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Friday, August 3, 2012

Summer Outfit Look of the Day


Peter Pan Neckline Pink Dress
White Set Stone Cuff


Beige 160 mm Daffodile Leather Pump
This is a chic and affordable summer look for a fun time out with the girls. The beautifully decorated flower embellishment on the collar of the dress is so eye-catching that there is no need for any elaborate jewelry pieces to complete this outfit. However, for jewelry fanatics like me, a cuff bracelet like the one posted above is a perfect addition. Lastly, this beige daffodile leather pump is an affordable version to the Christian Louboutin 160mm pump.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Check out: Ryan Hemsowrth's remix of Frank Ocean's "Thinkin about you"


This is a great remix to Frank Ocean's "Thinkin About You" because it emphasizes and further adds to the classical instrumentation utilized within the song. I personally loathe remixes that completely change up songs to the point where the song's original beauty is ultimately destroyed. However, this remix succeeds in brilliantly embellishing soothing and fun rhythms and beats. Take a listen and Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

My Review on Frank Ocean's debut album: "channel ORANGE"

I am beyond impressed by Frank Ocean’s debut studio album Channel ORANGE. I was immediately drawn to Ocean’s incredibly strong vocals with his hit singles “Novacane,” “Swim Good,” and of course his features on Jay and Ye’s Watch the Throne. Channel ORANGE, in my humble opinion, will go down as an album that will expand and further develop a new direction of R&B, due to its deep lyrical content, superb vocals, and uniquely diverse instrumentation. I encourage you all to go out and buy a copy if you haven’t already. I promise you will not regret. Below is a list of my favorite songs off the album. 

Favorite Songs

1) Thinking about you: This is by far my favorite song off this album, primarily due to Ocean’s stellar vocal and emotionally impactful lyrics. I love this song from start to finish. The introduction of a group of violins playing with great vibrato perfectly lead into the tranquilizing and earthy beats sampled. Ocean’s falsetto in the chorus of this song is beyond perfection. Robin Thicke, Usher and Justin Timberlake’s falsetto attempts are amateurish compared to Ocean’s. Another great part about this song is its ability to capture a scenario we can all relate to. Ocean sings of someone who, when he thinks about, his “eyes don’t shed tears, but boy, they pour.” He ponders whether or not the person he is thinking about reciprocates thoughts of him. Frank basically admits to thinking about spending the rest of his life with this loved one, but again is clueless as to whether or not it is a mutual feeling. Nevertheless, this bittersweet story has to sound familiar to a plethora of us, which makes it that much more beautiful.




2) Sweet Life: This song has a great mixture of brass, string, and percussion instruments. It is a song with a combination of incredibly soothing and uplifting vocals sprinkled with lovely tropically inspired sounds. It paints a vividly intricate picture of an affluent character who lives in “ domesticated paradise,” where palm trees and pools decorate the hometown of Ladera Heights. The character Ocean sings about is basically living a “sweet life” since birth, being catered to with landscapers, housekeepers, and even has the luxury of owning a beach. Ocean paints such an incredibly enticing and surrealistic picture of a sweet life that seems unattainable, but highly desirable.

3) Super Rich Kids ft. Earl Sweatshirt : This is one of the songs that really caught my attention because of the repetitive piano chord played throughout the entirety of the song. For some reason the chords played sounds to me like a possible inspiration by the one and only Elton John. Again, both the vocals and story line of this track are impeccable. His theme seems to be the idea that money does not buy happiness, but rather causes nothing but “loose ends” “fake friends” and “white liars who cover up their problems with "white lines" (a cocaine reference of course). He further emphasizes in the bridge portion of the song that all he really desires in life is to search for a real love. The featuring of Earl Sweatshirt from the hip-hop collective Odd Future, further contributes to making this song quite catchy.
4) Pyramids: I have to admit that I was very hesitant to listen to this song in its entirety, as it is a 10:00 song. However, after giving it a chance, it turned out to be one of my ultimate favorite songs on the album. The first half of the song is a more upbeat tempo, with of course an Egyptian sounding feel, intermixed with airy and spacey type sounds. The second half slows down in tempo and has more of a jazzy and soul infused sound. It’s all around a song with great depth as Ocean tells a tale of Cleopatra, the “jewel of Africa,” who looses her preciousness when she abandons her soul mate. This song is simply put, a masterpiece. Ocean’s incredible vocal range is perfectly showcased. His lyrical content is mind-blowing. The drastic changes in tempo and instrumentation, do not sound sloppy, but rather flows smoothly throughout the entirety of this lengthy song.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Check out B.O.B.'s music video for his song "Both of Us" ft. Taylor Swift off his newly released Strange Clouds album


I'm a huge fan of B.O.B primarily because I truly believe he serves as one of the pioneers in transforming the direction of rap music. This song is an ideal example of this transformation as his deep lyrics shines brightly. As opposed to rapping about money, sex, drugs, or alcohol,he raps about what really matters in life. He specifically pinpoints his disgust of the shallowness and materialism prevalent in society now a days, which instantly brought back flashbacks to Kanye West's "All Falls Down," where he states: "We'll buy a lot of clothes when we don't really need em Things we buy to cover up what's inside." Similarly, B.o.B states: "And sometimes I wonder, why we care so much about the way we look, And the way we talk and the way we act and the clothes we bought. How much that cost? Does it even really matter?" What makes this song even more brilliant is intermixing a pop/country feel to the song by featuring Taylor Swift. Although I have to admit that I am not the biggest Taylor Swift fan, I do feel like she is a perfect addition to this song. It is definitely a genius move by B.O.B. to create a song that intermixes both rap and country as it helps in creating a softer edge and a specific rawness to the song. With that being said, check it out and Enjoy :)

Monday, June 25, 2012

Favorite Duet Performance thus far in the competition: J Rome & Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles performing Whitney Houston's " I Will Always Love You"

 
This is by far the best performance on ABC's "Duets" show thus far. For those of you who do not know, "Duets" is a singing competition where vocal superstars Kelly Clarkson, Robin Thicke, John Legend, and Jennifer Nettles search and ultimately chose two amateur singers to duet with, as they perform in front of a live studio audience. Nevertheless, as I've been following the show pretty regularly, my bet is on J. Rome (one of Jennifer Nettle's duet partners) to win the entire competition. Last week's performance confirmed my prediction as they chose to sing Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." It's always a risk to sing a Whitney song as no one can ever compare to her impeccable powerhouse vocals. However, both J.Rome and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles sounded absolutely flawless. Their performance was magical. They both sang in perfect harmony with one another, hitting every high note imaginable. It was evident they were sing from their hearts as they deeply felt every lyric and invoked the profoundly deep emotions attached to one of the greatest love songs ever.