Urban Outfitters Rant and Recent Music

I realized this morning that I would make a terrible "professional music critic." For that matter, I would make a terrible hipster; I don't like listening to an indie playlist or radio station just for the sake of the trend. The label "indie" does not automatically equal appealing. In fact, many of the big name indie bands sound pretty drab and boring to me, so actually having to listen to new releases and critiquing them for a publication would be difficult for me. I'd either say, "This one was pretty good," or "Nope."

It's easy for me to immediately relate the indie genre to Urban Outfitters. The store's name, in turn, has become my new favorite adjective. I feel like it's the easiest way to describe the subculture that wears $90 thrift store crap that I could find in my grandma's garage, and follows every self-proclaimed indie band that the store releases a vinyl LP for.

I don't hate Urban Outfitters. Every Christmas I generally order about $200 worth of stuff for my family, (and I can't deny a nice pair of clearance t-strap shoes or a fantastic deal on a vintage-style purse,) but I really dislike the fads that have been bred by its sales and endorsements. I don't like having to see those trends screaming at me when I go to a show in my tragically un-hip southwestern town, because most people have no idea what they're doing. They don't know how to adopt the look and make it work for them, (but maybe in general, few do.) Perhaps in a bigger city, I would be more accepting, but it would most likely be because I would have exposure to individuals who modify the style and add creativity to it--maybe a piece or two from UO, but also a vintage necklace, a thrift store sweatshirt, a handmade skirt.

I digress. It's hard to put a finger on my musical tastes. Rhapsody classifies me as a fan of Electropop, Indie Pop, Alt Dance, Post-Punk, and Brit Rock. Sometimes I'd like to expand my horizons, if only to not sound so dense and uncultured around people that have one or two bands in common, but if I don't like the first 10 seconds of any song on the album, I'm not going to go out of my way to become intimate with the band. Anyway, I suppose everyone can be a critic these days thanks to the internets!

The whole purpose of this post was to list the music I've been digging on recently because it's fun for me to come back to it months later and say, "Hey, I remember that song!" So in no particular order, here are a few songs off of albums that I dig in their entirety:

Grimes - Circumambient (album: Visions)
The Antlers - Parantheses (album: Burst Apart)
Flo & the Machine - Spectrum (album: Ceremonials)
Austra - The Noise (album: Feel it Break)
School of Seven Bells - The Night (album: Ghostory)
The Rapture - In the Grace of your Love (album: same title)
Youth Lagoon - Posters (album: The Year of Hibernation)
M83 - Midnight City (album: Hurry Up We're Dreaming)

Other songs:

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks
Of Monsters and Men - Six Weeks
Phantogram - Turning into Stone
Zola Jesus - Animal
Zola Jesus - Vessel
Digitalism - Reeperbahn
Glasser - Apply
Hooray for Earth - True Loves
Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know, (the new "Pumped up Kicks"? Nooo!)
Gotye - State of the Art
Bell X1 - Nightwatchmen

a general sigh

My enthusiasm for this blog has been steadily dwindling. I started the thing with good intentions, but my desire to create a kind of inspirational scrapbook has become more of a chore than a relief. I used to love stumbling upon new imagery, words, sounds...but now I feel obligated to seek it out. "Stumbling" has become forced.

This is due, partly, to the fact that there is an audience, (albeit small, but wandering eyes nonetheless.) I write differently when people are watching. Whether it's one or a dozen, I create a sense of pressure for myself, and my drive to explore says "so long!"

I don't want to be boring, but I feel boring. If my original intent is for personal satisfaction, then why does it bother me when I post too much fashion and not enough interior design? I don't know.

I've reached a point where I am in dire need of inspiration. I have writer/photographer/general creator's block. Between the holidays, strep throat, moving my mother, and remodeling my house, I haven't found much time to go beneath the surface. It's starting to gnaw at me...

Calcified

I had to take my boyfriend to the emergency room last Saturday night. They kept us there for eight hours... He has a kidney stone, and as of today, it's still floating around. The doctor, (a blonde British gent with Laryngitis that had to whisper his prognosis,) wasn't able to do much because the hospital was under-staffed and over-populated. They pumped him full of pain medicine, gave him a cat scan, and told him he'd eventually pass it. The pain has been causing him to throw up violently, there and back and into the following day. If it's not gone by this afternoon, I'm buying him a six pack and a bottle of tequila. That's sure to get it out, no?

Fashion Pet Peeves

Allow me to rant for a second. I'm not claiming to be a fashion expert, and I'm not saying that people should be punished for wearing trendy things, but there are certain folks, (especially in El Paso, especially at the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show last night,) that really have no idea how ridiculous they look. I know that particular women can pull off particular things; the models in the pictures below don't look half bad, and I probably wouldn't cringe if I saw them in public, but I'm bothered by the people that really have no idea how to make a current style work for them, (or when a certain style will never work for them.) Granted, I had my moments of questionable attire, so I'm not in any way innocent, but I don't know...after seeing the club crowd in my area last night, I can't help but feel slightly bitter towards the general scene these days.

Here are a few current trends that make me sad:

5. Summer Scarves.

Scarves are not a bad accessory, I own a few myself, but I wear them in winter weather. I'm sure scarves fit in nicely where cooler temperatures exist year round, like San Francisco, but when it's 100 degrees outside, I fail to see why anyone would want to wear something like this.







4. Uggs or any fuzzy boots over your jeans.

Thankfully there's not much of this going on at the moment due to warmer weather, but it's definitely become popular over the last few winter seasons. I really don't know why I dislike this so much...it just looks silly to me. When I think of jeans tucked into boots, I think equestrian, European; and when done right, boots and jeans can look very classy. But in EL PASO, where the nearest ski resort is hours away, and really not that popular among locals, how do you justify wearing ski boots?




3. Leggings and long shirts.

I saw a lot of this last night. I really don't know if this could be worn in any way that says, "timeless," because to me, leggings belong in the eighties, with metal bands and large, large hair. A lot of the time, I see this on very short girls, and it does nothing for their figures...they're so tiny that the shirt might as well be a dress. Or, this is worn by women that are large, and the delicate balance of loose and tight is totally lost.





2. The Emo Haircut

This looks like a modern version of the mullet. Why leave it thicker and shorter on top, and allow a few stringy tentacles to dangle towards the bottom? Is it short or long? It looks scraggly. I can't understand why on earth a person would find this attractive. Sometimes I see pieces of it pulled back into a ponytail, cluttered with bobby pins and clips, and it gives off a general air of sloppiness. I imagine it took them a while to get it just right, but it makes girls appear lazy and unkempt.




1. Cigarette Jeans with High Heels

I cannot stand the bunched up look of gathered material hanging over high shoes. I've been seeing it more and more in the past month, and most of the women wearing this in El Paso cannot walk in high heels. It looks so incredibly ridiculous. The pants are too long; they could possibly redeem themselves as being form-fitting, but the bottoms make it look like the wearer is completely ignorant of their own height. I've never been a fan of skinny jeans, because there are only a handful of people capable of making it work for their body type. Those that do, I applaud you, but please keep them a decent length.

Note: Despite some of the above images, I have nothing against Urban Outfitters--they have a great range of styles, and their home decor selection is awesome.