What kind of fuckery is this!??!

 

I've always wondered what it is like to have such amazeballs raw talent that it leads to creating morning noon and night. Talent so intense and ever present harnessing it is not a matter of hard work but will. This week we will be discussing two great Brits whose short lived reign left a definitive mark on the world and of course inspired me.

I've always been average at everything. True story. I don't know what it is like to wake in the middle of the night with a great idea for a movie, a painting, a garment, or a song. I am more of an operations type. Tell me what the idea is and I will make it happen. The logistics so to speak. This past week I had the pleasure of seeing the Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty exhibit at the Met. To say that it was spectacular would be an understatement. Perhaps because I've never truly experienced anything quite like it, I was awestruck. I went in the middle of the afternoon and the wait was 2 hours. The line wrapped around through all the galleries on the second floor. Along the way I heard crazy tourist make comments like "do you think the subway will be dangerous at night?" and got to experience the Mesopotamia and Babylon years. I watched disgruntled husbands and children keep coming back only to say "mooom you are still on this line...?" I loved the tenacity of the woman in front of me. Her family kept coming back to guilt her into leaving the line. "I came to see some McQueen and I ain't leaving till I do" Good for you sister. Power to the moms! It's about time they get to do something THEY want! I heard many self described McQueen experts school the non-experts on the line: He was actually from scotland but had deep ties to London. He was really disturbed, but extremely talented. Alexander is actually his middle name. We finally reached the entrance to the exhibit only to find that photographs could not be taken. Of course assholes still did it anyway.

At first I was disappointed, but as I worked my way through the first piece, an unbelievable dress made out of ostrich feathers and medical glass slabs, I didn't even care about not being able to use my camera. The dress held my attention for a few minutes... I mean really?! Who would even think of dying medical glass slabs red? Only Dr. Quinn medicine woman if she started a high end couture line. And this was only the first dress. The following hour and a half was spent musing around from piece to piece wondering how such a distinctively brilliant mind could not see what a gift he was to fashion and art. One piece was more decadent and exotic than the last, and really seeing it up close...I am talking inches from my face...was a true treat. The construction and detail were so intricate and yet made to look deceptively simple. Truly genius. I might have lost my mind when I got to see the iconic McQueen tartan and I might have possibly reached out and touched it. What an honor! Luckily the guard didn't see me. Phew!

 Alexander was known for his extremes. He became known as the hooligan of english fashion because of the shock tactics he used during his shows, IE: one controversial collection titled Highland Rape. His ability to perfectly pair extremes is apparent in not just his pieces but also in his famous quotes displayed throughout the exhibit. "I oscillate between life and death, happiness and sadness, good and evil."  He hung himself one morning in February 2010 after a dark period of heavy drug use, unwavering unhappiness and his mother's death. Alexander McQueen's exhibit showed me something I haven't seen in a long time: beauty in the most unlikely of places. It was quite mesmerizing to listen to his pieces and absorb the amazing stories they each told. Although his brand will continue the spirit of his genius will always be missed. Lady Gaga wrote "Fashion of his Love" in his honor and it is an amazing song, truly fitting just like Mr. McQueen himself. Download!

In one of my favorite Amy Winehouse song's she asks "What kind of fuckery is this..?" Indeed Amy this song is the perfect alliteration to your short sad tragic life. In it she sings in her raspy and soulful voice about how nothing stands in between her and Mr. Jones. In real life nothing stood between her and boo Blake, not even drugs, as he has always been noted as the culprit who introduced Amy to drugs. Her death has left many like myself reflecting on what could have been...A duet with Adele? A tour with Florence and the Machine...all just dreams now...

The story goes that after some fugazi behavior on Amy Jade's part, her management suggested a trip to rehab after her debut album Frank. Boy she was honest in that album one of my faves is the song about FMP's (also known as "help yourself") The song is a very accurate and hysterical depiction of those clubby gold-digger skanky types. And the video is even more entertaining. I think they hired LI girls for it! (Youtube it!) She went to rehab for 5 minutes and gave management a big Fuck You with the creation of her I ain't got 17 days anthem. Because duh, she'd rather be at home with Ray. Back to Black is by far Amy's finest work, and probably one of the best albums of the entire decade. Yup I says it. The LP was huge in the UK and I remember reading about rehab before I heard it here in the US. Then I found a Jay-Z remix, in which his rap verse is sharp and relevant (per his usual) as he talks about drug addiction and shouts out Bobby and Whitney. Who was this Amy Winehouse I wondered...and I downloaded both albums. As I played the song I thought wow this black chick is bringing Jazz back. Awesome! I also immediately loved her low voice. In middle & high school I was sometimes an alto but mostly a tennor because my singing voice was deeper than all of the boy geeks in chorus. Good times. That scored me a ton of dates. So I was thrilled to be able to sing along to a song without having to bring it down an octave! The soulfulness that came across + the sound was nothing like I had heard in a very long time. I watched the video and realized she wasn't black and was British...DAAAMN!

Unlike American Disc Jockey's I listened and enjoyed the entire CD beyond rehab. "Valerie" stuck with me for about a year. I played that shit out night after night. The song makes me wonder who Valerie is and why won't she just come over?! The tempo of the song is so deliciously slow and it really feels like every note is being perfectly marinated as Amy sings it. The acoustic feel to it transports the listener to a simpler time. When a voice and a few instruments were enough to make great music. Suck it T-Pain with your auto-tune. When I wanted to give my ipod's most played joints a break, I found the Mark Ronson, Baby J and the Count of Monte Cristo & Sinden remixes. You may have heard the Ronson version butchered on glee. I am a big fan of glee: did not think they did AW justice. A faster more jazzed up version of the original song, MR did a great job evoking a longing from the listener to hear more as soon as the song ends. Plus I love hearing Amy's speaking voice in her delightful accent saying she was having too much fun right at the beginning. The Baby J refix has a reggae vibe to it. OMG I love it! Of course I do!! It's reggae....aside from that, it features UK artists I had never heard of before whom I thoroughly enjoyed. The Count of Monte Cristo & Sinden (these DJ names are so ridic!) remix is more of a fist pumping joint at a rave or maybe equally appropriate for the treadmill. The same song 4 very different ways and it is equally phenomenal. That's what I think is so very special about Amy's voice; she can be on a slow, fast, reggae and club dance record. Have you heard Jlo and Brit brit try to sing a slow song or ballad? It's rough peeps...real rough. Even with the best intentions (aka producers) it's just not something every voice can do.

By the time I am out the door you tear me down like Roger Moore. We all watched as the media had a good old fashioned field day with Amy's demise.  Like McQueen, she engaged in heavy drug use, self mutilating behavior, and an overall under appreciation of their contribution to their respective fields. McQueen dreamed up shit Karl Lagerfeld still wishes he thought of first. It was his relentless disassociation with the normal and the average in fashion that inspired so many. Amy opened up the market for singers like Chrisette Michele (I went to high school with her and we sat next to each other during chorus - download her debut cd you won't regret it), Duffy and Adele.  She redefined music at a time where instruments were OUT and sex was IN. So when you ask what kind of fuckery you are Amy...I say simply the best kind.

I feel deeply for people like Alexander & Amy. I don't understand addiction or suicide because I have never seen it first hand. Although I may come off to some as a hard and unforgiving absolutist when it comes to people who engage in self-destructive acts, I make an exception for these two Brits because of the future I won't get to see them partake in as a fan. When I heard about their deaths I died a hundred times. I wonder if maybe being blessed with so much talent makes some feel like they don't belong here with the rest of us. They see themselves as black & white while we see them as vibrant pops of color. Their time here on earth is spent searching for that darkness from which they came from. Do they think their demise is just a matter of time? And life is like a pipe and I am like a tiny penny rolling up inside the walls. There is nothing we can teach them that they can't learn from Mr. Hathaway...they cheated themselves like they knew they would. They told us they were trouble...you know they are no good.... May they both finally be at peace as they go back to black.

JAM OF THE WEEK: I know I made a lot of suggestions in this post...I say do them all but if you can only do one: Valerie (the original)

As always keep it ferocious and fabulous!