July Playlist | 2016

Hello!
It's been a long time guys, I know. Even though I would love to just keep making outfit posts I haven't had the proper time (or equipment) to do them. I've been basically traveling my little bum off in July, and August isn't any different. Since I got back from EXIT, I stayed at home for about 5 days, and them went on vacation with my family for two weeks. So, right now I'm still on vacation, soaking up the sun and the sea in Greece and making the most of it. And right when I get back home, I have to leave again. And this time it's veeery different. I'm leaving for a month to study Italian in Reggio Calabria, Italy. Basically, I've been studying Italian for a couple of years now and it's time to take my knowledge out into the world, the Italian speaking world.I plan on making a post for every spot I visit (since we will be visiting other cities other than Reggio) so look forward to those! Oh, and follow me on Instagram @vasilevska_elena and on Snapchat @elenaa-v for more updates!



Anyways, back to the playlist! This month has been weird when it came to music, I listened to a bunch of artists before I went to EXIT, and then at the festival I of course listened to a lot of new music and went into music overload basically. And with that being said, when I came back and headed to Greece with my parents I didn't listen to much new music. In fact, I lowered the standards on hours spent listening to music per day. And now I feel really bad because I can't remember if there are some songs I forgot to put in the playlist. First world problems, I know.
Time to get onto the playlist and explain this bish.

The first song on this playlist is by a Macedonian band called Pluto's Doubts. These guys performed at EXIT and my friends and myself went to see them. I went prepared and listened to their music beforehand since they are relatively new. I really enjoy their music, it's different than what I normally listen to but I like it. The one that really stuck out to me was "Bye Bye Ulay". The lyrics are from a performance by Marina Abramovich (who I am in awe with) and they brought those lyrics to life with amazing music. Can I just say how freaking genius that is?! And big props for their live performance, they had so much soul on stage!

Whilst on the topic of EXIT, my queen Ellie Goulding performed. Time for a quick story time: I have been listening to Ellie ever since she came out with "Starry Eyed" (2010) and I saw her rise to fame year by year. So when the time came for me to have the opportunity to listen to her live I was so hyped and basically clawed my way into the first rows. When I was close enough (but still, I would have loved to be in the first row) and could see her face expressions when she sang and her dancing, and could hear her voice (which BTW sounds JUST like her records, she was that good!), it felt so surreal to me! Now, something you should know about me is, if something becomes too mainstream I lose interest.So, don't hate me but I hadn't listened to her album Delirium yet.So whilst I was waiting for her OG songs like "Figure 8", "Lights", "Anything Could Happen" and "Starry Eyed" (she didn't end up singing "Starry Eyed" :( ) she performed a couple songs from that album, two of them being "Don't Need Nobody" and "Keep on Dancing". These songs had a really cool vibe to them and I just kept jamming out and dancing.So I continued listening to them on repeat to remind myself of those moments. Long story short, I adore her!

Up next is my other queen - BANKS. I love her for many reasons and she has always been a part of these playlist, so when she (finally) came out with a new song I was living for it. She's got two diamonds and a feather guys, and an awesome song! Despite the saucy title, "Fuck With Myself" is a metaphor and if there is anything that school has thought me it's to recognize a metaphor when I see one. In this sultry track Banks talks about how she doesn't need anybody, she has herself and she doesn't care what other people think or say about her. But it also means that she is also her own worst enemy, she takes things very personally and all of the criticism stems from her own head. All these hidden messages said through a controversial title aka the reason why I love BANKS.

I raved about NAO in the past playlist, and she's back with two tracks in this one. In reality, I love every song she has since I'm really digging her sound, but these two songs stood out to me. "In the Morning" is a very chill, slow-tempo song that keeps you engaged in the song as the seconds pass.With every passing moment her vocals are getting stronger and stronger and the tempo speeds up. If this didn't make you want to listen to it, idk what will.
Another song from her that stood out to me was "Fool to Love".This one is a bit different, it's fast tempo and groovy, just makes you want to dance. Great song overall, I send her tracks to every single friend that asks me for some new music.

And we've come to the last one, and this one is a bit of a hit or miss for people. You either love it or hate it. "Take It out on Me" by Chairlift has a very 90s feel to it with the synth sound and her vocals.This song is rediscovered, I listened to it when I was 15 or so, and I distinctly remember listening to a segment from this song in a scene in "Awkward" (who remembers that show?! I stopped watching it after the 3rd season, it became a bit pointless to me) and I was completely taken by this one part of the song. I made it my mission to find it and when I did I had it on repeat 24/7. And now, almost 4 years later, I had that same tune stuck in my head for some reason, and I beat myself up over this song because I couldn't remember what it was. And when I did find it, I felt so chuffed with myself.

Oh wow, this was a long one. Hope you enjoyed my "little" rundown of the songs for this month. Click HERE for the whole playlist, or on the individual titles.
Until next month!