Under CTRL Day Twleve

Day 12:

Okay, so penultimate day. =*( - tears are forming.

As with my tenth day, not a lot happened.

Oh, I finally finished my CTRL Cities list which I am feeding back to my manager tomorrow at a 4 o' clock meeting. (Yes, I have meetings).

I also collated some of the information I received back from an email I sent out earlier in the week to the flagship stores to ask them about the CTRL Toolkit (see Day 5). Also presenting this back tomorrow at 4pm.

Just a couple of things to finish up for tomorrow - CTRL MySpace banners and communications, and CTRL general enhancements.

The sky's the limit...

Under CTRL Day Eleven

Day 11:

So, the end is finally upon me. Scary stuff. It will certainly be weird going back to student life after three weeks of the real world.

Today started with a bit of banter about the new internet sensation, Susan Boyle - showing clueless people who she was and why she is this so-called sensation. This also included some not-so nice remarks about Ms Demi Moore and her 'Tweets'.

I think the words were: "God, get a life Demi."

We all settled down and composed ourselves. Me, personally, I just started looking at flights to Barcelona and hotels for Paris - my years holidays!

Then I got cracking with the real work - CTRL Cities again. I researched even more venues/promoters/music databases/bands/singers. To be honest I've particularly enjoyed this project as it's definitely given me lots of new music to listen to and venues to go to.

After lunch was what today had all been about and I was trying to contain my excitement until this point. A walk over to Covent Garden and it was Press Day
Basically a showcase of Topman/Topshop/Dorothy Perkins/Burtons/Miss Selfridge/Evans A/W 09 collections, which all the press and media are invited to for a sneaky peek.

And yes, I got to have a gander...



Apart from the achy feet (note to self: don't wear sandals to work) and the sweltering 20+ heat, I had a pretty awesome day.

Ssshhh it's a secret.

Manly Gossip...

Gossip, who have been working with The Beastie Boys' Rick Rubin, have confirmed the title of their new album.

'Music For Men' will be released on the 22nd June 2009.

First single to be taken from the album will be 'Heavy Cross' due for release 15th June 2009.

Here's a clip of Gossip performing 'Heavy Cross' @ MTV's 52 Bands/52 Weeks.

Under CTRL Day Ten

Day 10:

To be honest I didn't do a great deal. I bought my laptop into the office today to combat computer problems - I haven't been able to listen to any of the bands on my list due to restrictions on the server. So today was spent listening to the bands in my list and whittling them down.

It was definitely a case of the good, the bad, and the pure crap.

Ban-ishing the Sun

Now this, my friends, is what summer is all about.

Ray-Bans.

Have you got yours?

But, not just any old Ray-Bans. This season it's all about the Wayfarer range. And here's 5 of the best mens:


1. The Classic: Rayban Wayfarer, Black £115.00 Buy now.





2. The Classic Twist: Rayban Dual Colour Wayfarer, Black/White £115.00 Buy now.





3. The Cool Guy: Rayban Contrast Arms Wayfarer, Blue/Cream £115.00 Buy now.





4. The Retro: Rayban Squared Wayfarer, Tortoiseshell/Black £115.00 Buy now.





5. The Metro: Rayban Wayfarer, Mauve £115.00 Buy now.

What a Noisy Bunch

Noisettes - 'Wild Young Hearts'

Noisettes' second album 'Wild Young Hearts' is, admittedly, not up to scratch. It isn't a patch on thier previous release 'What's The Time Mr Wolf?'

Heres a little rundown: (some tracks are left out)

'Sometimes' is dreamy and driven by droopy guitar drills. Also note the slightly bizarre and out-of-place introduction...random.

'Don't Upset the Rhythm' - the albums show piece and number one hit single. Funky and true to the Noisettes older, better roots.

Next single 'Wild Young Hearts' is trippy and catchy with its punky piano punches and loveable 'la la la's'.

'24 Hours' can be summed up in three words: dull, dull and oh, dull.

With a name like 'Beat of my Heart' you'd expect something a little more uplifting. It is, sort of. It's restrained though. Shackled. They could have done so much more with it.

Finally, in 'Saturday Night we glimpse a little of what we (meaning Noisettes fans from the old days) all wanted. It's electric, exciting and ever so sexy.

It isn't a bad album. It isn't awful. It's just not Noisettes.

Commercial success seems to have given them the drive for this album. They clearly wanted to make a record that was more appealing to the masses. But in doing so they've lost the spirit their debut captured.

If you want to witness the nose dive these guys have taken, Buy your copy here.

Under CTRL Day Nine

Day 9:

Sob. (yes, I am actually really upset.) Today is the first day of my last week here at Topman.
The day was spent, on one computer WITH the Marketing Team, finally.

My task for today? To do the other side of the New York Store Opening Creative Campaign Board. Not so much work as the other side. I had to trawl the internet for blog posts that were about the New York store opening and pull out key quotes and pictures. I also had to search for Topman on Twitter and find 'tweets' about Topman in general and about the NY store opening.

Sorted. Al done and dusted. The board was now complete.

Next on the list: to try and push the social networking just to hit the 3,000 friends on the Topman CTRL MySpace page. Still going. I think the count was 2,750 by the end of the day.

Then CTRL Cities took place in my priority list and I cracked on with looking at music databases for promotional activity as well as starting to compile a list of bands/artists/DJs for each city.

La la la.

Under CTRL Day Eight

Day 8:

The last day of my second week here at Topman.

Today was all about finishing projects and trying to tidy up loose ends, ready for my dearture at the end of next week. It would be unprofessional of me to leave any business unfinished.

My main priority was the New York Store Opening Creative Campaign Board - a board that needed to show the opening in all of it's glory, focusing mainly on the marketing and promotion surrounding it. The scary thing here is that this board is going to be shown to Topman's Managing Directors. Arghhhh.

I collected all the pictures together, cut them to size and put them through some weird mangle-machine that gave them a sticky back! No pritt-stick here. I'm in the adult world now!
Next I had to write captions for each aection of the board, e.g. tees and totes (the incentives), the vespa phases 1& 2 (promotional activity) and so on.

After all was collected together I arrnaged it onto the foam board ready to show my manager and see if it was all okay to stick down. And yes, yes it was. All peachy. I was so chuffed. So I stuck it all down and marvelled at my creation. Okay, it may not seem like much but seriously, it was worth all the effort - my first piece of professional work for a huge company.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon, doing a little bit more social networking on the Topman CTRL MySpace site, and also did a bit more work on CTRL Cities - looking at promoters in more detail in each city and gathering information on those.

No rest for the wicked...

Oscar De La Mancha...

'Junior' by Macaulay Culkin


Compelling, quirky and completely dysfunctional.

'Junior' is Macaulay Culkin's outelt - theres narration, quizzes, to-do lists, pictures. You name it, it's in this 'novel'.
Well, it isn't a novel, it's like a scrapbook of thoughts. Thoughts about his family (especially his Father), his loves, his dislikes, his passions.

All told by Culkin through his persona 'Junior' this is a book that is well worth a read. Afterall, it doesn't take too long to read the disjointed 200-or-so pages.

Pack your bags, we're leaving...

Thats right. Go.


Well actually, no. You can't go anymore because Scotland's Homecoming Festival has been cancelled.

The 2 day event due to be held over the 2nd and 3rd May is believed to have been cancelled after the financial demands laid onto the organisers by the local council:

"This is due to new demands from the council requesting 50 percent of the profits and a £60,000 bond on the land."
Greedy buggers.

If you've bought a ticket you can claim a full refund here.

Or, why not start a protest? Go on,it'd be funny...

Under CTRL Day Six & Seven

Days 6 & 7 flew by pretty much unnoticed...

Day 6: Today I swapped desks, again. It seems I am forever moving. That and the fact that every desk is normally occupied.
It was the turn of the dotcom guys to have me today and I was put on a tiny laptop, squished inbetween two of the current employees. It was quite a sight but these guys were funny. Seriously funny.

I got working on the CTRL Cities project, researching possible venues. For this I had to look at venues in the 6 cities and find out the capacity for each venue, it's distance from the universities , it's previous gigs and it's webpage. Simple? Not quite.

There are so many venues all over the country and some of these places - Liverpool, Sheffield and Nottingham - are home to some of the best small live music venues, and there are plenty of them.

This is pretty much how I spent my day. In between there was a creative directors meeting that I sat in on - extremely interesting - showing all the latest collections and press reviews, etc.

Oh and we had another birthday tea party in the office. Fun.


Day 7: Again, I was sat with the dotcom guys, although intermittently I would return to the Marketing team to ask questions or just have a bit of a natter.

My work for today was the New York Creative Campaign board. Collecting pictures together of press and posters and flyers and store insides, etc etc. I had to make sure ~I followed the brief I had been given and make sure I was providing enough information about each section.

Quite easy work really, very exciting stuff...

Onwards and upwards.

#4 Tracks of Addiction x5

WARNING: EXPLICIT LYRICS

This playlist is to get you in the mood for some summer lovin' *wink*

1. Dan Black - Alone. Subtle, synth-ridden track with a stuck-in-your-head chorus and a funky ass video involving casette tape pouring out of human orifaces.

2. Lady Sovereign - So Human. She's back with a bouncy bounty of a song.

3. 3OH!3 - Don't Trust Me. Cheeky and quirky: "tell your boyfriend if he says he's got beef, I'm a vegetarian." Like a naughtier Metro Station.

4. Camera Obscura - French Navy. Quintessential summertime tuneage. Tracyanne Campbell's vocals glide gloriously.

5. Kasms - Bone You. A song packed wth spikey screamo tendancies and whirling wails. Wouldn't sound out of place on an earlier Yeah Yeah Yeah's album.

Under CTRL Day Five

Back to the office and the start of a new week. I'm already excited and there is no sign of the Monday blues. At least not at the beginning.
Today was pretty much a waiting game...damn technology.

I had to move computers as the one I used last week was now occupied by Sally - she'd been on holiday - also a part of the music marketing team. This caused no end of difficulties as I tried using another computer, which wouldn't let me sign in for longer than 5 minutes before shutting itself down.

4 hours later and a lot of agro with the systems guys and I was just about on my way - I ended up with two desktops, meaning two of everything. Slightly confusing but I'm a clever bean...

After lunch I went into a meeting with my 'buddy', Ruth - senior marketing manager (or so I believe) and we discussed my progress on the projects so far - all of which I am progressing with just fine.

So much so that I was then given a further three projects to work on. Wow, these guys like causing a frenzy. So many deadlines. The three projects were as follows:

1. Topman CTRL Toolkit - each store receives a marketing pack/'toolkit' - posters, etc. - for the music platform CTRL. However, these toolkits haven't been of much use and CTRL is still not getting out there. It is my job therefore to contact all flagship stores (luckily only about 20 ish) and ask them what they want to see. I also have to try and conjure up some ideas of my own as to how we are going to get more customers interested in CTRL. Shouldn't be too hard.

2. CTRL Communications - this involves the communications on the CTRL MySpace page and how we advertise. I'm looking at advertising in e-zines, magazines, newsletters, etc. Also to come up with ideas as how to drive more people to the MySpace page via the links currently on the MySpace homepage.
Furthermore, there is also a concept of certain regions competing for a CTRL gig store-wise and so I have to research all of this and how this could work.

3. CTRL Cities - a new project for 2010 (plenty of time to work on it! Ha!) Basically, 6 cities: Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby, Dundee, Liverpool and Edinburgh/Glasgow/Stirling. These cities all want CTRL gigs and I have to research everything. And I mean everything - venues, promoters, advertising, press, bands, singers DJs, the works.

So yeah, I'm going because I'm mega busy.

Laters.

"A compelling tale of tragic idealism"

'Into the Wild' by Jon Krakauer is by far the most addictive book I have had the pleasure of reading in an extremely long time. (It also happens to be one the most extraordinarily shot films I have ever witnessed too).

This is a book that is completely in a league of it's own. Telling the traumatic tale of Chris McCandless whose emaciated body was found in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness in 1992. It tells of his triumphs, trials and tribulations.



Under the pseudonym 'Alexander Supertramp', McCandless wanted to relieve himself from the everyday confinements of society that controlled his and everyone elses lives.

One of the most beautiful aspects of this book is the contributions made by McCandless' family and by those who experienced the massive force that he was along his travels. Their accounts are unashemdly raw and heart-wrenching and Krakauer delviers them with such tact and sensitivity, yet retains the impact of the tales.

Another is how the book is packed full of literature from McCandless' literary heroes: Thoreau and Jack London, to name a few.

Buy your copy here. You will be addicted. I promise.

Featured Addiction #4

Vincent Frank aka Frankmusik is about to burst onto the 2009 music scene (having already made it onto the BBC's Sound of 2009 List) with his infusion of heavily synthed electro/pop and I, for one, am very very very excited.

His debut album 'Complete Me' will be released in July this year but Frankmusik has already released 4 EP's - Frankisum, In Step/Done Done, 3 Little Words, Better Off As Two - all of which are well worth a listen.

More to note are his remixes of songs by Alphabeat, Keane and CSS. Go. And. Listen. Please.

If he tickles your pickle, track him down at one of the following:

26.04.09 - The Lock Tavern, London (DJ Set)
08.05.09 - The Westbury, London (DJ Set)
And also, supporting the Pet Shop Boys on select dates in June.

OR... Buy a dose here...

Here's the video for new single 'Better Off As Two':


Frankmusik's Tracks of Addiction
1. When You're Around
2. 3 Little Words
3. Better Off As Two
4. Time Will Tell
5. In Step

Efron: The Good, The Witty, and the Downright Dirrrty

Zac Efron: one of 2009's most promising stars (and sexy as hell).

1. There was the good in 'High School Musical.'
2. Then there was the witty in '17 Again.'
3. And now, prepare yourselves for the dirrrty.

In the April issue of Interview Magazine you can catch a very personal interview with Zac, as well seeing an even more personal photo shoot. (WARNING: contains nudity - albeit, not from Zac)


Here's the shizz you all want to see... (thank me later)

Under CTRL Day Three & Four

Days 3 & 4 have long been and gone but here is what I got up to...just incase you wanted to know...

Day 3 I started working on the Topman student campaign, putting together some ideas as to how Topman can tempt the student market into continuing to buy their products.

A few of my ideas: (with a tiny bit of help and research from Nathan - my twin brother for those who don't know)

1. A student run and inspired blog where students can contribute everything from reviews to design material.
2. More promotions run in-line with student media rather than national press.
3. Free mix CD's.
4. A USB stick promotion by where you have a USB stick and everytime you spend a minimum amount in store, they upload your stick onto a system which enters you into a monthly prize draw.
5. More style guides for students - rather than just the usual student style in Sept/Oct, have a monthly style email purely for students with specific student offers.

So yes, that was what Day 3 was spent conjuring up.

Day 4

This day was spent doing very much the same as Day 2 - social netwroking for Topman CTRL - increasing their MySpace friend count, their Facebook group members and their followers on Twitter.

Oh, and I also got given a new project - to find any reviews or information on the net (most specifically blog pages) that about the New York store opening - and collate all the information ready to put together a review.

So far so good =D.

You only live once...

...Or do you?

This is the question that '17 Again' ponders, through a Freaky Friday style plot.

Having been to see this film yesterday evening I felt it needed a small shove on my blog.

Zac Efron stars (quite brilliantly) as a young Mike, who grows up (played extremely engrossingly by Friends star Matthew Perry) to be a man who is about to lose his wife and kids and has just lost his job. A 'spirit guide' sends him back to being '17 Again' (cleverly titled?!) as he tries to repair what has broken.

This film surprised me - it was witty (thanks to the Ned character and his bizarre pulling techniques) and it also tugged at the old heart strings (albeit, I was pretty emo yesterday).

I seriously recommend you go and watch this movie - even if just to see how much more of an actor Efron is (his High School Musical Days are long over).

Here's the trailer...

Under CTRL Day Two

Okay, okay. So I have been lacking the blog posting recently. BUT, I have been extremely tired busy.

So, goings-on during day two at Topman...

I started the social networking for Topman CTRL. There was already a Myspace, Facebook and Twitter page set up for CTRL so it was my job to get more people following us on Twiiter, join the Facebook group, and to become our friend on Myspace.

Easy? A little. Although over the hours, the process did become slightly tedious and slow.

Basically, each day I sent friend requests on Myspace to 435 people (thats the daily limit - random number) in the hope that they would accept and read all about CTRL and become interested in the project.
Facebook and Twitter - both run by Frukt (the agency Topman is working with on CTRL) - were a little less monotonous.
With Twitter I just followed a few key people that have been/are linked with Topman, e.g. XFM, NME, Topshop. Hopefully fellow tweeters will see the CTRL logo and click and follow us.
Facebook was a little harder as I could not log into the group as I didn't create it. So here I just sent out invites to all my friends and then asked my friend to invite their friends - almost like word of mouth.

These have all proved beneficial and the number of friends/followers/joiners has risen considerably and I am very close to hitting the targets I have been set by the music marketing team.

Highlight of the Day: Hysterical crying woman on the tube =*( sob.

Under CTRL Day One

Yesterday, I started my three-week work placement at Arcadia, more specifically Topman.

No, I am not working in a store - I could do that in Stoke. I'm at the Arcadia head offices - very swish they are too - in London, and I'm going to be under the music marketing team.

The tube ride from my 'digs' to Oxford Street was fairly harmless and took only 15 minutes. With an hour to kill I did what every Londoner does - went to Starbucks. I had a book with me and everything!

Becoming increasingly nervous I decided to bite the bullet and go to the Arcadia offices.

I arrived and was sent to the 4th floor - this is where Topman is (the building also houses Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Topshop and Burtons.) Here, I met Ruth Bowie - Marketing Manager - and she was lovely, really lovely =).

Next, I met the team (all girls) and was shown around the office. There were clothes rails EVERYWHERE...and there were even the Devil Wears Prada 'clackers'. In fact that whole situation seemed much like the film. Out-of-place boy in posh, stylish offices. Only difference being, the staff here have no Miranda Priestly about them. Phew...

Then it was into a few meetings to discuss the usual drab - Health and Safety - and then another meeting to dicuss what projects I would be working on.

My main projects would be to help develop some marketing ploys to target the student market, and since I myself am I student, who better?! (even if I say so myself).
And secondly, to social network the new music platform, TOPMAN CTRL.

As I progress through the days, you shall be updated as to the going-ons...

Over and out.

Can you Float a Flogging Molly?

I've just had the immense pleasure of reviewing 'Float' by Flogging Molly.

"Flogging Molly’s Celtic sound is jaw-droppingly amazing - full of murky mandolin, archaic accordion and gritty guitar that Dave King’s heartfelt vocals glide over gorgeously."
READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE.

One of the most extraordinary videos ever to be made for a song...

The Controller - April

LADYHAWKE has been revealed as Topman CTRL's Controller for April, and I am so excited =D.


She will be the Controller, which means she gets to talk about her likes and dislikes musically, create a photo scrapbook of all the things she loves, and organise a one-off gig.

Speaking on the Topman CTRL Myspace blog, Pip Brown aka Ladyhawke has already spoke highly of some of her favourite new music: "“I’m friends with Connan Mockasin – he’s amazing… one of the most talented people I know. He’s got this really weird singing voice; if you hear him singing on his own you can’t imagine it fitting anywhere, but when you hear it with his music it’s really 60s and psychedelic. "

Ladyhawke has hand-picked some of her favourite new artists to play a one-off gig at The Deaf Institute in Manchester. These include Marina and the Diamonds, Dan Black, Fan Death, plus some live DJ's. You can buy your tickets here.

For anyone who's fancying getting their asses to the gig, here's the Lady's latest single 'Paris is Burning.'

Fish for a Spoon?

Fischerspooner have announced today that their new album, 'Between Worlds', is complete.


The Culprit...

Casey Spooner has commented that "it's a very American story about ambition, experimention, danger and the frontier."

'Between Worlds' will be released on May 5th and to celebrate, Fischerspooner are giving away a FREE DOWNLOAD of comeback single 'Supply and Demand'. How nice?!