4 the Love of Music #4: The Summer Edition!

Happy Summer!
I hope you are enjoying the sun and sand with music in the back. This edtion - the 4th edition - of '4 the Love of Music' is themed 'summer music'. So every year I have a summer theme song and it's most of the time a song I can't stop listening to. Summer hits aren't really about good heartfelt lyrics but more about eccentric beats that make you feel relaxed and ready to have fun!
My summer theme songs of the previous years include:
- Ni**as in Paris by Jay-z & Kanye
- My Love by Justin Timberlake & T.I. 

- Wanna Love You by Robin Thicke & Pharrell

- Whine Up by Kat Deluna & Elephant Man

'You & I can Find what the World's been Looking for Forever...Friendship & Love Together'

One thing that makes Summer even better...L.O.V.E. One of sweetest and most romantic songs I can actually remember from when I was really young is a song by India.Arie. At that age it was something new for me and I was totally blown away by her soulful voice and new point of view of love. When I heard the song Bubly by Colbie Caillat I immediately thought of India.Arie's song. That's why I connect both songs to summer romance whenever I hear them. India.Arie makes love seem so easy and fun in 'Can I Walk with You':

India.Arie -
Can I Walk With You
Album: Voyage to India

'Nobody Knows What the Future Holds and It's Bad Enough Just Getting Old'

 Everyone knows Summer is also Festival Season! And in my opinion Festival music is the best kind of music. Sometimes they don't make sense, but that doesn't matter because everyone is just there to sing along  and have fun. Indie bands don't normally have the tendency to bring out 'crappy songs' with 'crappy lyrics' so that's what makes festivals so amazing. Coachella ended earlier this year, but festivals like Glastonbury and Lollapalooza are summer festivals. They had amazing line ups and one of them is Vampire Weekend. I've been a longtime V.W. fan and their latest album Modern Vampires of the City came out earlier this year. It has a couple of great songs, two of them being 'Diane Young' and 'Ya Hey'. They performed 'Diane Young' at this year's Glastonbury and here it is:

Vampire Weekend -
Diane Young
Album: Modern Vampires of the City

'You & I - bloodlines, We Come Together Every time'

I first discovered Jessie Ware when I was watching this years Coachella. She was on Solange Knowles' 'people to look forward to on Coachella' list so I had to check her out. By the time her album Devotion came out, the track 'Wildest Moments' was on iTunes' 'songs we really enjoy' list - also known as the free track of the week. The lyrics are pretty good but I didn't really get the video...until now. I quickly fell in love with Wildest Moments as Jessie describes a relationship involving two people who aren't meant to be together - singing 'two wrongs, no rights'. There's a certain irony in it as she continues 'we walk the line'. In the last verse she describes how she misses their 'wildest moments' and she's also wondering 'what if''. That explains her turning circles in the video, their relationship is back and forth. In this case, simplicity is key!

Jessie Ware -
Wildest Moments

Album: Devotion

'I Feel So Lucky, You Wanna Hug Me. What Rhymes with Hug Me?'

If two people on this planet should be working more together their names are: Robin Thicke and Pharrell. I mean whenever their forces unite, magic comes out. Their last hit 'Wanna Love You' was also one of my 'summer songs' a couple of years ago. They did it again - this time with T.I. - and I love it in an 'on repeat' way. It's really more of a either-really-love-it or really hate it kind of a song, which sounds like every summer hit. This is my 2013 summer theme song:

Robin Thicke ft Pharrell ft T.I. -

Blurred Lines

Album: Blurred Lines

It's always summer in my country, so it's sun everyday, but music is the only thing that really changes around this time because she weather is most certainly not. If it's even possible it can get hotter in august. It's great to spend these days surrounded by water!

Much Love,

The previous editions of '4 the Love of Music':
4 the Love of Music #1
4 the Love of Music #2
4 the Love of Music #3

The next edition of "4 the Love of Music" will be released on: Sunday August 4th 2013.

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(2)4 the Love of Music #3

When a new month starts, it's certainly time to get ready for another edition of '4 the Love of Music'. This time I failed to release it on time due to my busy school schedule. Sorry!. Like every edition, this one also has a theme and it's: 'a celebration of life'. I had another theme in mind for this edition but I came across a very inspiring person that made me change the theme. His name is Zach Sobiech and this edition is dedicated to him.

'Life Is A Short Trip, the Music's for The Sad Man'

I feel it's very appropriate to include Beyonce in this edition since she headlined Gucci's 'Chime for Change: Sound of Change' concert. This song is one of my favorite covers, the refrain is originally by Alphaville but Jay-z put his own spin on it for his album 'The Blueprint 3' and Mr. Hudson sang the refrain in that one. This is the part where Beyonce comes in... As Jay-z headlined Coachella in 2010, Beyonce also put her own spin on it and slowed down the intro of the beat and sang the refrain. It's really amazing to hear 3 artists sing one song totally different. What's even more amazing is the live effect. Everything sounds better when it's live and raw. No one better than two amazing performers to sing/rap this amazing song.
P.s. I loved Jay-z and Beyonce's chemistry on stage

Jay-z featuring Beyonce - 

Young Forever (Live)

Coachella 2010

'Changes Come & We All Know That We Can't Stop Them,
But I Hold The Memories & I Will Never Drop Them'

Brett Dennen is one of my favorite artists and musicians of all time. He's remarkably talented with honest writing and a beautiful voice. He mostly sings about 21st century problems, but this song is about life after death. The lyrics are amazing and he's singing about watching over someone who's still on this planet. California born folk musician and songwriter Brett Dennen knows a thing or two about bringing out a meaningful song that will make you melt if you listen to the lyrics. He's also one for the music not the money. Two of his songs were on the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack and much more series. His most famous songs are 'Ain't No Reason', 'Make You Crazy' and my personal favorite 'Heaven'. From his self-titled album, I bring you:

Brett Dennen -

When I Go

Album: Brett Dennen

'The Heart's I Have Touched, Will Be the Proof that I Leave'

Last year's World Humanitarian Day Beyonce started a campaign 'I Was Here' which was about doing something good, somewhere for someone else. A lot of singers, designers and actors including President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Ben Affleck, Gucci and Stella McCartney have helped Beyonce reach 1 billion supporters on August 19th. It truly was a moment of history I was glad I witnessed. For this campaign she released a video where she performs 'I Was Here' live at the UN's headquarters. If the song and the lyrics aren't amazing enough wait till you see the amazing visuals and her long sleeved glittered white dress. What truly adds a bit more heart and the message Beyonce was trying to sent out was the video of people helping other people. Here is a moment captured forever in my mind:

Beyonce -
I Was Here
Album: 4

Who is Zach Sobiech?

Zach is a teen who was diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 14. He wrote and sang a song 'Clouds' which was a Youtube hit. The song can be seen as his goodbye letter, since writing letters weren't his style. The video has more than 7 million views and a couple of covers. Sadly Zach passed away on May 20th 2013 at the age of 18. Weeks before his death celebs such as Rainn Wilson, Rachel Bilson, Wes from The Lumineers, Phillip Phillips, Jason Mraz, Ashley Tisdale, Sara Bareilles, Bryan Cranson, Sarah Silverman and Jason Derulo lip sang a tribute video. This video has almost 3 million views. Zach set up a fund called 'The Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund' and all proceeds benefit the fund. They've made over $350,000 already and you can purchase the iTunes #1 hit here. Zach is a true inspirations and I hope he has inspire many more make a step in the right direction!

Zach Sobiech -

Clouds

I am dedicating the 3rd edition of '4 the Love of Music' to Zach, who simply wanted the world to know that you don't have to find out you're dying to start living. I want to help him spread this message since he is no longer with us. He is a reminder that we should all live out our dreams.

Much Love,

The previous editions of '4 the Love of Music': 
4 the Love of Music #1
4 the Love of Music #2

The next edition of "4 the Love of Music" will be released on: Thursday July 4th 2013.

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Resort 2014: Black and White Sachin + Babi

This Resort 2014 is really more about looking out for designers that I'm not familiar with. Starting with last week's Clover Canon's Resort 2014 Collection, I'm now heading in a direction that's slightly the opposite. 

India-born couple and designers Sachin and Babi Ahluwalia from Sachin + Babi's womenswear label made a collection that will certainly set a trend very soon. They combined two trends that I predicted in '2013, the Year of...?'. Those are the classic black and white effect and floral prints. Their collection is simply relaxed enough for a Resort collection with a modern twist.

Sachin + Babi's customer is a woman with the spirit of a world traveler, who is a downtown girl at heart and embodies the artistry of design with effortless confidence - said the designers. Totally recognizable in this collection is the world traveler and downtown girl at heart part that probably is the most wanted request from customers yet often not well executed.

Babi and Sachin Ahluwalia

My Favorite Look:

MY FAVORITE LOOK

My favorite look contains the trends that I was talking about earlier. Floral prints with black and white combined is certainly the best of both worlds. Considering that one world is the modern floral and one is the everlastingly classic black and white trend. Not only do I see myself wearing this - I love shorts - but this entire look is perfect for summer. The long-sleeve shirt with striped black and white and a huge spot of yellow and purple floral print make this look a bit more serious but the black alligator shoes and the floral short give it a summer feel. 

Here are my favorite looks:

Black and white clearly set the mood this season for Sachin + Babi's collection. The combination of these 2 contrasts is my favorite because you can do a lot with them even though they're so plain. They go great together but you can really make a statement when you use black and white in different fabrics. Sachin and Babi didn't add a lot of volume but you can add a lot of volume to both black and white because they are so plain.
The collection has dresses, maxi skirts, full skirts, knee-length shorts, crop tops, leather jackets and shorts. My favorite looks were the looks that had some kind of twist. Like the look with the white shorts with black stripes and the orange long-sleeve. It goes really well together and I love the vertical black stripe that both of the pieces have. The other look that is also one of my favorites, is the short-front-long-back black dress with a laced V-neck. The dress is perfectly fine by its self but the twist with the glitter metallic sequin skirt under it is truly clever. It's a great way to make an LBD more energetic.

Looks I didn't like:

I simply didn't like these looks because they don't fit in this collection and the separate pieces also don't go together.

I really felt like Sachin and Babi made each piece work within the collection, that makes it really difficult to pair it with another piece from another collection or designer. With that said who needs another designer when this collection holds a couple of soon-to-be-trends.

Much Love,

Resort 2014: Tribal 'Clover Canyon'

I am so ready to celebrate the fact that I can add Clover Canyon to my favorite brands list. I have just only heard about their brand 2 days ago and they are fairly new to the fashion industry. Giving the 2 years that they've been at this, they surely seem to know who their customers are. This season they took Resort to another level reaching for the customer that wants to turn heads when she walks out the door!

Inspired by Fifties Cuba - cigars, fruit and mosaic tiles - Rozae Nichols took care of the showstopping collection that looks amazing together as well as apart. Let's see what else she has mastered in this collection.

I couldn't choose one so here are My 2 Favorite looks:

As I couldn't choose my favorite out of this amazing collection, I simply chose the two looks that I want the most in my closet. Both of these looks are simple yet eye-catching and they have this personality of their own

Prints are truly a must for every Resort collection, without it being too busy for the eye. Clover Canyon made sure that the looks also had a Caribbean feel to them so that they also look relaxing. Another way to make the prints less busy is to make them symmetric and that's what Clover Canyon did. Even though the collection is cohesive you can split it in two: the black & white looks with a pop of color and on the other side the basic brown looks with the darker and subtle colors. As I love the contrast black and white and bright colors in between I enjoyed that part of the collection more.

They also styled the looks simple so that you really focus on the detailed collection. I loved the red lipped model, the customer who would buy and wear these pieces would also be bold enough to go for a red lip.

I love the entire collection but the 8 looks that are under 'the rest of the collection' are simply out of proportion or not well combined. When you work with these kind of prints volume or ruffles can't really play a big role in the pieces especially not around the arms or waist.

Here are the rest of my favorite looks:

Here is the rest of the collection:

Some brands design their collections based on two to three customers, but that most of the time fails to keep the cohesion of the collection. Clover Canyon however has one customer - which I like way more - that would wear one of these looks to the mall, one to a concert and one to an art gallery. 

More importantly someone needs to call Solange Knowles to tell her that I'm ready for her to rule the red carpet in one of these pieces!

Much Love,

Ryan's Clothes Beyond the Pines

It's no secret that Ryan Gosling's future is looking pretty good. No, I'm not talking about his face and body (even though that would be a lovely subject), but I'm talking about his talent. Ryan was my prediction of 'The Actor to Watch' in 2013 and well...I hope you watched him on the big screen in his new movie 'The Place Beyond the Pines' starring alongside Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendez.

The Place Beyond the Pines is more a father-son tale as the movie starts with Ryan finding out Eva Mendez is carrying his child. Don't even get me started on the fact that I only got to see him the first 47 minutes of the 2 hours and 20 minutes movie. Putting that aside I have to point out that Ryan's TPBtP character has some serious style. 

Ryan went beach blond and all tatted up for this role and it payed off, he was unrecognizable because it's nothing like the rest of his roles. He owned it, acted like it was nothing while looking good - sorry great.
But then I realized that I haven't felt that way since I saw James Dean's "Rebel Without a Cause".

Yes, I was thinking of James Dean as I was watching Ryan play a masterpiece of a role that doesn't come along everyday. I'd like to think that The Place Beyond the Pines is the sequel to Rebel Without a Cause as rebel then isn't the same as rebel now. Both James and Ryan played their roles beautifully as they created a character that has no limits whatsoever.

Let's Break Down Ryan's Style Throughout the Entire Movie:

Eva Mendez - Ryan Gosling

The first thing I noticed was his awesome folded and tucked in 'Metallica' shirt that he paired with biker pants with drops of white paint on them.
Ryan's character robs a couple of banks to provide for his 'lover' and child - aww sensitive, hot and bad - might I say he even managed to personalize a tracksuit by adding sunglasses with bright green on the sides.
Another outfit I really loved were the grey jeans with a white shirt and his red jacket.

 

The first few minutes of TPBtP I was wondering where the sleeveless shirts were because they make guys look tougher especially when they have guns and a lot of tattoos. I'm so glad that Ryan didn't disappoint. We get to see a sleeveless hoodie and a sleeveless grey shirt.

Can't believe I'm about to say this but his white shirt with the holes made his character even more real and messed up at the same time.

The Fashion highlight of the movie was in fact this next outfit. Every separate piece of this outfit was included one way or another in another outfit. I'm talking about a red leather biker jacket with a white shirt (with holes in it) and a pair of black trousers with skulls on them. The complete outfit also has a dark green handkerchief (covering his nose and mouth), black heavy boots and dark blue gloves. Also completing his outfit is his Bad-Boy-Beach-Blond act.

The Director of TPBtP is also the Director of Blue Valentine in which Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams played. As you can understand Ryan is known for his character Noah in The Notebook. During the press conference he admitted that the Director Derek Cianfrance really made him push the limits of his character.
Ryan: ''When I first started filming the scene where I am robbing the bank, I looked down and women were smiling and filming me with their cell phones. Derek was very angry and blamed me for not being scary enough because they were having a great time being robbed. He made me do 22 takes of trying to scare them and at a certain point I got desperate and that's what you see in the film.''
I've noticed that a lot of Ryan Gosling fans have an issue with seeing him like this, but I truly enjoy these roles because I know Ryan can't stay 'Noah' forever. No actor that wants to have an Academy Award on their name can do that. I'm so glad that Ryan got out of that type of character because he was a child TV-star and the movie The Believer got him out of that phase. We will see more Luke (Ryan's character in TPBtP) roles than Noah roles Ryan said at the end of last year. 'Drive' also starring Carey Mulligan and 'Gangster Squad' also starring Sean Penn, Emma Stone and Josh Brolin are more roles leaning towards Luke.

I haven't compared anyone to James except to Ryan now & to Heath Ledger when I saw his movie Candy. They both have the drive that James had when playing a character. He exceeded his roles by creating a character that fills in the blanks and is more real. It's a shame we won't be able to see Heath in a new movie again but Ryan has some exciting movies coming up. 'Only God Forgives' is one of them. Ryan's past work include The Believer, The Notebook and The Ides of March. Ryan was nominated for an Oscar for 'Half Nelson' and a Golden Globe for 'Blue Valentine'.

Fingers crossed for Ryan winning an Academy Award anytime soon!

Much Love,