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Actually, My Name's Marina

I've wanted to write about the goddess known as Marina and the Diamonds for some time, and now, with my building frustration with all of the people around me who've never heard of her, I'm going to do it. I came across Marina and the Diamonds (just one woman, the half-Welsh, half-Greek Marina Diamandis) while reading a Clare Maguire interview. The fabulous Miss Maguire was explaining that instead of a rivalry between her fellow female musicians, she was, in fact, friends with Ellie Goulding, Paloma Faith, and Marina. Curious as to who she was, I typed her name into the YouTube search bar, finding this little jewel:
I was SHOCKED!!!!! Why would anyone want to diss Hollywood, let alone America, so musically??? It took me a while before I decided to listen to it again, and when I did, I realized how brilliant it was. I went out and bought the album, entitled The Family Jewels, and loved every unusual bit of every song. She says that she writes by playing and deciding what sounds good, which gives her music such a defining touch. Her style and public persona are so refreshing in a time where good music cannot be listened to without having seen a person half naked, acting insane, or in a bizarre costume. She is an excellent musician and an interesting, captivating personality who can keep a fanbase on their toes without having to use corporate gimmicks or act stupidly theatrical. The thing I really admire about Marina (And probably always will) is that she doesn't put up with label crap and just does what she wants. She calls the shots, and the music never really suffers for it.  With her sophomore album arriving soon, my love for Marina has only been enhanced. I was crushed when I found out that she was not going to be performing with Katy Perry in my city a few weeks ago (I was going to buy tickets just to see Marina). However, she has released two new songs just recently that will be able to tide me over (maybe) until the album comes out: one called "Fear and Loathing" and the other "Radioactive", two very different, but superb songs:
If you want to know more about Marina, I strongly suggest you read/watch the interviews/performances on this page from 2010, when she was named #2 on the BBC Sound of 2010 list:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8437856.stm
It really shows that Marina is just not a beautiful face and a beautiful name. And with that, I want to leave you with my favorite quote from Marina, actually from this interview: "And once people hate me, I will feel fine with myself. Because that's my biggest fear - and when it happens I haven't really got anything to lose."

Abby, Absolute Wannabe

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