My five favourite songs from FROZEN (2013).

A good musical has to have more than just one big marquee song. Frozen has several great ones, so I thought I’d do a top 5 of the ones that I liked the most. After all, it's a musical who's soundtrack I'm fairly well acquainted with, shall we say!

Bar review: THE ESCAPOLOGIST (Covent Garden)

I visited The Escapologist bar with my friend Rebecca to use a Groupon deal (here we are at the place in question), where I’d bought six cocktails for £24. Unlike previous experiences using Groupon, LivingSocial or Wowcher, where the vendor gives you a completely different experience from the one advertised by way of passive aggressive punishment for you had the temerity to buy their product from a discount website, The Escapologist’s cocktails were just as immense and fabulous as if we’d gone there and paid full price for our drinks.

The cocktail menu of this Covent Garden bar is an absolute beast, and the waiters and waitresses certainly don’t scrimp on alcohol content of the drinks. My Old Fashioned was actually even more boozier than the one I’d had at Dandelyan’s, despite the fact that £24 would not buy you even two drinks at Dandelyan, haha. By the end of the night, the three cocktails had gotten me thoroughly drunk. Three drinks of comparable size in Slug and Lettuce won’t even make you vaguely merry.

The first drink I had in The Escapologist was the Flaming Zombie, which, true to its name, was served in a zombie skull and even featured the visual flourish of having a passion fruit on top, set on fire. This meant that in addition to it tasting great and getting me in a suitably light-headed mood to chat crap with my girl, I was also treated to visual pyrotechnics with my drink! Video below.

Obviously, because the deal is £24 for any six cocktails on the menu, it makes economic sense to order the most expensive cocktails, so in addition to the Old Fashioned and Flaming Zombie (both retailing at £11.50) I had an equally priced Cuban Orange, which I don’t think I’ve ever (knowingly) ordered before. It was sweet but not saccharine and the amalgamation of vanilla-infused Bacardi Oro, Gran Marnier, fresh lime and brown sugar worked a treat. I have a new tipple to order when I'm in bars now!

It wasn’t just the flavours and alcohol-levels of the beverages that were on point in The Escapologist, because the music was ace, and after a few sips of my first drink, I was bopping along, imagining I was singing it at the karaoke [admittedly, it doesn’t take much for the inner out-of-tune songstress in me to be unleashed]. The background music in The Escapologist was a great blend of popular music that’s currently in the charts, as well as hits from previous years that you might have forgotten about. Eminem and D12’s ‘My Band’ is an example of this – after my visit to The Escapologist, I had it stuck in my head for days.

Overall, I had a sick time at The Escapologist. I do, however, have to retell a sorry incident that happened at the start which made me feel sick in a different sense of the word. Before the serving of our first drink, a guy pushed in in front of me at the bar, and the waitress served him, despite the fact that I’d been queuing quietly and politely for well over ten minutes (it was Happy Hour, thus, rammed).

I know it’s churlish to fault The Escapologist for this, because it’s not like the waitress had eyes on the back of her head and could be aware where everyone was every second of the day, particularly as it was packed. How was she to know that I’d honoured the code of common decency and he had not, but merely been ruder, and thus, inadvertently awarded him for it?

It’s definitely the bellend who did so (#WhiteMalePrivilege, just saying) who was in the wrong, for being so entitled that he thought nothing of trampling all over me. The alacrity with which he swooped in ahead of me indicated that this wasn’t the first time he’d pushed in, so I shouldn’t take it so personally. But, nonetheless, this incident was fairly irritating.

I would love to make like the Taylor Swift lyric and Shake it Off, but these microaggressions happen far too frequently in popular London bars and I’m sick of this shit plus when have I ever been the bigger person and passed up the chance to hold a grudge about anything? #GoneGirlDNA. Thus, it is perhaps a little unfortunate that I must dock points from The Escapologist for what would otherwise be a perfect A grade.

Grade: A-

First day of the Month Nostalgia.

I'm not rolling back the rivers of time too much with today's photo, which was taken around this time last year, when my brother Tom and I spent all afternoon trying to perfect our renditions of Justin Bieber's Baby and Eminem & Rihanna's Love the Way you Lie (with me rapping Eminem's part and Tom singing Rihanna's, just for the gender role-reversal bant). The look of unadulterated glee on our faces is due to Tom having fudged up a line, and both of us cracking up laughing.

It's also worth noting that, whilst this photo wasn't taken too long ago time-wise, it feels like a universe away in the sense that it was taken at our old house. Since then, we've moved to a new, larger (to say the least) abode, and with it, already had several legendary moments of sibling lolz. But this was one of the most endearing of our old place. :)

My Jogging Playlist.

One of my 2011 New Year’s Resolutions was to lose weight by eating less and exercising more. Whilst the former has fallen flat on its face, I have at least sort of stuck to the latter, in that I go jogging on a every-other-daily basis. Obviously, doing any kind of strenuous activity is just not in my disposition, and I find I need some good jogging music to get me motivated. Thus, verily I present you, my jogging playlist.



01. Mombasa – Hans Zimmer
02. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
03. Time to Pretend - MGMT
04. Something kinda Ooh - Girls Aloud
05. American Gangster – Jay-Z
06. Lose Yourself - Eminem
07. Ooh La La - Goldfrapp
08. Empire – Kasabian
09. What You Waiting For – Gwen Stefani
10. The Battle - Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard
11. All I Want is You - Barry Louis Polisar

All t'riffic songs to run to, but especially Mombasa, which is single-handedly to thank for keeping me from veering into the 10 stone mark.

Bung’s Favourite Songs of 2010.

1. Forget You (Cee Lo Green)
I wasn’t too enamoured with this song when I first heard, but multiple plays on nights out with friends, not to mention the terrific cover done by Glee, has gotten me to really adore it. Essentially, it’s quite a sad tale of a man’s failed romance with a golddigger, but such are the upbeat tempo and tune that Cee Lo Green really has fun with his silver-tonguing.

2. Love the Way You Lie (Eminem ft. Rihanna)

Far and away, one of the deepest, most moving songs I’ve ever heard. It captures an abusive relationship that is massively detrimental for both parties involved, yet such is the power of the love (and hate) binding the two involved, that just walking away isn’t an option. This being something that both Eminem and Rihanna are very well versed in, it’s no surprise that Rihanna’s voice touches emotive highs and Eminem’s rapping really resonates.

3. Airplanes (B.o.B ft Hayley Williams)
Dreams, aspirations, shattered hopes, wishing upon airplanes… been there, done that. Hayley Williams has a beautiful voice, some parts of B.o.B’s rapping really hold true. What’s not to love?

4. Power (Kanye West ft. Dwele)
“No one man should have all that power,” notes Kanye, although I would argue that if anyone’s deserving of power, it’s him, for coming out of hiding after being publically denounced a thousand times last year to comeback and produce, write, score and rap and sing in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, by far one of the most complete albums I’ve gotten my hands on, this song on it being the crème de la crème.

5. On to the Next One (Jay-Z ft. Swizz Beats)
The video raised some problems with one of my super-Christian friends at work, but I absolutely adore everything about this song, from the Swizz Beats appearance (Cher Lloyd ripping them off irks me ever so), to Jay-Z’s all-round swagger and arrogance. “No I’m not a Jonas brother I’m a grown-up, no I’m not a virgin I use my cojones.” Tell me that’s not poetry.

6. Teenage Dream (Katy Perry)
If there is one song that invokes memories of Summer 2010, it’d be this. I turned 20 this year so am no longer a teenager, but the song itself invokes the memories of what it’s like to FEEL like a teenager when you’re in love. Brill.

7. Empire State of Mind (part II) (Alicia Keys)
Poetry, pure poetry. Alicia Keys is a goddess.

8. Kickstarts (Example)
Example actually came to my University several weeks back, and I missed the opportunity to watch him perform. Still not over it; this song is gorgeous.

9. Take One for the Team (Ft. Cyhi the Prynce, Keri Hilson & Pusha T)
For flat-out lulz, there’s no better than “Take one for the Team”. “He said that bitch wasn’t pretty enough to finger!” whines Cyhi the Prynce in one verse, whereas Kanye happily admits that despite trying to be nice, “You know what? I’m not a nice guy”. More honest.

10. Monster (Kanye West ft. Jay-Z & Nikki Minaj)
11. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga)
12. Fireflies (Owl City)
13. Born Free (M.I.A.)
14. Tightrope (Janelle Monáe)
15. Waka Waka (Shakira)
16. Acapella (Kelis)
17. Good Intentions Paving Company (Joanna Newsom)
18. Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars)
19. California Gurls (Katy Perry)

20. Dog Days are Over (Florence and the Machine)
21. Like a G6 (Far East Movement ft The Cataracs & Dev)
22. You Got the Dirtee Love (Florence & Dizzee Rascal)
23. Billionaire (Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars)
24. What’s My Name? (Rihanna ft Drake)
25. We Dance On (N-Dubz ft Bodyrox)

Bung's Playlist for the week.

... And why they've been tickling my aural senses.

Tambourine - Eve
Rather than revising diligently like I'm meant to be, I've been watching all the episodes of season three of Skins instead. Tambourine was played in episode 2, where on Cook's birthday, he gatecrashes a "classy" boat-party. Tambourine plays as Effy dances sultrily and Freddie watches, pining for her. Awesome song with a great beat, despite "Shake your tambourine and catch yourself a whistle" being repeated quite a few times and there not being any real meaning. Just embrace the catchy and dance along.


Good Girls Go Bad - Cobra Starship ft. Leighton Meester
Cobra Starship are responsible for many of my guilty pleasure listens (Hollaback Boy, Billie Jean), but this one actually has a semblance of sounding like a song. It could very well be the song that Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass lives his life by, so, how apt that they've gotten Leighton Meester, star of Gossip Girl and my number 1 girl crush to duet with. And together, they are sugar, spice and all things nice. Simple, addictive fun, with the potential to be the Summer song of 2009.

Dragon Queen - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

My mouth you're touching
Your mouth is running
No loving for nothing
Nobody knock my body out

Strange, sexy, surreal.

Beautiful - Eminem
It seems awfully out of character for Eminem to release a song with this title, but he has done, and it's my favourite song from an otherwise disappointing Relapse. Personally, I feel it's one of Eminem's more accessible songs, and his most humane by far. The rapping is perfect and the chorus just ebbs melancholy, a combination last achieved by Kanye West and Chris Martin on... you've got it, Homecoming.

I Feel It All - Feist
It's been over a week since the last episode of The Inbetweeners season 2 has aired, and Bung is already feeling withdrawal symptoms. So, to make up for it, I've taken to saying "snatch" and "clunge" in a manner that would do Jay proud, as well as doing goonish things (as if I needed an excuse for that, hah!) In addition to this, I've also been listening to the "theme" from the show, that is, the song who's intro is played repeatedly in the background without them actually playing Feist's singing.
Four Women on One Man - Nina Simone
I had a nap one afternoon and had my iPod sat in the dock, playing away in the background. I woke up to Four Women, and... wow. It's one of the deepest, most poetic songs I've ever heard, as Nina adopts the voice of four different women in four verses, each of them having their own soliloquy. The song demands and displays the need for equality, both gender and racial, as well as the underlying want of freedom in our souls. Majestic.

My Love - The Bird and the Bee
I got into The Bird and the Bee after hearing their song "Fucking Boyfriend" on the Forgetting Sarah Marshall soundtrack and falling in love (the song does get played in the film, but in the background in the nightclub scene so blink and you miss it). The band really know about the many faces of love, and, whilst My Face celebrates the beauty of it for the most part, it also recognises the sadness involved, "sad clown". There is also one line of transcendence in the
song - "I'm not afraid of all the reasons why we shouldn't try", which I just love, love, love.



Bubbles - Dizzee Rascal
Bung hasn't been clubbing for over two weeks now, and she's missing the not-so-duclet tunes of her homeboy Raskit. As with my two Dizzee Rascal favourites Dance wiv Me and Fix Up Look Sharp, Bubbles is a terrifically cockney song, encompassing what it's like to be a black lad growing up in a crime-ridden area of London. Dizzee loves embracing the minutiae, and in this song he'll tell you how much his trainers cost. It's like the "99 Problems" of the L-D-N.

Mil Besos - Patty Griffin
Another love song to wrap up this eclectic playlist, this one an eligiac Spanish tribute what Bung can only guess was a lost love.

Te he de seguir amando,
te he de seguir besando
hasta volverte loca.
hasta que me devuelvas
el corazn que en besos
yo te deje en la boca...

So they're the nine songs that I've listened to this week obsessively! How about you?