Le Noir Nouveau

We all want to experience our childhood again one way or another. Hence the popularity of movies like Alice in Wonderland or, really, anything a hipster does. The above Watercolour and Batik pieces are a part of the Multitude Series, which started out as a visual diary after Alla Parahnevich immigrated to Australia from Belarus in 2005.

To me, the pieces hold a childlike wonder about the world that is often lost as we grow older. Alla’s inspiration about the Multitude Series is described in her bio - “I have considered the existence of my personal identity, which had been remodelled with every cultural addition; changing my personal views and interests, and taking me further and further from the starting point.”

Sounds like going further and further down the rabbit hole, really.

Alla Parahnevich can be contacted on artalla@yahoo.com.

I've been telling myself for a while now that I would write a blog post about the lifecycle of a hipster (whatever that means nowadays). However I found the image above on another blog (The JT Paradox, to be exact) that quintessentially describes all that I wanted to write and more. It kind of reminds me of a guy I knew in high school who practically went through all of these stages in one year... talk about an identity crisis or the mark of a really insecure guy who feels like he has to change himself every few months in order to fit in with a group of people who probably think he's got a weird personality disorder behind his back!

Anyway, back to the point, I know there's a lot of who-ha about the pressures pressures of fitting in to one of these social archetypes in order to be seen as edgy, arty, cool, and dare I say it "unique", but the truth of the matter is, most of us subconsciously fall into one of these genres without even knowing it. Society just puts a label on groups of people who are basically just being themselves, which ultimately sparks this need in adolescents to change their personalities in order to fit a certain label. It's like a vicious cycle of doubt and self worth (wow, what an angsty sentence).

Ok so enough of my ranting. I guess the moral of the story is, LABELS ARE BAD! the end.

PS: click on picture to enlarge =)

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with Japanese Hip-Hop producer Nujabes, but I just found out that he died from a car crash today(actually he died on 26 Feb, but it's only been confirmed by his record label Hydeout Productions today). In my opinion, Nujabes was a true visionary and a point of inspiration to the Underground Hip-Hop community. The way he blended soulful jazz music with subtle Hip Hop beats was truly one of a kind and he will be greatly missed.

For those of you who haven't heard of Nujabes, take the time out to listen to his unique style of music below.

Whilst randomly meandering through the blogosphere, I came across an extremely talented illustrator named Sandra Suy. Her work wasn't particularly unique to me, in that I've seen other illustrators such as Amelie Hergardt, Steven Broadway, and Laura Laine produce a similar kind of art style. However what did intrigue me about this artist is her ability to capture the poise, sophistication, and elegance of the fashion that once was. Some fashion illustrators get lost in trying to create something so "edgy" that it becomes pretentious and overdone. Sandra Suy takes fashion illustration back to it's glory days, back when fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar relied solely on the talent of their gifted illustrators.

Ok, sooo these guys have been out for a while now, but it's taken their insane remix of Ellie Goulding's Under the Sheets for me to take notice of them, and man am I glad I did cuz I, like many am now obsessed.

As the new buzz band du jour to touch down on the indie hip hop scene, Chiddy Bang are really giving the likes of Kid Cudi, the Roots, Lupe, and other alternative hip hoppers a run for their money. Fresh from their freshman year in college (no pun intended), the four piece hip hop/electronica outlet from Philidelphia "possess a musical maturity that is far superior to the teen-pop cliche." (taken from their bio)

The way these guys integrate gritty electro beats with sick ass afro-beat and hard hitting lyricism is pure genius. I can see why these guys have been dubbed "the coolest thing since The Cool Kids". Sampling from the likes of Mary Poppins, Sufjan Stevens, Yelle, Passion Pit, Joe Strummer and the Mescarleros, MGMT, Belle & Sebastian – these guys are on another swagger level. In my opinion Chiddy Bang have produced a new genre of hip hop that'll leave American Apparel clad cool kids searching the vast music blogosphere for more...

Ellie Goulding - Under the Sheets (Chiddy Bang Remix)
The Opposite of Adults (KIDS)- Chiddy Bang
The Truth - Chiddy Bang feat. Passion Pit
Kid Cudi - Day n' Nite (Chiddy Bang Remix)