Dear Visitors

An angry mob has quite suddenly placed my blog and inbox under siege... From what I gather, this is due to speculation that I am friends with certain members of the modelling population. Allow me to assure you that I am in no way affiliated with Stephanie Carta or Catherine McNeil, nor have I ever met either in my life. These suspicions have arisen over comments made on a few of my previous posts, made by user(s) under the names "cherry bomb" and "queen".

Though the poster(s) incorporated my Mighty Boosh reference extensively, I would encourage you to not take any of the afore mentioned comments seriously. A lack of evidence to the contrary leads me to believe these were posted by someone intending to get a rise out of people following the careers and personal lives of those who are implicated. 

While I encourage the use of the comment section for opinions/criticism, ideas, etc., I stress that impersonation is both a misuse of this section, as well as an unfortunate sign that you may be at risk of developing a psychological illness, potentially of the personality disorder variety. If you fear this is the case, I would advise you to seek professional help before your symptoms worsen.  

Peace, love, and floating,

Gill Ford

When I Rolled, I Rolled Deep

Okay, so I've finally gotten around to the second edition of What You Should Be Listening To... and let me tell you, these are some fucking great albums. Fucking great as in, if you don't have them in your collection... I was going to say we couldn't be BFFs. But most of my mates don't have these, so that threat is emptier than the tin of Quality Street chocolates I bought this morning in anticipation of the Christmas holidays. Whatever.

1. Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson - Break Up - 2009

I'll forgive you for rereading the artist names. I'll even forgive you Wikiing whether I meant the Scarlett Johansson, of Lost in Translation and The Other Boleyn Girl fame. Yes, the New Yorker can actually sing. And Pete Yorn's not that bad either. On the contrary, he's excellent. Yorn wrote and composed eight of the nine tracks himself ('I Am The Cosmos' being a Chris Bell song written back in the 70s). 


Apparently, Yorn was inspired to endeavour on this venture by Serge Gainsbourg's duets with Bridgitte Bardot in the late sixties. He wanted to get some Hollywood starlet to feature on his album, just for the hell of it. His brother happened to be Johansson's agent, so she was brought on in and recorded her parts in two days. Lone behold, she had a voice, which was more than Mr. Yorn had expected (more than anyone had expected really). After all, fame does not talent make, and Bardot really wasn't anything special on those duets back in the day.


Break Up is a classic collection of great original songs. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say it's one of my favorite albums of 2009. It didn't move anywhere near as many copies as The Fame Monster or the one where Beyonce thinks she's Sasha P., but then the really good shit rarely does (Having said that, yes, I bought Fame Monster. Twice, actually, cos I wanted both covers. And you can bet your rancid meat dress that I got the super deluxe limited edition for Christmas too. That would be copy #491 of 10000. Fucking right.). In particular, I really love 'Relator', 'Wear And Tear', 'Shampoo', and 'Someday'. But you know, at 28.9 minutes total, listen to the lot and thank me later. 


Official Website (album)
Official Website (Pete Yorn)
MySpace (album)
MySpace (Pete Yorn)
Facebook (Pete Yorn)

2. The Black Keys - Attack & Release - 2008

Featuring for the second time on my music rundowns, The Black Keys and their fifth album, Attack & Release. While I am and perhaps always will be most partial to the afore covered Thickfreakness, A & R continues what is an impressive discography from the blues-rock duo from Ohio. I don't think enough good things can be said about these lads, they've taken over my playlists. A & R has all the great distorted riffs that we love from Thickfreakness, but has a more modern and finished feel to it (probably the result of it not being produced and recorded in Pat Carney's homemade studio). It's also interesting to note that the instrumentation has grown enormously between the two albums: Thickfreakness featured only a guitar and drums, while A & R has the added strength of everything from synthesizers to clarinets. Not that most of you even give a flying shit what the instruments are. The point is that The Black Keys are fucking awesome, and Ke$ha almost definitely finds Dan Auerbach's beard swoon-worthy. 


Tracks To Check Out:
1. 'I Got Mine'
Rolling Stone put it at #23 on it's Top 100 Songs of 2008 list. It would have been higher on my list though. The fact that 'Lollipop' by Lil Wayne was #5 is a strong indication that the list maker was obviously retarded. 'I Got Mine' is classic epicism. The sort of thing you'd want playing while robbing a casino in Vegas or something. It's the business. It's "Rock and roll hustle, all the time". 'Lollipop'? Is about sucking a penis. Forgive me for not proclaiming it as the epitome of awesomeness and originality. 


2. 'All You Ever Wanted'
Presently a favorite of yours truly. 'All You Ever Wanted' is - for me - about a girl who was in an abusive relationship. She's incapable of escaping the influence of the man, even though he's no longer around. She feels he is always watching her, and the shame of the whole ordeal has caused her to withdraw and avoid making connections with others in the future. The narrator comments on the sad irony of this lasting effect, because "All [she] ever wanted was someone to treat [her] nice and kind". He goes on to promise that he can be that someone for her, be a friend that protects her while she heals, and help her remember how to love. 


3. 'Psychotic Girl'
Pretty simple. Actually, it's a little similar to 'Hang Me Up To Dry' by the Cold War Kids in it's concept. Laddie gets involved with a lassie notorious for jerking guys about. He does so knowing about this reputation, confident he won't get sucked in to the same tricks. Of course, then she rocks his world, and he wonders if perhaps he's tamed her. But then she drops the other shoe, and he's left trying to think of a snappy comeback to save some of his diminished pride. And he comes up with is "You're just a psychotic girl." 


4. 'So He Won't Break'
"He" got dumped by the wayside (by a psychotic girl, perhaps?) and now he'd heartbroken. He's refusing to give in to the feeling though, holding his head up and looking for the love he needs to fix himself up again. All the other people suffering the same trauma are resorting to drugs and the like to fill the void, but he knows that this is only a temporary fix, and that love is what makes the real difference to a broken heart. And before I reduce myself to a sappy sighing teenager, the solo on this one is a piece of work. Santana inspired. 


5. 'Oceans And Streams'
Follow your dreams kids, you'll hate yourselves and everyone else otherwise. Do you want to be a Future Sailor? Fucking do it. You've got a bloody neon compass, ain't nothing as can blow you off course. 

3. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory? - 1995

Self explanatory, really. Oasis are one of the most successful British bands since the Beatles. (What's The Story) Morning Glory? is their most successful album. How successful? Well, it's third on the list of biggest selling albums in the UK ever. Seeing as it's beat out by Queen's Greatest Hits (damn you, Freddie Mercury, for being so amazing) and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, that deserves one hell of a pat on the back. That means people bought it more times than any of the Beatles' other 56 million albums, not to mention they outsold every Madonna, ABBA, and Michael Jackson album to date. You can bet the Gallaghers took this shit to the bank. They nearly ended each others' respective existences on the way, but that's neither here nor there. 


Tracks To Check Out:
1. 'Cast No Shadow'
A personal favorite, 'Cast No Shadow' is a song about life. Okay, so most songs are, but that really is the nutshell of it. It's about the travails of love and life; you'll be bound by the weight of what you say to others (guilt for lies, potentially causing harm with the truth); sometimes, you'll have to put your own needs aside for someone else, even though you mightn't want to. Most importantly, the only way you can head forward in life is to keep hold of your humble beginnings that you've left behind: you need to remember them fondly, not try to hide them, because it will hinder you later in life, making you arrogant and vain. 


2. 'Champagne Supernova'
So yeah... I've never really had any fucking clue what 'Champagne Supernova' is about. It means different things if you're happy, sad, sleepy, or high beyond reckoning. But I'll tell you what I do know: it's a fucking good record. 

3. 'Morning Glory'

The song that plays when Gill Ford gets off a plane in foreign lands on adventures of epic proportions... (But seriously though, I've never spoken truer words.) Basically, 'Morning Glory' is about all the awesome, over-the-top dreams one dreams when snorting coke (In case anyone was looking for a recent example, allow me to refer you to Lady Gaga, who had a wee habit during her Lower East Side adventures prior to The Fame. Just so happens period has inspired much of her music, etc. Gives a whole other meaning to 'Bad Romance' there dunnit?). However, as we know, coke heads have an unfortunate tendency to die, or just be generally useless when under the influence. So take a little time to wake up. You could be the next Peter Doherty with all those fucked up dreams and ideas you got while you were high. 

4. 'Don't Look Back In Anger'

One of the things this album is noted for is its sampling of musical cues from prominent songs of other artists. 'Don't Look Back In Anger' borrows from John Lennon's classic 'Imagine'. Due to Noel Gallagher being under the influence of various substances at the time of writing the record, even he doesn't know what the song's on about, but for me, it's always seemed to hit on dealing with mental illness, perhaps bipolar disorder? Sally's in love with a guy who is all caught up in his own head; he shifts between episodes of depression, where he is completely consumed with his own thoughts, and mania, where he comes up with grandiose ideas for changing the world. He can see that she is frustrated with his illness, and is asking her to leave him for her own sake. He pleads for her to not remember him for his illness and the pain it caused her, but to remember that he loved her enough to make her leave. 

5. 'Wonderwall'

Definitely the most overplayed of the band's songs, but also the most well loved if we're speaking generally. 'Wonderwall' is about a girl - perhaps a celebrity of some sort - who everyone knows and loves. The praise that is heaped upon her isn't anything she thinks much of because it is so constant that it has lost much of the its significance. She knows everyone loves her. Why should one more person make any big difference? The song is from the perspective of someone close to her, who has known her all through the rise to fame and has come to love her over that time. He is struggling to find a way to express this love in a way that will actually mean something to a girl who has long since written off the possibility of being loved for herself as opposed to her persona.

Official Website

MySpace

Facebook

Peace, love, and floating,

Gill Ford

Venus Envy

I must admit, I do not dabble in the Italian fashion world quite as much as I should. I daresay this is due in part to the lack of distribution of Italian fashion magazines around here, but I must also ruefully place the blame upon myself for not exploring much beyond what comes out on the runways in Milan. Perhaps Paris leaves me swooning so heavily that Milan regrettably falls victim to the recency effect.


Over the last while, there appears to have been growing malcontent with Vogue Italia, which has unfortunately resulted in an overall loss of popularity among fashion readers. (Please forgive me, I am generalizing for the sake of simplicity, I'm aware there are many who still avidly follow the magazine!) When I heard the news that Tyra Banks had managed a deal with Vogue Italia that would see the next winner of 'America's Next Top Model' feature in editorials and on the cover of the Beauty in Vogue supplement, I thought: "One giant leap for ANTM, one step down the ladder for Vogue Italia". What it signaled for me was that the Italians were losing sales, and looking to capitalize on a bankable production (excuse the pun) overseas in America. While I applaud the efforts  of Franca Sozzani to increase the magazine's fanbase, I regret that it must come via this avenue. However, let fans of VI, fashion, and art, past, present, and future rejoice, because in the November issue, Steven Meisel has produced a fashion photographic masterclass (as is his wont, I know, but seriously, he's quite outdone himself here):

Vogue Italia - November 2010 - Freja Beha Erichsen & Iselin Steiro

   

 

  

 

 

 

The cover, which I came across via tFS and my daily haunts a week or so ago, is simply stunning. Pure. Raw. Luxe. I'm having immense difficulty encapsulating the essence of it in one word, and wondering if I should resort to different languages that are more appropriate to poetic description than English (which is severely lacking, as is often the case). In the absence of the colour red, I am hesitant to break open the Russian for these and describe them as красивы, but I feel it is necessary: Как гений чистой красоты. (Read yourselves some Pushkin my friends, I daresay Russian poetry is a lesson in the art of word choice.)


'Venus In Furs' features the two cover models, Iselin Steiro and Freja Beha Erichsen (I know, I know, FBE has been all over my posts thus far, but the girl has basically taken fashion by storm in the last few months, so I really have no choice. You think I'm exaggerating, but you haven't seen my inbox lately. Of course, that only makes the 'no choice' defence half justified. And good luck getting me to admit to favoritism.), as well as Iris Strubegger, Alla Kostromichova, Andrej Pejic, Tomek Szczukiecki, and Michael Tintiuc. As the title indicates, fur is one of the focuses of the shoot, but what initially stands out (for me, at least) is that 'Venus In Furs' is an alluring study in androgyny. And not the oh-hey-we're-decked-in-studs-and-Dr-Martens androgyny, but the genuine are-you-a-boy-or-a-girl? androgyny.


There seems to be a current misunderstanding of what is actually epicene. By it's very definition, androgyny is about ambiguity, walking the line between male and female to such an extent that neither label can appropriately be attached to you. It's rare that fashion explores the true nature of the word; androgyny is often misinterpreted as a girl who might else be labelled a 'tomboy', or a boy who dresses in a feminine way, the former perhaps being most common. The focus is always on the clothing. Seeing as we're talking about a business that sells clothes, this is in no way surprising. But from an artistic perspective, androgyny is not dependent upon what a person wears, but in the person's natural physical features: their face, their body, etc. Clothing and adornment is secondary to this, if even to be considered at all. Thus, the decision to have the models largely unclothed and unmade-up is one of immense artistic significance. It allows for a true appreciation of the similarities of the bodies at the most basic of levels.


Something that should also be noted is that for the most part, the nudity is depicted absent of any particularly sexual nature. Importantly, any sexuality that is expressed is done so in a way that is gentle and natural, as opposed to vulgar or erotic - at least when taking it at immediate face value. This contributes to the sense of sexlessness (joyous news, Watson, I daresay I've invented a new word) that the shoot is embodying. 


There's a very Renaissance feel to the photos in the way it's all presented, with the long hair, the pale skin, and the pervasive sense of modesty in spite of the abundant nudity. Of course, the most obvious comparison I can draw (especially based on the title chosen for the editorial) is to Boticelli's The Birth of Venus. As with many representations of Venus (or Aphrodite, as she was known before the Romans stole her from Hellas...), Boticelli's is nude, but employing the most direct of options in an attempt to preserve decency. However, modesty is achieved through the most modest and natural of means: by the use of hand and hair. Compare this to Meisel's photos, where the trend continues, incorporating not only protection with the skin and hair of humans, but also of animals, i.e., the leather and fur pieces.


Overall, this is a stunning editorial, pure and simple. Fashion photography is an art, no doubt, but because shoots like this one are so rare in coming about, this can be easy to forget. When they do though, it forces you to reevaluate the shoots you've seen before in relation. Does Iselin's last editorial still look as good as it did before you saw this one? Do you have higher respect for Vogue Italia now that you know this is the sort of content they publish? Perhaps you have renewed faith in Meisel's talent behind the camera? 


The thing that is both exciting and anxiety provoking about excellence is that it sets a bar. Everything that comes after is expected to meet that bar, and eventually surpass it as skill increases through practice. So why should we be excited? 'Venus In Furs' is a pièce de résistance, and all involved will be compelled to improve upon it in future projects to maintain the expectation of quality. The problem with bars though, is that they can be set too high. Will we be seeing something as good as this from Vogue Italia and Steven Meisel anytime soon? Only time will tell. But given Meisel's impressive track record, I'd put money on it.  


Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford


Photos are my scans