In music, there are the good artists who are creative and make great music that people can really enjoy.
Then there are the brilliant artists who are amazing, talented and people fall in love with. Matt Lowell is brilliant. (Apologies for the propaganda I am about to spew at you)
Swan Lake is a well formed EP by Matt Lowell a New York based artist and he is apparently quite well known. Graduating from Berklee College of Music, releasing other EP's, touring, performing- he has really gotten around.
“Swan Lake” opens this brilliant EP with beautiful vocals and guitar. His voice is smooth and perfectly in tune and just really really good to listen to not to mention how sensational he is on guitar. “Will you go now? Will you hunt me down?”
“Turret and Castanets” is faster paced and more rock than the opening song. It starts with electric guitar and drums but has a string accompaniment further into the song that is clever and accentuates and compliments what he is already doing.
“South Bend” goes back to the acoustic sounds to flatter the sad lyrics of this song- “You know you will stay here till the end See me off, see me off past the south bend”
The pace picks up again with “S.O.S Angeles” with great catchy lyrics and the high standard of music Matt Lowell just seems to pump out... “I'm doomed if I do, Damned if I don't”
“Sage and Manzanita” is slower in pace and has delightful and clean music which accompanies the sad, slow lyrics- “This may be too tough to handle This may be too tough to take This may be my own hearts mistake But I am bound to break”
“Youth and Innocence” has more raw acoustic guitar and ties off Swan Lake beautifully.
I really think this is an awesome, awesome EP. Smooth, uplifting, calming (Takes on from stabbing a page out of sheer frustration to nailing the drawing, all in 22 minutes) all over amazing.
Sometimes, Janet Jackson may miss the mark with her clothing, but in the pic above, she is on point and knocking down women half her age!!
This is a beautiful and artsy ensemble that Janet is wearing. Can't you just see the ART in her-- or rather-- the ART of the designer of Janet's dress?
This is the very limited edition, $1 MILLION Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss supercar... decorated even more so with Kanye in it. How much money does this dude have??
Check out photos of the car and Kanye as I've seen it this beautiful Friday morning. I'm just sitting here typing, drinking some Arizona tea and listening to JAZZ MUSIC.
WINTER: long-lost B-sides of Hellhammer doing technically-inept Cream covers in half time, "Spoonful," or "Blue Condition," maybe--
Gather 'round cenobites, my hierophants, my lovers of the living rumbling sonicity, seekers of the divine resonance, spelunkers of the lower frequencies...
I have songs to be heard as ley lines, as tea leaves-- these words the hand that scatters them in your cup--
Here begins your travelogue, with I, your guide, your seer, Beatrice H. Virgil-- lovely to meet you.
So begins the listening, stylus digs in vinyl, forehead on the floor, by the woofer, ears to the ground-- facedown, gazing into vibration:
Aaaaand... dissonant monody! Into Darkness is a very dense sound--bass and guitar and frequent tom use (nearly as much as the snare-- really think about that) give the whole album a homogeneous, "single" sound, like Sunn O))) or Earth, but somehow with more instruments seemingly involved-- this weakening of shape, a mass of low frequencies and infrasounding....
First track, "Oppression Freedom/ Oppression," a six-minute instrumental, at 3:15 starts the first of many bent simple power chords-- layered into, clutched at, beseeching --like a moan, or a bleat-- there's howling overdubbed leads in the background--
"Servants of the Warsmen" and the album's first syllable of "RISE" announces the departure of the instrumental before it-- at 2:02 starts a solo like nails on a chalkboard, and at 2:15 we get the "Ooooh!" that could not be more like Tom G. Warrior--
One highlight, "Goden," is mostly a phased/ flanged minor riff, a snare that hits between tom-rolling tribalisms, punctuates the undulating sonic weight... at 4:00 that upbent note with static keyboards, the single tom drum pounds-- could this really be more simple?
"Power and Might" begins as they do, so slow it's nearly backwards, but then D-beats off (hee) into the distance; Celtic Frosty, showing Winter's punk roots; this instrumental segues into the Motorhead-ish...
..."Destiny," track 5, which at 7:25 crashes into D beats again, with solo crashing toms: the emperor with burgeoning visions of His Return (from Elba...?); track 6, "Eternal Frost," with his hand-of-doomy main riff....
The vocals are clear and high in the mix-- they might be mono/bi-syllabic grunt collections, but you can understand them fine... their tone and most lyrical content like some ousted savage powerful ruler, Genghis Khan or Sauron, bitterly chewing words of his brooding reminiscences-- a dethroned emperor? Ha.
haarp plays numbers like this-- riffs with no tonal center: they wander and revolve in their eccentric orbits: I dare you to hum the home key of these....
Final track "Into Darkness," a slow lurching patient rhythm, like a death metal breakdown section though even slower, at 3:50 finds the bass becoming very slightly dissonant, like he's moving one finger slightly too far up or down, one way or the other-- and this making an impressively heavy effect, like the song is gaining so much mass it's too dense to move and is coming doooooown, falling into its own orbit --it happens again at 5:50-- and at 6:30 a sudden "raked violin" sound scared yours truly shitless....
Winter's tunes are not "low energy," but "no energy"; live, they look like they're delivering a speech about tax expenditures during the previous fiscal year-- not to say, oddly, that they look bored: they don't.
Aaaaaand: just like Hank Mobley wrote most of his best licks in queer/strange-ass distant keys like F# or Dd, just like Hank Mobley played swirling licks on the tenor that sounded easy but were finger-manglers when you yourself picked up the horn, just like Hank Mobley, when living, was famous only among the fellow musicians who knew his subtle secret, his quiet rebelling genius--
--Winter were (in this, an oldy reissue from the ancient 90s) doing some still-subtle stuff with those guitars:
Witness:
The six strings are waaaaaaay down in the mix: strangely they're least obvious, but still PRESENT as fuck, with a rare use of some stompbox phaser/ flanger, lending the sound cool dissonant instability-- like it could shake apart at any time....
Tuned all the way down to A (eventual home of Yob and Salome): rarely pedal-toning the open chord (like the main riff in "Am I Evil?" or Anthrax' "One World"); their "Goden" doesn't do it at all until over five minutes in....
This might be serialism metal-- no real riffs in the classic sense of an ostinado, no real key centers, like they're loathe to hit the same power chord twice... difficult to even find the tuning they're using, because they so rarely use the open chord -- you know this is SUPER rare in metal, especially doom-- we live to hit the "BONG" chord, to fire up that open C# or B or A or Ab, to just let it sing, to let it hang out...
There's a lot of patience in these riffs, even more than their tempi might suggest-- the know they've got that open A to "BONG" and they're stingy with its sheer power... but we love it when it shows up, don't we, bitches?
The riffs are nearly all chromatic-- inching by inch, stepping by step-- so there's more room to move, more freedom of expression (very punk, p'raps) in that many more notes "fit" the song than with minor and major riffs--Mr. minor mode is more ambiguous, since with more tones, more sounds available, they're more potentially off-putting-- your ears are all "Me no know where we're going and me scared!"
Winter rarely speed, but musically speaking, they establish early on that Into Darkness can go literally anywhere at anytime-- like how a horror movie's different from any other kind, e.g., Director David Fincher's saying Se7en, with the finding of the Goopster's head, let you know this was not a crime movie, not a mystery, but a HORROR movie--
And had been the whole time.
All the members of Winter have punk backgrounds, but this isn't punk doom-- it's doom in the most basic sense, with a minimalist, fuck-it, do-we-have-to-know-how-to-really-play-our-instruments punk ethic.
Vincenzo Galilei, Galileo's dad, said: "...in setting to music a sonnet... or other poem in which occurs a line saying, for example: 'Bitter heart and savage, and cruel will,' ...many sevenths, fourths, seconds and major sixths [were] sung between the parts and by means of these, have made a rough, harsh, and unpleasant sound in the ears of the listeners." "Goden"'s main riff is a grind between two chords right next to each other (a second). One of "Goden"'s lyrics is this:
Hear the piercing cries, of the fourth horsemen in the wind. Galileo's pop Vinni was right. And this about 400 years ago. He saw Winter coming, baby. He laid out there, Nostradamus-style, the rules of earth shaking tunage.
He knew music. He knew music was/is animal bones splayed suggestively, letting you know what's what and what what will be... like birds on wires as notes on staves.
Words about music like Into Darkness are not criticism, not commentary: they're translation! Interpretation!
Is that unnecessary? You bet 'tis, clyde. You with the ears should just listen, but there are words --like these-- to get you to listen... like Zen training, like Shikan-taza... words to remove sickness caused by words . Music students train to portray and project the "color" of a melody's phrasing, how to change it, de-saturate it, warm it up-- what is Winter's color?
"In [Asian] music, for instance, a particular mode or even a particular pitch may become associated with a specific sentiment or humour as well as with connotative concepts such as winter, night, and blackness."* Winter are two fifth chords grinding beside to each other, moving back and forth. Sonic tectonics: Pangaea-cum-Gondwanaland and Laurasia via the first and second frets. Boring? Yes-- potentially very.
But we don't listen to doom for change, we listen for its very lack of it: heaviness, mass, sheer density from inviolable, inevitable, and immovable objects... making sound.
Are you lately starting to consider the choice of certified nursing assistant faculties to begin a profession in a rewarding path? If you're fascinated with becoming a nursing assistant, you will need to contemplate looking into all on-line faculties can provide, or traditional faculties for that matter. Increasingly individuals are wanting into online training for the comfort in addition to the
A couple of days ago, I mentioned Brad Pitt and the white outfit he wore to the Cannes Film Festival.
Well, next I'm talking about his SHARP glasses, good for any occasion, whether laid-back or dressed-up. The glasses were by Tom Ford in dark tortoise. Ya like??
I unearthed my battered copy of Tapping The Source by the Lazy Cowgirls recently and then the very next day this new LP by Brooklyn’s Live Ones shows up. Before even hearing a note of the Live Ones, I knew the similarities were pretty obvious. Both albums have black and white no frills covers and contain high energy punk influenced rock & roll. Yer Quite Welcome’s album cover is an action shot of the band playing at NYC’s notorious dirtbag rock bar the Ding Dong Lounge. I can tell because the Ding Dong has an awesome Motorhead poster for a show they played at the Calderone Theater on Long Island in 1983. The Rods and Virgin Steele opened (legend has it V.Steele got booed off the stage). The poster’s covered up by their logo but is there for you to drool over on the back cover.
Yer Quite Welcome really reminds me of my old favorite Cowgirls album but also of Australian maniacs like Cosmic Psychos or even the Hard-Ons. Album opener “Disowned” gives you everything you need to know about this band - fast, pissed off punk (but not hardcore) played by 3 gruel dudes old enough to know better but too tired to care. Other side one highlights includes “Lifeline,” which starts off with an almost Blackfoot feel before veering into Rolling Stones territory and the Johnny Thunders “So Alone” influenced song “Haunted.” They even have a song called “We’ll Take You Higher” that sounds like something the Brought Low would write but, unfortunately, there’s no mention of weeed in the lyrics.
Side 2 has a great song called “Writing’s On The Wall” that is vintage 1974 Kiss. “We’re The Ones” jumps ahead a few years to 1977 and brings to mind the Dead Boys classic “Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth.” “Get Up & Move” is a nice autobiographical number that mentions that they got their start at the Charleston, one of Brooklyn’s dumpiest bars to play in, as well as getting shut down by the cops in Greenpoint. These are all topics near and dear to my heart.
You can’t go wrong with this one. It’s brought to you by Drug Front Records, a new label run New York’s #1 Joe Lynn Turner fan Dean Rispler. But don’t hold that against him. Dean’s worked with some fine bands like the Candy Snatchers and Bad Wizard and is foolish enough with his money to release this on LP and CD. If you like it raw, loud and snotty check out the Live Ones.
Blackfield are starting their North American tour today in support of their new album, Welcome To My DNA and the Ripple will be there. Ripple artist, Fen, has been chosen to open for Blackfield for their Vancouver date. Come to the show and look up Pope and Racer and have some Ripple fun.
North American Tour Starts Today Get Free Music Plus A Special Foursquare Deal On The New Album
Blackfield, the acclaimed collaboration between Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and Israeli artist Aviv Geffen, launch their North American tour today in Washington, DC. The three week trek sees the band hit the US, Canada and Mexico with special guests Anathema on the first nine dates.
Their 3rd studio album, Welcome To My DNA, was released in April on Kscope and has garnered amazing accolades around the world where magazines such as Rocksound called it "Blackfield's finest hour" and Dave DiMartino at Yahoo Music says "Arty, melodic, adventurous, and significantly catchy throughout, Welcome To My DNA is a nifty and sophisticated rock album"
Another special promotion starting today is via Foursquare. When fans arrive at each date of the tour and check in on Foursquare, they'll get a discount code for the album from The Omega Order. Fans can find the code redemption instructions under the "tips" section of the venue called "Blackfield with special guests Anathema".
Guys, remember those days when you were boys and you wore clothes like the above pic (maybe some of you still do?) Not that there's any thing wrong with that.
What I'm talking about refers to NOSTALGIA. I'm feelin' a whole 1990s kind of vibe. Don't you feel it, too??
DOPE!! The above pic is from the Summer 2011 Maiden Noir collection, and EVER-DOPE Nike Brooklyn Projects x SB Dunk Sneakers.
Check him out in the 2011 Maybach Landaulet, ballin' in Paris. If you don't know what a Landaulet is, it is an open top car only for the rear area. The chaffeur remains enclosed, though. Check out the car as I saw it on UpscaleHype. Too hott for words.
And who's that chick?? Is that one of the girls Kanye was tonguing down in Paree lately?
Check it out, these ESPADRILLES are made for the upcoming HOTTER weather.
It's unisex, it's a clean-cut look, it's white (comes in other colorways, too) and it's Balenciaga. It has rubber soles for wet days, fending off the illusion that the jute ropes on the sides may be soaking up water (since the rubber sole has a low profile). It's for $489.
It looks best in white shorts or any cargo shorts in a light hue.
This whole escapade began like any other night. I went to sleep at the appropriate time, but shortly thereafter things went awry. As everyone knows the mind is a very dangerous place, and it often takes you to terrifying places while you are unconscious. Some call these instances nightmares. I like to think of these bad dreams as new episodes of ‘The Twilight Zone’. The nightmare I experienced that night took me back to school. I know…the horror!
“Penfold, have you finished your writing assignment yet?” “Umm…yes?” I look down at my desk and see a piece of paper with my writing on it. “Well hand it to me you insolent brat!” “All right, jeez. Here you go.” The teacher roughly snatched the paper from my hands and began to read. “Penfold, Penfold, Penfold. You continually amaze me. This chicken scratch is some of the worst writing I’ve ever seen! If it were in my power, I’d have you remanded all the way back to remedial English. Look at this!? Your grammar is astoundingly bad, even for a dimwit like you. Seriously, how do you expect to graduate fifth grade and move onto middle school if you can’t figure out where to put an apostrophe to properly indicate possession?” “Wait…did you say sixth grade?” “What’s the matter Penfold? Is simple addition beyond your grasp too? I’ll tell you what. If you can write down five convincing arguments in the next three minutes as to why I shouldn’t fail you right now, I’ll let you graduate. Sound good?”
I was so emotionally devastated at that moment I couldn’t speak. My response was limited to a half-hearted nod. I set about my task with a sense of impending doom. To my dismay every time I tried to write something my utensil failed. Pens ran out of ink after one letter, or the ballpoint collapsed in on itself. Pencils snapped or shattered. Markers went bone dry. Crayons dissolved into fine grains. All the paint tubes around my desk had been squeezed flat and were empty. When I reached for the watercolors in desperation I was unable to find a water-source, or even manufacture enough spittle to wet the brush. At the three minute mark I was left with a patchwork of multicolored letters scattered randomly across two sheets of paper. The teacher triumphantly tore the papers off my desk.
“Let’s see what you’ve come up with Penfold. Hmmm? In three minutes time it appears the only thing you can effectively demonstrate is command of less than half of the individual letters of the alphabet. Truly, I’m in awe of your genius! Can I have your autograph? Wait, it doesn’t appear that you know the letter X so it looks like that’s not possible. Too bad. But on the positive side, I’ll have all next year to get that autograph because you’re not going anywhere. Forget graduation. Be thankful if you only have to repeat fifth grade!”
Waveriders, I’m here to tell you that waking up screaming and flailing your limbs wildly in a cold sweat is never fun. Thankfully after this particular nightmare I was able to quickly banish all negative thoughts under a deluge of awesome tunes. What artist provided this elixir you ask? Why, it’s Ryan-O’Neil with his album Hyphenated and Apostrophed. How did that work exactly? Oh that’s easy to explain. Hyphenated and Apostrophed is a multi-faceted explosion of lyrical goodness that will steer fans of intelligent music from whatever stormy seas they’ve run afoul of back to the calm, placid waters of musical enlightenment! Pretty cool, huh?
Ryan-O’Neil is a talented emcee born in Jamaica, but who has lived in New York City since early 1994. His musical education is impressive, boasting a bachelor’s degree in music from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. You could confidently proclaim that he knows his way around a song’s composition. Now I know what you’re going to say waveriders. All the training and accreditations in the world don’t mean a thing if the end product doesn’t measure up. I agree with that statement wholeheartedly! And based on his music, Ryan-O’Neil does as well.
I mentioned before that this album is multi-faceted lyrically. That wasn’t a joke. With few exceptions, all hip-hop heads can find at least one track off of Hyphenated & Apostrophed that they can really get behind and enjoy. Are you in the mood for a bouncy, straight up battle rap? Try album opener “Knock Knock”. Not your thing? That’s okay. Are you more interested in music addressing society’s ills? Cool! Just skip to track two, “The Way the World Is”. Not interested in the big problems? That’s all right. I know! You’re in the mood to hear a sophisticated entreaty towards a prospective love interest. Great! Take a listen to “Treat me so Bad”. Still not finding something that tickles your fancy? Fine. I bet you would like to hear a captivating storyline told from multiple angles. Would that be to your liking? I thought so. Listen to the devastating album closer “Perspectives”. You’re welcome.
At this point, I’m going to step aside and let the actual lyrics do the talking. My flattery can only go so far in convincing others of the artistic merit held within these songs. So without further ado, straight from the artist’s mouth, here is the third verse from the song “The Way the World Is”.
There’s a war going on in a sandbox / Leaders acting like they big dogs, it’s a sandlot / The world’s in a mess but yes we can stop / The hole in the ozone so it ain’t so hot / No stop I’m not trying to be your next president / Ain’t on the ballot, not quite legit I’m not valid / ‘Cause I wasn’t born in this country / But if I wanna go to war they take me promptly / Situation’s comfy, immigrant’s a scapegoat / If you want a job done but don’t want to pay for it / Why outsource it while we got a source of workhorses / Right here in the workforce? / And it’s growing like moss on the North side of trees / Of course I can see how some folks just can’t cope with ease / Well let’s face it, when we get down to the basics / None of y’all are natives / We all on vacation / I’m wasted /
Pretty slick, eh? But that’s not all. How about this smooth first verse from “Treat me so Bad”.
Just to court you, one must first approach you / I had to let you know that I am quite social / So I talk a lot and mingle / Yeah I’m single, see I made you giggle / And I talk in riddles / It’s this thing that I’m into / A fling sounds sinful/ A ring? / It’s much too early / Let’s get to know each other, there’s no need for us to hurry / Baby don’t worry, I’ll cook you curry once I learn it / Stick with me in the kitchen just to make sure I don’t burn it / It’s turning the tide, I can see it in your eyes / You done seen through all these lies, and games played by these guys / And lames they want dimes and dames, I want a lady / We can make war or make babies, yeah / The world’s gone crazy, so maybe I’m an optimist / Once we get together, you know there ain’t no stopping us / Disregard the populous, the majority they hate us / The schemers try to play us, they don’t want us to be greatness.
As impressive as these lyrics are when written out, they are even more so when performed with Ryan-O’Neil’s rhythmically solid lyrical flow. To put it mildly, this man is a disgustingly entertaining lyricist and performer. To top it all off, there is no barrier to entry to check out this album. Yes sir, you can download Hyphenated and Apostrophed for free on either www.freeicecream.net or Ryan-O’Neil’s bandcamp page. So why are you still here? Get listening people!
Look what I found on High Snobiety. These are the Puma 'The List' Gold Classic Sneakers Pack. These can most likely be found in sneakerhead boutiques or like a really good sneaker chain like Jimmy Jazz, Underground Station, or some' like that.
If you find some hott sneakers elsewhere, let me know.
But these PUMAs, worn right with your fav jeans... THEY TAKE THE CAKE.
Chris Brown was strolling in Hollywood, wearing his usual swag. I find interest in what he wears because we have similar tastes in fashion. Chris wore a Marc Jacobs hoodie for $178, paired them well with some jeans, and got on the classic VANS sneakers.
The bastard great grandson of Lord Burgess is England’s conscience. He attempts to prove it with his debut album “England’s Bleeding.”
I’m making somebody really rich
While he pays me peanuts
Well, ain’t it a bitch.
I’ve got to get out of here.
- a verse from the track “Forget About It All.”
Andy Robinson, also known simply as “Robinson” expertly blends disparate musical styles - Klezmer, Folk, Jazz, Blues, Country, Alternative Rock - as he plays clarinet, saxophone, guitar, banjo, glockenspiel, accordion and percussion. Yet, what could have been a cacaphony of harmonies is a smooth and successful combination of melodies all for one purpose - to make you think about the human condition.
Always talk to strangers
Because they are always lonelier than you
Always talk to strangers
Because you never know when you’ll need a friend
- chorus form the track “Always Talk To Strangers.”
This son of a son of a son of a bastard knows what he wants and is not shy about telling us what it is.
Some people just want some money.
They believe it’s going to make them happy
I can understand but it’s not what I need,
What I need is much cheaper than this
I want a place by the sea with a record player
and an old beaten up guitar
with a pub down below
Just to stumble back home
and that’s all that I really want
and that’s all that I really want
and that’s all I thats all I really want
Some people just want a woman
And some kids just want a baby
They both bel;ieve that family’s the answer
But for me I want simplier than this
I want good clean fresh air and brand new cigarettes
A good pair of shoes and a comfortable bed
Girls come and go but this smile remains
and that’s all that I really want
and that’s all that I really want
and that’s all I thats all I really want
- excerpt from the track “That’s All I Really Want.”
Robinson is the whole package. He can play, arrange and write. He is from coal mining stock and echos British working class indignation.
Hip hip hooray for our new Governor
England’s joy is MacDonald’s big brother,
I don’t care for one or the other
In the pocket of America’s mother.
Our children are pregnant and drunk
Our fathers are useless scraps of junk
Johnny Rotten who sang without a key
Is nothing but a sold-out punk.
England’s bleeding now
England’s bleeding now
England’s bleedng everywhere
- excerpt from the track “England’s Bleeding.”
He writes folk songs like Bob Dylan. A faint echo of “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” can be heard in Robinson’s track “Stuck In Town.” Yet, his approach is never as raw as Dylan’s approach. It is polished and it sparkles with Robinson’s emotive voice. It is the perfect combination for love songs such as “Dance,” “In A Whisper,” “Little Ms. Darling” andthe album’s poppy “First Time.”
We smoke cigarettes,
We drink in the park
We always go out after it gets dark
We drink until three
She’s smiling at me
With her red wine lips
And her sweet french kiss
Yeah, I’m so happy I can almost cry
I don’t want this feeling to fade, Oh no
Maybe this could be the first time
Maybe this could be the first time
Maybe this could be the first time
I felt love
- first verse and chorus from the track “First Time.”
For Robinson it is all about the message. Whether the topic is a melancholy story about an on and off romance, such as the track “In A Whisper,” or a soul-searching exposition on life, such as the track“Happiness,” Robinson’s choice of syntax and cadence are used as formidable weapons.
I want something else
I want something else
Happiness should be caressed, not depressed by the sorrow
Happiness should be caressed, not depressed by the sorrow
Fat cats rule
While us dogs drool
And we bark at each move they make
They think that we’re small
That we don’t care
But I can tell you that our eyes are more open than theirs
I want something else
I want something else
Happiness should be caressed, not depressed by the sorrow
Happiness should be caressed, not depressed by the sorrow
- excerpt from the track “Happiness.”
Robinson ends England’s Bleeding with an introspective look at what he hopes the future holds. “Someday, Somewhere.” is a sweet ethereal nursery rhyme but is the least enjoyable song of the whole lot. That may be by design.. Robinson rails against the present but ends it all with a hope for a better future.
The album is music-based poetry with a message. It is a viseral and formidable debut effort. It will make you think. Turn it on, turn it up and listen.
Check out Brad Pitt lookin' sleek and lookin' BOSS in an all-white outfit. It's very challenging to pull off a look like that, but it sure worked for Brad. This look would be great at an all-white party, or just a white tunic and pants/shorts to the beach or a day at the island.
He was out promoting his new film "Tree of Life" with co-star Jessica Chastain, who BTW, looks hott in red!
Check out more pics of Brad's look via Just Jared. Thumbs up to Brad!
Remember all that drama Britney Spears caused not too long ago (now Lindsay Lohan is going through a little something of her own)?
Well Harper's Bazaar declares that Britney's back! And in the name of fashion and beauty, she looks great on the cover, too. So nice to see someone bounce back after such volatile episodes in the past.
BOYY, would I like to be at the beach soaking up sun right now.
Check out the new couple CIARA and AMAR'E STOUDEMIRE at Miami Beach having a good time chillin' and jet-skiin'. Would you believe that I've never driven a jet ski before (what does that have to do with fashion)?
But check out the toned-up bodies, gotta hand it to them for staying on-point, especially Ciara with those legs! She accentuated them nicely with a black sarong.
To the Chinese, this may be the Year of the Rabbit . . . for the rest of us, let’s make this the Year of the Goat!
When I received this promo, all I saw was something describing Year of the Goat as pagan metal. Not very descriptive, but enough to conjure images of blast beats, howling and screeching vocals, and walls of distorted guitars to purvey the darkened angst of a small band of face painted musicians. Well . . . paint me corrected. Year of the Goat may fall into that pagan metal category, and by falling into that category, they’re also tearing down the walls that confine the genre.
What we have with Lucem Ferre is an album, albeit four songs long, that is made up of complicated moods, dark and morose, at times delicate and somber, but complimented with huge movements of power and aggression. Imagine the goth-metal soundings of Katatonia played by Thin Lizzy. There’s this old school, 70’s rock vibe underlying the whole thing, but it’s so immensely dark and foreboding, overwhelming in emotional weight, and textured with elegance. One might even conceivably lump this Lucem Ferre in with the whole doom rock movement, but enough with the categorization! This is a brilliantly executed EP that begs, nay . . . demands to be embraced!
The record opens with “Of Darkness” and is layered with textures of infinite sadness, immediately hurling the listener into a darkened pit of melancholy. Lyrically, the song is all about Satan and his followers, sung with heightened emotion and passion. Now, I’ve never been one to buy into the whole rocking for Satan cause, it’s always felt campy and cheap. Year of the Goat make the subject much more compelling! This is the first time that I’ve heard music that captures the full on essence of the despair one should feel when paying homage to the Prince of Darkness. Listening to this song is damn near depressing if it wasn’t littered with so many magical moments of intrigue. The guitar work is something straight out of 1970’s England, one guitar soloing, then suddenly accompanied by a second, and then a third . . . all instruments harmonizing so fluidly that the comparisons to Thin Lizzy have to be on the forefront of everyone’s mind! The production is a little on the rough side, there’s a haziness over the whole recording, but the performances more than make up for any production deficiencies. In fact, this is one of those cases where a polished product would completely ruin to overall moodiness of the music. The vocals harmonies at the chorus are fantastic, the guitar work stunning, the composition intriguing, the emotion . . . otherworldly.
“Vermillion Clouds” starts off so quiet and serene, again with a dark hue cast over the song, but very somber. The guitar work at the intro of this one is so textured and brimming with an emotional burden that the sadness washes over the soul like so many ocean waves on a desolate and rocky shore. The music gets a tad heavier, pulsing with modern sensibility but still keeping one foot firmly planted in yesterdays rock classics. The vocal performance is beautiful. The singer does a remarkable job of building the emotion of his voice with the lyrical content and the rising tempo of the music, marrying all of these elements to convey a truly special movement. The vocals never go over the top and this singer never tried to do too much with his approach to the songs, and that’s welcome. The guitar work reminds me at times of early, very early Scorpions and by the time the song gets to the mid section and the band starts rocking out in earnest, the riff reminds of something from Steppenwolf. Clocking in at over eight minutes long, “Vermillion Clouds” probably constitutes as the albums “epic” track, and the band does a great job of changing up the dynamics enough to keep the song interesting, but never get up their own asses with this quasi-proggy moment. Well crafted and just one of four gems on this record!
“Dark Lord” is, well . . . about Satan. By the time I get to this portion of the EP, I realize that Year of the Goat, stylistically, is essentially any of the classic rock bands that I grew up listening to playing the absolute darkest music of all time. I’m not talking Sabbath in heaviness . . . I’m thinking more along the lines of Steppenwolf, Thin Lizzy, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple . . . all paying homage to the Dark One and rocking out in their fuzzed out guitar tones, composing rock songs that have movement to them, and blowing my mind the entire time! Again, the vocal performance on this track is adrenalized and filled with an emotional energy that brings Jim Morrison to mind.
And then there’s the instrumental title track. Ambient, atmospheric, and filled with more textural brilliance . . . Year of the Goat has crafted an elegant passage of darkness laced with rays of hope. This EP is immaculate in composition. The musical execution by the various performers has raised the bar in my mind of what I’m looking for in any kind of dark metal, goth-metal, folk metal, pagan metal, ambient metal . . . whatever! Hands down an early contender for my Album of the Year! Lucem Ferre is the perfect album at the perfect time . . . though my only complaint is that it isn’t longer. But as an introduction to Year of the Goat, Lucem Ferre couldn’t be much better. Of further note, this record is being released through in early May through VÁN Records, and I’ll be honest, I’m surprised the guys at Prophecy didn’t have their claws dug deep into this one. So . . . VÁN Records . . . I’ll be keeping an eye on you!
Check out the photos I found on Celebuzz. The left pic is that "Born This Way" jacket that she wore before. The far right is the sheer leopard outfit that was the headturner and the MOM-SHIELDS-KIDS'-EYE-er kind of thing. The more conservative but sensual look was the middle one...it actually showed less skin even though you can see 'straight down the middle.'
And that HAIR is a headturner, too. It's like a CRAZY TWIST on the '80s FRENCH ROLL meets GHETTO HAIR SHOW.
Jue Law has often been in the fashion magazines and on the web for his 'innocent' style. I call it innocent because he dresses so effortlessly. Suits fit well on Jude like skin, just the fit and finish is just impeccable.
That's the kind of way to have a suit, guys. No matter how much you paid for the suit, if it doesn't fit well, then it looks like a cheap suit. And vice-versa, when you have a suit that fits well (and it's cheap), you could easily look like a GQ man.
