Awkward Dancing Improves Your Indie Cred

This Saturday me and my boyfriend went to the festival Motel Mozaique. It’s a cultural festival where known and unknown bands, art, theater and food come together.

I mostly went for Belle and Sebastian and next to José Gonzales, it was the only thing I saw that night, but it was enough! I was a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to Belle and Sebastian and only learned about them when I saw their video of Funny Little Frog (my indie cred just flew out of the window). But it was love at first site and after listening to all their albums, waiting for their newest one and even owning a calendar, it was time to see them live.

They only play one show in Holland this entire year, and I was there! It was a fun, crazy show, unlike any other I’ve seen so far. There was a lot of awkward dancing, awkward audience people and more awkward conversation. I’ve never seen this much awkwardness in one room! They pulled people on stage to dance with them, which was great fun. I forget my camera, so I couldn’t take any pictures and I still can’t find any video’s of the dancing online. So too bad, but I can’t show it to you! I really liked Chris Geddes and his piano, he looked nice and geeky in the background, but sounded really cool playing all his music. Stuart Murdoch was also being a great frontman, wearing a cool hat and suddenly appearing in the midst of the audience to do some more singing and to shake some hands. He even put on some mascara, especially for us! They are a very interesting and energetic band, which isn’t always the case with indie music.  Because it had been a while since they visited Rotterdam, or Holland for that matter, they played some oldies next to their new album. My favourite album is The Life Pursuit (any indie cred I had left is now gone altogether) and I was really happy they played Sukie in the Graveyard, which is such a fun and upbeat song.

I did find two other video’s so you can also enjoy some of it. I especially like the second one because Stevie Jackson was making fun of our musical talent. Have a look and if you get the chance to see the, definitely go there! And if you can’t go see them, just listen to some of their albums, or all of their albums. I promise they will put a smile on your face.

Filler Inspiration Post

Due to a serious lack of inspiration I won’t be making a real writy post this week. But to still do something this week I decided to post some pictures of awesome things I came across.

First up! Chet Baker Sings.
My boyfriend and two of my friends have been having a jazz/blues fase and it turned me onto Chet Baker. He’s a jazz trumpeter and made this one album called Chet Baker Sings, which is just such a sweet, but cool album. And Chet Baker used to be quite attractive!

Just like most people on the internet, I’ve been looking at the runway pictures of fashion week and there were really cool designs! I’m already on the lookout for a really long wintercoat like the ones at Theyskens Theory. They make you look really cool and careless and I really hope the trend will carry to high street fashion stores. Otherwise I’ll just have to make one myself. That is how much I want it.

I’ve also been in love with Mary Katrantzou’s Autumn/Winter 2011-12 collection. The prints and shapes are amazing. I usually don’t go for really bold prints, but the material she uses and the style just make it work so well.

More fashion related info, I watched My Fair Lady for the first time last week and it was really good. I’m a big sucker for musicals anyways, but it had a great story and really nice outfits. Although I was a bit disappointed by the dress she wore to the gala, but I think my expectations were just a bit too high.

I’ve also watched the entire first season and what is already available of the second season of The Vampire Diaries. I thought it was going to be terrible, and to be honest the first episodes were (Who ever came up with that writing in my diary voice over monologue should be fired) but after that it got really good. It’s less violent and sexy than True Blood, but it’s funnier, has shocking stories and pretty decent characters. And also hot guys!

All the cast pictures look a bit ridicolous, but the show is really good!

The last thing I found through a somewhat old post on the Pamflet Magazine Blog. It’s a Australian Magazine called Frankie and the look reminds me a lot of Oh Comely. I haven’t read it yet, but there is one store in Amsterdam that sells it. I’ll be going there on Wednesday and I’ll let you know if it is as awesome as it looks.

There’s quite a busy week coming up. Lotte and I are going to the Monki Party for their new spring/summer collection on Wednesday, to the Swanmarket on Sunday and I also want to go to Museumnacht on Saturday (It’s a night where all the museums in town are open and host special exhibitions and stuff). So lot’s to do and hopefully more to tell that week!

Blue socks on my douche feet

My boyfriend introduced me to the video’s of Nice Peter, because he knew I was going to love them. I guess I just have a weakness for charming guys singing funny songs with a guitar who are afraid of the dark. But Nice Peter is so much more than that.

A good way to get introduced to his video’s is by watching the Street Music videos. Nice Peter goes out on the street with his friend Kassem G, only bringing a guitar and tambourine, acting like real-life troubadours. They walk around L.A. and just start singing songs about people that walk by, sit on a bench or are making out in a park (I should say they were only lying on top of each other). Some people laugh about their jokes, others get upset, but as a viewer you’ll think it’s the best thing ever and you will want to do it yourself. Please watch the video:

  

They can be a bit mean and sometimes it feels a tad awkward, but they do make some catchy tunes! Some even grow out to full songs…

  


I love it that if the guy wasn’t such a douche, they would never have made this song. Creating your own downfall is always funny.

But making troubadoury songs is not all he does. The Nice Peter YouTube channel is filled with just video’s of him talking, showing off his fancy green and yellow sunglasses, checking viewer mail and using slow motion on anything and everything. And who can forget the epic rap battles of history, where real and fictional characters throughout history battle while rapping, the picture songs and the latest 'Fly like a G6’ Harry Potter parody.

There are so many video’s I would like to show, but the best thing you can do is just check out the YouTube channel yourself. It’s really fun to watch him interact with his audience, taking viewer’s suggestions in the Eco Imagination Viewer Challenge, responding to artwork they send him or just seeing how happy he gets when one viewer sends him a new guitar.

But what I like about Nice Peter is that most of all, he just seems genuinely nice. And as he says himself in the Shaycarl and the Shaytards video, we’re sick of terrible people being admired for being terrible people. Nice Peter is just nice and we like it!

This last song is my personal favorite, it’s really cute and extremely catchy. I’ve been singing it all day again…

                        

Things I love Thursday

The next time I wake up, I want it to be to the sound of you making coffee, with the warm, salty sea; its waves crashing over me.

— Seabear

This Sunday Seabear played in Bitterzoet in Amsterdam. They were absolutely amazing. Seabear must be the cutest band on the planet. They seem to have a blast on stage and to be real good friends. Even though the singer  stays in grumpy character during the whole concert. But maybe that's good, because it would be enirely too sweet otherwise.

Esmée and I gushed over the two talented girls in the band. Sóley and Ingibjörg. Inga has mad style and is an amazing violinist. Sóley has her own CD too. It’s called Theater Island and you can listen to it here. The violin on the CD is played by Inga.  

Other pretty amazing things were:

Wishing for a bag of candy and finding it in my pocket, these blankets! by Vík Prjónsdóttir. An Icelandic collective of designers, inspired by myths and stories from the past. They share a fascination for nature, believe in the beyond and respect the hidden world. Photoshopping with Esmée, looking forward to our street style shoot next Sunday (which will be scary and fun) check back for this next week!, boutiques.com - which is too convenient and makes it easy for you to find everything you'll want to buy on the Internet.

Little April March

The 1960's: a time of hippies protesting, the countercultural- and social revolution and the rise of feminism. It's in my opinion an interesting decade, where a lot of popular culture finds their origin.
Lately I find myself prefering the avant-garde 60's culture coming from France. The music is shameless while still bubblegum poppy, the movies are a bit boring but show so much style and the style-icons themselves are still an inspiration for modernday fashion. That must be what April March thought when she made (toghether with France 60's icon Serge Gainsbourge) the album 'Paris in April'.


April March on the cover of 'Chick Habit'.



April March, lepop.de

 The album actually came out in 1996, but sounds exactly how it would sound if it was made and produced in France in the1960's. Following stints with several bands, Elinore Blake launched a solo career under the April March guise and recorded material throughout the '90s and early 2000s, which hark back to the pre-rock days of European pop and French yé-yé music. It fooled me and I didn't believe it when my boyfriend told me this girl was born in 1965 in the United States. The second picture is pretty obvious a recent one, but if you look at the video below you will know what I mean.

The English version of this song, called 'Chick Habit' was used as a soundtrack for the movies 'But I am a Cheerleader' and 'Death Proof', so that is why it might sound familiar.