'Years & Years' Primed for 2015 Success

The year 2014 saw the breakthrough of a few acts, Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea and UK artiste SAM SMITH. Opening for SAM SMITH on tour last year was a small band by the name of 'Years and Years'. Consisting of lead vocalist Olly Alexander, bassist Mike Goldsworthy (awesome last name btw) and synth player Emre Turkmen.

I stumbled upon Years & Years late 2014, the first offering I heard from them was the melody filled, dance ready, joy inducing 'Desire'. I immediately rushed to find more material from the band, discovering cuts such as 'Take Shelter' and 'Real'. How was it I had never heard about them earlier? After all they had been releasing music since 2012. Well as it so turns out 2014 was a breakthrough year for Years and Years, with the release of the aforementioned 'Real', whose music video features a dance scene featuring actor Ben Whishaw (Q from the 2012 James Bond film 'Skyfall'). Noting that their admiration of R&B (Which I can hear in their song 'Memo'), they signed to Polydor Record in the UK and were most recently named BBC radio's Sound Of 2015 winners. Yup, a bright 2015 is surely on the horizon for this band, hopefully they can ride this wave for years and years to come

Nathan Marcelin : Personal Blog Entry (What's new with me)

Hey guys. Nathan checking in here, just wanted to keep you updated as to how my life is going these days lol. Firstly I received my VERY FIRST COTT membership payment this month. It really made me feel like a real artist to know I'm being paid for my creative output.  

Money money money..Monayyyyyyyy lol

Recording of the album has been delayed, because where I usually record has been closed until September 2nd. We usually record on on day every weekend so the sessions are usually limited to about four a month.But recently me and the guys who are helping me create the album had the opportunity to record at a studio in St Anns called Champion Sounds. There I met local artiste Chris Garcia (He gave us a really heartfelt speech about always giving your all), but the highlight was getting to pose and TOUCH REAL GRAMMY AWARD INVITES. OMG it was so good, if there had been an actually Grammy award trophy I would have lost my mind lol.

Nathan Marcelin (Right) and music producer POPS pose with Grammy Award Invites.

Is Lady Gaga Past Her Prime?

Right off the bat, let me make it clear that Lady Gaga is by no means struggling financially. Topping Forbes' list of top earning celebs under the age of 30 this year 2013 with 80 million dollars, this article is not about lady gaga the brand, more so Lady Gaga 'THE ARTISTE.

On may 23rd   2011 Lady Gaga released the album , Born This Way, It sold 1.108 Million copies first week. Excellent figures however, this sum was achieved large in part of an amazon first week promo of having the album sold at 99 cents for two days. Now granted if persons weren't interested they could have still saved that 99 cents and downloaded the album for free illegally, a large indication of the quality of the project as a whole however, can be seen when taking into accounts its total sales thus far with the album having sold only TWO MILLION copies in the US two years after its intial release.

Was this a sign of declining popularity or just a sign of the album sales market in general?

 Fast forward to August 12th 2013, Lady Gaga resurfaces with a new single called applause.Initial estimates has the song selling upward the 400, 000 units sold mark by the end of its first week of release. However, something unexpected happens, the single ends up selling only between 200,000-225,000 mark, GASPS!,, Lets look at this comparatively with the first single of her 2011 album ,Born This Way, The title track 'Born This Way Single' sold  448, 000 units first week and at the time was the most ever sold in a single week by any female artiste (Taylor Swift has since broken this record). To have now 2 years later sold about HALF of what she was able to sell at the height of her popularity, one has to ask, Is Lady Gaga past her prime?    

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Exes...The lasting influence of your ex in relationships.

So, you've cried your last tear, you've returned all their clothes. You are finally over your ex or so you say. Recently I was  dating someone and on our dates she would bring up these stories about her ex being an ass towards her, and or instances where things I did or we had in common she also had with her ex. This brought me to a realization, in my mind I wondered, is she sizing me up to her ex, is everything we do a sense of deja vu to her. This brings me to the point, exes always leave you with one bitter gift, that is from that point on everyone you date you unknowingly or knowingly will compare to them and may or may not put up' defensive walls' whenever they get an instance when "Hey this person really reminds me of my ex and I know how that worked out." Sometimes it may be a good thing to keep in mind however don't hold it against someone new if they have traits reminiscent of the GOOD ones your ex had. Once they don't have the same FAULTS, never go into a relationship holding on to the baggage of those that didn't work out.

Dating in your early to mid-twenties in TRINIDAD and TOBAGO .Nerve racking isn't it? (Part One)

Soooooo you're in your early twenties, 23-24years old. You're one of those who want to be in a relationship and believe you have your whole relationship plan laid out, date for two or 3 years, engaged by 27 first kid by 30. Yea it's all good, however, if you're like me here's the problems. 1) Opportunity 2)Personality 3)Ambition

Opportunity

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This is basically where exactly do you as a person who has a general idea of what you want, look for a like minded individual to date? Here are the options. 1) CLUB or Avenue 2)Boat ride 3)School 4)Online


CLUB or Avenue
Basically I would not suggest seeking your future soul mate at a location where he/she will be intoxicated, wining like a maniac, shouting in your ear over the club music. This is NEVER the place to gather meaningful connections. Clubs are like stress relieving  areas, and seriously do you want to tell you kids you meet mommy met daddy at the club?



BOAT RIDE
Hmm I've never been to a boat ride, however, im going to assume all the cons of the club apply here as well and added con is, being on a boat you're stuck with whoever may have blanked your advances, till at least the ride is over lol 

SCHOOL
This is a viable option for the university going.person. Lots of options to choose from.And you get to see your 'Target' out in the wild. In their almost natural habitat.

Online
Online option is TRICKY..Due to the advent of instagram and filters, person can edit their pictures to a certain extent that they are 'selling dreams' *cough* CATFISH*. Also you may click with the person on FB chat or twitter, but in person its like trying to converse with a department store mannequin. 

Trinidadian music industry?

Sometimes i believe the music industry in my country can be summed up with ONE PHOTO!!!

Crab....meet bucket.I feel like there's a lack of unity within the Trinbagonian music industry. I'll relay to you the story of a well known soca artiste in relaying to me that he would have no problem working with me on a none soca release. I Sent him the demo, he liked it, he just wanted to hear his part to the song, I quickly went to the studio and recorded an ENTIRE rough mix of the song for him and emailed it to him. Days, and months passed and he had not responded. Now I don't know if perhaps he did not like the direction of the song or the songwriting, however some sort of response would have been only fair. Maybe this is just the musings of a bitter artiste

Can I Freeze Time.....Because I Like You?.....

Welllllll..The Complexities Of Human Relations Sometimes Baffle The Mind.Baffle Me Atleast. Have You Ever Found Yourself 'Liking' or Being Attracted To Two People At The Same Time?? Its Confusing And Leads You To Start Thinking Like an Irrational Human Being.

So Now You Find Yourself Torn Between Who To Pursue Primarily...Sure You Can Flirt With Both and 'Lime' aka Go Out With Both, But At Some Point You're Going To Have To Up The Ante A Little With One Of Your Choices. So Is It Wrong To String Someone Along Whilst You See If The Person You've Decided To Put Your Main Effort Into Pans Out Or Not..Or Should You Be Straight Up With The Other Person and Let Them Also Date Other People? Ahhhhh Noooooo Because We Want To Keep Things To Ourselves. Maybe Im Thinking Selfishly Lol, Wanting To Freeze A Relationship In Time Should Be Something Invented In The Year 3000 Lol...But For Now As The Drake Song Says...The Good Ones Go..If You Wait To Long..Meaning No Matter How Hard You Try To Conceal Someone Amazing For Yourself, They're Bound To Be Discovered By Someone Else.