Season in and season out, we’ve now moved on from checked shirts back around to Doc Martens (or lookalikes anyway), florals, denim, and curtain haircuts. Yet Fashion’s clichés forget the timbre of 90s culture, which may not be able to be defined as looks but more as places.
These places don’t have to be Nirvana or Marcy’s Playground, and if radio and portis heads should meet, why not in a Magic Pop Hotel?
Teetering between pop and trip-hop, French singer, Carolyn Evan, and composer Jean-Baptiste Ayoub play with all kinds of grains against electronic froth in their recently released, self-titled album which reads as “melodies inviting you to fly away”.
We guarantee this hotel is surprisingly pop-trippy, like having gotten high in the halls of 90s nostalgia. The entire album is an experience of wanderlust. One moment you’ve caught a familiar metric recalling the Sneaker Pimps, only to be cradled by some Air, and wait, perhaps some Sade ?
Try to count the directions of your enthusiasm within the span of the Magic Pop Hotel’s 10 tracks.
Mia Doi Todd has recently released the video for her song “Open Your Heart” directed by Michel Gondry. The clip features the singer dancing in collaboration with the Riverside Community College marching band.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the idea of dancing in bright colors was on the French filmmaker’s mind for sometime. And after having fallen in love with the soul singer’s music, a color-coordinated choreography was then carried out against the architectural backdrop of west Los Angeles.
It may be a stretch, but Gondry’s cinematography reminded me of Matisse’s La Danse de Chtchoukine, the revolutionary combination of dance and potent colors, and La Danse de Merion that explores the two in contrast with concrete archways.
Above: still shot from Gondry’s video
Below: Henri MatisseLa Danse de Merion, 1932-1933. Oil on canvas
3 panels, Barnes Fondation, Merion, Pennsylvania
When Matisse commented on the creative process behind the two paintings, he stated having to recreate the vision as a director would, “J’avais dû reconcevoir constamment mon oeuvre comme un metteur en scène. Quand je travaille, c’est vraiment une sorte de cinéma perpetuel. Mais là, je n’en restais pas moins lié à l’architecture, car c’est elle qui commande.”*
The dancers’ movements and saturated hues were determined according to the surrounding pillars, invigorating the entire composition with rhythm and song. In Gondry’s video, it looks as though he’s reversed Matisse’s concept as each of the frames is orchestrated in light of a Fauvist painting.
Above: still shot from Gondry’s video
Below: Henri MatisseLa Danse, 1909-1910. Oil on canvas, 260 X 391,
Saint-Pétersbourg, Musée de l’Ermitage
At other times, shots were also similar to French artist Djamel Tatah’s depictions of contemporary urban life. The angles and fragmentation of Tatah’s figures – like Gondry’s – can be seen as staged motifs played against geometric spaces and unequal textures.
And to further this stance, see Passion Pit’s approach to the same concept in their new video for the single “Sleepyhead” directed by the Wilderness – a premature attempt at color blocking that reminds me of the Teletubbies intro and Honeycut’s “Tough Kid” clip (visuals below). Still love Passion Pit though.
In this modern day and age, women still do their part to maintain their feminine charms. We continue to put on lipstick, paint our nails, and dye our hair.
As a most paradigmatic example, we wear high heels for the sake of fashion but also for sex-appeal. And while we’re painfully regretting that last decision returning home at the end of the day, guys seem to be bouncing off their sneaker soles at our side.
Nowadays, it’s become a custom for full grown men to be wearing sneakers (trainers) for every occasion, which I find very telling of a desire to grip onto boyhood. Are you going running, shooting hoops, or skating at some untimely hour of the night?
Whatever happened to boots? They are masculine and attractive. I would be so bold as to say that what high-heels are to men, boots are to women.
All figures of authority wear them, and come to find that so do most comic book heroes; rarely will you find a hero appealing to women that’s not (Tintin, the Ninja Turtles, and the Thing come to mind).
Yet somehow the boot hasn’t quite reached the popularity of the sneaker. Hence the need to create a man’s stylistic guide to the boot based on the comic book genre’s most popular superheroes and vigilantes.Continued below.
Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark have one major trait in common aside from being brilliant scientists. They’re both wealthy industrialists at the head of multi-million dollar companies. Stark is quite the playboy, while Wayne feigns to be. So in order to keep up his false reputation, Wayne is always wearing his best attire when attending his charity events. It would only make sense he wear Gucci.
Batman / Bruce Wayne
Gucci booties with horsebit ring buckle and perforations, Gucci.com
Iron Man / Tony Stark
Prada nut leather ankle boots, Bluefly.com
Both introverted and creative, Parker’s now grown up and a single freelance photographer, and Kent continues to pursue professional writing as a journalist. Both look to deflect suspicion, so their shoes should match their subdued undertones. The Diors would particularly go well with Kent’s occasional fedora.
Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Officine Creative Ankle Boot in Brown, Barneys.com
The mutants Logan and Dr. Bruce Banner are constantly traveling around the world. While Dr. Banner is performing research at a soda bottle factory in Rocinha, he would need a pair of sturdy lace-ups to trek through the Amazonian forest (in style). Logan also needs a resilient pair for his covert operations.
And lastly, I am fully aware that Dwight McCarthy wears red Converse before and after his transformation, but were I to imagine him with boots, these would be the pair.Having said that, he does have a nihilistic viewpoint on life while still being a ladies’ man, so a sophisticated version of the Doc Marten fits the bill. The Punisher needs a pair reminiscent of his military training days with the U.S. Marine Corps.
Sin City’s Dwight McCarthy
Wolverine Burton Boot in Black, NeimanMarcus.com
The Punisher / Frank Castle
H by Hudson Major Multi Lace Boots, Asos.com
In the spirit of Fashion Week, I decided to take note of some of the music played over the course of the Men’s prêt à porter and Women’s Haute Couture shows for Fall / Winter 2010/11 and Spring / Summer 2010 respectively.
Personal favorite song choices were The XX’s “Intro” at Qasimi – which I thought very appropriate for an opening sequence, and the Khronos Quartet’s “Different Trains I: America – Before the War” at Romain Kremer. Other popular choices were to have romantic piano versions of dark edgier sounds as in Nirvana’s “Lithium” at Cerruti and Clint Mansell’s “Marion Barfs” at Tillmann Lauterbach. Playlist below:
Note: Designers’ names in bold click through to videos of their shows.
QASIMI
The XX – Intro
The XX – Heart Skipped a Beat
DRIES VAN NOTEN
Moloko – Sing It Back (Boris D’Iuglosch Musical Mix)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll
50 Cent – Candy Shop
And every season, there’s always (atleast) one designer that chooses the Pixies’ “Where is my Mind?” as an impact song for the last walk-through (this year we heard it at Lauterbach’s show). Michael Jackson’s “Beat it” proves to be the fashion scene’s “elevator” music as it slips in at some point or another while standing in line, or rushing between venues.
So to mix things up once more, I’ve imagined a list of suggestions for future shows (or for personal use if you’re the city street strutting type). And no, I have not included Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” which seems like a much too obvious choice.
1. Gang Gang Dance – Blue Nile
2. Hot Chip – Take It In
3. Keepaway – Yellow Wings
4. Little Boots – New in Town (Fred Falke Remix)
5. Bat for Lashes – Two Planets
6. Beach House – Norway
7. Alain Bashung – 2043
8. M83 – We Own The Sky
9. Lali Puna – People I Know
10. Florence & the Machine – You’ve Got The Love (XX remix)
11. One Inch Punch – Pretty Piece of Flesh
12. Black Lips – Drop I Hold
13. Vitalic – Trahison
14. Coeur de Pirate - Comme des Enfants (Le Matos Andy Carmichael Remix)
15. Benjamin Biolay – La Superbe (particularly for Haute Couture)
Most of these tracks are available for live streaming on Les Flâneurs’ Hype Machine.
Photography by Michael Stephens featuring Tillman Lauterbach’s Fall / Winter collections for 2010-2011.
The time was 11:43 pm and I had just woken in my apartment in a pool of sweat. I’d like to say there was a spinning fan on the ceiling, but the place was Paris and we don’t have those here.
I could hear shouting from upstairs. As I lifted myself up out of bed, I had to sit down again – my head was spinning and I couldn’t say why.
Did I have anything to drink the night before? After a head scratch and a hard thought, I couldn’t remember. I checked my pant pocket folded over the chair, only to find matches marked “Le Motel”. On the inside fold, a handwritten phone number in blue ballpoint. A name, Maurice.
“Who the hell is Maurice?” I mumbled to myself.
More shouting.
This time I’d hear the sound of dishes slamming against the floor. Slipping a cigarette between my teeth, I got dressed as fast I could. But before I could pop the collar on my trench, a door slammed, and hard-heeled footsteps moved swiftly down the stairs.
I ran down the hall, and looked over the banister. All I could make out was the top of a hat and a black suit – maybe a hint of a red shoe, I wasn’t too sure.
Up top I could hear a woman sobbing. “Everything alright up there?” I shouted.
No reply.
I went ahead and walked up a flight. The hall was dark, but a crack of light shone from the end of the left wing.I chose to approach it and knocked. While waiting for an answer, I pressed my hand against the door and felt scratch marks up against the wood.
Cigarette still pursed between my lips, I had a minute to spark up a light. But as the match caught fire, the door opened, and on fell upon me the shadow of a woman. “What do you want?” she slurred under her breath.
She was a tall, lanky chick, of no particular shape. Jet black hair, and bags under the eyes. She introduced herself as Simone. I remembered having seen her in the building before, but never thought to look twice. She had crazy written all over.
When I asked what the F was going on, the woman apologized but gave no explanation. Over her shoulder, the place was a pig sty.
Clothes, broken dishes, even a chunk of carpet had been ripped right off the floorboards. The window was wide open, and half her belongings were in the process of being thrown out.
I decided to leave Simone to her hysterical fit, and made my way down the staircase, out, into the city night.
Walking into Franprix among the many grocery stores here in Paris, one can’t help but notice the love ballads that accompany the purchasing of food goods. These may be songs that [you'd hate to admit] you listened to during their prime. They now emerge from your subconscious as you’re looking at that extra package of bacon telling you: Parce qu’on ne sait jamais, you’d better stock up.
And though we’re all aware of the fact that background music is there to affect our shopping behavior, where Allen Ginsberg once saw Walt Whitman poking among in the meats, we’re now hearing Bonnie Tyler belt her heart out.
Is this supposed to make us hungrier? How would these artists feel to know their songs are now played to coerce us into filling our emotional gap with food?
Upon asking the clerks who decide on the music we ultimately have to listen to, we were told it was controlled by management that picked radio stations along the likes of Chérie FM “Vos plus belles émotions” and RTL2 “le son Pop-Rock”.
So after ’bouts in and out of Franprix (for actual shopping, but also for the purpose of writing this article), les Flâneurs have put together the “Franprix Playlist” and it’s alternative – a list of more current pop songs we’d actually enjoy listening to while doing our shopping (not to be abused).
THE FRANPRIX PLAYLIST:
1. Christophe Maé – Parce qu’on ne sait jamais
2. Apologize – One Republic ft. Timbaland
3. Tina Turner – Private Dancer
4. Phil Collins – In the Air Tonight
5. Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse of the Heart
6. Pointer Sisters – I’m So Excited
7. The Police – So Lonely
8. Britney Spears – Everytime
9. Cascada – Evacuate The Dancefloor
10. Jenifer – Donne-moi le temps
11. Seal – Kiss from a Rose
12. Aventura – Obsesion
13. Shakira – Whenever Wherever
14. Coldplay – Viva La Vida
15. Cher – Do you believe?
THE ALTERNATIVE LIST:
1. Goldfrapp – Ride a White Horse
2. Empire of the Sun – Walking On a Dream
3. Major Lazer – Pon de Floor
4. Snoop Dogg feat. Pharell – Drop It Like It’s Hot
5. MGMT – Electric Feel
6. Air – Sexy Boy
7. Röyksopp – Eple
8. The Go! Team – Ladyflash
9. War – Low Rider
10. Mulatu Astatke – Yègellé Tezeta
11. Of Montreal – Wicked Wisdom
12. Chairlift – Bruises
13. Sébastien Tellier – Roche
14. Hot Chip – Over and Over
In concert November 14th at L’International Bar in Paris.
