Mlle Chignon

THE MIDNIGHT FIX!!!

2010-04-25T02:35:00.001+01:00

This (*above) lead me to think of this (*below) - funny how that works. Both TOTALLY awesome!!

LISTEN TO THIS

2010-04-24T12:17:00.005+01:00

THE NATIONAL

Somewhere in my head I'm sure I've heard them before but it's one of those where you you can't remember exactly where or when or if there was even a 'with who' - a mild frustration. Either way I discovered (*or should that be rediscovered them?) them this morning while perusing my morning emails & the daily dose from PMA (or Pretty Much Amazing to those of you who are sensible, sociable beings & don't live glued to your 'puters) amid a breakfast of Gummy Bears & Caramel Popcorn from the comfort of my bed - yes I am 29 & no, you'd never have thunk it eh!?

You should listen to the new album - HIGH VIOLET - being streamed here courtesy of the New York Times & read the in depth article by NICHOLAS DAWIDOFF.

ENJOY

SO SAYETH THE FORTUNE COOKIE

2010-04-12T11:52:00.002+01:00

I have been given permission to follow my dreams by a fortune cookie!

Lucky me, no?

BRING ME THE SUNSET IN A CUP,

2010-04-11T10:09:00.000+01:00

(*the view from my window when the weather plays nice, before dark closes in ...)

Who built this little Alban House
And shut the windows down so close
My spirit cannot see?
Who'll let me out some gala day
With implements to fly away,

...

(*Bring me the sunset in a cup, by Emily Dickinson)

RULES TO LIVE BY No. 2

2010-04-11T09:25:00.000+01:00

RULES TO LIVE BY No. 1

2010-04-11T08:46:00.001+01:00

courtesy of Baubauhouse via ExMi

ESP - EXTRA SENSORY PERFECTION

2010-03-23T03:56:00.003Z

Dries van Noten S/S10 & Givenchy S/S10 - images courtesy of Style.com

Collage created with GIMP.

Both these collections literally made me catch my breath & my heart thump about with excitement when I laid eyes on them, but for completely different reasons. One is because I default to the directional & black & my love affair with the jumpsuit continues. The Second? Simple, I adore this collection from Dries Van Noten, the sheer exuberance & positivity just singing out from his clothes is enough to make even the most hardened black-wearing devotee do a double take (*if only for a millisecond!) but Colour, as many of my friends will tell you, is not my natural habitat, I err on the side of the white t-shirt or grey & shapeless top/dress hybrid & endless pairs of black skinny jeans & denim shirts but, this does not mean that I don't LIKE colour, no LOVE colour = I do in principle, I love the idea of it - I am from Africa, a continent that proudly wears it's love affair with all the hues of the rainbow (*& then some!) on it's proverbial sleeve! This should come naturally dammit!! The truth is as much a I want too (*& I deseperately do), I just have no idea how to wear multiple colours/patterns without the end result looking like I've just come back from an extended stay with the Ringling Brothers or been vomited up by an overexcited box of crayons.

(*hence my love for the Givenchy image above - this is my default look in a perfect world)

READING LIST S/S 2010 - Part 1

2010-03-23T01:17:00.004Z

cerebrointoxicalicious**

(** courtesy of Schott's Vocab - A Miscellany of Modern Words & Phrases -> http://nyti.ms/9QymrK)

Mr. Oizo - Flat Beat

2010-03-07T20:32:00.001Z

LEGENDARY!!

2010 - ALL KILLER, NO FILLER!!!

2010-01-06T16:51:00.150Z

Yes, yes, yes, okay, fine . . . I have indeed been a lazy bloggette this past month or so with nary a decent post in sight (*my mind & time has been filled with making a positive impression on the new boss (*psssh!), dreams of finding the perfect new room to rent (*found! - despite aforementioned dreams being dashed on a nightly basis by visions of flaking/peeling ceilings, ominously shaped mould, burnt chip shop/damp cabbage/wet dog-esque smells, some rather overexcited looking neon fungus in a bathroom (**apparently it was there when they MOVED IN!! WTF RIGHT!? Maybe it's a pet?? Frederique the Fungus?? Euuww!!) freakish stare-y 'potential housemates' who lined everything right up against the walls (*made me feel like I was a sample of something not totally feng-shui in their particular petri dish of oddness -I didn't call back) & I am almost positive that was mouse poop (**plural) in the corner of one hovel!! Wrinkles nose!!) and then the final icing on the proverbial christmas cake, my hard drive decided to commit gadgetry Hari Kiri just in time for the new year, taking with it three & a half years of pics, music, life in general!! Just Charming!
But enough talk, to make up for my absence here is OMG!! A LIST OF STUFF(*!!!) that has dashed across my preoccupied sight for you to peruse. So crack open a can, pour yourself a glass, cosy up around that cuppa & enjoy xoxo
Music-wise, I can't seem to get enough of the audiofab jewels from the discerning chaps at RCRD LBL & so, fine, maybe i'm a bit late on the bandwagon but I AM LOVING the ethereal Norway by Beach House, Can Not Love by Bitches (*a nice bit of angry riff-tastic fun!!), Neon Indian's mix of Grizzly Bear's - Cheerleader. All excellent tunes for stomping through the snow. On the flip-side though there is still a whole lotta love for my girls Amanda Blank, Kid Sister, Marina & The Diamonds, Florence & The Machine and the various AWESOME mixes their singles & albums have since spawned - it looks like TwentyTen could continue with 'OhNine's theme with the ladies dropping hits left, right & centre!! I likes. A lot!

NOW! WOULD YOU HAVE A LOOK AT THESE!!! My newest discovery in my ongoing Magazine-obsessed journey - VOGUE Hommes, Japan. Am quite the most excited kid!! Now, I don't understand Japanese by ANY stretch of the imagination (*unless it comes wrapped in seaweed, with a side of wasabi & some pickled ginger.) but what I LOVELOVELOVE about is a) it's menswear, b) it's technically a mainstream publication but having Nicola Formichetti at the helm as Fashion Director - the man behind Lady Gaga's boundary-stretching wardrobe imaginarium, as well as being a co-conspirator on DAZED & CONFUSED as Creative Director,ANOTHER MAN as Senior Fashion Editor and wearing the hat of Contributing Fashion Editor of V , V MAN , ANOTHER , he takes it to a completely different arena on par with maybe Oliver Zahm's Purple Magazine, & half a dozen other It'sArtFashionArtSexArtMusicDahling glossies littering the news stands for envelope pushing . . . BUT. IT'S. VOGUE & that's what excites me!!!! (**Now, if only I could find a copy of it!!)

NEW YORKS NEWEST TRIBUTE!!! (*A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!)

2009-11-23T18:26:00.003Z

George Michael - Freedom 90

2009-11-19T17:04:00.002Z

"Empire State of Mind" Jay-Z | Alicia Keys [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

2009-11-11T20:35:00.003Z

SPOTTED!!

2009-11-09T01:40:00.007Z

SPOTTED Torbjorn Brundtland,one half of audiophile soundscape wizards Röyksopp wearing Henrik Vibskov's red and white 'seal' spotted all-in-one super cosy jumpsuit that I posted about here , aka the perfect SuperLuxe DuvetDay ensemble!!! Seeing one actually ON someone make me want one EVEN MORE!!!! (*absolutely nothing to do with the fact that that this SOMEONE happens to be a super-talented & rather fit member of one of my favorite duos, of course!! But just for the record, Mr. Bruntland here could play me a little Nacht Musik anytime!!)

Fischerspooner - Supply & Demand (*AutoErotique remix)

2009-11-04T22:56:00.024Z

OMG (*!!) HOW SICK IS THIS TRACK!!!! It's the new single from the somewhat flamboyant, always brilliant New York electro outfit Fischerspooner. Drops November 17th, on Dim Mak . Enjoy!!

(*reminds me of Crystal Castles "Crimewave" (Crystal Castles vs Health), which I *heart* quite a bit. Click here to compare.) Thanks to the chaps @ RCRDLBL.com once again xoxo

RxArt

2009-11-03T03:48:00.015Z

This is one of the things I LOVELOVELOVE about blogging and the internet in general, when you come across something so exciting and interesting, that resonates with you and restores your faith in that unpredictable (*or maybe in some circumstances too predictable!) animal we call human nature all over again (*sighs happily) - I came across this particular endeavour posted on Twitter (*don't you just LUUURVE Social Media sometimes?) from Hypebeast about a collaboration between KAWS, Kiehls and it turns out RxArt. Now I have never been unlucky enough to have to spend any serious amount of time in hospital, but I do remember vividly when I was a kid my mom taking my brothers and I one weekend to the pediatric burns unit at the local government hospital, where along with the volunteers for a charity the company she works for supports called The Cradle Project we painted the walls and windows of the ward with brightly coloured pictures of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, scenes from Fairy Tales, story books etc. and the reactions of wonder and joy from the tiny, tiny patients - some of them bandaged from head to toe, confined to their beds in what used to be this dreary, grey place they called home for up to months and months at a time now turned into a wonderland of rioutous colour and stimulation becuase a few people gave up their weekend to make their universe a more cheerful, stimulating place to be, has stayed with me indelibly.

RxArt is a non-profit organisation in the US committed to fostering artistic expression and awareness through the challenging yet rewarding task of engaging patients through contemporary art in healthcare facilities.

By engaging and collaborating with some of the most noted and celebrated contemporary artists of our time, they curate installations within hospitals, and turn what are otherwise these cold, sterile and a lot of the time alienating, scary places to be into more comforting, engaging, positive environments. Following the belief in art’s ability to not only transcend but transform its settings and viewers, not only do they strive to provide this creative surrounding that helps to relieve stress and anxiety of hospitalization and the stress of the doctors and nurses working there, but at the same time fosters a new appreciation for contemporary art. Between the Lines: A Coloring Book of Drawings by Contemporary Artists, Volume 1 is one part of the many projects on the go by RxArt and really excites me when I read about it because I think that if I, as healthy, happy individual get such joy and excitement and value from Art and it's many, many incarnations IMAGINE how much more it can affect those not nearly as fortunate!! Artists involved such as Takeshi Murakami, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ryan McGinness, KAWS, Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Gary Hume, Ed Ruscha, Raymond Pettibon and Nate Lowman as well as including. works by Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.The list is endless and runs the gamut of the worlds of Contemporary Art from the fathers of Pop Art to the newly respected environs of Street Art, as well as photography, animation and graphic design have contributed to this amazing endeavour. What is even MORE EXCITING is that these brilliant colouring books (*Volume Two is out now!!) are available to BUY on their website (*click the the book title above for the link) - I am SO getting one of each come Pay Day!!! (**and maybe a few more for the kids in my life, big and small alike!!) I think you should too & give SpongeSquare BobTrousers and Co the contemporary finger!!!

To Fashion, To Love, L'amour . . .

2009-10-30T23:43:00.005Z

I've been suffering from a 'stuff-alanche' in terms of what to post on my blog and while I know that music, fashion, life in general should always be about moving onward and upwards, forward ho!! and that I should post newnewnew, nownownow, there are just some things, some people and some decades that will ever be eternal in their ability to inspire and excite. Below is a music video montage of Madonna doing VOGUE on her Blonde Ambition Tour circa 1990 (*I was 9!!) - this was taken from the video released in 1991, called Truth or Dare (in bed with Madonna) documenting the tour - on stage and off.

I love this clip, I think YouTube might at some point tell me to sling my hook & watch something else but there is just something about the way she combined fashion, theatre, performance art - the timeless grace, simplicity, energy, focus, sheer style, beauty (*OMG, those bodies!!) easily breaking if not SHATTERING the mould and raising the game for live performances across the board. Today's pithy 'FifteenMinutesOfFame'ers could do well to revisit this & take some SERIOUS notes!!!

Strike a pose there's a helluva lot to it!!!

VOGUE (PARIS) HOMMES INTERNATIONAL 10 (f/w 2009 - 2010)

2009-10-27T12:08:00.008Z

DRESSCODE - The 20 Commandments . . . (f/w 2009 - 2010).

I LOVELOVE VOGUE (PARIS) HOMMES INTERNATIONAL. It is easily my favorite mens fashion/style/quarterly publication. Closely followed by Fantastic Man in terms of content, the way both publications are styled with such sharp wit and
intelligence and loving attention to detail. Gentlemen, gentlemen please take note - these commandments are not to be slavishly followed but taken with a trace of je ne sais quoi and a robustly intact sense of humour but I would advise you to keep commandments *2, *6, *13 and *20 close to your brave little sartorial hearts.

The rest of you lovely little boundary stretching, legging wearing fashion victims go wild, wear commandments *5, *9 *10 and *18 with pride!!

LONDON AS CANVAS.

2009-10-27T01:00:00.007Z

THE HAYWARD GALLERY, WATERLOO BRIDGE.

Ed Ruscha Exhibition and Retrospective currently running at The Hayward Gallery, Southbank. A definite must-see. - for more infor click here

I was so taken by how the really fresh, light blue of the early-ish morning sky contrasted so amazingly with Ruscha's reds, black and oranges and BOLD text (*& anyone who knows me relatively well will tell you that I'm a bit of a typography junkie. There are WORSE habits!!!)!

(*taken @ 10.00am-ish,last Friday en route home)

CORDY HOUSE, CURTAIN ROAD.

Oh goody, the infamous dr.d!!! Saw this one while cycling home the other night on teh concertina door of Cordy House (the site for many a past 'installation'). Made me laugh so much I nearly rode into a pole (*not a strong look!!) - am not one of Hause of Gaga's hugest fans so this appealed to me massively. Never fails to cheers me up when I spot yet another of dr.d's charmingly subversive works of 'art' plastered upon the 'canvases', thoughtfully provided by our friend 'The Man'. High Five dr.d!!!

(*taken @ 21.00pm-ish, Monday en route home - unfortunately Cordy House will soon be no more. Yet another amazing building that makes up London's inimitable beautiful character sold to the highest bidder for yet MORE cheapcr*pmadeofcardboard'luxury'flats!! BOLLOCKS!!! R.I.P. )

Club Duvet @ Cosyville Corner

2009-10-24T15:13:00.007+01:00

Mmmmm, just looked out the window in a fog of sleepyness. Initial reaction was to dive straight back under the covers and stay @ Club Duvet in Cosyville and studiously ignore greycoldwetwindygenerallyblahday and then I remembered that amidst all my blog-hopping and interweb 'window' shopping over the last few nights (* while plagued by the beast that is mildly-stress-induced-due-to-current-jobless-situation insomnia!!) I came across THIS!!!
Exhibit A - by one of my favoritefavorite designers Henrik Vibskov - graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2001, now shows at Paris Fashion Week and currently the ONLY Scandinavian designer on the official show schedule!!Amazing!!(*check out Street Peeper to see people wearing more of his designs) - is the perfect SuperLuxe DuvetDay ensemble, this red and white 'seal' spotted all-in-one playful, super cosy jumpsuit of course. Made from 100% wool and featuring an extended neck opening that creates a hood at the back when worn - Gangsta Seal!!

available via FarFetch.com

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Dance The Way I Feel.

2009-10-22T20:44:00.007+01:00

A Quickie - Ou Est Le Swiming Pool - known to their mum's respectively as Charles Haddon, Joe Hutchinson and Caan Capan or (*according to their MySpace) behind the guises of Andelé Peligroso Pericosima, Fernando P.I. (*it begs the question - son of Magnum??) and Affa Da., these are the musically maverick purveyours of A/W '09's crazily bittersweet, blissfully danceable electro single (*well I think so anyway!!) - Dance The Way I Feel. Loving the vid., intentional or unintentional homage to the Pet Shop Boys??
So do what it says on the box pets, jack up the volume to ELEVEN, roll back that lounge rug, slide that coffee table up against the wall AND DANCE THE WAY YOU FEEL!!!!
**Check out their interview with 'Sup Magazine right here !!

(*Also check out the remix Armand van Helden did FOR them. Nice piece of club filler kit!!)

Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) (Club Edit)

2009-10-22T15:45:00.021+01:00

Ok, ok, ok . . . so I know that I went off on this whole musically melancholy mitten-wearing tangent in my last post BUT sometimes something gets thrown in your direction by the generous Groovy Gods of Remix-ville (*or in this instance the lovely chaps at RCRDLBL.com) and this something is so tantilisingly brilliant, the collab. alchemy so perfect, the knee-jerk reaction of the listener so utterly OMG!! I Need To Dance To This NOW!! and should this bass loving , bootay shakin', HandsInTheAirWaving bit of goodness not be shared as the always amazing, terminally cool Karen O sings "heads will roll" (*x4). Fact! Now I am by no means a massive music aficionado, musically adventurous yes, knowledgeable maybe. I like my music and I like music I can dancedancedance till I'm dead to the most and given that this A-Track remix for whatever reasons didn't break the surface until now despite being released back in June along with the Tommie Sunshine remix of the same track, it all boils down to my theory of 'a time and a place' and I do wonder if it would've garnered the same OMG!!OMG!!OMG!! reaction then as it has now?? Either way it definitely ticks my 'successful musical adventures' box in a BEEGBEEG way!!!

Enoy Pets!! xo

Lia Ices . . . She has long hair, which I hope she braids into ropes to lasso around loved ones . . .

2009-10-15T21:14:00.041+01:00

Now that Autumn '09 seems to be smuggly settling in for the long haul and looking out the window in the morning more of a chore than a joy (*mittens at the ready my kittens), my musical meanderings start to take a somewhat mellowed-out, melancholy turn. Lining up with with a soulful/acoustic/folk/female singer/songwriter bent and a definite nod in the direction of Cat Power, Feist and Co.- it's the kind of music you want to listen to on greygloomydusky Sundays after a gentle morning mosey around Columbia Road, cosy under the blanket with the Sunday papers, watching the rain slipslip down the window pane or on the sofa curled up around the person who stole your heart, quietly dozing off to the sound of . . . YOUR SQUAWKING ALARM CLOCK ON MONDAY MORNING . . . back to harsh reality and what with me being one of the great multitude of unemployed bods that currently grace this great city, I spend the vast majority of my days instead, fighting the good fight, caffeinated to the hilt, catching some virtual waves, surfing interminable job-sites, slogging it out against the devil that is recruitment jargon and of course dipping in and out of my own personal weakness **BLOGS!!!!

Which is where we come to the lovely ethereal sounds of Lia Ices, described by RCRDLBL.com as a singer-songwriter "of uncommon power and presence". While lusting over the "Where the Wild Things Are"/Opening Ceremony collab. t-shirts on their website (*I so want this one, sighs meaningfully!), I stumbled upon the video (*below) for Ms Ices' single (un)Chosen One - mezmerised by the eerily beautiful dreamlike sequences flitting candycoloured across the screen to these sounds of such delicate power and a voice so richly haunting anyone in their right mind would be hard pressed not to dash off into the blog-osphere and dig up more of her autumnal offerings. I, of course with all that time on my hands, and in the time-honoured name of 'research' promptly did so and was richly rewarded for my efforts, for not only has Ms Ices' debut album "Necima", a deceptively simple yet utterly gorgeous effort of piano, guitar and magical string arrangements, been released by Brooklyn label Rare Book Room Records BUT (*oh happyhappyjoyjoy!!) its available on Spotify as well for our listening pleasure. It looks like Ms Ices is definitely going to be a permanent fixture on my iPod this Winter!!!

via Opening Ceremony
(*Keep an especial ear out for the single 'You Will' - playing on the media player in the left sidebar. Just click through if you can't find it.)
(**but mainly those about clothes music film creativecollabs culture blahblahblah!)

Frankie | London

2009-09-17T00:32:00.007+01:00

Jack G. | London

2009-09-15T23:50:00.008+01:00