A two-day gathering of younger indie bands, the Propaganda Music festival in Stockholm was spiced up with an appearance by veterans Belle and Sebastian. Attended by a generally mixed audience, it was easy to spot this summer’s style tweak to the anxious hipster uniform: slightly rolled-up skinny jeans (last year, it was the rolled-up khaki) hovering over white converse. A glimpse of fall’s newest addition was represented by a rolled-up fisherman’s hat.

The presence of 80′s-90′s nostalgia–including an ironic synchronized swimming performance–was hard to shake off, but it was the artists who had moved on that came out on top. The most pleasant surprise was the French duo turned trio Jamaica, who could be described as the missing link (if there ever was one) between Phoenix and Daft Punk. With an energetic and spontaneous performance, they delivered stacks of rock clichés that somehow came out feeling very fresh. Texas-born, Brooklyn-based Neon Indian also impressed with their electronic, danceable and psychedelic set. Referred to as Sweden’s most pleasant indie-band, the great-sounding Shout Out Louds lived up to every expectation, thanks in part to lead singer Adam Olenius’ captivating voice. And it’s hard not to like a band like Magic Numbers. A folksier, more huggable version of Kings of Leon, the quartet constantly adds well-written songs to their repertoire.

But it was the Swedish queen of electro-pop, Robyn, that got the large crowd dancing, as she transformed the first night of the festival into a nightclub. Energetic as an aerobics instructor, she worked through her hits, and delivered this summer’s unstoppable “Dancing On My Own” as the evening’s highlight.

http://www.myspace.com/ithinkilikejamaica
http://www.myspace.com/neonindian

There are artists that live out their lives on stage, without any filter between themselves and the audience, and ones that are simply pretending to. This year’s lineup of Way out West, an exceptionally well-organized outdoor festival held in the beautiful city of Gothenburg, was a celebration of that first type. Located in Slottskogen city park and continuing throughout the night with additional performances and DJ sets at local clubs, churches and boats, Way Out West is unlike a lot of other festivals in that it takes less than five minutes for audiences to travel from stage to stage. With the weather close to perfect and no serious festival mud in sight, you actually spent most of your time listening to music and hanging out with your friends.

But it was the honesty and self revelation from some of my favorite female artists that brought out the big emotions and sometimes tears from both performers and audience. Anna Ternheim, M.I.A., Anna von Hausswolff and Lykke Li all play by their own rules. They dig deep, and in sometimes uncomfortably dark places, which is why they all seem so much more relevant than most of their male colleagues. Young von Hausswolff dedicated songs to her grandmother as well as her lover and pointed out that performing here was a dream come true. Lykke Li (next to M.I.A.) was the only artist who seemed to put any thought into the visual aspect of her performance, allowing for a highly emotional experience and not just a set of songs.

After making a name for himself as a tattoo artist, with clients including the late Heath Ledger, Courtney Love and Marc Jacobs, about five years ago Scott Campbell began exploring drawing, painting and sculpture. While still keeping flesh his main canvas, Campbell’s artistic practice has found another home: the gallery. Thursday night Campbell will have his first solo presentation in New York City, titled “If You Don’t Belong, Don’t Be Long.” His aesthetic is rooted in his background as a tattoo artist, as well as in the culture surrounding American tattooing, and features pieces with ornamented scripts and classic motifs like skulls and hearts carved out of stacks of US Dollar bills. Although this theme has been visited before, the approach of layered notes creating three dimensional shapes, like a topographic map, feels new. As with any artist that lacks formal training or comes already established in another field he is judged in a different light in the art world (NY times featured him in their Style section rather than in Arts). But then where do you draw the line here, when most art that is trying hard to be provocative and unconventional is, in many cases, more about the message and the concept rather then the piece itself? I doubt that this bothers Campbell and his fans. His work should be looked at as single pieces and judged thereafter, regardless of what category it falls into.

If You Don’t Belong, Don’t Be Long is running April 29 – May 30, 2010 at OHWOW, 109 Crosby street in New York.

HIS STAR HAS RISEN AT A METEORIC RATE,  BUT DESIGNER ALEXANDER WANG IS KEEPING HIS FEET ON THE GROUND AND HIS EYES FIRMLY ON THE BUSINESS. HIS NEW COLLECTION FOR MEN ALLOWS GUYS EVERYWHERE TO GET INTO THE WANG LOOK, AND IT ALL STARTS WITH THE T-SHIRT.

Everyone knows Alexander Wang as the cool young designer and boy-about-town, but some people might be very surprised to hear that he has some very mature words to say about business, and what it’s like being a young designer designing in New York today. With his recently launched T collection, Wang has been able to approach fashion from two angles—and two price points. But, as he explains in his own words, buying clothes in 2010 is becoming less about tradition and more about simply what works, regardless of price or prestige. Here he talks about starting out, growing up, and how the rules of fashion are being rewritten.

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Photographer Todd Selby started his blog “The Selby” by documenting  the eclectic living and working spaces of his creative friends–who in turn introduced him to new friends with equally interesting spaces. There was something really sweet about the early entries on the blog. His friends, often couples, opened their doors to him and exposed something really personal about themselves–and the people became as important as their environments. Combined with Todd’s illustrations and handwritten q+a’s, each entry was something intimate, a private portrait of a friend. As Selby’s blog gained reputation, the inevitable happened. The friends got more famous and the spaces got more grand. Now Selby is famous too, with exhibitions, books and even his own fragrance in collaboration with Colette! But it still works and it will keep on working because of Selby’s personal and playful approach to his subject. He is as much an illustrator and writer that he is a photographer and it’s the sum of all parts that makes this special and interesting. The Selby is in Your Place, published by Abrams, compiles his blog entries old and new in a book that in essence documents people and their homes. And if there is anything to say about their style, it’s that it has to be earned and can’t be bought.

We’ve been really into this song I’m Sorry We Lied by a band called
Blood Orange. We decided to find out more about the band, so we
contacted Devonté Hynes, aka Lightspeed Champion–who turned out to be
more than just the front man.

Who are you and what’s your background?

My name is Devonté Hynes and I am from London, but I’ve lived in New
York for the last 2 years.

Can you tell me a little bit about the band members?

It’s just me! I write and record everything myself in my bedroom. If
I’m feeling adventurous, I record in my living room. It usually
depends on whether or not I’m editing a video to go along with the
song. I sometimes do that just so I get a feeling and/or vision for
it.

Who are the influences for Blood Orange?

Jo Hisaishi in parts–the Oriental side of things. Other more aesthetic
approaches come from Rick Derringer-era Cyndi Lauper, Oingo Boingo,
Prefab Sprout and Billy Idol. But I wanted something that sounded like
a gang mentality, around the idea of being young and vulnerable.
People grouping together to toughen up is something I kept thinking
about whilst working on these songs.

How would you describe your music?

Hmm, I don’t know. I have a tendency to lie when people ask me because
I’m usually too embarrassed to say what I think, or am trying to
portray. It either always sounds stupid or arrogant…. See above, ha
ha.

Any upcoming shows? Is there an album on the way?

Tomorrow night actually, I’m playing Glasslands in Brooklyn for Class
Actress record release on Terrible Records. Chris and Ethan have been
very supportive of me. Even though I’m not on their label, they’ve
always treated me like their own. Their foster own.

Tell us  bit about the video. It’s a bit unusual for a music video.
The video was actually the second edit of footage to this song that I
worked on. But I’m glad I did it again. It’s just a basic tale of Josh
Brolin skateboarding then getting the crap beaten out of him.

Blood orange is playing Saturday, February 6th at Glasslands.

For more info visit http://www.glasslands.com or
http://www.myspace.com/bloodorangeforever

The most original invitation so far for New York fashion week was sent to us by British menswear designer Bespoken.

http://bespokenclothiers.com/

Every once in a while you come across something that needs to be shared. I’ve had Volcano Choir’s “Unmap” (released by JagJaguwar) on repeat for quite a while now and felt it might be time to let go and share it with you. The album is a collaboration between the members of Collection of Bees and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.

Completely lacking conventional structure, the album feels like a celebration of music itself rather than a thought-out set of songs performed by a group of musicians. Imagine a bunch of great friends going to a remote house in the countryside in the fall. Without pretense, and just for their love of music, they spontaneously record some songs that weren’t written beforehand. Adding layer after layer of passion and memories, it’s like an exercise in intimacy. And then they leave this recorded document like a message in a bottle, for us to discover at a later time.

Of course, I’m just making this all up and have no idea how this came about, but I think you’ll know what I mean when you hear it.

Photography by Cameron Witti