KTZ Aftershow Party at the W London

On Tuesday night I co-organized and DJ'd the official AW12 aftershow party for Kokon To Zai in the Wyld Bar at the W Hotel London. Check out some of the photos below by Billa Baldwin! Guests included Diane Pernet, Charli XCX and Lana Del Rey's stylist and performance artist Johnny BlueEyes with DJ sets by myself, Jodie Harsh, Larry Tee and Miguel Dare. Thanks to Sasha and Marjan of KTZ, Jo Blaz, Joanna Firanka, Victoria Wadwa, Isaac Morrison at Dash Concepts and Fair Vodka for sponsoring.

KTZ AW 12

LFW Day 5: Menswear

I kicked off menswear day at the Relative MO headquarters, picking out James Long pieces to wear for the show and later that night for the after party at the W (which I had organized). Here is a photo of me trying on a grey knit with my Damir Doma trousers & boots.

I loved the James Long show, the whole exotic desert vibe was really cool, for me it conjured up retro images of the American West Coast, desert road trips in classic convertibles and sun-kissed San Francisco days. The patchwork biker jacket made up of contrasting fabrics was really cool, and the styling and music (by Hanna Hanra) really brought everything together nicely. Thumbs up! Below is a photo I took at the show and if you want to see a video then click HERE:

Next up I attended the KTZ (Kokon To Zai) show also at Somerset House, which I was really impressed by. Mixing African tribal influences with punk rock via S&M it was full of detail and attitude. The soundtrack was superb, starting and ending with It Began In Afrika by The Chemical Brothers and incorporating various other tribal electro tracks as well as Beyoncé's Run The World. Below is a photo I took of the finale with my friend dancer/model Eric Underwood wearing the leather harness piece and if you click HERE you can watch a video of the show:

After the KTZ show I headed over to see Nickque walk for Oliver Spencer and then onto Vauxhall Fashion Scout for the T. Lipop show for which I did the soundtrack. I mixed Phenomenon by LL Cool J with tracks by Pretty Lights and the Don Diablo/Missy Elliott mash-up Workin' Out Is Overrated. The show itself was brilliant, mixing Native American tribal influences with African prints (created by my good friend Cyril Crentsil) and fantastic casting and styling choices that came together to create a look I can only describe as Amish rock chic. Here are some photos I took backstage with models including Leebo Freeman, Cyril showing off one of his prints and two of the amazing bags Tom (Lipop) created for the collection:

I highly recommend you click HERE and check out some photos from the T. Lipop catwalk. Later that night I hosted and DJ'd the official James Long after show party (which I also organized) in conjunction with 7th Man Magazine and in collaboration with Relative MO which was amazing, and which I'll post about later. All in all it was a very exhausting but amazing day!

Low

This is a photo I took of Daniel Lismore:


This is where I'm DJing on Thursday:

and also Friday, which is going to be amazing:

Right now I'm listening to Low (the band, not the David Bowie album, though I do love Bowie).

About Low, and why I love them: Low are a band from Duluth, Minnesota, that formed in 1993 and consist of Alan Sparhawk on guitar and vocals, Mimi Parker (his wife) playing drums and also providing vocals, and (currently) Steve Garrington on the bass guitar. Their music is often labelled under the 'slowcore' sub-genre of rock, which is characterised by sparse and minimal arrangements and slow tempos, though the band generally show disdain for this term, and not all of their songs adhere to this style. What draws me to Low the most is the way Alan and Mimi conjure the most striking and powerful imagery from meticulously crafted but very simple and short lyrics, and this, coupled with their gorgeous vocal harmonies, creates some of the most beautiful and haunting music I have ever heard. It's been around six years since I discovered Low, and I still listen to them almost every single day. Unfortunately they're probably most famous for their cover of Little Drummer Boy which was used for a Gap Christmas commercial. They do seem to like Christmas though:


My favourite Low songs (click the song titles to listen):

Dinosaur Act
(all through the dust/you feel you must hear the strings of a dove/but it's a dinosaur act)

Closer
(hold me closer than that)

Starfire
(let's take a ride/starfire tonight/ten thousand miles away)

Immune
(does it taste like home/only when your eyes are closed)

Soon
(soon it will be over/I laughed under my breath over your shoulder)

In The Drugs
(breaking like dolls/singing like birds/we always get what we deserve)

Over The Ocean
(if I belong/then I'll be longer than expected)

La La La Song
(sometimes I could choke myself with laughter/sometimes everything's so true)

Two Step
(the light it burns your skin/in a language you don't understand)

Sunflower
(with your half of the ransom/you bought some sweet sunflowers/and gave them to the night)

They have released eight studio albums thus far, with a new one supposedly coming this year. Their best album, in my opinion, is Things We Lost In The Fire, followed by Secret Name. The Great Destroyer is interesting in that it's a big departure from their signature sound, and quite a noisy album, but it's probably their weakest, although it has some great songs on it. Their most recent album, Drums and Guns, was partially inspired by the war in Iraq, and featured quite a claustrophobic and tense sound with more electronic aesthetic influences.