New Music Video: Veronica Falls “Come On Over”

“Come on Over” is from Veronica Falls’ upcoming self-titled debut LP, to be released in September on Slumberland Records. The video, filled with some pretty amazing dance choreography, was created by Brooklyn-based Army of Kids.

After a slew of critically acclaimed singles and well-received shows both here and in the UK, the quartet of Roxanne Clifford, Patrick Doyle, James Hoare and Marion Herbain, otherwise known as Veronica Falls are returning this autumn with their much anticipated self-titled debut LP. With their debut album, Veronica Falls have crafted a brilliantly concise, superbly concentrated hit of spiky, marvelously contagious indie pop with a twist – these are songs which will lodge themselves in your head as well as your heart, with style and attitude to burn. You’d do well to surrender to their eerie spell.

New Music: Brilliant Colors “Again and Again”

Brilliant Colors are back with their second LP Again and Again.

Inspired by post-punk fervor and the spiky pop of C86 and early Flying Nun / Creation label output, San Francisco’s Brilliant Colors stake out a unique spot in the indie music landscape. Their 2009 album, Introducing, is one of the finest debuts in recent memory, and they followed it with 7-inches on Slumberland and Make a Mess and a European tour with La La Vasquez that led to the release of another great single on Germs of Youth. Most recently, they teamed up with Belfast’s brilliant Girls Names to release a split 7-inch in Fall 2010. All of these singles were recorded with Oakland garage phenom Ty Segall, who spiked the ladies’ punk-pop swirl with his own special grit.

Now Brilliant Colors have teamed up again with The Pool’s Alex Yusimov (who recorded their first album as well as Grass Widow and many of Portland’s finest indie bands) to create Again And Again, an album that represents a great next step for the band. The song-writing is still as infectious as ever, but the tunes are now more carefully arranged pushing the band far beyond their punk roots to something as elemental as pop gets. Songs like opener “Hey Dan,” the sprightly “Value Lines” and “Hitting Traffic” combine guitarist/singer Jess’ catchy-as-hell riffs with Diane’s steady, rolling beats and Michelle’s dense baselines to fashion songs that are deceptively simple — straightforwardly rocking but also richly layered, revealing new twists on each listen.

The mood is confessional and late-night dreamy; Jess’ unadorned vocals and eloquent lyrics are personal, direct and atmospherically deployed, mixed in with the songs like another instrument. They can be heard to great effect on tougher songs like “Back To The Tricks” and “Painting Truths,” tempering those tunes’ punchy punk dynamics with their melodic sensibility. Add in classic-sounding stormers like “Cult Face” and “How Much Younger” and you have all the makings of another great Brilliant Colors album, one that shows how finely they’ve honed their own unique brand punk-informed crash-pop.

Brilliant Colors’ Again and Again is out July 19, 2011 via Slumberland Records

Brilliant Colors – How Much Younger by Slumberland Records

Style Watch: “Natural Beauty”

Via NOWNESS:

Cheeky directors Lernert & Sander embrace the urge for cosmetic overkill in their surreal short Natural Beauty. Makeup artist Ferry van der Nat and his assistant Vanessa Chan helped to execute the vision, slathering a host of Ellis Faas products on  Belgian beauty Hannelore Knuts, who was recently named the new face of Swiss fashion house Akris. Lernert & Sander began collaborating in 2006; since then they’ve done everything from melt a chocolate bunny with a hairdryer to repurpose household appliances as sex toys in the name of video art. We asked the co-conspirators to break down the shoot in detail.

STATS FROM ON SET

Mission Statement: We wanted to apply 365 layers of makeup in one day to see how much is needed to go from a natural look to an outrageous one.

Production time: It was a relaxed shoot but it took us nearly nine hours non-stop to apply all the layers to Hannelore’s face.

Magic ingredients: Seven bottles of Foundation S103; two bottles of Creamy Eyes E107; three Milky Lips L205 pens; and two bottles of Blush S301. All together 228.40ml of makeup.

Lunch menu: Hannelore was fixed between panels for the whole shoot, so everything she ate or drank came from a straw: juice, and a granola and yogurt mix. I think she had sushi on her train back to Brussels.

Soundtrack: No music on our shoots! Unless we do a music video and the artists need to lip-sync. But we don’t like lip-syncing, so that never happens in our videos. Music distracts.

Prep work: We tested a 100-layer session a few days before on our intern, who is a man. We wanted to make sure that this amount of makeup wouldn’t kill a person. It didn’t kill our intern so we trusted everything would be fine on Hannelore.

Crisis averted: There was always the “we’ve run out of makeup” stress. But Ellis Faas has her office right around the corner so we could call and get more [Foundation] S103.

Souvenirs: We saved the white construction for Hannelore’s face, so if we plan to do a “two years of makeup” we already have the perfect face frame.

Photo File: Dane Shitagi “Ballerina Project”

Kate – Canal Street

About the Ballerina Project:

Like a dream becoming reality the Ballerina Project is a series of photographs created by photographer: Dane Shitagi. Crafted over the span of ten years the Ballerina Project is not “dance photography” but an etching of a ballerinas heart and emotions.

Every aspect of the Ballerina Project is carefully crafted and cultivated. The project has been photographed entirely on traditional photographic film and not with modern digital cameras. The majority of ballerinas who have posed for the project are professional dancers and the minority are advanced ballet students in renown dance schools. The crafts of dance and photography are truly upheld on both ends of the creation of the Ballerina Project.

Artist Bio:

Dane Shitagi is a New York City-based photographer. Originally from Honolulu, Dane had dreams of becoming a photographer from a very young age and soon began to work professionally in photography at the age of 15. He moved to New York in 1996, taking inspiration from the sights & sounds of the city as well as the energy & diverse arts that thrive here. Rather than molding his ideas to the studio setting, he has taken his creativity and inspiration from the world outside – preferring the rawness and atmosphere that only a living city can bring. In addition to the Ballerina Project, Dane has photographed personalities such as fashion designer Gaby Basura, writer Plum Sykes & socialite Tinsley Mortimer for American Vogue Magazine. He also works for a number of commercial clients including Sony Ericcson, Capezio, & Fujifilm.

Ballerina Project Website

Ballerina Project Facebook

Kate – Williamsburg

Alex – Manhattan Bridge

Andrea – 66th & Broadway

Alex – Coney Island

Stephanie – Central Park

Style Icon: Miroslava Duma

Former editor at Harper’s Bazaar Russia and street style photog favorite Miroslava Duma is now the face of Buro 24/7 with her own Look of the Day blog. Ahhh…new inspiration.