xmas hki10 style.

last night was the xmas party for helsinki10, my absolute favorite store in town. a small group of people gathered to enjoy music and drinks and, more importantly, plenty of new desirables in for xmas.

the staff succeeded in making an in-store event feel relaxed and not pushy while the employees that were present acted incredibly attentive. sure, the fact that there were plenty of friends there helped in creating an inviting mood, but they really had some je-ne-sais-pas going for them. well done.

i got myself a scarf from bernhard willhelm. it's signature willhelm in fabulous light 100% wool with a naive print and bright colors.



the goody bag offered created some laughs on our way home. was it some responsibility campaign to give a bottle of water to those leaving the party? it was evian by jean paul gaultier and yes, collaborations may be the thing to do right now, but it is water nonetheless...

retro super style.

the new sins is a spinoff of new young pony club (who were pretty much a one hit wonder with "ice cream"). fresh and relaxed, their music combines disco and indie beautifully. the video is one of the most stylish i've seen in a while. enjoy.

new porn.

porn sells, right? yeah yeah, porn is so mainstream it's boring. well, it was boring to begin with, but it's become common enough to lose even the slightest bit of the ironic edge there might have been. throwing a porn theme party with swedish or german flicks from the 60's is just lame beyond description...

kasino a4 have titled their newest issue "new porn". known for their ambitious content, both visually and textually, the kasino team have created something (almost) fresh: a stylish and "homemade" ironic take on porn.

they even launched a video which keeps it on the safe side by only hinting towards male gay porn and utilizes lesbianism, s/m scenery and female imagery quite traditionally. what makes it pretty great is not irony (we've seen madonna do it before, for crying out loud), but a real, genuine playfulness. the music is a pretty big plus, too.

these sounds fall into my mind.

plenty of old friends have returned this fall: bloc party, the kills and the killers all have a new album out. bp sounds as great as ever (or pretty much the same as ever, which is not necessarily a bad thing), alison mosshart remains my continuous style icon and the album is a jackpot, but the killers seem to be getting almost eurovision(ish) on me.

bloc party: talons. (from intimacy)


the killers: human. (from day and age)


the kills: tape song. (from midnight boom)


the phenomenal handclap band is something i really look forward to hearing more from. a collaboration of several dj's, artists, and musicians, they've got their groove right. i hope they can find the time to actually produce an album before the number of people becomes too much of a hassle...

the phenomenal handclap band: you'll disappear.


and then a great song that just keeps on going from summer to fall...

ladyhawke: paris is burning.

blizzard warmers.

when it's cold, i am very fond of ginger. the strong root works wonders as a natural warmth provider whether a spicy part (or end) of a meal or an ingredient of tea. it is known to ease an upset stomach and aid digestion, but also to calm the nerves.

here's my top 5 ginger products:

1. ginger yogi tea
2. yoghurt coated ginger
3. ginger snaps cookies (for a good recipe, go here.)
4. ginger and noodle soup
5. raw sugar coated ginger

and as an added bonus: ginger ale, preferably an organic one.

the perfect fabric.

new scientist reports of a new fabric created at the university of zürich which is completely waterproof. by using nanotechnology the scientist have been able to produce a fabric which repels water and, hence, the coating resists other liquid molecules creating a stain resistant, possibly a self-cleaning fabric. wouldn't that be great?

why start a blog?

be nouveau and nrj.

beaujolais nouveau est arrivé! i had meself a glass last night, on the "beaujolais day", at a small loyal customers' event at minus. one of my favorite boutiques in town, minus sells sandqvist laptop bags and select swedish fashions, such as acne, whyred, designer's remix, etc.

from there we ventured to nrj fashion awards at kaapelitehdas. it was packed and we barely caught a glimpse of the catwalk shows. the theme of the evening was "magic" and i'm not quite sure how to put this nicely, but a guy on a stage doing card tricks does not a magical night make. the most incredible single thing was an ice bar by finlandia vodka: an entire bar structure made of ice, melting away. the lack of magical entertainment was quite well compensated by watching people place their drinks off the provided mats and see their faces when their precious alcohol slipped off the bar.



party season has definitely begun.

planningtorock.

(better late than never...)

i like seeing shows at surprising or unconventional locations. i still remember fondly seeing chicks on speed perform in addition to peaches at deitch projects in nyc in 2004. the space came to life as a full arts project and i haven't seen much of anything like it since. maybe i haven't been paying attention, but it seems galleries are somewhat reluctant in planning music events. i'd like to see mob-like performances at shopping centres and office buildings.

in any case, as part of helsinki biennale and club misf*ts, i saw planningtorock perform at the helsinki design museum. her kaleidoscopic visuals combined with gloomy, but dancey basslines are quite exciting online, but she failed to own the stage however small it was. the impression reminded me of seeing peaches at bowery ballroom (or mercury lounge?) failing for the same reason: sometimes the stage just gets too big for the artist. sometimes going live is not the best option.

now they call me superstar?

"they used to call me tricky kid, i live the life they wish they did, i life the life, don't own a car, now they call me superstar..."

what a strange evening last night was. tricky played at nosturi and, not very unexpectedly, anticipation was high and i was let down. i am solely to blame for not being aware of a new album and, quite honestly, not following his career after the release of pre-millenium tension, but i did expect more of the older material.

it was a show where the artist spent more time with his back towards the audience than showed his face. it was a show where the artist himself felt more absent than i've ever experienced before. moreover, he also would not participate in any of his trip hop hits of maxinquaye. sure, he's been quite vocal about feeling iffy about the genre he created and with which he subsequently was labeled with, but i love him forever for gems like "overcome" and i wish he did not express his separation from his past by ignoring the fans who love his music.



without acknowledging his past his present feels empty. he's fragile without the base and ending with motörhead's "ace of spades" did not provide a salvation, at least in my books. i wanted more.

war of the covers.

album covers gone to war. har har.

star trek.

the new star trek movie trailers are here.

needless to say, i'm a sci-fi nerd. therefore, i have rigorous views on acceptable star trek (original and next generation, none of that deep space nine crap!) and star wars (iv, v & vi), used to speak klingon and get giddy about the promise of new films.

but what's going on with casting sylar as mr spock? i'm disturbed.

food for thought.

the economist has, as a part of their north american advertising campaign, launched a set of pizza boxes they distributed around pizza vendors in philadelphia or, more accurately, spots located around college and university campuses. each box sports a pie graph which informs the buyer of pizza related facts of global food production. some quite intriguing, others plain silly trivia, these boxes do provoke a thought or two about the favorite food consumed by students.

cut copy.

i saw cut copy play at tavastia last night. it was sold out, i.e. packed, hot and steamy. but the crowd was rowdy, bouncy and excited. since most of the crowd seemed to be acquainted with the band only since their latest release, in ghost colours, older songs created some confusion among the audience. for example, they chose to close their set with lights and music followed by their greatest all-time hit, future, and the reaction was harsh: almost all dancing instantly stopped.

as someone somewhere said, cut copy may be to rock for those into dance music and too dancey for rock purists, but if one is willing to ignore boxes, it's a most delightful band with two pretty great albums.

my all time fave, the opening track from bright like neon love. it's one of the signature, repetitive songs cut copy stole my heart with.

top 5 of the moment.

1. ikea samla clear storage boxes with lids.
2. elevators.
3. bubble wrap.
4. strong friends who love doing cardio.
5. storage facilities which remind you of gnome residences, such as low spaces above bathrooms and basement cupboards with miniature doors.

yes, i'm moving. and i am moving from a top floor flat to a renovated attic loft, from a building with an elevator to one without. running up six flights of stairs repeatedly is no joke.

tees.

until a couple of years ago i was all about great print tees. my fave of all time was just another rich kid and his hand-printed limited edition tees -- the just another rich kid "f*ck gucci" tee was in 2005 what the house of holland "cause me pain hedi slimane" was like, eh, two years ago, you could say. with print tees i often go for men's because of the fit: they're loose and long enough, and i like the absence of curve which, in my opinion, accentuates the natural curves of the body.

when oki-ni started catering to men only, i almost forgot about it. it was my favorite online spot for limited edition sneakers for years, but eventually i grew out of my sneaker freakery (only to grow into a heels freak). i still get their e-mail bulletin and got excited about their tees.

electronic poet "tweak" tee. it's a little obvious, but the dj-insinuation is kinda cool.


passarella death squad "mickey" tee. just awesome.

obama the savior.

he won. everyone is happy -- at least outside the united states. up until the last minutes i was wondering whether it was possible for americans to elect an african-american president; whether racism would prevail over reason (as it by definition does). i wondered whether it was possible to admit political failure in the face of a world that acted as if it was voting for americans; would pride overcome reason (as it almost by definition does). i seriously could not imagine the united states as a voting community where east coast intellectuals with their "european aspirations" would agree with evangelical southerners. i was proven wrong. i'm glad.

americans appear ready for some serious change. my view of american citizens has changed from imagining them as guided by fear and pride -- the scariest combination of them all, especially if ignorance is added -- to a people who vote for a future despite their historical handicaps. the landslide result of the election showed that americans can think beyond race and their self-image as the world police as the boastful xenophobic rhetoric of the republican party failed.

the interest of the rest of the world in the election does appear slightly exaggerated and somewhat controversial. the facebook group aim for normalizing "hussein" as a middle name should not be forgotten after the elections; i wish finns would continue with "mohammed" as an act of solidarity towards our own minorities who are discriminated against. seeing everyone agree on obama "the leftist" as the best candidate does strike me almost hypocritical after local finnish elections ended with a booming victory for the right wing while it is undoubtedly true that what is considered leftist in america is not quite the same in our social democratic society.

the man has had the cape of a messiah landed upon him. no envy on my part. i wish him luck.

how to double your collection.

this campaign by bianco footwear feels lovely in the midst of all the homophobia visible in this world. it's a brave move that just has to be admired.

the fact that a group of religious lunatics celebrating atrocities as vengeance from god to countries accepting homosexuality can travel around the world and get press coverage saddens me. (note: i will not post a link for them here because i don't think they deserve any kind of increase in exposure.) the fact that some people seem to get away with homophobic recruitment policies because people seem to find it compelling to think it's acceptable they're "just keeping their subscribers and advertisers happy". it makes me wonder which part of the need for anti-discrimination laws does the general public not understand: if people did discriminate because of good reasons and if this was acceptable, we would not need legislation on the matter in the first place. we're not allowed to discriminate because the reasons that make some people unhappy, such as open homosexuality, are not considered legitimate. it really is pretty simple.

bianco's ads consist of pretty pictures and a couple of videos. they're just beautiful. there's hope for a more tolerant and accepting world, somewhere.