I Watch You Over And Over Again

This, I feel, has been one of the cruelest summers of all so far – and it's yet to hit full stride. I'll repeat “hold it together”, all smiles, while dodging questions. Keeping it all at arms length. All I need is my retreat from the heat, and the music that's enveloped inside.

I stumbled upon the British band HTRK while reading up on the music scene in London these days. All it took was one YouTube video of a live performance (of the song “Ha”, which is linked in the previous video-drop post) and I was hooked. However, once I purchased their album and singles, my level of love for this band went through the roof. I'd HIGHLY recommend finding their debut full-length, Marry Me Tonight. It's such an impressive debut by what appears to be a pretty young band. The music swaggers around with gyrating bass lines, spindly, effects-laden guitars and industrial-esque percussion. It's topped off with the seductively sinful voice of vocalist Jonnine Standish, whose delivery is somewhere between Justine Frischmann of Elastica and PJ Harvey, but dropped down a set of RPMs and injected with lyrics so sultry they'd make Jarvis Cocker blush.

(HTRK photo by Emmapop)

You can listen to the stunner “Rentboy” by clicking here.

Aside from HTRK, a few other recent releases have steadily been on rotation via my turntable and iTunes. S.C.U.M. Visions Arise, The Horrors Primary Colours, The Big Pink Velvet & Stop The World singles, The Bridal Shop From Seas, The Mary Onettes s/t, The Dead Weather's Hang You From The Heavens & Treat Me Like Your Mother singles and recently compiled double-LP of My Bloody Valentine's more elusive EP releases entitled Before Loveless. All of the aforementioned are great and it should go without saying that I'd advise checking them all out.

Most of the music I've been listening to has been pretty dark, I suppose reflecting my current state of mind, and consequently I've been gravitating towards the same in my fashion sense. With Summer in full effect, the tradition goes that you're supposed brighten up your wardrobe palette with lighter colors. Well, I've personally been subscribing to the opposite notion. I've darkened up my outerwear layers and bottoms - but I've also boosted the contrast by slipping in slivers of white and pale greys in my undershirts and socks, and flipping cuffs on my jeans to show some raw denim color against the blacks of my oxford dress shoes. I may incorporate more whites as the season progresses, much like one of my favorite labels, All Saints, showcases on their current site:

(Photos courtesy of All Saints - such a great collection)

It's always common for me to share the looks I appreciate in Men's fashion, so for a change I figured I'd offer a male perspective on female fashion that catches my eye. Despite what you may think, not all guys are keen on girls who opt to show more skin than thread. I, for one, have always felt layers on girls really adds to the air of mystique. If the heat makes jackets impossible, cardigans and button-up shirts on girls are always a nice compliment to some dark jeans. While dresses and skirts are fine and all, I'm equally, if not moreso, attracted to girls in outfits that toe the androgynous femme fatale line. My advice for those ladies who prefer dresses – Go dark. Here are some female charmers whose outfits would win my attention over the barely-there look of the current crop of Los Angeles fashionistas.

(The above three looks courtesy of Kath B. - such great style!)

(Photo/outfit courtesy of Lea R.)

(Photo/outfit courtesy of Hannah J.)

(Photo/outfit courtesy of Tien A.)

(Photo/outfit courtesy of the kind Ms. Nada T.)

I am not familiar enough with specific womens-only labels that I'd recommend, but Morphine Generation, Surface To Air and All Saints usually offer darker themed lines that cater to these sorts of tastes.

Now then, back to disappearing. I hope everyone's Summer is fairing well.