Children of Marx and Coca-Cola

I was flicking through my crappy little, leather CD storage case, when I came across a film I hadn't seen in about two years, Masculin Feminin. Directed by French New Wave auteur Jean Luc-Godard, whom I personally (and I'm not alone) regard as more than a bit of a genius.

Told in fifteen vignettes, the 1966 film is a candid and witty, avant garde examination of youth culture in a culturally confused, 1960s Paris. It explores a complex menage a quatre, between the two main characters Paul, a would be intellectual, obsessed with both Satre and the music of Bach, Ye Ye (A particular strain of 1960s French pop music) singer Madeleine and their two roommates Catherine and Elisabeth. This against the backdrop of a nation gripped by political upheaval and the Vietnam war. The protagonists struggling to balance political idealism with modern-day consumerism as they race through hopeless love affairs with music, social revolution and each other.

Godard loosely bases the narrative off two short stories by 19th century novelist, Guy de Maupassant. The film has parallels with the contemporary and ever popular British television series, Skins, with its frank and honest portrayal of youth and sexuality, the storyline is often interjected by verite or mockumentary style interviews regarding such topics as communism and the pill. The film is also blessed with a fucking hot cast of french people with really nice haircuts, this obviously being much more important than any exploration of the human psyche or politics. I'm glad that I still have my priorities straight..... well...go on....watch it.

TWIN

So...Ummmm....yep (nods)....yep

My friend introduced me to the most amazing of publications......

TWIN MAGAZINE

Blending the best of the fashion and visual arts world, Twin, produced by former creative director of cult fashion zine Lula, Rebecca Smith and British Vogue's Aimee Farrell, stands out through its publication in hardcover book form. Twin has A laid back and edgy aesthetic, with a focus on street inspired fashion and naturalistic photography. It's only published bi-annually, but makes up for lack of regularity with it's large selection of hot, stylish, self-conciously intellectual, Brooklyn teenagers in various forms of acid wash denim and snoods. I dug, dug I did indeed.

SO ATTRACTIVE!!

To steal a Beastie Boys lyric, Ch-ch-ch-check it out!

http://www.twinfactory.co.uk/

Oh Hullo

So... I've decided to make a sassy little blog. maybe out of boredom, maybe because I just want to lock onto the blogging trend, seems basically anything with opposable thumbs can publish their rants through this new medium. Whatever the motivation, I basically want to share with you my thoughts on fashion, visual art, literature, music and film, with little links of (hopefully) rather trendy attire/tracks/books/paintings/dvds.

ummm....

To begin,

I would like to introduce to a little known Glasgow band called Stroszek. They're a little bit like a product of sexual intercourse (sexing as I prefer to call it) between Movement era New Order and My Bloody Valentine. This is reflected in their name choice, Stroszek being a reference to Werner Herzog's 1977 film of the same name, to which, Joy Division front-man Ian Curtis supposedly hung himself. N'way, Stroszek's glacial post-punk sound is refreshing and inspires false nostalgia for us post-1990 babies, wishing we were lucky enough to have experienced the 1980s.

Their Manufacturing Consent EP (A Noam Chomsky reference for good measure) is available via Itunes cough* torrents cough*

http://www.last.fm/music/Stroszek/Manufacturing+Consent