Great tune.

Great styling.

Great photography.

Great editing.

Great video....up until the fireworks bit.

Disappointment of the week.



Later.
xx.

Paging Dr. Beat!

This post is in neither referring to Miami Sound Machine nor dissing them.

It is mostly referring to my need of professional help in managing my newly found obsession. Which I think is getting worse and worse by the hour.

So, since what little birdy told me about NSG Star planned live performance on 24th November, I've been in stalking mode ever since. First I opened their website, then their facebook page, then twitter, then watched ALL of their videos. THEN I found out that they are always practicing in Bellaza (or Belleza. You know, that mall thing right the opposite of ITC Permata Hijau), and then I found out about their rehearsal!

Now. I don't really know what are they rehearsing for, but I know for sure that you just don't rehearse with loads of people for something that is not so big. See the picture and tell me what you think....

Apologies for really bad picture-taking quality. As you can see, this stalker needs some practice. I was really panicking when Anggara spotted me. Thank God I had my car on the ready!


Later.
xx.

Music Discovery #4

Well this is not much of a discovery since I've known about them since they were formed early this year.

Ok so. Scoperta numero quattro di musica.

NSG STAR!
(Twitter, Facebook, MySpace)

A brand new and fresh Indonesian boyband. With four cutey pie members; Anggara, Gege, Rian, and Surya Lee. Personally, I'm no person for boybands. HOWEVER, this boyband is an exception. Why?

1st. They're Indonesians and so am I

2nd. They are sooo KAWAII!! (it means cute, for you who are unaware of a little language called Japanese) and boooy can they sing?!? It's like vocal heaven overload!

3rd. THEY ARE SOOO BANGIN'!! I am L-O-V-I-N-G their single with this real well-known rap/hip-hop group, Saykoji. Titled "Untuk Selamanya" (transl: Forever)

The single is so bangin'! very Rn'B with a hint of easy-listening and you can totally cry to it or shake your massive bootay to it. I just can't wait for a remix. It'd be EVEN MORE bangin'! I love how the single has that piano intro and that drum/bass and clap-clap sound. There's definitely an influence from Ne-Yo in there!

Simply put, a very, very, very, very catchy song!

Enough of words. Just have a listen to the song and check out their two videos on their other two debut singles.







Later.
xx

P.S. A little birdy told me that NSG Star is going to play at OZ Radio Bandung's Birthday bash on 24th November. Is that true dear little birdy? If yes, get me a ticket s'il vous plait!!

Tokimonsta - Death By Disco

Tokimonsta - Death By Disco by panda_bear

Music Discovery #3

I know that this blog is suppose to talk about music, fashion, and design. But the thing is, lately almost all of my discoveries have been music. And besides, I think I'll let Susie Bubble of Stylebubble or other prominent fashion bloggers do the fashion discoveries. When I talk about fashion, I'm better at its history and icons. I found them topics more interesting.

ANYWAAAAYYY.....

Back to my music discovery #3.

RUSS CHIMES!!
(Myspace, Last.fm, Twitter, Facebook)

I found out about him through some random blog reading, and really I didn't straightaway found him out. I was searching for a video of my personal favorite  Cinnamon Chasers' tune, Luv Deluxe. And I came about to the video's director's (Saman Keshavarz) Vimeo channel. And there they were...

Three videos from the upcoming EP by Russ Chimes, titled Midnight Club. As a very visual person, I'm instantly hooked to the videos. In terms of the story of the videos, they sort of resembled Luv Deluxe's story. A boy and a girl in a loving relationship, conflicts, guns, and heroism. In my head, these three videos are definitely in my top-3-serial-music-videos list. Daft Punk and Leiji Matsumoto's Interstella 5555 (which really reminded me of Galaxy Express 999, because of their similar looks) being on top of the list.
 
Enough talking about the videos, now, let's talk about the music. His tunes that are in his latest EP are sort of a mix of Miami Horror with the sounds that old-school Sega games made and a dash of summery-but-dark-neon. Does that make sense? I do hope so...

But really, the best way to describe his music is that they are a bunch of brilliant electro-dance retro-futuristic tunes. A definite booty-shakers, and if you're into summer neon rave kind of mood, this one is definitely for you.

I just can't wait for Midnight Club EP to be out at the beginning of next month!! KYAAA!!

So, I've talked about his tunes in his upcoming EP and its videos. Now, just enjoy the three awesome videos. I strongly recommend watching them in HD, full screen, and in a mid-high volume.


Russ Chimes - MIDNIGHT CLUB EP (Part 1: Never Look Back) from Saman Keshavarz on Vimeo.


Russ Chimes - MIDNIGHT CLUB EP (Part 2: Tertre Rouge) from Saman Keshavarz on Vimeo.


Russ Chimes - MIDNIGHT CLUB EP (Part 3: Targa) from Saman Keshavarz on Vimeo.

xx.
Later.

P.S. Russ Chimes IS really really cute! *wink*

Flying Lotus - Tea Leaf Dancers

Flying Lotus - Tea Leaf Dancers by origamitracks

Recommended: listen to this with headphone on and full volume. And maybe, with a side of spliff. :p

xx.
Later.

#I Got The Yellow Fever

Penguin Prison - Funny Thing

Funny Thing by Penguin Prison

Music Discovery #2

BOOYAH for my second official music discovery!!

This time it's a London-based band that goes by the name of CLOCK OPERA!!.

Their (which I think) first single, Once And For All is going to be out soon on Kitsune.

This band is fairly new, so not much of an information is around. However, as always, Guardian managed to hit them up first. So, below is a little something on what Guardian has on Clock Opera:

As our humble tribute, we were going to make it a rule that, starting today, every new band for the next 50 days would have to be as magical and magnificent, as sublime and transcendent, as Michael Jackson, but that would be ridiculous, if not impossible. Besides, there's Michael Jackson, and there's Michael Jackson, with Billie Jean and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough at one end of the MJ value scale, and Heal The World and You Are Not Alone at the other. If we were going to use that measuring system, on the MJ gauge today's new band would be a notch or two below Smooth Criminal but a couple above P.Y.T. Averagely extraordinary, in layman's terms.

They're almost as eccentric as Jackson-as-Jacko. Not that they sleep in hermetically sealed tents and hang around with hominoids, just that their approach to music-making is rather unusual. And they do remind us of how much we wished Michael had chosen Aphex Twin or Squarepusher to be his production accomplices towards the end of his life instead of Will.I.Am. We say "they", but Clock Opera is really a he: Guy Connelly, who used to be in bands called The Corrections and The Fall Out Trust and now cuts and dices found sounds and instrumental segments with psychotic finesse. What you imagine to be harp glissandos on one of his standout tracks, Alouette, are actually the noises made by five guitars, "chopped into smithereens and fiddled with sonically and in terms of pitch and rhythm," as Connelly told us. No wonder he calls what he does "chop pop" – he literally chops up sounds to create songs out of bits. He might just as well call it "bash pop", though – because he gets a lot of his percussive effects by rattling whatever happens to be lying around on his desk, by whacking an assortment of metal objects that he's come across in skips such as cheese graters and old car batteries, or by wandering round his house slamming the cutlery draw or banging the barbecue. Not literally achieving sexual congress with the barbecue – even Michael Jackson didn't go that far.

He chops up his lyrics as well: he finds a story then cuts up the words and reassembles them in a random order that occasionally will make a strange sort of sense after several readings. Man Made, for example, came from an article in a magazine about a beauty pageant in a women's prison in Siberia where one girl from each block got dolled up and played for the chance of parole. And White Noise was a personal reminiscence of the time Connelly was walking down London's Whitechapel Road when a riderless motorbike came careening towards him and nearly sliced him in half. Gives a whole new meaning to his "chop pop" thing, that does.

So why Clock Opera? Because Connelly's into "pocket symphonies with a mechanical, repetitious feel" and singing in a high-pitched voice over the top (very over-the-top). He and his band have only played two shows but already the A&R fraternity are circling, which is encouraging, because this is hardly Black Eyed Peas, although it is pop music, if groups as out-there and experimental as Associates and Animal Collective can be counted as "pop", or if the ravishing "systems music" of Philip Glass and Steve Reich could be called such. Connelly has done remixes for Yeasayer and Bloc Party, he has written scores for the Rambert dance company so you know we're not exactly dealing with the new Pigeon Detectives here, and he is working on his debut album with Graham Stewart, engineer on Radiohead's Kid A and Amnesiac, which also augurs well. Oh, and he happens to believe that Michael Jackson will be appearing very soon at the 02 in white robes, with white hair and white face, reborn. Should be a good gig.

Original song:



Remix:



xx.
Later.

P.S. Their other songs and some remixes they did are pretty awesome too! Check them out!

White Noise:


Marina & The Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot (Clock Opera Remix):


Personally, this I Am Not A Robot remix is not really the best. I think the best I've heard so far is by Penguin Prison (his new single, Golden Train, will be out on 22.11.10):

Watch 'em in HD and Full Screen

F L U X from candas sisman on Vimeo.

Seaweed from Tell No One on Vimeo.

Crocky Hermès

Recently, I read this article on Hermes' strategy to meet the demands of their exotic bags. crocodile skin Birkins and Kellys. The article itself is quite old (it was released in 2009), but I think the issue remains valid.

In the article, it says that, it takes 3 to 4 crocodiles for Hermes to produce a single bag. And to quote a comment made by Peta's vice president, Dan Matthews:

“The thought of purposely breeding and killing crocodiles for an outdated, overpriced handbag should make fashionista’s skin crawl. If Hermes really wants to be a leader in the fashion industry, it should stop killing animals for cold-blooded vanity and use cruelty-free mock crock and fake snake instead.” 

Now. There are three things that I don't agree with what Peta's vice president said. 

First. To say that fashionistas are buying outdated bags in itself is just a silly, hugely stupid argument. They are called fashionistas not for nothing. Fashionistas are called fashionistas because they are always in trend, in fashion. And Birkins and Kellys are ALWAYS in fashion. Those bags are the hand equivalent of Chanel suits. No matter what colour, size, and materials used, they will always be in fashion. Also, Hermes never made anything that is outdated. Their products are more timeless than throwaway.

Second. Saying "The thought of purposely breeding and killing crocodiles for an overpriced handbag should make fashionista’s skin crawl." is also silly. Fashionistas or people who buy those bags are already know what they are buying. With a price tag of £30,000 a pop, they do (or at least, I do) expect Hermes to use the best of crocodile skin and do as much as they can to meet their £30,000++ expectations. 

Third. Suggesting that for Hermes to be the leader in fashion industry they should use mock-crock and fake snake for their exotic accessories products is definitely in my top-3-most-stupid-suggestions-I've-ever-heard list. For the simple reason that is he is missing the whole point of a luxury brand such as Hermes. When people hear Hermes they either think "What is it?" or "It's a luxury brand". With luxury brands, such as that, people expect the highest of prices that is accompanied by the highest of quality in both materials and craftsmanship. Now, how do you expect to have the highest of prices that is accompanied by mock-crock or fake snake? Hearing the terms mock-crock and fake snake in itself is very unbecoming. 

However, I do understand what Dan Matthews is saying. And it does sound cruel to breed crocodiles only for their skin and use 3 to 4 of them for one bag. But we need to put this issue into perspectives. You gotta think that at least Hermes is resorting to farming rather than poaching. Also, exotic accessories counts for the smallest of percentage in sales not only for Hermes, but the whole fashion industry.

And talking about taking things into perspectives.

I remember a comment on the article made by one of the readers saying that using crocodile skin for fashion accessories is harming the environment. This statement also made it to my top-3-most-stupid-arguments-I've-ever-heard list because producing other normal leather (cows, sheeps, etc) goods as harmful to the environment as producing crocodile or any other reptile skin accessories, also quite as severely.

Most leather bags are chrome tanned (90% of the world’s leather). Tanning is the process that turns raw animal skins into durable, lasting leather via tannins. Chrome tanning utilizes chromium sulfate and other salts of chromium, i.e. heavy metals, to tan leather and is terrible for the environment. So, really, to say that using crocodile skin for an accessory is more harmful than other skins is just silly. 

Another thing. Keep in mind that our (human) impact on the global environment, is far, far bigger than all of the animals that we raise and slaughter for vanity. We’ve pushed entire species into extinction, destroyed habitats, changed the chemistry of the seas and the air. So before you can get all indignant about not buying an exotic skinned bag, think about the bigger picture of the impact your lifestyle already has, and you’ll find you’ve already probably killed more animals (both warm and fuzzy and slimy and scary) than Hermes has for one bag.  And instead of worrying about these mahusively expensive bags, why don't we change our focus to a more cheaper kind of bags that are clearly way more harmful to the environment than leather bags? Those bags are called plastic bags!

Last thing. How about for this simple logic? If you don't like what Hermes does to produce their products, then don't buy any. And don't try to bother others who don't really care. Such as me. 

If you really cared so much but still want to look fashionable, here's a solution. Why don't you try Stella McCartney? Her bags are great, and everything she makes uses absolutely no animal products – she is a vegan and all of her items are vegan-friendly. Her bags are gorgeous and stand the test of time, and her faux leather is very convincing.The best bit is, it's pretty much a little known fact. Or at least, people don't really talk about it.

xx.

Later.

Mumdance ft. Esser - Battle (Wookie cover)

Mumdance ft Esser - Battle (Wookie Cover) by mumdance

Husband #3. Entry #2

Hubby #3 needs a new set of suit! And Lordy, does he has some excellent measurement...

Basically, this post an order to Mr. Armani, Mr. Ford, Mr. Slimane, Mr. Gabbana & Mr. Dolce, Mr. Tisci, Mr. Gaultier, Mr. Theyskens, Mr. Lagerfeld, and Mr. Galliano to get their arses up and sew up a suit for my baby!

Diplo's Suit Measurements from DAMIEN NEVA on Vimeo.

xx.
Later.

#Hash

Husband #3

It is no wonder that I rarely see my huband #3. He's so busy building up his recoding label, Mad Decent, and simply gracing the world with his awesomeness.

And by God, I would buy anything that my husband #3 is selling. Like this Blackberry for instance.

By the by, doesn't he look great in suits. *sigh*

xx.

Later.

Music Discovery #1

Duck Sauce!

Just like any other DJ duo collaborations, such as Major Lazer (Diplo and Switch), Duck Sauce is a collaboration of two New York based DJs, Armand Van Helden and A-Trak. They first released an EP with two tracks in 2009, called Greatest Hits.  

But. 

The discovery I made today was their latest track, Barbra Streisand, released during the summer this year. The track is really cool and my only regret is not for finding this music gem earlier, because this could (and should be) my ultimate summer anthem!

The video for their latest track is simply brillant, with no gimmicks. Just an ol' simple New York City party vibe with some super awesome cameos by Kanye, Pharell, Fatjew, Diplo (re: marry me!), and Santigold.

Duck Sauce "Barbra Streisand" from Mr Goldbar on Vimeo.

xx.
Later.