Posts Tagged ‘chelsey bingham’
Fall Be Kind
Before the splendor of Merriweather Post Pavillion has even worn away, its songs wiped from our favorite playlist, Animal Collective has released yet another EP to be excited about, fresh and equally delicious. Fall Be Kind is the dark counterpart of the livelier and, appropriately, merrier full length album which came out earlier this year.
Some of the new songs may ring familiar, like the cinematic track “Graze” and the much-hyped “What Would I Want? Sky” which features the first ever licensed Grateful Dead sample. Both songs have both been played live and were met with great nods of approval. Still, Animal Collective has an extraordinary approach in mixing a track to make you feel like you’re hearing the song for the very first time. At times ambient and eerily cheerful, the 28 minute EP delivers vibrant resonance, outré carnivalesque tunes, and sedative rythms, giving us another satisfying swallow of their radiance, then leaving us to hanker for more.
Released electronically on November 23rd with a physical release date set for December 15, Fall Be Kind will immerse you into the introspective darkness of the season while the taste of spring still lingers on our lips.
-chelsey bingham
(band photo credit: Atiba Jefferson)
Adore-La!
We aren’t Oprah nor are we Fraulein Maria, but these are a few of our favorite things!
Lola by Marc Jacobs
Meet Lola, Marc Jacobs’ new girl of the moment. She’s a sweet and vibrant nymph, one who will take off her shoes and run through fields of peonies, letting her long disheveled hair blow loose in the wind. Sensual too, she is a pure balance of sweet and grassy florals. Sure, with such a sleek, playful silhouette, she might look pretty on the shelf, but you’ll unquestionably want to bring this lovely blossom out to play!
Yogi Tea
Brooklyn has been cold, and I’m not referring to the cold lad who held me up at gunpoint. Although while going through that encounter, being cold wasn’t really on the forefront of my mind. So I guess I have to thank that creature of the night for stalking me down the street at 4am and threatening me with a gun because without him and his kind words, I would have had a cold, boring walk home. But after an evening stroll through the city, a mug of tea (my favorite being the Throat Comfort variety) hits the spot unlike any shiny toy gun.
Fresh Rose Marigold Tonic Water
Always one for unnecessary indulgences, I’ve met my new winter friend. Rose Marigold Tonic Water by Fresh is not simply a toner, it is spring-time in a bottle. It is a most perfect, momentary escape from a harsh and dreary winter. I close my eyes and, with just a spritz, I am walking through a botanical wonderland, a refreshing mist-rain on my skin. Not only are all my senses totally pleased, I have a curiously amorous glow that lasts all day long.
Buraka Som Sistema
I have no idea what they are saying but I don’t care as I dance myself into a sweaty oblivion. Their tropical jungle beats are more infectious and as fever-inducing as malaria. BSS is based in Lisbon and is a popular Kuduro group, creating heavy Afrotech beats with M.I.A., Pongolove, DJ Znobia, Saborosa, and many other talented individuals in the global music scene. It’s enough to make even the darkest emo kid want to dance. www.buraka.tv
-chelsey bingham & bradley smith
Psychologic: A Christian Louboutin Debut
When Christian Louboutin opened his West Hollywood boutique last month, one might have expected a grand soiree, clamorous with the clinking of cocktail glasses and champagne flutes, a night of glamour worthy of such a celebration. Conversely, in the spirit of the old Hollywood tradition, the highly admired shoe designer bypassed the party, and in lieu, created a short film, “Psychologic.”
Louboutin’s directorial debut, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic film “Psycho,” introduces his talented visual creativity into a new lighthearted medium. “Psychologic” takes us into a dreamworld, it is the anti-nightmare.
The film begins starkly in chilling black and white, set in a perfect re-creation of the 1960 horror. In the all-familiar shower scene, tense orchestrated music leads up to a scream by the elegantly poised star, Elisa Sednaoui, but there is a striking sense of joy in her cry, a strange look of painful pleasure upon her face, then a shot of a perpetrator with a sharp-pointed stiletto in hand instead of a knife.
The perpetrator is a disguised Louboutin himself, and the beauty crawls out of the shower to follow him into a colorful world of his red-soled shoes. In a few moments of frivolous climax, Louboutin presents his view on the ultimate indulgence for a woman, the way to her heart and liberation, and that is through fashion.
The film as a whole is an artistic commentary on the work to which Louboutin has dedicated himself, an explanation to the sometimes illogic of fashion.
You can view the entire film at http://www.christianlouboutin.com/#/loubi_blog&gossip.
-chelsey bingham
International Cinema
Cinema has always been a perfect way to evoke emotion in the most beautiful manner. These films delve into the essence humanity and create art in the process.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
This 2008 Oscar-nominated film gorgeously paints the true, heart-rending story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, late editor of French Elle. Well-known and loved by the French fashion-elite, Bauby suffered a sudden and shocking stroke during the peak of his career which resulted in a rare neurological disorder called locked-in syndrome leaving him fully paralyzed. Nominated for four Oscars which included cinematography and editing, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” takes a mesmerizing hold on viewers as we journey through the vast and beautiful imagination of a visionary man who didn’t cease to dream even with when immersed under the leaden weight of an unmovable body. Captivating to the very end, this is a film that should not go unseen.
In this hauntingly human masterpiece, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman melds fragments of horror with deep metaphorical themes questioning the moral and social intentions of the human psyche. “Persona” stars Liv Ullmann, Bergman’s long-time muse, and Bibi Andersson. We follow the two characters to a seaside retreat, where they escape reality and wind up examining the curious distresses of each others’ minds. Shot in a minimalist style of black and white, each screen is thoughtfully framed and visually appealing. The film teeters between moments of slow, silent expressions and dizzying scenes of evocative and disturbing dramatics. Undoubtedly a classic piece of art and film.
A Zed and Two Noughts by Peter Greenaway
Controversial British director Peter Greenaway spins a lovely film-as-puzzle with this strange and intriguing film. It opens with a crash, literally, which kills the wives of the two main characters, identical twins Oliver and Oswald. The story then proceeds to examine their grief and developing fascination with death, decay, and a woman also involved in the crash. Their scientific study of decomposition progresses all the way up the food-chain leading them to the top rung on the ladder of life: humans.
-chelsey bingham and bradley smith