Spotify helped me discover Empathy Test

I love Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist - it's like the musical soulmate I never had. You know when you listen to a song by an artist/band and you immediately know you're going to like most of their songs? It's like an instant connection - as soon as you hear that one song, your gut is like "I SEE A FUTURE WITH YOU, [insert band/artist]!" That's the feeling I got when I first heard "Seeing Stars" by Empathy Test play on my Discover Weekly playlist. Thank you Spotify - you know me so well! This is beautifully crafted synthpop - dreamy, melodic and seductive. After hearing this song, I just had to check out more Empathy Test songs and I'm so glad I did. Their music is reminiscent of synthpop pioneers Depeche Mode but with more of a futuristic vibe. Check out some of my favourites below!

CRYSTAL CASTLES AT THE HOXTON

💡 Feels like a seizure but in the best way possible 💡 #CrystalCastles

A video posted by Amy (@amychophobia) on Oct 15, 2016 at 9:00am PDT

On Friday night, I went to see Crystal Castles at The Hoxton! If you don't know Crystal Castles, Wikipedia describes their musical style the best:


About the band: Crystal Castles is kind of an acquired taste - their style is a mixture of noisy/distorted punk, dark and heavy electronic, with some gothic elements and 8-bit mixed in. I don't even know where to start when somebody asks me to describe what genre they are. Basically, it's the perfect music for a rave. It's the kind of music you kind of need to experience live at least once. It's not for everyone but that's what I love about it - different in a good way. I put together a playlist below of my personal favs (3 songs from each album).

About the club: The Hoxton is a small club situated in the Fashion District, Downtown Toronto. It has a very industrial look to it and a small stage that is positioned in a way so that you can see it on all 3 sides (i think - I wasn't sure if it was 3 sides or 2 sides). The atmosphere was very gothic, dark and grungy with candles lit up and Halloween-like omen music playing before the performers started. There were chairs on the side where we sat before Guidance & Crystal Castles. Midway through Crystal Castles, a bouncer told me I wasn't allowed to use my GoPro so I had to put it away - but may I ask why camera phones are allowed but GoPros aren't? They aren't DSLRs and they can't zoom! I never understood why GoPros weren't allowed at some places.

About the show: When Crystal Castles came out and the strobe lights show started, I felt like I was in a daze. The lights were so intense (see above) and it looked like everything was moving in slow-mo. I found this effect really fascinating and I just became immersed in the lights, becoming intoxicated. My eyes started feeling slightly uncomfortable after a while from the flashing lights but all in all, the show was awesome! So much energy.

Crystal Castles Playlist:


Outfit of the night and merch photos after the jump...

FALLing For Doc Martens

Fall is officially here and although it makes me quite sad that summer is over, it also means we can all soon wear cute boots. I recently bought these Dr. Martens 1460's in the Victorian Flowers design. I found out they were being discontinued so I had to find a pair in my size before they were all gone! Unfortunately for my size 5.5 / 6 feet, Union Jack Boots had them on sale for $130CAD but only had size 5 (3UK) left. I went to the Dr. Martens store at my nearest mall but they only had size 5 left as well. I tried them on anyway, hoping that they would fit so I could buy them from Union Jack. As I expected, they were too small so of course I was determined to find them in my size and was willing to pay full price to have them. I stumbled upon this Canadian site called Zelen Shoes that had size 6 (4UK) in stock - and into my shopping cart it went!

What I love about these Doc Martens is the unique vintage-looking floral pattern. Although some may consider it tacky, I think it's tastefully tacky. They would compliment a pair of plain black leggings and would bring some colour into a drab fall day. They're my first pair of docs and I'm loving them so far! The material is a thick canvas rather than leather but I'm not too fussy about it as I was more focused on the design. I'm more drawn to doc martens with cool graphics over the plain ones since they stand out more (although you can't go wrong with a pair of good old black docs...)

More pictures after the jump, featuring KitKat hanging out in the backyard

Hello there, the angel from my nightmare...

Somehow, somewhere along the way this blog became an all-music blog. I'm going to try to post about other things eventually but for now, here's yet another concert post! blink-182 stopped by Toronto last night while on tour for their latest album "California". When I found out they were coming (thanks songkick!), I just knew I had to get tickets. I grew up listening to them and they kept breaking my heart every time they broke up. When I found out they were making another comeback, I knew I had to catch them live when I had the chance! They played at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre and it's a pretty decent-sized venue, not too big like the ACC where the performers looked like ants. We were in the 300 level and I was scared we weren't going to see anything because I didn't realize I had bought "partial view" tickets by mistake. We had aisle seats but the pole wasn't really in the way because it wasn't directly in front of us. I was a bit nervous since Tom's no longer in the band and I felt like his high/whiny voice contrasted nicely with Mark's lower more monotone voice. Now don't get me wrong, Matt from Alkaline Trio is a really talented guy and blink put on a spectacular show BUT it still felt like a piece was missing. With that aside, I had a lot of fun soaking in the nostalgia and reliving my youth - jumping around and yelling along to all the classics

WayHomesick: a recap of WayHome 2016

Last week we attended WayHome in its sophomore year and it was truly magical ♥



It was the first camping music festival I've ever gone to (and actually the first time I've ever gone camping in general). The regular camping sites weren't that big at 20' x 20' but still sufficient enough for our 3 tents and car. I liked the way WayHome scheduled their line-up as we were still able to see most of the artists/bands we wanted to see. There was some overlap but the way it was spaced out, we would just miss either the beginning or end of some of the shows so we were able to stage hop. Also, I liked how they left the headliners (LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, and The Killers) relatively conflict-free! LCD Soundsystem was like a giant dance party, Arcade Fire ended with a spectacular fireworks show, and The Killers were the highlight of my weekend as they had everyone jamming/singing along to all their hits. This year, WayHome went cashless and used NFC technology so attendees were able to buy everything just by scanning their wristbands. You were able to setup auto top-up so that every time you hit $20 or less, $50 would automatically be added. Any balance that you did not use would be refunded back into your credit card. I found this very convenient but I had 2 minor gripes: the wristbands didn't automatically top-up if you still had more than $20 left but not enough left to buy items that costed more than your balance - you would have to buy something that costed the same or less than the balance you currently had to force it into $20 or less so that it would automatically top up; or you would have to manually top up at one of the top-up stations. Also, there was a $5 processing fee for all refunds which I wasn't aware of until after the fact. Other than that, the festival was well organized and enjoyable... like Ontario's own version of Bonnaroo or Coachella :) - My friends and I want to make it a tradition to go every year!

The Naked and Famous - Higher

The Naked and Famous officially released their new song Higher yesterday! I've been in love with this song since they played it live at their Mod Club show back in April. Their new album "Simple Forms" is set to be released on October 14th. I just found out today that they're coming back to Toronto on November 8th @ the Danforth Music Hall... I must go!!

http://thenakedandfamous.com/

JULY TALK ON JULY 1ST

Happy Canada Day! July Talk came to Chinguacosy Park yesterday for a free Canada Day concert so of course I had to go - I've been really into them for the past couple of months and have been wanting to see them live. I missed them at WayHome last year and Field Trip this year so I took this concert as the perfect opportunity to finally go see them! They have this vintage vibe to them, they remind me of Metric but with a 50's rock 'n' roll twist. I'm just obsessed with their black + white aesthetics, and the balance of Peter's rough + raspy vocals against Leah's soft + airy vocals. Also, if I'm allowed to be a fangirl for a moment - they are the cutest and I ship them so hard! Check out 2 of their songs below - "Guns + Ammunition" from their debut album and "Push + Pull" from their upcoming sophomore album, "Touch" set to be released September 9th!

Bestival Toronto 2016 Playlist

KitKat Opening the Door (Planet of the Cats Pt 1)

Cats are going to take over the world one day, I'm telling you! There's quite a bit of videos circulating Youtube of other cats opening doors which is impressive - it's like they all instinctively know how to do it or they are just really observant and figure it out from watching us (and reporting their findings back to their mothership). It seems that cats don't like closed doors very much - their curiosity tells them they should be able to know what's behind the door and they want to explore every room.

The first time I discovered KitKat knew how to open doors was maybe a year ago when I was sleeping and it was almost morning. I was still half asleep and I heard him meowing at the door and being noisy. I tried ignoring it to sleep some more but then I felt his presence next to my face and opened my eyes to find that he has learned how to open my door and has come to wake me up to feed him! He's been opening doors ever since then and from that day on, I made it my personal goal to film it on camera. I filmed the first part of the video a year ago and just yesterday I was finally able to film the second perspective from outside of the door. It was tricky because he never opens the door if he knows we are watching him so when I had a feeling he was going for it, I quickly got out my GoPro and tripod and then quickly went back into my room to wait. It took a couple tries but I finally got it!

Band Spotlight: FIDLAR

I've finally figured out the theme for this blog: music and cats - the two things I'm most permanently passionate about out of my long list of ever-changing interests and hobbies

To start off, here's a post about a band I recently found out about from WayHome's 2016 lineup

FIDLAR (short for "Fuck It Dog, Life's a Risk") is a skate punk/garage punk band from LA and I would describe their style as energetic/catchy/noisy music that you can stomp your feet to and sing (yell) along with.

Below are two songs by them - their music videos are pretty cool and creative too!


I want those creepy tiny hands


Reminiscent of Blink-182's "All the Small Things" video - Can you name all the music videos this one parodies?