Farewell To The Flesh

For any readers in the Southern California-area, tonight marks the opening of Farewell To The Flesh, a group art exhibit including work by a dozen great local artiststs, as well as yours truly. For the past month, we've worked to put together a really one-of-a-kind show that is themed like an old fashioned carnival. We've transformed the curator's (Sami Borhanpour) back house into a circus tent gallery featuring a variety of work, from photos and paintings to digital designs and sculptures. On top of all this, we've built out vendor areas to provide drinks, food, and entertainment (kissing booths, fortune tellers, tarot readers, merchants, etc).

This was all put together by artists for artists, meaning we had no big budgets or established gallery-spaces. It was a DIY effort that we couldn't be more pleased to present.

Here is the flyer for tonights show.

(Design by Sami Borhanpour)

The event starts at 7:00 PM, is $5 to get in (which includes a drink/food ticket) and there will be special live carnie-inspired music performances throughout the night courtesy of Cosio. Check out the invite above for more information.

If you're not in the area or can not attend, here's a sneak-peek at one of my contributions to the show. It's a photo-collage entitled Passion of the Foolish thats printed on 11x17 heavy-weight gloss coated paper in an edition of 3. There will only be one for sale, priced at $50.


Hope some of you can make it out tonight!

I Watch You Over And Over Again

This, I feel, has been one of the cruelest summers of all so far – and it's yet to hit full stride. I'll repeat “hold it together”, all smiles, while dodging questions. Keeping it all at arms length. All I need is my retreat from the heat, and the music that's enveloped inside.

I stumbled upon the British band HTRK while reading up on the music scene in London these days. All it took was one YouTube video of a live performance (of the song “Ha”, which is linked in the previous video-drop post) and I was hooked. However, once I purchased their album and singles, my level of love for this band went through the roof. I'd HIGHLY recommend finding their debut full-length, Marry Me Tonight. It's such an impressive debut by what appears to be a pretty young band. The music swaggers around with gyrating bass lines, spindly, effects-laden guitars and industrial-esque percussion. It's topped off with the seductively sinful voice of vocalist Jonnine Standish, whose delivery is somewhere between Justine Frischmann of Elastica and PJ Harvey, but dropped down a set of RPMs and injected with lyrics so sultry they'd make Jarvis Cocker blush.

(HTRK photo by Emmapop)

You can listen to the stunner “Rentboy” by clicking here.

Aside from HTRK, a few other recent releases have steadily been on rotation via my turntable and iTunes. S.C.U.M. Visions Arise, The Horrors Primary Colours, The Big Pink Velvet & Stop The World singles, The Bridal Shop From Seas, The Mary Onettes s/t, The Dead Weather's Hang You From The Heavens & Treat Me Like Your Mother singles and recently compiled double-LP of My Bloody Valentine's more elusive EP releases entitled Before Loveless. All of the aforementioned are great and it should go without saying that I'd advise checking them all out.

Most of the music I've been listening to has been pretty dark, I suppose reflecting my current state of mind, and consequently I've been gravitating towards the same in my fashion sense. With Summer in full effect, the tradition goes that you're supposed brighten up your wardrobe palette with lighter colors. Well, I've personally been subscribing to the opposite notion. I've darkened up my outerwear layers and bottoms - but I've also boosted the contrast by slipping in slivers of white and pale greys in my undershirts and socks, and flipping cuffs on my jeans to show some raw denim color against the blacks of my oxford dress shoes. I may incorporate more whites as the season progresses, much like one of my favorite labels, All Saints, showcases on their current site:

(Photos courtesy of All Saints - such a great collection)

It's always common for me to share the looks I appreciate in Men's fashion, so for a change I figured I'd offer a male perspective on female fashion that catches my eye. Despite what you may think, not all guys are keen on girls who opt to show more skin than thread. I, for one, have always felt layers on girls really adds to the air of mystique. If the heat makes jackets impossible, cardigans and button-up shirts on girls are always a nice compliment to some dark jeans. While dresses and skirts are fine and all, I'm equally, if not moreso, attracted to girls in outfits that toe the androgynous femme fatale line. My advice for those ladies who prefer dresses – Go dark. Here are some female charmers whose outfits would win my attention over the barely-there look of the current crop of Los Angeles fashionistas.

(The above three looks courtesy of Kath B. - such great style!)

(Photo/outfit courtesy of Lea R.)

(Photo/outfit courtesy of Hannah J.)

(Photo/outfit courtesy of Tien A.)

(Photo/outfit courtesy of the kind Ms. Nada T.)

I am not familiar enough with specific womens-only labels that I'd recommend, but Morphine Generation, Surface To Air and All Saints usually offer darker themed lines that cater to these sorts of tastes.

Now then, back to disappearing. I hope everyone's Summer is fairing well.

In A World Where You're Half Right

Hatcham Social “So, So, Happy Making”


HTRK “Ha”


S.C.U.M. “Visions Arise”


My Bloody Valentine “Slow”


Jesus and Mary Chain “Never Understand”

Mercy Arms “Half Right”


Crocodiles “Summer of Hate”


The Big Pink “Too Young To Love”

If you're forced into solitude, it's always advised to keep good music with you.

Can't You See, You Belong With Me

(Photo via Ffffound!)

(Photo by Patrick Shaw)

(Photo by Daniel Aeschlimann)

Camera Obscura “James”

Punctured Bicycle On A Hillside Desolate

Whilst contemplating the stylistic direction on an impending haircut, I decided to offer up some of my more general stylistic inspirations as of late. I used to do these mood boards each season when I worked at Guess filled with imagery that appealed to me for one reason or another. They wouldn't be limited to people, but colors, typography, patterns, etc. I realized today how much I missed those sort of creative exercises. Immersing your surroundings in visuals that appeal to you is such a great way to focus a specific aesthetic direction. I think it's time I take my apartment walls to town.

Anyhow, apologies for the stolen imagery, I'll try and give credit for those I can recall thieving from. Welcome to my internal mirror. These are the images of the gents whose style are currently on top my list of inspiration.

(Slim Twig - Bottom two photos by Matt O'Sullivan)

(The Walkmen - Top photo by Chona Kasinger)

(Stewart Lupton of The Childballads - Photos by Piper Ferguson)

(Slimane's aesthetic always - Photos by Hedi Slimane)

(Jean-Pierre Léaud)

(Spider Webb of The Horrors - Photo by Pavla Kopecna)

(Ffffound images)

(Morrissey)

(James Dean)

I'm planning to follow-up with a post I'm calling “Daydream Girls”, which will probably cater more to my romantic inclinations than stylistic influence – but there's definitely some dames whose style I draw influence from as well, mostly the ones who toe the androgynous line.

Take Me To The Other Side

There's been way too much activity to possibly even attempt a proper re-cap, so I will briefly state the sights, sounds and people occupying my last few weeks as briefly as possible.

I saw Amusement Parks on Fire at Silverlake Lounge and Jens Lekman at The Echo. Both were very good, but the songs and performances melted together so similarly that after a while I was hoping for a bit more. Also, I opted to catch the Walkmen again, even though I'd seen them only a few months prior. They were good, however this was definitely there peak performance – which is unfortunate since the main reason I went was to see them was due to feeling they'd really shine at a venue like the El Rey. I caught both LA-area shows The Kills and The Horrors played together, and both nights were amazing. The new Horrors records is such a step up from their past effort and they nailed it live. The Kills, as always, captivated with their tension-filled performances. For encores both nights, the two bands came together to perform “Baby, Please Don't Go.” It was like seeing a piece of rock n' roll history. I went to Smiths night at Part Time Punks with Will, Brandie and Fuser, and had a great time drinking and dancing in honor of Brandie's birthday. I should add that prior to heading to the Echo for the aforementioned event, the four of us had a nice late afternoon picnic in front of the South Pasadena Library, followed by a quick, seedy photo excursion and drinks at Bordello. A few nights later, I went to see St. Vincent at the El Rey and again, Annie Clark, blew me away. The new songs sounded terrific in the live setting, the band was on-point (sans the set-long broken bass string) and the minimalist, cascading-sheets stage set-up was tasteful. Post-show, I joined Fuser at our friend Madison's house for some brief shennanigans. The following night, I got a last minute admission to see Animal Collective at the Wiltern, thanks to a very special someone. They were terrific and the whole night was really memorable for a multitude of reasons beyond just the bands. Balloons, confetti, and a great sound quality made the audience really engage with Animal Collective, and songs like “Brothersport” really magnetized the crowd. Grouper opened the show, and though I only caught a few songs, I was still taken aback a bit by her somber songs. Though she did just fine, I prefer her in more intimate venues like The Smell, where I'd seen her a month earlier. She's definitely been getting a lot of love on my turntable and I can't recommend her record, Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill, enough – it's so devistatingly beautiful. Saturday morning I went hiking with my friend Camille and her dog Bam up Eaton Canyon. It was a nice little way to wind down the previous few weeks festivities.

(The crowd at Fuser's Senior Exhibition at Otis College of Art + Design)

(Amusement Parks On Fire at Silverlake Lounge)

(The Walkmen at the El Rey Theater)

(Drinks at Little Cave)

(The Horrors at The Glasshouse)

(The Kills at The Glasshouse)

(Will, Brandie and Fuser picnicking at South Pas Library)

(Fuser, Will and Brandie being creeps for me)

(Will and Brandie dancing at Part Time Punks)

(St. Vincent mesmerizing at the El Rey Theater)

(Madison, Fu, Carina and friends all boozed up)

(Animal Collective at the Wiltern)

(Eaton Canyon hiking trail in Pasadena)

More photos from all of these can be found on my Flickr.


Summer is here and I'm making the most of it as possible. Thankfully, there are so many good shows coming up to help occupy my nights – and heaven knows I need the distractions right now. On the agenda for the next month: Castledoor/Butterfly Boucher/Cale Parks at Spaceland, Crocodiles at Troubadour, Camera Obscura at the Glasshouse, Grizzly Bear at the Wiltern, Deastro at Spaceland, St. Christopher at the Echo, The Veils at Spaceland, Jarvis Cocker at the Wiltern, Psychic Ills at the Echo, Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Echo, a photo-trip to the Salton Sea with Fuser and Madison, Noah's birthday in Joshua Tree, Dalva's art show at La Luz Gallery, the Carnival show group show (I'm in!) at the Venice house, visiting Will & Brandie in Portland when they move up, the Lost Libraries CD release show, and so on and so on.

There's A Girl In This Harbor Town

Today marks the 28th birthday of one of my best friends in the world, Mrs. Brandie Hart. So, please do me a favor if you have a moment and head over to her blog and leave her a nice comment wishing her a “sparkling day.” She's one of the best ladies I know and you'd be wise to try and steal her stylish tips, as her and her hunky husband William are two of the coolest trendsetters I know. Even Robert Pattinson (seen below with Brandie) has fallen prey to Brandie's charm and is rumored to be pushing for her to replace Kristen Stewart as his leading lady in the continuing Twilight series.



To the hippest sparkly-vampire lover I know, Happy Birthday!