Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Mr Adaggio, ridiculously talented violinist and all round cool bloke. I supposed I am slightly biased about his awesomeness since the above video is dedicated to me (yes, I am super smug about that), but his is a talent that I think deserves to be shared.

Adaggio is classically trained and has been playing since age 7, but started playing more hip hop, R ‘n’ B and commercial music at 18. He’s played all over the place from Dubai to Glastonbury to London Fashion Week, has been the solo violinist for Grammy winner Estelle and performed with Macy Gray and The Game to name but a few. You’ve most likely seen him on TV or heard his sweet sounds on movie soundtracks, that’s just how this guy rolls!

What I love about Mr Adaggio is that his passion for what he does just oozes out of him. When I think of the dedication it takes to master an instrument at this level and the hours, screw that, years of hard work he’s put in to get to this level, well it just makes the music all the more beautiful.

When he sent me this video, I watched it on repeat about seven times with a big goofy grin on my face. It’s just so bloody fantastic. Music’s meant to move you and I want to thank Adaggio for continuing to do that.

The tracks he plays in this vid are Alicia Keys ‘Unthinkable’, Chris Brown ‘Deuces’ and Gyptian ‘Hold Yuh’.

Though I’m yet to have the pleasure of meeting him in person, he is one of the nicest folks I chat to on Twitter. You can follow him on Twitter here and subscribe to his YouTube channel here.

Enjoy!

The Music to Melt To Mixtape by bangsandabun

All week I’ve been hearing about people in two of my former places of residence, New York and Toronto, melting in the blistering heat. One day this week in Toronto it was apparently 40 degrees celsius. That’s enough to melt your face off right there. So I thought I’d make a mixtape for all my North Americans currently sweltering in those ‘hotter than the devil’s anus’ conditions.

Sweat it out people. You’ll make it through this. Now, let’s dance!

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NOMINATE ME!

Cosmopolitan has launched its Blog Awards and I would be so grateful and honoured if you would take a moment to nominate  Bangs and a Bun in the ‘Lifestyle’ category. It only takes a second and I will love you long time if you do.Click here and make my day. Thank you!

The Recovery Mixtape by bangsandabun

After some douchenozzle rear ended my blog sister Smarty Jones last week and a complete A-hole knocked my real life sibling, Brother Bangs (AKA Our Kid) off his bike recently, I figured it was only right for me to make a recovery mixtape to help the afflicted get out of their pain killer-stupores and back on their feet.

So I put together this little mix of songs that are either uplifting in some way or encourage you to get off your ass. If you’re recovering from injury, illness or just need a little extra push to get you motivated, this is the tape for you.

All these tracks are gems to me but particular faves are Through The Wire by Kanye West. This is before he went full-douche and was actually good. Recorded right after his near-fatal car accident, while his jaw was still wired shut, you can hear the pain in his voice as he raps – I actually find it pretty emotional to listen to. If this doesn’t get you motivated, there’s no hope for you. Another favourite for me is Battle by Wookie. Anyone who was lucky enough to be around when garage was big in the UK will know and love this song. The lyrics are spot on and Lain’s voice is sublime.

Enjoy!

(Anyone who guesses what movie that screen shot above is from will get maximum respect and some booty gropes from me)

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NOMINATE ME!

Cosmopolitan has launched its Blog Awards and I would be so grateful and honoured if you would take a moment to nominate  Bangs and a Bun in the ‘Lifestyle’ category. It only takes a second and I will love you long time if you do. Click here and make my day. Thank you!

I must have casually mentioned (over a million times) the past few weeks that I’d be seeing Stevie Wonder perform. The day finally arrived this past weekend and I made my way to the Hard Rock Calling Festival in Hyde Park. I’m not particularly used to outdoor concerts, especially not ones of this scale and throw the word ‘festival’ in there and I start to panic a bit. However, over the course of the 10 or so hours I spent in Hyde Park on Saturday, I learned a few things, so here’s a handy guide to festival etiquette.

Think your footwear through

The amount of discarded flip flops I saw when all was said and done was ridiculous. Hyde Park looked like the place flip flops go to die (ahh, if only). How did these people get home? Barefoot? Piggy backs? Buckles, straps and laces are your friend.

Peeing on someone’s leg is never a good idea

After elbowing, shoving, bitch slapping and punching my way to the front to await the arrival of the legend that is, Mr Stevie Wonder, I stood talking to my friend when all of a sudden I felt something warm and wet on my foot. I look to my right to see the guy next to me peeing in a cup. Clearly, he didn’t have very good aim, as a good amount of his bodily fluid landed on my foot. To say I was mortified doesn’t even come close to covering it. As I looked at him in utter disgust, he simply said ‘sorry, couldn’t help it. There was nothing I could do.’ Well, he’s wrong on two counts there – he could go to the toilet, or take a running jump off a cliff. See? Two options.

On the subject of pee…

I, personally, would not use one of the loos at these things. You could catch any number of diseases just opening the door. If you care at all about hygiene, you better figure out some sort of way to control your bladder.  I’ve been informed that it’s common practise at these festival thingys for guys to pee in cups and hurl them through the crowd. Umm, what in the what?! How on earth did this ever become acceptable?! If I was out to enjoy some music and suddenly saw a cup full of pee hurtling through the sky in my direction, there are no words to describe the wrath the douchenozzle who threw it would feel.

If you’re short, that’s your problem

Listen short people, we can’t help it that we’re tall. I paid my money the same as you. Asking me to move every two minutes won’t help your cause. Acting like the world owes you shit just because you literally pulled the short straw won’t work either. So, drop all the heavy hints you want, as loudly as possible, about how you can’t see – I can’t hear you all the way up here, shorty.

Have wet wipes (multiple packs of)

A few hours after arriving at the venue, my feet were ridiculously dirty. I’m not even sure how because I didn’t move around that much. Then my hands were filthy. By the end of a day I was walking around like a doctor who’d just scrubbed in for surgery, afraid to touch anything. If only I’d had 5000 packs of wet wipes, this could all have been avoided.

I don’t know how people do these two or three day festivals, which require sleeping in a tent and such like. Clearly they don’t value things like hygiene and cleanliness. Though that being said, for the two hours Stevie was on stage, I almost completely forgot about the random dudes urine that was festering on my foot. Ahh, the power of music.

Bangs Marathon Mix – Decknologist by bangsandabun

So you may or may not be aware that I’ve somehow agreed to do the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon in October. I am now officially ‘in training’. One thing that’s gonna help me get through those 13 gruelling miles is music, so I asked the awesome Decknologist to make me a mixtape and here it is.

So if you’re a runner and happen to be training for something or you just need something to listen to at the gym (or while you sit on your ass eating crisps, thinking about working out), then get this bad boy on your iPod ASAP.

Happy running!

Track list:

Kanye West – Jesus Walks (Remix feat. Mase & Common)
Masta Ace – Incorporate Top Ten List
Method Man – Bring The Pain
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – Tears Of A Clown
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – Nowhere To Run
Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Duck Sauce – Anyway
Inner City – Good Life (Magic Juan’s Mix)
N*E*R*D* – She Wants To Move (Bassment Jaxx Remix)
The Doobie Brothers – Long Train Running
The Edge Of Daybreak – E.O.B. (Edge of Daybreak)
James Brown – Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (Remix)
Monkey Mafia feat. Patra – Work Mi Body (The Chicken Scratch)
Jackson Sisters – I Believe In Miracles (Remix)
Salt & Pepper – Push It

The Naming Names Mixtape by bangsandabun

Ahh to have your name immortalised in song. It’s the ultimate compliment. These are some of my favourite songs, odes if you like, to other people. One day I hope someone will sing about me – but that would involve someone being able to pronounce my name correctly and we’re a long way off that. I can wait though.

The Focused Mixtape by bangsandabun

I have so many different projects going on right now, it’s hard to keep my head on straight. It’s times like this I need to listen to music that’ll keep me focused, motivated and keep my eyes on the prize. This little mix is a combination of songs that keep you driven and songs that are straight up bravado – you know you’re the sh*t, you can do this!

So if you’ve got some stuff to do, put this mixtape on, eyes down, look in and get focused!

The Summer Mixtape by bangsandabun

The supremely awesome Decknologist made this ridiculously cool summer mix for me. Whether he likes it or not, he is now my own personal DJ.

Looks like the weather’s gonna be nice this weekend. Get in your car, roll the windows down and let these smooth sounds be your soundtrack as the hazy sunshine washes over you. Ahhhhh.

This is an all live vinyl mix recorded in one take (*fist bump* to all the DJs who still keep it real with vinyl) and the track list is as follows:

Adrian Cronauer – Good Morning Vietnam Soundtrack
Kool And The Gang – Summer Madness
The Beach Boys – The Warmth Of The Sun
Nina Simone – Here Comes The Sun
Bob Marley – Sun Is Shining
Ini Kamoze – World A Music
Damien Marley – Welcome To Jamrock
Glenn Frey – The Heat Is On
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – City Too Hot
Stevie Wonder – Living For The City
Corrina Joseph – Live Your Life With Me
The Three Amigos – Louie Louie (Wiseguys Remix)
Bent – Always (Ashley Beedle’s Mahavishnu remix)
Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine – Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
Deniece Williams – Free
Coldcut – Outro

Have a great weekend y’all.

Click here to watch Christina Aguilera’s video for her new song, ‘I’m not the same girl’.

Oh Christina, what’s that new fragrance you’re wearing? The scent of desperate? This is just entirely too much. Why is everyone so desperate to ‘push the envelope’? Christina just pushed it off a cliff into a giant black hole. I’m sure this video will be huge in S&M and bondage circles, but other than that, it’s a bit of a loser.

The song is called ‘I’m Not the Same Girl’ – I’m not surprised she’s not. I’m not the same girl when I dress like a $2 hooker and act like a wannabe lesbian either. And I think it’s the wannabe lesbian thing that offends me the most. Why must every female pop star now pretend she bats for the other team? If you do, that’s great, Merry Christmas, but to use it to sell records is just disgustingly offensive. Where are all the lesbians and why aren’t they up in arms about this?!

I think we’re supposed to assume that she’s sleeping with all the people she’s gyrating around with in the video. She’s riding one guy, has her face in some other chick’s crotch. That’s all pretty run of the mill stuff, but there’s something else here that I find disturbing: the face licking phenomenon. When they hell did it become popular to lick someone’s face? Someone did that to me, I’d bitch slap them, grab my thong and be on the next bus outta there.

Let’s talk wardrobe. Minimalist PVC was the look of the day I guess. Everyone is talking about how this is a Lady Gaga rip off, but they’re wrong. Allow me to direct you to Madonna’s Human Nature video – she did the bondage thing way before Gaga and her crazy ass came on the scene. Is anyone even finding this ‘wander around in your underwear/wear as little as possible’ thing sexy anymore? Personally, I would find it really sexy if people would put some damn clothes on already! Jesus, you see one cleavage, you’ve seen ‘em all. We get it Christina, you have a spectacular rack. Congratulations. Now put those things away.

This is being called Christina’s ‘come back’ song. You know where she’s coming back from? Having a child. I’m sure her son will love it when he’s school age and his friends tell him they wack off to his mama’s video. That’ll be fun times. Poor bastard.

This video is just a desperate attempt by Christina to prove she’s still relevant in a game that Gaga has a choke hold on right now and still sexy after giving birth. It reeks of desperate. Can’t say I blame her – look at Usher. Soon as he got married and had kids, we ceased to give a crap about him. He totally lost his sexy. But being that Christina has been around for so long, she should have enough balls about her to drive in her own lane. She doesn’t need to compete with the Gagas. She’s a pretty girl and she has one hell of a voice. If she wanted to do something different, she should have put some clothes on and just used her talent – that’s pretty rare these days.

When are these chicks gonna get it that it’s OK to leave a little to the imagination?

The Workout Mixtape by bangsandabun

The lovely in2mee requested that I do a workout mixtape, so, you want it, you got it dollface!

Hope this gets you all in the mood to get on a treadmill, lift some weights, or you know, if you’re one of those annoying people who likes to jog, you can go ahead and do that too – at least you have some good tunes to do it to now.

Let’s all listen to this while we work out for a couple of months, then come back and compare six packs. Deal?