_Happy New Years!

There’s still an hour and a half from now until 2010 for me, a new year and a new decade. Most of you in the world are probably partying still or asleep, but won’t read this until the morning or afternoon of the 1st.

2009 was a good year for me I think, way better than last year. I think I’ve achieved a lot this year, and I hope I achieve more next year. I don’t like when everyone blogs about the new years, texts, instant messages, or tweets me “Happy New Years”! But as I’m writing this post, I’m thanking everyone for it. I’m realizing that on New Years, you realize what you have done and achieved during the past year, give yourself a pat on the back, and motivate yourself to do even better the next. So, cheers to every single one of you!

In 2009, I migrated Mossip into Vinyl and Vodka, did pushups with Gwen Stefani in front of 20,000 people (my childhood idol), went to New York (dream city!), Montreal (for like, the 10th time), Vancouver and Alaska (brr), started my own magazine, broke my iPhone 3 times (on my 4th currently!), partied a lot, got a new hairstyle, got hired and fired at Gap, got hired at American Apparel, and had an amazing time with friends.

I know most blogs have made their best songs/albums of the year/decade, and I want to join in. Look forward to a couple of lists within the first weeks of January.

Someone sent me this link to a mash-up of the biggest pop songs in 2009, and I have to admit it is pretty good. Someone should make one of the biggest alternative music in 09! (I’m guessing there’ll be a lot of Animal Collective, Phoenix, Dirty Projectors, XX, Grizzly Bear, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Passion Pit?)

_Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension (Music Video)

“Anger is weakness, patience is strength”

_Ash Stymest Photographed for Vogue Russia

Ash Stymest was photographed by Alasdair McLellan for the January issue of Vogue Russia. This photoshoot was no typical Ash Stymest editorial though. Posing alongside with Hannah Holman and Ross Tanner, Ash is portrayed as a more calm, deeper punk.

You might be asking: “Where are the clothes? Isn’t this a fashion shoot?” I’m guessing this is a beauty shoot. Hannah’s eyes are fucking beautiful.

[via]

Earlier, I posted the cover of Vogue Russia with Natasha Poly.

_Vampire Weekend – “Cousinz” (Toyselectah Mex-More Remix)

Who wouldn’t want the chance to remix the songs from the upcoming Vampire Weekend CD, Contra? Few, I’d think. Well Toyselectah has this opportunity. His ghetto-tech tropical style seems to fit in nicely with the theme of Contra and will no doubt be a happy marriage fitting for a dance filled evening fueled by Caribbean rum.

With the release of Contra being right around the corner(1/11/09) my anticipation level is currently through the roof. But now with the addition of these very different, yet astoundingly similar remixes my level goes from through the roof, to the moon! Check out this track from the CD which will be entitled Contra Megamelt and embrace all that is Toyselectah, combined with Vampire Weekend. Mmmm, It’s tasty!

Vampire Weekend – “Cousinz”(Toyselectah Mex-more Remix) Stream

_Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal Atelier Video Tour

Here is a video that gives us a tour of Maison Martin Margiela’s Artisanal Atelier collection. The innovative collection consists of avant-garde and couture pieces comprised by single, every day items such as bungee cords, playing cards, wigs, and fake eyelashes.

I thought this video was cool because we got to see a preview of what the workers at the fashion house do, and this was released just after 52 year old head designer Martin Margiela decided to leave the company and retire.

[via]

_jj – 5 Minuter Med JJ

I believe that I have never posted about one of my favorite new bands jj before, so here is my chance to. Made up with members Joakim and Elin, they are based from Sweden. Their material is sort of like a mysterious indie pop infused with a bit of electro (with lots of echos). They just got signed to Secretly Canadian on Christmas Eve, and also announced a future third album release date which is planned to be released in March,

They recently did some sort of mash-up sample song covering (more like sampling) artists like Akon, The xx, Rick Ross/The Dream, and Charles Manson. Titled “5 Minuter Med JJ”, they did this specially for Swedish Radio.

My absolute favorite part is when they sample “Intro” by The xx two thirds into the song and sing over it. Amazing!!!

jj – “5 Minuter Med JJ”Stream

[via]

_Sondre Lerche Covers Animal Collective’s “Bluish”

I have to be honest, I think Animal Collective was a little overhyped in 2009. They made the top of almost everyone’s “Best of 2009″ list, and personally, I don’t think they’re that great. Yes, they’re really good and interesting, but sometimes they can get annoying. Maybe I have overplayed ‘Merriweather Post Pavillon’?

Sondre Lerche recently covered one of my favorites “Bluish” acoustically from the album. It’s a very minimal cover, with the soft strums of his guitar playing parallel with his crispy voice. This is Animal Collective on a whole, new, different perspective.

Once you strip down a song to its bare basics, it’s surprising how different it sounds from its original cover and how radio friendly it can sound.

Sondre Lerche – “Bluish” (Animal Collective Cover)Stream

[via]

_What I Got For Christmas…

Hey guys! Merry belated Christmas, I hope you’re enjoying your holidays. I want to incorporate some of my personal life stories/latest findings/my outfits to this blog to make it more of a personal blog, and not just “the blog that reposts what other blogs post”.

So, my Christmas day was pretty boring, I woke up at around noon and went to a boring family friend’s dinner potluck. Even so, this year I haven’t been feeling up to par with the Christmas spirit. Nothing seems that special this year. My cousin from Montreal visited us for a week though, so i spent all week with her (which is probably why posts have been lacking, sorry about that).

My mom told me she didn’t want to put our Christmas tree this year (it’s fake), so I was bummed. But when she and my dad went to some party my cousin, my brother and I decided to bring it out and set it up as a surprise. I then found a mini Santa made out of pipe cleaners (is that what they are called? I haven’t said that term since I was a kid!) and since we didn’t have a star or anything cool like a star to put on the top of the tree I decided to wrap its legs around the top of the tree, making it look like it was humping it. I found that hilarious!

Now, what I got for Christmas…

An external hard drive from my dad! Finally! I really needed one because I only had like, 500 MB of space left on my computer and couldn’t download any more albums or anything. My old one crashed in the summer, losing basically everything. I hope this one doesn’t fail me. It’s black, shiny, light, and holds 1 terabyte.

What I got my dad: A personalized pen, a table clock, and a photo frame.

What I got from my mom was a pair of fake leather gloves. I have been saying that I wanted the perfect leather gloves for winter and haven’t found any amazing ones that are affordable yet, so I guess she did a good job of thinking of what I want. The only problem is: I’m really picky, and these are ugly. So I’m returning them in a couple of days.

What I got my mom: A really expensive candle and soap.

A Starbucks gift card from my brother. Yay!

What I got my brother: 2 graphic H&M tees.

A Zara long-sleeve shirt from my friend Jessica. I knew what it was the minute she gave it to me. She works at Zara and I was visiting her when she was working one day and tried a bunch of shirts on and really wanted this shirt (but in black) but ended up not buying it. Turns out they ran out of black when she bought it for me so she bought me a gray one instead. When I tried the gray one on I didn’t really like it anymore, plus it STILL was a bit tight (it was a Medium, and I’m usually an XS-S). The Zara sizing is fucked up. I mean, how do regular people that are size Large fit into their clothes? THEY CAN’T.
I’m sorry Jessica, I love the present but I don’t like it as much on me. I’m returning it!

What I got Jessica: A really cool fashion coloring book, and a candle in a teacup (that can be detached)

(special shoutout to Roni, she sent me these amazing cookies and other treats!) Merci beacoup!

I’ve also more presents to give away and to receive, I just haven’t got the time to meet up with them to exchange presents. I’ll post what I end up getting and giving after I give it away!

I am also in a desperate need of a DSLR camera as well – I want to take pictures of my daily outfits but the only actual digital camera I have access to is my brothers camera that I steal from him sometimes (the pictures turn out decent, all the ones posted are taken from it) or my dad’s video camera. I have a million film cameras that I still don’t know how to use properly though!