The positive bits have been amazing, beautiful and a little bit overwhelming. I am very much looking forward to 2012 and all it brings. It will be an important special year.

As is tradition, here is a round-up of the year that was.

–

Overall Best Moments

Became a Jeerio, visited Bali, had My First Ever Cup Of Coffee, solo UK tour, Brighton Tattoo Convention, London Chocolate Festival, Scifi London Festival, pitched a Hello Kitty party-girl tent, set up Turn The Tables, watched a lot of roller derby, rode on a big wheel, started my second tattoo, went to Trill Farm, Hannah & Mike’s wedding.

There are two memories that will last forever from 2011:

• 13th July 2011 the moment when pom poms were put in my hands at Jerwood Space, London
• 17th October 2011 the moment when I saw the ocean from a beach in Bali, Indonesia

Top 5 gigs of 2011: Extra Special Mention for The Best Gig I’ve Ever Been To: Prince at Hop Farm

1. PJ Harvey at Troxy
2. Robyn at the Roundhouse
3. Shonen Knife and Smallgang at Scala
4. Hop Farm Festival: especially Sound Of Rum, James Yuill and Dry The River
5. High Voltage Festival: especially Dream Theater, Queensryche and Judas Priest

Special mentions for: Something Beginning With L & Singing Adams at 12 Bar; Envy & Bellatrix at Spit launch; Chris T-T at Old Blue Last; Tom Williams and The Boat, My First Tooth, She Makes War at Borderline; We Are Lizards (Scroobius Pip) at The Book Club, The Indelicates, Dave Hughes & The Renegade Folk Punk Band at 13th Note; Chris T-T, MJ Hibbett at Portland Arms.

Top 5 Bars of 2011:

• Tsuru, Southwark
• Old Blue Last, Shoreditch
• Facebar/Mixwells/Bali Joe/Club Cosmo/Potato Head/Ganesha Beach, Seminyak, Bali
• The Kenton, Hackney
• Off Broadway, Hackney

All the bars I’ve played in during 2011 are listed on my Live page. They all deserve a special mention, particularly 13th Note in Glasgow.

The Best 5 Welsh People of 2011:

1. Adam Walton
2. Bethan Elfyn
3. Becky Davey
4. Clare Potts
5. Megan Peppin

Top 5 Websites of 2011:

1. The Girls Are
2. For Book’s Sake
3. Derby News Network
4. NASA TV
5. TED

Best Shops/Places of 2011:

1. Prick Tattoo
2. Vision Hairdressers
3. Rich Mix
4. The London Particular

Normal Clothes As Fancy Dress

Shakespeare Hero

Peter Pan

Lady Gaga

A Chef

Barbie/Doll

–

This year’s lists are brief. I haven’t listed my favourite albums or films of this year because looking back on 2011 has been a bit tricky. Having said that, I met new and existing friends who are really incredible people and have had a massive impact on my life already. Most of them don’t know half of the good they have done and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to show them my appreciation.

And now we go into 2012: the year of travel, the year of love. I am filled with hope and excitement for the future. This will be the best year ever.

No bravado.

AMx

My new single, Milk and Water is now available as a pay what you like one-track download on Bandcamp.

This will be the last release for a while. Thank you everyone who’s come to any of my gigs over the last 2 years and all of you who’ve bought my music or listened to it online.

Extra thanks to some special people who’ve given me the best advice I could ever ask for. I hope I can live up to their and my own expectations.

After the next few shows I’ll be focusing entirely on what I’m here for in the first place – music. So please bear with me while I work hard quietly away from you.

I promise you’ll get to hear it all eventually! Peace, I’m out.

In celebration of what is about to be The Best Summer Of My Life, I’ve made you a super special totally awesome summer playlist: This Summer Will Be Yours

Enjoy!

(and for those of you not on Spotify, here’s the tracklisting)

–

Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon Urge Overkill

Atomic Blondie

Yeah Buddy Pulled Apart By Horses

The Boys Are Back In Town Thin Lizzy

School’s Out Alice Cooper

Cool Rider Michelle Pfeiffer

I Lust You Neon Neon

Heart Shaped Box Nirvana

See My Evil Tom Williams & The Boat

There’s A Rockstar In My Room Let’s Wrestle

Life In Paper Fucked Up

Forget The Swan Dinosaur Jr

Times Of Grace Neurosis

Loser Beck

I’ve Been Thinking Handsome Boy Modelling School ft Cat Power

I Will Follow You Into The Dark Death Cab For Cutie

Purple Rain Prince

Come Outside Melodica, Melody & Me

$200 Tattoo Eels

Floor Micachu

Cigarette Ben Folds

Move On Singing Adams

Honey All Over Gruff Rhys

Dumb Nirvana

Angel Sized Something Beginning With L

Mulder and Scully Catatonia

I Will Not Give In Let’s Wrestle

31 Pills Chris T-T

Cover Me Bjork (Dilinja Remix)

Nightclubbing Zombie Zombie

All Of The Lights Kanye West

Learning Curves Lianne Hall

Argh! So much has happened since I did a proper blog I don’t know where to start. With a list of course!

• In October 2010 I had the start of my first ever tattoo. It was finished in February 2011 and is one of the best things I’ve ever done. I love it and I am so grateful to the artist Henry Hate. He is like the Juliette Binoche character from Chocolat but for tattoos. I went in with an idea and came out with my soul on my skin.
• I did my first ever solo tour of the UK. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to book any Wales gigs this time round but I’m hoping to soon enough. I went to Bristol, Cambridge, Glasgow and Ayr. The Scottish gigs were with tour buddy Dave Hughes who is like a cross between Shane MacGowan and Macaulay Culkin and knows more about Bruce Springsteen than anyone I know. I had tonnes of fun and adventures along the way. The new set-up using a small 80s keyboard rather than my big full-size one works much better (even though it does leave me with nothing to hide behind!).
• I have new hair. It is short-ish and blonde. I adore it. The best hairdresser I’ve ever had did it. You can find her on Twitter. If I ever get a world tour, Sapphire is coming with me to do my hair.
• I finally got to the Out Of This World exhibition at the British Library. It is fantastic. The only frustrating thing is not being able to touch and smell the original copies of these wonderful books. I will be going back again before it finishes.
• My favourite wannbe-rollergirl’s boyfriend arranged an incredible birthday surprise treasure hunt for her around the National Galleries and Trafalgar Square. Her closest friends all dressed up as characters from her two favourite stories: Alice In Wonderland and Mary Poppins. It caused a bit of a ruckus when security tried to chuck us out though and we ended up being chased by around 7 security guards. It all ended in a tea party. I was the Cheshire Cat, obvs.

Future things:

• The Very Exciting Thing I am doing is now underway. I still can’t say much about it but as soon as I can I will let you know. At the moment it is just in the research stages.
• I booked my first holiday for about 5 years: In October I’ll be visiting one of my best friends in Bangkok then we’re also going to Bali too! I almost fainted when I read the confirmation emails. I have been ordered I’m not allowed to do any work at all while I’m there. I might have to sneak some online time to dispel any withdrawal symptoms!
• The new single Milk and Water is almost ready. It has been a labour of love.
• The artist development programme I created for Drake Music has finally been given a little bit of money for the first session. I’m really looking forward to it although it means more work for me!
• Lots of changes have happened that make me think East London might not be the place for me soon, I love it here and of course my heart will always belong to London but I’m thinking more and more about moving away. I won’t be going too far and I’m sure you’ll read about this in the forthcoming year.
• And FINALLY I am planning my next party. It won’t be until the autumn and will have a very different feel as well as be a more ‘exclusive’ event. More to follow!

So all in all a transforming few months. Not sure what’s next, which is (as you know) how I like it. Exciting times. #followthesigns

I’d like to share a story with you about some work I’ve been doing recently on the new single Milk And Water:

–

The lovely Simon Askew (well-known BBC producer and engineer) has very kindly been offering me some advice about production. In April I sent him links to The Angel EP and also a rough draft of the new single.

Many people have listened to The Angel and I’ve had a lot of great feedback but nobody has said this:

“…The first thing is both that mix and the Angel EP is all in mono! Is this deliberate? If so I think it’s wrong!”

No Simon, no. This was not deliberate.

Full disclosure: I didn’t actually know.

Through several weeks of email exchanges I rewired and panned and sweated and screamed, and continued to hate the massive gaps in my music technology expertise.

Finally ready to export the track to send a new version to Simon, I noticed a small drop-down box giving the options to export in mono, stereo split or stereo interleaved.

That’s right folks, a small drop-down box in the middle of my screen. I had seen this menu on everything I’ve ever mixed for the past 2 years and at no point had I thought: “I wonder what that’s for…”

Seriously. I am an idiot.

Like The Beatles, my recordings up until now have been in mono. This has the potential to go down in history as one of those hilarious early music making stories. Or perhaps not. Maybe I could pretend I intended it that way and release my own boxset.

Go ahead, listen to The Angel EP on Spotify or Bandcamp with fresh ears. Mono.

Me and The Beatles in Mono.

Cool.

[please note the new single will be in stereo, like I'm a normal person]

2. Go out without anywhere to go

3. Walk or Get the Bus

4. Look up as well as down

5. Speak to strangers

I am entirely blown away.

I can’t thank you enough Joey.

The angel (joey2tits remix)

Aims/Hopes:

Play loads of gigs

Finish the next single and the album

Find Toto

Get taken to Japan [Shut up, it could totally happen]

Visit California and Thailand

Dance more

Live consciously and give to others

–

Playlist (on Spotify)

The Tin Man Grasscut

Second Life Zach Hill

Made By Maid Laura Marling

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here She & Him

Every Exception Has Its Rule Blood Command

Fallen Angel Poison

Seasons of Love Cast of Rent

It Takes Blood And Guts To Be This Cool Skunk Anansie

Sweet Dreams Eurythmics

Shitlist L-7

Dancing In The Dark Bruce Springsteen

I Punched A Lion In The Throat Pulled Apart By Horses

Little Lion Man Mumford & Sons

Cliffs Karen O & the kids

28 Days Later London Music Works

London Is The Reason Gallows

London Loves Blur

Olympian She Makes War

You Don’t Own Me Dusty Springfield

Love The Lie Sage Francis

Pretty Good Year Tori Amos

It Had To Be You Harry Connick Jr

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction Cat Power

Friendship Station Le Tigre

Next Girl The Black Keys

Where Is My Mind? Pixies

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t've) The Buzzcocks

Somewhere Over The Rainbow Judy Garland

Wow. Ummm. Almost speechless (Almost but not quite!)

2010 was the year that was. The year that changed my life. The best, most amazing, magical, phenomenal, happiest, luckiest year ever and it’s nearly over. I met truly wonderful people, some of whom I am now lucky enough to call friends. I reforged existing friendships and strengthened bonds with family. People were more kind and generous than I could ever imagine. I discovered you can’t take the party out of the girl, no matter how hard you try.

And I am truly grateful. Grateful for it all.

So while I write a list of secret things in preparation for the year to come and all the hard work and excitement it holds, here’s a round-up of 2010…

Best Moments:

getting my first tattoo, The Crush List party, having my first ever guitar lesson, launching The Angel EP, spending Halloween in the cinema, laughing so hard I cried, watching shooting stars on Hampstead Heath, something I can’t say, getting a black AAA wristband for a festival, spending time with my nieces, walking through London at night, being longlisted for the Just A Girl competition, assisting on Chris T-T’s LINR tour, having my nails done in the street, watching Roller Derby, learning Reiki 2, going to fashion parties, seeing Alex CF’s Many Dead Things exhibition, dancing in the basement at Ladybird, dancing upstairs at Catch, meeting China Miéville (twice), following signs and not knowing where they will lead.

Top 5 gigs of 2010:

1. Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip at Shepherd’s Bush Empire

2. Sage Francis and B. Dolan at the Scala

3. Islet and Pulled Apart By Horses at Truck

4. Fever Fever at The Windmill

5. Liars and Efterklang at Standon Calling

Special mentions for Something Beginning With L, John John Slave, Chris T-T, the Hoodrats, She Makes War, Dry The River, 30lbs of Bone, Mary Epworth and the Jubilee Band, Akira the Don, Le Dance Pour La Floor, Gill Sandell, Tunnels, Justice Force 5.

Top 5 albums of 2010:

1. The Logic of Chance – Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

2. Pulled Apart By Horses – Pulled Apart By Horses

3. Learning – Perfume Genius

4. Body Talk (part 1) – Robyn

5. Ghostclocks – Blood Command

Albums you should also go and buy: Method (30lbs of Bone), 1 Inch/1/2 Mile (Grasscut), The Kidnapping of Akira The Don by Joey 2 Tits (Akira the Don and Joey 2 Tits), Love is not Rescue (Chris T-T), Tarry Awhile (Gill Sandell), Wimmy and Celebrate This Place (Islet), Disarm (She Makes War), Body Talk (part 2) (Robyn), Crystal Castles (II) (Crystal Castles), Latin (Holy Fuck), European Monsoon (Pagan Wanderer Lu), I Speak Because I Can (Laura Marling), The Sea (Corinne Bailey Rae).

Top 5 TV shows I saw in 2010:

1. Carnivàle

2. Twin Peaks

3. Fringe

4. Misfits

5. Mad Men

This is England 86 and The Walking Dead would’ve been 6 and 7

Best films I saw for the first time in 2010:

Let The Right One In, Amer, We Are What We Are (minus the last 5 minutes), Night of the Living Dead, Splice (minus the last 5 minutes), Where The Wild Things Are, The Scouting Book For Boys, Inception, Them (minus the last 5 minutes), Valley of the Dolls, Coco Before Chanel, Juno, Whip It, Kick-Ass, The Science of Sleep, Frenzy, Spider Baby

Most Disappointing films I saw in 2010:

500 Days of Summer, Kick-Ass (I know), Altitude

The best 5 Welsh people of 2010:

1. Roseanna Everitt

2. Emma Hogan

3. Sarah Harries

4. Noreen Blanluet

5. Mags Anthony

Top castles of 2010:

Castell Coch, Nottingham Castle.

Top 5 bars of 2010:

1. BFI Riverfront Bar, Southwark

2. Catch, Shoreditch

3. Ladybird Bar, Islington

4. Prague Bar, Shoreditch

5. The Approach, Bethnal Green

The bar at Udderbelly would be on the list if it wasn’t pop-up/temporary.

Top 5 books of 2010:

1. The Walking Dead

2. Kraken

3. The Human Nature of the Singing Voice

4. Storage Stories

5. A Concise History of Costume

Most embarrassing moment of 2010:

Getting asked for ID on a first date and being refused alcohol because I didn’t have any. It wasn’t in East London and I was wearing heels. I wanted the ground to swallow me up and properly didn’t make the situation any better but won’t share the rest on here.

Most over-used conversation of 2010:

“Is she taking the piss?” “No, that’s just her face”

“She does that to everyone, she doesn’t fancy you”

Inspirations: wings, crushes, quantum physics, compasses, clifftops, magic, corsets, limbs, clocks, gears, hearts, nakedness, castles and (as always) dancing and the circus/carnival.

Normal Clothes as Fancy Dress:

Dorothy Gale

Zombie-fighter

Peter Pan

Street-urchin

Biggest lesson I learnt:

It hasn’t all been good, we’ve lost a lot of good people, many of whom chose to take their own lives. Times have changed for the worse politically and financially. Sometimes it’s hard to see past the sadness, past the fear.

HOWEVER:

There are people who see you; past all the bullshit, bravado and masks you wear. They hold a mirror up to you and show you all the wonderful things you can be. They teach you how to be better than you are. These are the only people who matter. They are the ones who make you a better version of yourself. They are the ones who will still be there when you fail. These will be the people who go to your funeral.

These are the people you should cherish. They are your family, whether blood or water.

Oh, AND you can do anything you put your mind to, however impossible it first seems. All you need is faith, energy and a lot of hard work. You have to keep trying, whatever happens, whatever obstacles are in your way.

The gorgeous and a little bit wonderful She Makes War (Warrior Grrl) has invited me to play at her album launch on Tuesday 19th October.

It is on a boat, is free entry and is going to be made of awesome. You should all totally come.

____

Also, I’m very excited to announce I will be playing Midwinter Picnic 3 in Brighton on 16th January. The line-up is phenomenal and I am very honoured to be playing.

It is a charity event and tickets always sell out so you should get in there early to buy yours, here.

____

Lots of exciting things have happened since I last wrote anything on here so here’s a little list:

• I forgot to tell you, I finally got to see Fucked Up. Many months have gone by now but they were as brilliant live as people said and I wasn’t disappointed. I saw Trash Talk at the same gig and they were just wonderful (although not so good when I saw them again at Offset). Their bassist is also one of the hottest men in rock music.
• The Scouting Book For Boys came out on DVD, you should all totally go out and buy it or order it on your Lovefilm list or whatever the kids are doing nowadays
• Hackney Family member Chud and I went to see Sage Francis supported by B Dolan at the Scala in London, it was without doubt the best gig I’ve been to. Ever (so far). The only downside was the crowd. The front was full of people just kind of getting it on a shallow level, getting in everyone’s way and generally being idiots.  The people who got it on a proper intellectual level (as well as musically) were standing at the back rather than getting involved. The performances were simply mindblowing and I will never forget the encore with both of them on stage joined by Scroobius Pip.
• I did a thing and another thing.
• Dry the River played the Twisted Licks Pakistan fundraiser. It was a great day, I got very drunk with my friends and the band was awesome. It was lovely to see the boys again after our crazy funs in summer.
• I met one of my favourite people off the internets for the first time. She is amazing and it just goes to show, if you follow your instincts you’re usually right.
• Lexapalooza 2010 was lovely (no surprise there). I saw old friends and new. I also discovered the pure genius of Justice Force 5. This annual festival is in aid of Breast Cancer Campaign, if you haven’t donated to them already, you can contact them to make a donation.
• Some friends took me to the rollerderby. Hot girls, rollerskates, alcohol, cake, complex rules, watching people fall over… what’s not to love? My teams won both bouts, I should’ve placed some bets.

Some very exciting secret things are happening soon and I’m getting to see my heroes Scroobius Pip and Dan le Sac in November… more about all that later!

My two only pieces of sad news are:

I’m not going to Swn Festival this year, I will go to Wales soon for a visit but Swn clashes with the Just A Girl final. I was trying to go to both but it just became impossible.

In November, the Girls of the Penthouse are all moving on. I’m yet to find a new home but I’m pretty sure it is going to be amazing wherever it is. I can’t tell you how happy I am for Clare and Sandi who are both taking the plunge and moving in with their fellas. Love is awesome.