I recently had the pleasure of seeing Miike Snow live at First Ave, sort of on a whim, actually. I was more excited for the opening band, Niki and the Dove (more on her at a later date), and was only vaguely familiar with the main act. Well. I am familiar now. And I am a fan. It was incredible visual and aural spectacle that cause the crowd to erupt into a dance party on a Tuesday night in Minneapolis. A fantastic show, and now my appreciation for their work has grown (after my initial listens of their albums to educate myself before seeing them live).
One of the songs that I enjoyed most before seeing them live and now have an even greater liking for is "Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)".
This song has a strong, militaristic drum beat layered under some whistling, keyboard, and distorted vocals. It's a really enjoyable mix of eclectic sounds and styles. What's more, the song's about imploring someone to give things up for love, and we all know how I feel about sweeping notions of lurve.
I wanted to incorporate both the strong marching sound and the sweeping notion of leaving everything behind with this look. Balmain is my go-to for exceptionally strong (shouldered) looks, here contributing both a fun jacket and a stern leather turtleneck. I started the bottom half with a no-nonsense wool skirt, but added a whimsical peekaboo with the TopShop celestial pencil skirt. A bright, fun necklace completes the look, giving away that she takes a risk and says she will.
See a live version of the song here.
Balmain jacket / Balmain top / McQ by Alexander McQueen skirt / Topshop patterned skirt / Yves Saint Laurent pumps / Marni handbag / Sass & Bide necklace/ Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)
Being a proud Minnesotan, I support Minnesotan musicians. We are very fortunate to have an incredible local music scene, as well as a truly exceptional radio station to showcase that music.The Current recently celebrated their 7th birthday at First Ave, and Poliça was the closing act. Their performance was highly anticipated, as the group had received a lot of positive buzz since releasing songs of their debut album "Give You The Ghost" (this album is incredible - it's available for electronic purchase now and the CD/vinyl will be released on Valentine's day). They did not disappoint. Their performance was truly captivating and their sound is amazing. I've been listening to their album on repeat since that show, and this song has really resonated with me.
I generally like to listen to the lyrics of a song to feel a real connection to the meaning & emotion behind it, but this is a song of few words, and what really catches my attention is the overwhelming sound. The track opens with what sounds like an alarm and continues to build and lose control. It feels very futuristic, almost apocalyptic, and the minimal lyrics tell of desperation; the repeated idea of violent games and the raw sound make it feel animalistic.
Those were the ideas I wanted to invoke with this look, and what better designer to showcase than Alexander McQueen? His work typically has a dark beauty that is simply fascinating to me, and that mysteriousness was perfect for this song. I added some modern, rough around the edges, and a little over-the-top accessories to allude to the dystopian future in which I envision the wearer of this look living.
Unfortunately there's not a link to listen to this particular track, but here's the video for another track, "Lay Your Cards Out" (another really amazing song), and I very much encourage you to purchase their album!
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their various holidays with friends and/or family. I was fortunate enough to enjoy a wonderful week long vacation at Summit Lake Lodge in Moose Pass, Alaska. It was pretty refreshing to be totally unplugged for seven days, and I was able to come up with a decent list of future posts - I'm so excited to share them all with you!
Without further ado, so begins the first real post of 2012. Fittingly, its inspiration was a song I heard on NPR's All Songs Considered podcast featuring the best music of 2011. I had heard this song by James Blake before on The Current, but this was the first time I was able to listen with headphones and really envelop myself in the sound. Boy, am I glad I did. This song is incredible.
The lyrics are simple in theory, focusing on the idea of "fallin', fallin', fallin', fallin'", but the melody just builds on itself in a really profound way. It begins somewhat dark but dreamy with a little bit of a futuristic feel and then grows in intensity and almost loses control. I think the folks at NPR summed it up best when they described it as a "startling sound".
This look is a tamer version of what I feel in this song. It starts with a simple, dark, elegant gown and the wearer just continues to add on to it with louder and louder accessories. I am seriously loving all the neon I'm seeing right now, and I was excited at the chance to incorporate it into this look.
Listen to the song here.
I will be forever indebted to my parents for a
number of things. The obvious things: raising me well, giving me a
really great childhood and adolescence, molding me into the person I am
today. Another notable influence? Music. My music tastes have very much
been influenced by those of my parents. My father is the one who taught
me to appreciate an album in its entirety, without shuffling songs and
without skipping songs. And he always stressed the importance of
purchasing the actual CD, not the digital version, so you can appreciate
the artwork the artist painstaking selected.
My
father is also the one who introduced me to Rocky Votolato. He was in a
record store one day and hear a song from "Makers" being played. He
immediately loved the song and asked the staff where he could find that
album (another trait I got from my parents - having and indulging in
immediate reactions). Since then I've seen Rocky twice live, once with
my dad. I've really come to appreciate his music as each new album has
been released since then. He seems to cross genres, moving from a
rougher tonality and harsh melody to a lighter, folksy sound and then on
to an almost country feel.
This outfit is inspired by "Suicide Medicine" from Rocky's album of the same name. This was the one of those harsher feeling albums. This song has such a great hook but you can't ignore the sound of erratic desperation and hopeless nostalgia. Those are the feelings I tried to evoke with this look. The look is pretty straightforward - rough around the edges, alluding that it was hastily thrown together, but I really enjoyed putting the details together. I added some uber-girly pearls and feminie shades to evoke the sense of vulnerability in this song. I especially like this YSL clutch that looks like an addressed
letter; I included it here to reference the life that was lost.
