what a wonderful world

OK. So I know I've bombarded Movestill today and I am sorry for yet another post... but when women hate themselves, I wont be able to afford rent in Sydney much longer and this guy is a paid entertainer, you gotta ask some questions...

BFF

About a month ago I interviewed Swedish duo Air France for one of the mags I write for.



Today, I've heard their wistful, contemplative, deliciously summery electro pop single 'Collapsing At Your Doorstep' turned into a disco number, complete with hand-claps, trumpets and a funny remixed vocal, courtesy of UK producer Friend

I'll give you a heads up when the interview with the Swedish duo is published, just in case you love Air France as much as I do! They had some really interesting stories about how they met and described their music as an avenue through which they could explore and develop their socialist politics.

In the meantime though, jam out to the remix! And also check out the Friend reworking of Rye Rye's 'Shake It' on his myspace, and have a play around his hugely esoteric website

party like mad

I can't believe it, but an hour ago I pressed play and just sat and watched this entire film. It's oddly captivating! Shot by Para One, it shows the crew from Institubes getting fucked up in major cities across the US. I usually give shit like this no more than 5 mins, but this is really wonderfully shot, even more expertly edited, and is really funny. And really gross. If any parents are on the lookout for an example of why their kids shouldn't do drugs... this is a pretty good one. But, then again, it does look pretty fucking fun!

Do it justice and allow yourself 40 mins. Watch on your lunch break or something.



Hooligan Disco (w/ English subtitles) from Institubes on Vimeo.


Its just lucky this guy wasn't on Party Like Mad Patrol at the time...

3RD BIGGEST

So I'm currently online at Sydney's first Official Mac Store. The 3rd biggest in the world.



Right now, I'm on SYDNEY MACBOOK .65 and the guy in the photo was the first person to use photobooth. BABE.

ars238.65@mac if you'd like to AIM me.

Come down, bring cash.

She's BOSSYYYYYY

LiLO BOSSY debut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"firsts"

last year my two favourite festivals were parklife and homebake (not counting 'nevereverland' because, well you know...). parklife was particularly more fun because it was the first time i did "something".

the first round of acts for this year's line-up just got announced and includes dizzee rascal (WHAT!), soulwax, peaches, does it offend you yeah?, dragonette, goldfrapp, xxxchange and diplo. oh and van she. oh AND van she tech.

YOU CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, BUT YOU CAN BUY ME BUD.

FACT.

amazing tribute to Mr Cash.

hilar (cont.)

When Wii Fit was first launched I was dumbfounded. The idea that people all over the world have purchased a video game to help improve health and fitness instead of going for a walk, a swim, booking into a gym or joining a sport team was lost on me.

If the program itself wasn't idiotic enough, the absurdity has continued with a report issued last night by the Telegraph in London. According to their poll, an average of 6.55 Pounds worth of damage to homes has occurred in the past year due to over-enthusiastic lounge-room-confined work-outs! While that figure may not initially seem much, the article calculated that it equates to a national bill of almost £20.1 million! Furthermore, the Telegraph survey found that 86% of 1,000 women polled earlier this month claimed they already owned a Wii Fit or were planning to buy one soon. I just don't understand why.

The New Carr?

I just came across the little gem and in light of SATC being the hot topic of the moment, let us consider the similarities between Carr and this crazy old bitch...



She loves to make a bold fashion statement (just like Carr)
She's articulate and well versed - note the context and pronunciation of equilibrium (just like Carr)
She poses a challenge to strict, age-defined stereotypical images feminine beauty (just like the old Carr)

So is Crazy Bitch the new Carr Bradshaw? (Look even their initials are the same!) Is wasted as shit at 50 the new single and empowered at40?

God I hope so.

RESPONSE

Wow Sopho.

I also googled Sex In The City, but focused more on the picture side of things. Pictures from the film, star ratings, that kind of the thing. LESS WORDS.

What happened next was incredible. I logged into CARR'S ACTUAL MACBOOK.

I'd recommend doing the same. But, if you're lazy or a dude, just look at the screenshots from my own adventure.







Apart from the fact that the stickies are lines straight from the movie, and that the photo are LAME, the emails ARE pretty funny and the ichat (City Chat) practically REPLICATES my life.

CARR GETS MARR'd!!!!!!!

I’m obsessed with reading reviews of the Sex and The City movie. I saw the film about 2 weeks ago in NYC with my friend Rose, and although we thought a lot of things at the time, my opinions have become much more intelligent since I’ve started to absorb everyone else’s.

Every review seems to make the point that the movie is basically just a bloated TV show, which means it works for the fans (who customarily binge on 5 episodes of the series at a time), but not as a movie in and of itself. The bizarro plot of Samantha’s own bloated-ness is case in point. While this may have been a cutesy ‘Should We Let Ourselves Go For The Ones We Love?’ theme for a 30 minute episode, it seems an odd thing to etch in to cinematic history. But maybe it just jarred with me cos I have bad body image.

There are reviews which also try to tackle a lot more. One piece from The New Yorker takes issue with the conspicuous consumption of the movie. In another review, Stephanie Zacharek brings up my most treasured topic: race, in this hilarious paragraph:

“The writing doesn't serve Parker particularly well, either. Because Carrie is a very busy, very successful, but very disorganized New York writer, she decides she needs an assistant. The woman she hires, Louise (Jennifer Hudson, who gives a likable, openhearted performance), turns out to be a godsend to her. I'm sure the intention was to add a nonwhite character to the mix, and that's not a bad impulse -- especially if you were to imagine a smart, capable, witty black woman holding her own at the brunch table. (Not to mention the fact that even a fantasy vision of New York with so few characters of color is, in 2008, simply incomprehensible.)
But why make your only adult character of color a wise, capable servant girl? Carrie spends too much time beaming magnanimously at Louise. The effect, unintentional but not dismissible, is a kind of "Mammy, what would I ever do without you?" superiority.”

There are also some wonderfully finicky points floating about. I love that Dana Stevens whinges about Carrie Bradshaw being a terrible writer. This was something that had mystified me for years too, though it also sheds light on the mind-boggling popularity of ‘Sydney’s own (self-dubbed ) Carrie Bradshaw’, Sam Brett. And I was tickled to note that carriebradshaw.com had the exact same 1997-style web design as samanthabrett.com – swirls!

I got a kick out of this article by Julia Turner that complains the movie doesn’t have the stylistic integrity of the show, with its emphasis on high end designers.

And then I found myself thrilled to bits by the most bile drenched review I’ve ever come across, which makes the excellent point that “the girls who munch are now ladies who lunch—in all the wrong places. They’re supposed to be hip barometers for everything fresh and trendy in the Big Apple, so why do they hang out in Bryant Park and the Four Seasons? Real trailblazers would be photographed at the Beatrice Inn, Rose Bar in the Gramercy Park Hotel, Café Cluny and Gemma in the Bowery Hotel."

Not only did I feel pretty smug for having just been to that very bar in the Gramercy Park Hotel, but it echoed my general disappointment with the mythology of NYC.

There is this tedious subplot in the movie about Carrie having to get a new mobile number, which, devastatingly, doesn’t contain her old Manhattan zip code. It grated with Rose and I that the rest of the world is presumed to care a great deal about New York City. And young Australians seem to fall in to the trap. It is an essential destination for most of our trips abroad, and on return, everyone seems to breathlessly ask: “So did you love New York?!’ I personally found the whole place a bit bleak, I felt it was a great place if you want to achieve, that it feels like it's trading in on its cultural past, and that the only way to enjoy your time here is to consume. But what do I know anyway, I’m probably just getting intoxicated by my own contrarianism.

Far and away my favourite thing that united all the reviews was that every reviewer just LOVES reviewing this film; it feels important. Their ego is tied up in thinking they are up for the challenge. To this, I am no exception.

I kind of loved it and hated it. I loved the bits that tapped in to my fondness and nostalgia for the show; I liked seeing that little Brady was played by the same actor, that Carrie no longer smoked, that the relationships between the characters have changed- they all seem to be slightly less zealous friends with each other, and that Carrie is still really annoying- she insists on making a big deal out of borrowing library books and having an old phone. I thought most of the new bits, the movie part, were bad. The (I suppose, intentionally) boring subject matter of pre-nups, wedding logistics and purchasing property. The sheer volume of montages; and that Carrie spent much of the move looking like Mary-Kate at age 100, and one or two scenes where I actually thought she looked a bit like me.

So I guess I am finding myself feeling pulled back and forth by two conflicting narratives: the bits in the film that I liked and the bits that I hated.

I think this tension comes from my ingrained suspicion of a The Happy Ending. Personally, I wasn’t convinced that Big actually loved Carrie heaps (I think he expected to end up with someone hotter), but I couldn’t have been happier that they ended up getting married! I was a little perturbed by the message emitted when Charlotte finally gets pregnant, but truth be told I’m glad the doctors were clearly just having a lol all that time, cos she has a baby!

One of the annoying little devices the film used to gloss over these glaring imperfections were the presence of neat little couplets scattered throughout. The 'love' key ring… and then 'LOVE' IS THE PASSWORD! She reads love letters in bed with him… and then HE EMAILS HER THOSE SAME LOVE LETTERS!! The foul wedding suit at the start… AND THEN CARRIE GETS MARRIED IN THE SAME FOUL, ILL-FITTING SUIT AT THE END!!!!1

It’s the same contrived technique employed in smh opinion columns: if you start a piece with “I always dreamt of becoming an acrobat” and end it with “and who knows, maybe it’s not too late to become an acrobat” then it doesn’t matter what arbitrary rubbish you sandwich in the middle. The reader/viewer will congratulate themselves for having such a good memory and leave feeling satiated.

I loved the scene in the movie where Miranda and Carrie sit under a pagoda discussing Steve, and where Miranda explains her difficulty in negotiating the balance between her emotion and intellect. I feel a similar internal struggle when reviewing the reviews: I loved reading intelligent rants against the film, but i do feel a relief when i read equally intelligent justifications of why it is ok just to like it.

It’s a debate that’s raging on movestill at the moment with Michaella’s post about Converse. Is it worth nitpicking about our culture? Should we take a stand, or should we just enjoy it? Can we continue to use the device of rhetorical questions to abdicate really saying anything?

One of the reviews I really liked made an excellent point that made me think I’d thought of it myself. Carina Chocano thought the cliche that no men will see the movie was actually symptomatic of a much deeper problem, "the idea that we might watch movies to empathize with characters whose lives are different from ours but whose humanity links them to us is all but lost.”

The reviews also reflect this mentality. The people that hated the movie don’t see enough of themselves in the movie. Namely, they don’t see people on screen tearing movies in to shreds. The people who like the movie are perhaps those that see their own search for love, meaning or money reflected through Carrie.

This is hardly a new concept, we always look for ourselves in art and respond most to art that is truer of our lives. But there’s almost a role reversal, the regular people who loved the movie loved the movie for what it was, and walked away happily. But the people whose job it was to think critically about movies seem to take this one SO personally- as though the people onscreen are an extension of themselves: ‘well that was not MY Manhattan’, ‘I don’t like Carrie’s outfits anymore, I think it’s ridiculous to spend that much money on clothes!’

And I guess that’s not a new concept either- responses to adaptations of an existing art form are always more intense. They contain memories of the earlier material, responses to what's new, and a reading of the cultural impact in that time.

So this piece really has no natural ending. Basically, I think it’s both a good thing for people to enjoy the Sex and the City movie, and for people to think that their lives have more value than the Sex and the City movie. Maybe it’s not too late to become an acrobat after all.

Style MIA

Yesterday MIA announced she was canceling her European tour to get some rest and 'normalise' which I can totes forgive.

But then last night she wore this



Suuuurrreeellllyyyyyy thats the exhaustion decision-making? No rational mind could decide that this outfit was a good idea. She's got the whole world in her hands! And isn't that the dress Cher wore as a Mermaid in 1990?

Cruisin

Before I go, this is the funniest thing I've seen all day. Please watch the video. Its just too amazing!

Happy 25 years Tom. Just having a self congratulate!

High Places Part 2

Last night Stereogum posted an exclusive preview of the new High Places 7" Vision's The First/Namer. Its available now through Upset The Rhythm from the UK.

The track is dreamier and a little more distracted than their tropicalia-inspired online release from last November. Its pretty incredible. But I'm a pretty huge fan. Have a listen and see what you think.

Their debut full length is due for release in September, so in the meantime you can download an Mp3 (and read an interview I did with the band earlier this year for Pages Magazine) at the wonderfully amazing Mistletone.net The Melbourne label was whispering a few months back that they were trying to bring the duo to Australia for a tour with Lucky Dragons... My fingers are still crossed!

day n night

Remember a while back when I wrote about Kid Cudi? Well, Movestill faves Ro Sham Bo are performing with Cudi (read: cutie) next weekend (thanks for the heaps early notice guys!) Ro Sham Bo Knights is on again, and this time is being described by Ro Sham Levins as "a very special intimate show" (here's hoping!)

Dets as follows:

Ro Sham Bo & Kid Cudi
La Campagna
Liverpool St, CBD
Saturday June 21

Consider this your first and final warning: Tickets are super limited and I am sure will sell out! Plus, at only $25 each, its a steal! Available from Jimmy Sing's Imports (302 Cleveland St Surry Hills) and moshtix

Shake It Off

I love a bit of the old Mimi. I really do. We've been through a lot together over the years...Tommy Mottola, the yo-yo diets, the theatrical masterpiece that was Glitter. Even though she's looking a bit weird in the face these days and she's done the whole Cougar shotgun wedding thing, there's not much she can do to make my loyalty waver. 

But this almost comes close.

Oh Mimi. What's up with the face?

wRong Kelly

Have you been following this? "...the tapes were compressed and lost footage when transfered to DVD..."?! OMG puleeze!

Genius producer, yes. Unwilling to testify, yes. Guilty, ummmm probs.


Flirt (zshare) (vs Broken Social Scene from The Hood)

Completely off topic, Glass Candy played in NY last night with Chromatics. If that lineup isn't enviable enough, you know what we missed?

Thank GOD for You Tube

(PS I have another blog. Its new. Its called grey gardens. Stop by and say hello sometime)

WE LOVE SOUNDS!

so me and a couple of other people called nina and catherine were in the line for the atm on sunday night after the ‘we love sounds’ festival (“we LOVE sounds guys! Just love them!”) when we got to talkin to the girls behind us. they were cute AS! really rockin the “festival fashion”. we made small talk about how hungry we were and how we couldn’t wait to eat pizza and how we felt like our stomachs were caving in on themselves.... etc. they seemed understandably excited by this topic of conversation and noted that they too were hungry but that sometimes it was beneficial when you miss meals at festivals because you’re too busy peaking. one of the girls then proceeded to tell us that she evens goes so far as to prepare pre-festival!

“yeah i know hey! like when i know i’m gonna get my tits out at a festival, i fullaaay take a pinger the night before so i look heaps skinny! it’s so good!”

cab to fox studios: $18
smirnoff black: $9
packet of camel lights: $10
conversation in atm queue: priceless

Das Monk

While we're talking clothes, Sydney label DAS MONK has just launched their latest range of tees for boys and tees for girls.

FYI this is my favourite... y'know, just in case you wanna send me an early b'day pressie or somethin.



The brains behind the label Mark Hendrick started selling his wares at Glebe and Bondi markets nearly 2 years ago, and since has picked up stockists all over the country. The good news if you don't live in AUS is Hendrick offers free shipping for all overseas orders of 2 tees or more. Bonanza.

Go forth and shop.

Converse

Jona Bechtold. Kid Sister. Bradford Cox.




Sophie Kasakove (Care Bears on Fire). Morgan Quaintance. Santi White. Pharrell Williams.

The list goes on, but I thought those two images would be enough to make my point.

I am wearing a pair of navy Converse right now, and I think it'd be a safe guess to say everyone I know owns a pair (be them black, pink, blue, green...) The popularity and versatility of the Connie isn't something that needs to be argued. For me, a campaign like the above begs the question: How much is too much when it comes to celebrity endorsement?

As much as I love the artists featured, I think this campaign really cheapens the Converse brand. They've never needed to flaunt their 'cool' before so why start now? And why with so many artists? The line up reads like the who's who of indie cred right now. I mean, hello! Bradford Cox?! I love Converse. And so does everyone else, right? So why do they feel they need to 'celebrate' the brand by turning them into a gimmick endorsed by rich and famous Americans? If they really want to celebrate the brand, Converse reps should head into the clubs and photograph the people who wear them everyday and wear them to death. Without being paid to do so.

Oh My Blog

Movestill got a little love this week

Belgium blog Oh My Blog asked us to fill out some quick questions and give them a heads up on what we think is totes rad right now.

Movestill's Oh My Blog favourites

Stephan from Knotoryous was our man. I highly recommend his blog, its fashion-centric, cute, tongue-in-cheek and currently has an amazing Pharrell chair on the first page that blew my mind!!

Monday Morning

weekend round up:

best new video: 'Kiss with a Fist' Florence and the Machine


best web stream: 'Black President' NAS


fave album: 'At Mount Zoomer' Wolf Parade
This album is worth waiting for, despite the various web leaks. If you can wait until you have an entire finished copy of the album, I recommend you do. Love it.

cutest audience member reaction:
Port O'Brien for Blogoteque (40 secs in)

Hope you had a good (long)weekend

truly inspirational

sometimes it just takes something like this video to remind us of what is really important. i know this is meant to be a "freaking fun blog" but you have to pause and take stock of JUST how lucky you are. these girls brought a tear to my eye and yes of course "it's something to be proud of".

i only wish i'd seen this earlier.

happy long weekend y'all.

no love for mr huxtable??

three sweaters worn by mr huxtable on the cosby show have just gone up for auction here on eBay. the bidding started at a MERE $5,000 for each sweater. but the results are shocking to say the least! no one has bid on any of them!

come on people!

if i had a cool 5 thou, i'd fer shurrr get the top one. saved by the bell theme in sweater form? GET OUTTA HERE!

Brothers

Brothers live in NY, make music together and produce records. They have recently worked with !!!, Professor Murder, Free Blood, and Telepathe (who are bringing their all-chick punk electro to Australia for VICE shows in Sydney and Melbourne late June (I am super excited about this)).

The pair's first collaboration was a tech tune in 2002 called Blazer, they then set up The Brothers Studio in 2004, established The Brothers Label last year and have been producing an impressively diverse range of bands and soloists while also writing and recording their own music. I love that they are doing everything themselves - they are like the indie Switch, their careers starting with a banging tech tune and now writing electro tracks while producing albums for bands with hugely varied sounds.

Download their Fader mixtape from their myspace, check out more at their website brotherslife.com and keep your eyes peeled for a solo release soon.

neck! laces!

uhhhh...

holy shit



see more, even scarier footage: stereogum

wowwwwwww

Beaches

Beaches are the kind of group you WISH you could be a member of. They have a Chloe Sevigny appeal; they are cooler and much more musical than you, I or anyone we know will ever be.



Gushing aside, they are working on their debut currently, due for release on Mistletone in September. Sandy is their first offering - a sprawling 6 minute psyche-tinged garage track, with whispered harmonies and crashing drums that build to a hypnotic, almost tribal end. Just when you think the song is about to build into a deafening thumping final, it quietens and fades out.

Sandy (zshare)

Looking back at recent posts, I seem a little obsessed with lo fi chick tunes at the moment - Little Boots, Emmy The Great, Flornce and The Machine, etc etc etc...

How many, how many, Boys there? MIA, I hear ya.

PS.... Beaches are playing the 2am Pony show this weekend. If you live in Melbourne head along! I used to love the 2am show. I never knew who was playing but always rocked up excited and anticipating greatness. Sometimes the bands were so shit but I loved them regardless (young and naieve and far from home anything sounds amazing!)

BITCH YOU BREAKFAST

Before there was So Me, there was Parra. Me, the old, and Kato recently did a mad order and I got the above tee. It's crazy 'cause there is a boob on the shirt AND I have boobs.

Turns our Parra started making sick beats. As this isn't a total Michaella post, I haven't done any further research. Except HERE is the myspace and you should watch the film clip.



AND then check out Dust La Rock and have a think about his influences.