothing, I can’t even describe it. Do you know the feeling when you’re just so comfortable and happy, that it feels like you’re cuddled in a big pillow made of happiness and love? Because that’s what I felt like right there and then. I mean, it still took my quite some time to finish the tree, but I enjoyed every single second of it. And now I’m sitting here, the tree right across me, sparkling with its shiny lights. And I still get this bubbly, happy feeling. I guess christmas has really got me now. And my parents were indeed really surprised and happy when they saw the tree today. And that just made everything even better.

And I, of course, had to take some pictures of the process and the tree. I really hope you enjoy them. And maybe I can transport some of my happy feelings to you through them. That would be amazing.

But guys, have you also already put up your tree? Are you feeling all christmasy? Oh, and please, tell me what you think about the tree. I got inspired for the colors when I walked past the big tree at university – it’s also blue and silver and gold. And I thought, oh wow, that really looks cool. So I just reconstructed this here at home, for us. And I am actually really proud of the outcome. But what do you think? And what do your trees look like? I’m really curious to know. And yeah, I wish you all an amazing week and I hope you enjoyed this post and the pictures and, as always, thanks for reading. x

Another Day – Another Concert

Hola everyone.

As you already know me so well, you know that I love going to concerts. It’s like food or the air I breathe, I need concerts to survive. I mean, how boring would life be without live music? Oh my god, I can’t even imagine. So dull.

So, in order to not let my life become some kind of boring or dull, I just had to visit another concert and thankfully Nothing But Thieves, one of my favorite bands, decided to pay us a visit. And holy moly, it was soooo amazing. I don’t even know where to begin, no joke.

But first let me tell you something about the band. I first got in touch with them about two years ago while dreaming about flying to the UK to attend Reading Festival – which my mum and I then also did, as you all know. I remember falling more and more in love with their music and their style and just the band overall. And when I finally saw them at Reading, I was head over heels in love with them. Especially with Conor, the lead singer. He’s literally the cutest ever and was so emotional at the show at Reading. So when they announced their European tour, I just had to see them again.

I am indeed a really really big fan of their music. They somehow sound like nothing I’ve ever heard before. And Conor’s voice is so damn unique, it’s fascinating. And they sound so damn good live, oh my god. I would say that they perfectly fit into the lane of music I love. They are a little bit poppy, a little bit slow, very emotional and deep when it comes to the lyrics and then suddenly they get all loud and heavy and full of amazing beats and guitar riffs. And all of that topped with Conor’s angelic voice. It’s literally everything I could wish for. So yeah, that special mix is really what gets me.

And exactly a week ago it was finally time to see them again. Crazy that it was only just a week ago, feels like it ages. The concert was in a pretty small venue in Vienna and completely sold out (props to them). I actually loved the venue, as it had stairs in the back so I didn’t have any problems with the sight. I hate when there are only tall people in front of me, I mean, I’m not the smallest person ever, but especially at concerts platforms come in pretty handy for me. And my mum was happy about that too. So thankfully we didn’t have to worry about not seeing anything.

So we got in and that first support act was already playing – a band called Airways, which I funnily enough already knew beforehand, as one of their songs (it’s called “Mate”) is part of Spotify playlist. So it was no surprise for me that they were amazing. And then the second band came – called The Xcerts – and they were just as amazing as the first one. I really have to applaud NBT for picking such good support acts. They really were a perfect pick. And also the music they played before NBT finally got on stage. Two Door Cinema Club, Foals, The Killers – all the big hits to get us all hyped up. And it worked, I really have to admit.

And yeah, then they finally came and god, was I happy. The started off with “I’m Not Made By Design”, which was a perfect start. And then they basically continued playing all the big hits, switching between their old and new album and fast and slow songs. It was really really really amazing. I especially enjoyed “I Was Just A Kid”. I don’t think I never headbanged that much at a concert. I mean, I didn’t headbanged like you’re probably imagining it right now – but I did like the Laura version, the easy version. And I was soooo hyped up, holy moly. I screamed, danced, sang my lungs out and enjoyed every single second like it was my last one.

And as I already said, they were so damn amazing. They really are one those bands that sound like 100000000 times better live. Which is pretty hard if you know how amazing their albums sound. And Conor was so freaking cute. I could really see that he was really comfortable being there on that stage. I remember him being all nervous at the Reading show. And comparing it to last Friday, I really do get all proud inside. Because he and his band made so much progress in the last year and I’m so damn happy.

But what I especially love about Conor is his humor and his awkwardness. Like, he danced around and smiled and I enjoyed watching him with his bandmates so much. They really are an amazing pack of musicians. And you could sense that they love what they’re doing. Oh and I loved the part when it was just Conor on the stage, with his acoustic guitar that is far too big for his body, but let’s be honest, that just adds even more to the cuteness. He sang a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin'” and yeah, I of course teared up a bit. It was just too emotional.

And, of course, their last song “Amsterdam” really was one of the highlights. Until that point the energy had built up more and more and then when the song started it was ready to burst and it nearly blew the roof off, no joke. The dynamics was freaking breathtaking. We all jumped and screamed and sang and I felt so alive at that moment, I felt like the happiest person on earth. So I really have to thank NBT and their support acts for again creating a night that I will surely never ever forget. Thank you so much for making me so happy. See, that’s why I love music so much. It’s literally my happy place.

So yeah guys, there’s that. Another unforgetful concert and another story for me to tell and another reason for me to love music and concerts and bands. It all makes me so happy. And I really hope that you enjoyed this little post too. Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below. And, as always, I wish you all an amazing weekend and thanks for reading. x

He’s coming

Hola everyone.

I know. Where the hell have I been? Honestly, I can’t even tell. I don’t really know why I just didn’t post anything the past week, somehow I just never found the right amount of time for it. I’m really sorry guys. But now I’m back and holy moly, I have so much to tell you guys, no joke.

First things first – the IELTS exam. To be honest, I think it went really really well. Especially the reading part was really easy for me and I’m already so damn excited to get the results this Friday. I hope I passed the 6.5 mark in every part, so I can start applying for the universities in London. Wish me luck guys. I’ll of course keep you updated.

Okay, and now the cinematic highlight of the past week – the trailer for Avengers – Infinity War. Oh my god guys, I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was for this trailer. I’ve been waiting for this for months and the day they told the world the trailer would come the next day, I was already at the edge. I remember counting down the hours and updating my Twitter search every few minutes in the hope of some news. And then, finally, there was it. God, was I excited. I mean, you guys know how much the MCU means to me. And as the last Captain America movie left me with quite some question marks and worries about the whole Avengers team, I was especially curious to see what my favorite heroes would be up to in the next movie. So, without further ado, here it is, the trailer for the cinematic highlight of the upcoming year:

Actually, I don’t even know where to start, there’s just too much to take in. Also, just to warn you guys, there are quite a lot of spoilers coming up, so please be aware of that. So, we all know that Thanos, the big, lilac guy, is on the hunt for the six Infinity Stones and is of course willing to kill anyone who tries to stop him from doing exactly that. We know that the movie will be playing in Wakanda, which we will get to know further in the upcoming Black Panther movie, in New York and somewhere in the galaxy. I think the movie will start off with Thor and Co. crashing into Thanos spaceship – which was hinted in the post-credit scene of Thor: Ragnarok. This of course won’t probably go well, so I guess that’s when Thor crashes into the spaceship of our beloved Guardians and Hulk into the headquarters of Doctor Strange in New York.

It can also be seen that Thanos is able to collect two Infinity Stones, the power stone, which we saw in the first Guardians movie, and the space stone, which is located in the tesseract, which Loki stole at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. In the trailer we can see him holding the tesseract and I’m guessing that he willingly hands over the stone to Thanos in order to save himself. I’m not quite sure whether this will truly save him or not, but we’ll see.

What especially shocked me was seeing Vision in his human form, which is like a completely new concept and a total surprise. That he and Wanda apparently are a couple now not so much, but that part really did surprise me. And then seeing him lying on the ground, someone trying to pull the stone out of his head. At that part it was kind of an obvious idea for me that he’d die, but I think that Vision will be one of the new Avengers, so killing him wouldn’t really work.

Oh and speaking about deaths – I think we really all have to buckle up for some cruel, shocking deaths that are coming up. And trust me, I’m probably more frightened than you are, especially as Robert Downey Jr.’s contract with Marvel is ending with the second part of Infinity War and, honestly, if they kill Tony, I might as well walk out of the cinema and cry for a week. Seriously, Marvel can’t do that to me. I would be completely devastated.

And apart from that I think that this movie will be a total rollercoaster. Because, as we all know, Doctor Strange has the time stone, so they can actually kill off whoever they want as long as they just have Strange to take them back. I’ll be totally done after watching that movie, I can already tell. But that doesn’t of course stop me from watching it the moment it is out here in my country, which is at the end of April 2018 to be exact.

But actually, I don’t think they’ll kill anyone “important” in the movie. I mean, they will probably “save” that for the second movie, after the Avengers have fought against Thanos altogether. As the MCU as we all know and love it will be over after this – but before you now get a heart attack, there will still be a MCU, just mostly with different and new characters -, I think they will come up with the whole team first to celebrate the past years and movies and stories.

Overall, I am so damn excited for Infinity War, I can’t even put it into words. Especially as I know that Marvel always comes up with the biggest surprises ever and I’m just so up for it. Can I please watch the movie next week? That would be amazing, thank you.

So guys, there you go. That’s one of the crazy things that happened last week, but I of course have so much more in store, so stay tuned. And please don’t forget to share your thoughts about the trailer. It is now the most-watched trailer with over 230 million clicks in 24 hours, so I guess some of you have probably already seen it themselves and I’m really curious about your thoughts and opinions. And until then I wish you all an amazing week. Oh and also a happy start of this years December. Christmas is literally just around the corner but so far I haven’t really been able to wrap my head around that, but I can already feel the christmassy feeling coming up. The snow helps. Oh, and, of course, as always, I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading. x

Happy Friday

Hola everyone.

Right now it’s eight pm on this Friday evening and I’m sitting in my apartment in Vienna, thinking about what I should tell you guys first. Fall Out Boy is playing in the background and to be honest, I couldn’t be happier.

There is something quite exciting and also slightly frightening happening tomorrow, which also partly happened today. Let’s get right to the point. I am currently taking my IELTS exam. The exam that determines your level of English and the one exam that decides whether I’ll be able to go to a university in the UK or not, because in the UK you need to have a special level in order to be even allowed to apply. So yeah, you could say that this exam is pretty important and the results are even more. Wish me luck guys.

I have to say, I can’t really tell you how I feel about the exam – I’m taking writing, reading and listening tomorrow – because on the one hand I am really nervous because the results are so important for my future, and on the other hand I’m super excited because I just love the English language so freaking much and I know that I am good at it so I actually look forward to showing off my skills a little bit. It’s a little bit complicated.

But today I already had the speaking part of the exam and as far as I can tell, it went pretty pretty good. I had to talk about my family and friends and education and that kind of stuff, so it wasn’t that hard to come up with good answers. But I think it really showed that I was quite nervous, I literally couldn’t stop talking. The examiner had to always stop or slow me down, I was just babbling on and on. I mean, not that that’s something bad. Actually I think it’s far better to talk too much than not enough. But yeah, that was that part. I am really happy that it worked out and I can’t wait for the results, really.

And apart from that another really amazing thing happened today. God, how long has this day been? I feel like I’ve been awake for 40 hours. Anyway. Today, I tried to get tickets to see Fall Out Boy I’ve on their next tour. I actually tried getting some yesterday, but the presale didn’t work at all, so I really placed all my bets and hopes on today. And guess what? I seriously managed to get some pretty awesome seats and I am literally internally screaming in happiness. I mean, how awesome is that? I really got tickets to see Fall Out Boy, one of my favorite bands on this planet. And not only that I’ll be seeing them for my birthday, no, I’ll also be in London, my favorite city ever. Oh my god.

Unfortunately, this amazing band again decided that my country isn’t worth a visit, so, as always, I have to get to them if they don’t come to me. And thankfully I really do have the most amazing, coolest parents on earth, who said that they would make my big wish come true and fly to London and see Fall Out Boy together with on my birthday weekend. I could start crying just by the thought of it. I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am. Sometimes I seriously have no idea what I did in order to deserve such awesome parents. And oh god, I love this band so much, I can’t believe this is happening. Holy moly.

So yeah, that was my day. After the exam I went for some christmas shopping and now I’m back home and already thinking about which part to prepare for first – writing, reading or listening? To be honest, I’m really not that nervous about tomorrow. Because I know my abilities. And I just love this language. I know I can do it. And I just have to tell that myself over and over again.

But guys, how was your day? I hope you had an amazing Friday. And I hope you enjoyed this little update or whatever you could call this. I’ll of course keep you updated on my IELTS results. And yeah, until then I wish you all an amazing weekend and, as always, thanks for reading. x

Welcome to STMPD

Hola everyone.

Guys, you know that I love talking about music more than anything. But as I guess that all these music lists are getting a little bit boring, I thought I’d change it up a bit. So, today I have the honor of introducing you to one of the coolest music labels on this planet.

But before I begin I wanted to give you guys a little update on my last post and party a little bit, because it seems like Trump stopped working against the ban for elephant trophies. He stated that he stopped it because he wants to investigate further on how the conservation works, but I’m pretty sure that he stopped because the whole world was literally screaming at him and his administration. So yey and congratulations to all of us. Seems like we just helped to save this planet – at least for some time. Well done guys and whoever got active – thank you so much. You’re awesome.

Okay, there’s that. Now let’s get back to this very special music label. The EDM fans among you will probably already know this supercool label called STMPD RCRDS. It was founded in May last year by the one and only Martijn Garristen – also known as Martin Garrix. And before any of you guys question my opinion about this label, no I’m not just interested in it because it’s his label. I mean, I was at first, but now that I’ve actually taken time to get to know it, it’s like Martijn introduced me to this amazing thing that I am now exploring on my own while being so damn thankful for the introduction.

So yeah, it all started in May 2016, so you could say that the label is still pretty young. Martijn founded it after having some severe arguments and a disagreement about the ownership rights of his music with his older label Spinnin’ Records. And as the genius he is, instead of signing to another label, he just created his own, which now gives him complete freedom when it comes to his music and pretty much everything else. If I’m right the label now “belongs” to Sony Music and it seems like Martijn himself couldn’t be happier. Until today there are about 15 or so artists signed to the label, including Martijn himself (unfortunately I couldn’t find a complete list) and I have to say, all of them are freaking amazing.

What I think is especially cool is that the label mostly consists of pretty much still unknown DJs and artists – I mean, at least I didn’t know them before. And also, like I said, Martijn is totally free when it comes to his own music and productions and so on, but of course he has his portfolio and type of music that people expect him to release and stick to, so he can’t just release anything. That’s why – another genius move – he just created side projects like GRX or Area 21, so he can release other music he enjoys to produce too. And I think that’s so damn amazing, because that way he’s able to show the world even more of his talent.

STMPD is based in Amsterdam (like Martijn, of course) and just about a few months ago he and his team took over one of Amsterdams coolest recording studios called FC Walvisch, a spot used by international superstars like Pharrell Williams, Lady Gaga and of course Martijn. Actually, in the last of his videos YouTube series “The Martin Garrix Show”, you could see him and his team celebrating the official opening of their new headquarters. You can now find the studio under the new name STMPD Recording Studios – here’s a link to their website.

I have to say that I am incredibly proud of Martijn for bringing this whole thing to life and making his dream come true. It makes me kind of speechless too. And let’s not forget the fact that all the signed artists are seriously so damn good. I mean, how perfect can a label get? Cool headquarters, fresh young vibes, the most amazing boss ever and freaking good artists and breathtakingly good music. That’s all anyone in the music business could wish for. Oh, and if you’re wondering why the label is called STMPD – the name was actually inspired by Martijns father’s stamp auctioning company. So it’s basically just another cute tribute and link to his family.

Okay, so, that’s pretty much all the most important information about this amazing label that I can provide you with. And now let’s get to the most fun part, which is getting to know some of the artists. I actually highly recommend following the label on Spotify (if you do have Spotify), their playlists are amazing and also quite addictive. I’ve been listening to them on repeat the past weeks. So, without further ado, let me present you some of my favorite song releases:

As you can see it’s pretty hard for me to not just add every single song the label ever released. I of course had to put Area 21 on the list, because I just love this side of Martijn so freaking much, and also CMC$ as his song features the one and only Conor Maynard. Like, can you believe it? Two of my favorite guys are working with and for the same label. That’s so damn crazy.

And yeah, that’s pretty much it. There you go guys. Welcome to STMPD RCRDS. I have to say that I’m truly so thankful to Martijn for founding and introducing me to this amazing label and awesome kind of music and awesome artists. And it would actually make me so happy if some of you enjoy it too. So please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below, I’m really curious. And yeah, I really hope you enjoyed this post and I wish you all an amazing week. And, as always, thanks for reading. x