Check out Chanel Iman, left, at the H&M for Sonia Rykiel party last night in New York City.
Chanel’s wearing her requisite DJ uniform:
An American Apparel burnout tank over a designer lace bra, with jeans and massive heels.
She’s also wearing a giant smile, which is gorgeous -
And something not typically worn by a trendy DJ!
So at this point, Alice in Wonderland has invaded Tim Burton’s lens, the design studio of Tom Binns, and the makeup counters of Urban Decay.
Now it’s also invading music studios.
Today the first images were released from “Tea Party,” the first song that revolves specifically around the upcoming Alice movie (and is featured on the soundtrack).
Starring pop singer Kerli (left), the video was dreamed up with help from stylist Mika Fowler (right), who mixed elements of the Alice film with imagery from Marie Antoinette, Harajuku street style, and Euro disco (if you can’t guess by her impeccable eyeliner, Kerli’s friends with the Tokio Hotel boys, and was recently featured on a track with them).
The first time I saw the Soft Pack, they weren’t even called that.
It was CMJ 2008, and The Muslims had just upstaged every other band playing at the Brooklyn dive Don Pedro’s.
A lot has happened since then: A name change, a label signing, a spot on our list of band crushes, and finally, a full-length.
The San Diego foursome’s self-titled album comes out today and, yeah, it’s worth the wait.
The mile-a-minute ’70s punk sound is still there, but instead of feedback and fuzz, it’s remarkably crisp and clean. (Although I’ll admit that the album cover drives me crazy.)
For proof, check out “Answer to Yourself” or “More or Less” — and then try to stop playing them. xxRebecca
Want to get the under-30 set to an opera house?
Invite the Vivian Girls.
On Friday, the Brooklyn trio, along with art rockers Les Savy Fav, took over the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House.
While there were no arias, there was something surprising about the set: A two-minute guitar solo.
Yes, the band that made a name for itself with fast and furious girl group tunes is now going all Led Zepellin on us. The song, which the band said they just wrote, may be their best one yet — and finally, a way to stop haters from arguing that the band can’t play their instruments.
Which isn’t to say that they won’t put them down every now and then — in between encouraging shouts from their parents (awww…) the band stepped up the mic for an a cappella cover of the Chantels’ song “He’s Gone”.
Ra Ra Riot and The Antlers take over BAM next week — could this be the second coming of the Three Tenors? xxRebecca
Kate Moss is known as much for her iconic face and impeccable style as her taste in music.
(Not even the muddy grounds of Glastonbury have stopped the model from enjoying the legendary festival.)
But her latest rock’n'roll obsession is no doubt one you’ve been listening to for months now: the Plastiscines.
Katty, Marine, and Louise joined last night’s party celebrating Moss’ collaboration with Longchamp and, frankly, they looked like rock stars.
And unlike the bags, which won’t be hitting stores until February, you can get your hands on the Plastiscines’ album right now.
(Though we do think that the braided leather and zebra-print Longchamp bags would look rather good on the French foursome.)
Thanks to a little known website named Twitter, my roommate Kat and I got to spend an entire Monday in a warehouse in the middle of Brooklyn. We were there as extras in Passion Pit’s video for their next single, “Little Secrets.”
We emailed the producer, sent pictures and potential outfit ideas (the dress code was black and sparkly; we both go to fashion school, so that’s basically all we wear anyway) and got a callback only a few nights before the shoot.
The band played on this smoky, brightly lit stage complete with glitter confetti as about 40 of us extras/fans danced under heat lamps for hours on end, including a few shots with sad-faced brown paper bag masks (which was not easy; we all kept bumping into each other like a bad conga line).
Even without direction, everyone did the same move for the lyric, “No one needs to know we’re feeling higher and higher,”a kind of Jersey Shore-esque fist pump motion.
On top of it all, the band stayed after they had finished filming to personally thank everyone who had come and signed the paper bag masks Kat and I snagged for our memory boxes.
They didn’t say when the video will be released but it will probably be within the next month or so. Even if Kat and I get no face time, at least it will be a story to tell the future grandkids.
(more…)
If you grew up in a town best known for its monopoly in salt herring during the Middle Ages, you’d probably spend all day playing music, too.
Meet Oh No Ono, a Danish quintet that plays pop music so strange, its name sounds normal in comparison.
Think icy symphonies warmed up with layer upon layer of sonic texture. Elephants roar, birds tweet, and an organ in a 300-year-old church leads a choir.
If Animal Collective grew up on cold summers, cured fish, and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn on repeat, they’d come up with Eggs, the band’s debut US album (which hits stores today).
Which is just another way of saying we’re obsessed (”Helplessly Young” is officially on repeat). And, yes, a little tripped out. xxRebecca
The New York Times is taking its “interactive” mission to a bit of an extreme today, asking their readers to upload something special:
A photo of Lady Gaga in concert.
Apparently, Gaga’s been urging the crowds to snap her on iPhones, FlipCams, whatever - a stark contrast from some performers with an old-school mentality about shows being sacred - and too big an investment to compromise with bootleg anything.
So if you’ve got a photo of the Bad Romance star in action, help out the Times in their quest and send it here.
Meet Sky Ferreira.
She’s a Waffles & Falafels girl.
She’s a DJ.
She’s a singer.
She’s in Marc Ronson’s studio right now recording some tracks, and later she’ll shoot a music video with Cass Bird (who also shot the Sophomore movie).
She’s also kicking around for Fashion Week, so maybe you’ll see her on NYLON TV…? Stay tuned.
Dawn Landes doesn’t play the type of music I typically like.
There are exceptions, but generally any band with fuzzy guitars, girl-group choruses, or instantly catchy choruses wins my approval.
But though Landes shares a Brooklyn zip code with some of my favorite bands, the similarities stop there. Yet Sweet Heart Rodeo, her third album (out today), has been on iTunes repeat.
The singer-songwriter brings a countrified kick to the Eastern seaboard, turning tunes about Brighton Beach and working girls into softly-strummed love songs.
Which isn’t to say she doesn’t have bite — on album opener (and standout track) “Young Girl”, Landes bares her teeth with lines like, “Didn’t you say/I’m trying to behave,” sung in voice that’s somewhere between a moan and a sigh.
Seems that she just might have picked up some Brooklyn grit — and a new fan. xxRebecca
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