Tips for Today: Tame Impala in NYC + Female Filmmakers Night in Chicago + Kevin Nealon in L.A. + Santigold in London

August 7, 2012, 7:03 am

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New York

From what we've heard of Australian psychedelic four-piece Tame Impala's forthcoming record Lonerism, their follow up to 2010's Innerspeaker is gonna be a doozie. Though the album's not out till October, catch a sneak peek of what's to come as they play Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight. [Oh My Rockness]

Nicolas Roeg's 1973 macabre masterpiece Don't Look Now screens tonight at 92YTribeca, featuring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie as a grieving couple relocating to Venice after the death of their daughter, only to get caught up in the rampage of a vicious killer. Red rain slickers have never been so scary. [Flavorpill]

Former front man of Elefant, Diego Garcia will be exploring his Latin roots and playing through tracks from his 2011 album Laura in a intimate performance at Joe's Pub. [Flavorpill]

At the height of Olympic fever, take a break from being glued to NBC and catch "The Post Olympic City," the opening of a works-in progress by Gary Hustwit and Jon Pack presented at Storefront for Art and Architecture. The show, a mix of photography and archive material, is a reflection on former cites of the Olympic Games, concentrating on what happens after the athletes have packed up and headed home. If you're worried about missing the current games, don't fret, they will be screened at the event. [Art Cat]



Los Angeles

Following Sunday's premiere of his Showtime stand-up special "Kevin Nealon: Whelmed But Not Overly," the former SNL-er and Weeds star tries out new material at the Laugh Factory. [L.A. Weekly]

Californa songstress Jesca Hoop, who has gained notoriety rubbing elbows with the likes of Tom Waits and Peter Gabriel, will be playing selects from her upcoming album "The House That Jack Built" with special guest Jesse Harris at Largo at the Coronet this evening. [Flavorpill]

A sampling of worldly electro-pop will be served by Colombian "Electro Tropical" quartet Bomba Estereo and LA collective Fool's Gold's energetic African styled pop at The Observatory. [Oh My Rockness]



Chicago

Female Filmmakers Night, presented as part of the Midwest Independent Film Festival, is showcasing eight films from the finest ladies of Middle America. Among the films screening tonight is the Oscar nominated HBO doc The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, with three time Oscar nominee and co-director, Julia Reichert, attending. [Flavorpill]
 
Shirley Manson-fronted rockers Garbage are on tour, supporting their first album in seven years, "Not Your Kind of People." [Chicago Reader]

London

Converse Represent are throwing quite the free show with an all-star, style-crossing lineup at the 100 Club. On the docket? BK's Santigold, Django Django, Best Coast, Citizens! and Friends. [Time Out

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Morning Funnies: We'd Like to Slap the Bag With Fred Franzia + Supermanatee

August 7, 2012, 7:30 am

≫ Next: My Morning Jacket's "Outta My System" Is Our Music Video of the Day

≪ Previous: Tips for Today: Tame Impala in NYC + Female Filmmakers Night in Chicago + Kevin Nealon in L.A. + Santigold in London

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Here's the guy who invented Franzia, Fred Franzia.  He looks down to slap the bag, if you ask us. [via Buzzfeed/Best Rooftalk Ever]

Werk it, gurl! [via Tall Whitney]

Whoa. [The Real Housewives Confessions]

Nom nom. [via Pleated Jeans]

We're just going to assume you can buy this next to the "embroidered Kanye tweets." [via Darkness Stirs]

This will haunt your dreams: Gary Busey Wizard of Oz fan art. [via Funny Or Die]

While promoting their new movie, The Campaign, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis...stopped by a 1990s public access televised elementary school debate. [via Hyper Vocal]

This stock photo makes us really uncomfortable. [via Tall Whitney]

Here's the 'racy' Ragú ad everyone's been talking about. [via Hyper Vocal]

Supermanatee, courtesy of Deviant Art. [via Uproxx]

Yo Gabby Gabby! [via Jamie Missy]

My Morning Jacket's "Outta My System" Is Our Music Video of the Day

August 7, 2012, 8:50 am

≫ Next: R.I.P. Anna Piaggi: Our September 1998 Interview With the Style Icon

≪ Previous: Morning Funnies: We'd Like to Slap the Bag With Fred Franzia + Supermanatee

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From the moment you see My Morning Jacket's Jim James walking through a desert at night wearing a cape and fuzzy moon boots, you know the music video for "Outta My System" will be gloriously weird.  Not long after James sings, "They told me not to smoke drugs but I wouldn't listen," we're transported through a glowing hole in the earth into a psychedelic cartoon world that features the animated members of MMJ as cyclopes and -- wait for it -- Zach Galifianakis as a wizard carrying a plastic grocery bag.    

"Outta My System" appears on Circuital, out now via ATO/Red Distribution.

R.I.P. Anna Piaggi: Our September 1998 Interview With the Style Icon

August 7, 2012, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Winston Churchill: O.M.G. O.G.

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Anna Piaggi, who died yesterday at the age of 81, once told me that on a trip to London she visited 87 boutiques in one weekend. That's a commitment to fashion.

The Italian fashion editor and style icon was adored by fashion fans worldwide for her always-eye-popping personal style. Although she dressed wildly there was an analytical approach to her sartorial choices. When I interviewed her in 1998 (which is re-printed in full below), she told me "Once in awhile I try on what I have and I see.... It's like the word 'algebra.' It goes really by reduction and deduction. It's a little bit mathematical and scientific." At the time she was obsessed with clinical work clothes. That summer she had been wearing pharmacy jackets --  one from Margiela and one that the Chanel dressing room attendants wore. She told me she longed to come to the United States to see all the amazing uniforms workers in this country wore. She was particularly interested in the aprons at McDonalds.

Piaggi got her start as an editor in the 1960s at Ariadne and later became a contributing editor to Italian Vogue. She was the subject of an exhibit in 2006 at the Victoria & Albert museum in London which claimed her collection included 2865 dresses and 265 pairs of shoes. Three of her greatest partners-in-crime were the designer Karl Lagerfeld, milliner Stephen Jones and shoe designer Manolo Blahnik. Piaggi told me,  "I think that the head and the feet can make an extraordinary look." When I asked her if she wore her signature flamboyant costumes to the office she responded, "Also for the supermarket. My life is quite normal. But I enjoy dressing all the time." And fashion addicts around the world enjoyed her dressing as well. The world will be a lot less fabulous without her.

Mickey Boardman: Have you always dressed the way you do now?

Anna Piaggi: Dressing has always given me great pleasure. It all started during my very frequent trips to London. I developed a great friendship with a fantastic person, Vern Lambert, who had stores in the Kensington Market, which was a legendary place. Unfortunately, he is no longer living. He was the one who introduced me to the great pleasure of inventing and putting things together. This was in the mid-60's. At the same time, I met Karl Lagerfeld, who was in Paris doing Chloe. He was doing beautiful prints and had very sophisticated and avant-garde taste. I worked for magazines and I was crazy about shopping and seeing boutiques for the magazine. I remember in London during one weekend I saw 87 boutiques! [Laughs.]

MB: Are there any designers now who inspire your personal style?

AP: I keep very open to the young ones. I've been looking at the fashion schools a lot: St. Martin's or Middlesex Polytechnic in London, Studio Bercot in Paris. I've also been looking, through the years, to the Belgian fashion school. The Japanese also seem to always be right.

MB: Do you like deconstruction?

AP: I like it as long as it's done with skill--as long as it's original and it comes with real inspiration and with the habit of draping things, like Comme des Garçons. Rei Kawakubo's always right in a way because she has been turning dresses inside-out and front-to-back so much that it has become incredibly professional and convincing. 

MB: Have you ever felt underdressed? Do you have a casual way of dressing?

AP: This summer, in Milano, I've been dressing in work clothes--you know, the tunic one wears in the pharmacy. Very clinical. I have a lab coat from Martin Margiela and one from Chanel that the dressing-room attendants wear. This I would call simple, but there is a meaning. I don't think dressing up always has to be overdressing. There is also a way to dress with a certain minimalistic humor. I like to dress very concisely. It doesn't always have to be masses of feathers and things. But I think it is also good to risk overdressing if there is an idea. It's good to have two extremes.

MB: Is there anything that inspires you about American style?

AP: I dream about going around in America; it must be incredible. I haven't been there for many years, but I'm sure there are so many inspirations. Mentally, I feel like an immigrant in the 19th century who still thinks of America as a very adventurous place. I think it's possible to find fantastic things, like the McDonald's apron. And also movie costumes. It must be extraordinary how many different uniforms are available.

MB: There are a lot of designers who think less is more. How do you feel about this school of thinking?

AP: I think "less is more," as it is done by a few designers in Milano, is extremely modern. I must say that. Prada, Miu Miu and Jil Sander are visually contemporary. I think it is a very good contrast between that and haute-couture richness. I like extremes.

MB: You're famous for your hats. Are there any other accessories you feel naked without?

AP: There are wonderful hat designers like Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy. A hat is a wonderful accessory. I wear these really tiny ones by Stephen Jones. You have a little hat and Manolo Blahnik shoes, of course. I think that the head and the feet, they can make an extraordinary look.

MB: Do you know exactly what you're going to wear in advance?

AP: Once in a while I try on what I have and I see...it is like the word "algebra." It goes really by reduction and deduction. It's a little bit mathematical and scientific. Normally I go very much by intuition. I've been dressing for so many years and I know myself.

MB: Do you dress for work like you dress for the fashion shows?

AP: Also for the supermarket. My life is quite normal. But I enjoy dressing all the time. ★

Photos by Roxanne Lowit

Winston Churchill: O.M.G. O.G.

August 7, 2012, 10:04 am

≫ Next: Listen to Dragonette's "Live In This City" -- A Papermag Premiere!

≪ Previous: R.I.P. Anna Piaggi: Our September 1998 Interview With the Style Icon

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Thanks to Shaun Usher and Daily Intel, we learned this morning of what may have been the first known usage of the term O.M.G. In 1916, British admiral John Arbuthnot Fisher penned a letter to Sir Winston Churchill wherein he wrote: "I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis -- O.M.G (Oh! My! God!)--Shower it on the Admiralty!!"

To which we respond... Er. Mahr. Gerd.

Listen to Dragonette's "Live In This City" -- A Papermag Premiere!

August 7, 2012, 10:30 am

≫ Next: Bill Blass Fires Everyone + SHIFT's Jorts-Decorating Contest In Today's Style Scraps

≪ Previous: Winston Churchill: O.M.G. O.G.

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Canadian 'basement pop' band Dragonette -- whose infectiously bouncy track with Martin Solveig, "Hello," will get stuck in your head in an instant -- are back with a new album, Bodyparts, out September 25th and PAPERMAG is jazzed about exclusively premiering a new single from the LP, "Live In This City."  The band, comprised of husband-wife duo Dan Kurtz and Martina Sorbara, along with drummer Joel Stouffer, wrote and recorded the album in London though Sorbara says "Live In This City" was "born out of a drunken haze at the stampede in Calgary" (if you're scratching your head a little, know that the "Calgary Stampede" is a huge rodeo and festival in Canada.)

The song features the band's high-energy electropop and a chorus that reminds us (in a good way) of Starship's "We Built This City" with a dash of The Go-Gos.  Listen to it below:

Photo credit: Kristin Vicari

Bill Blass Fires Everyone + SHIFT's Jorts-Decorating Contest In Today's Style Scraps

August 7, 2012, 11:15 am

≫ Next: Here's the Trailer for Josh Radnor's Liberal Arts With Elizabeth Olsen

≪ Previous: Listen to Dragonette's "Live In This City" -- A Papermag Premiere!

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Despite having 90% of their collection completed for their New York Fashion Week show next month, Bill Blass president Scott Patti has cancelled the show and fired the entire women's design staff. The brand has had six different designers since 1999. [NYT]


Betsey Johnson will release a collection of dresses this Spring to be sold at "better boutiques and department stores" through distributors The Levy Group. They'll retail for $99-$249. [Racked]





Latina beauty bloggers share their favorite products with Refinery29. Those are Susset Cabrera of Miami Beats and Sazon's picks above. Moroccan Oil forever.


A F*ck bag from Undercover's Autumn 2012 collection. [HighSnobette]


Here's Kate Moss photographed by Tim Walker for LOVE magazine. There are a lot more NSFW selections at HighSnobiety.


SHIFT had a a jorts decorating competition judged by Elle's Joe Zee! We are jeloose. [Buzzfeed]

Here's Prince Harry at some UK music festival last week wearing an Angry Birds hat. He went with his rumored girlfriend, Cressida Bonas. (That's Cressida Bonas. One more time: Cressida Bonas.) [HuffPoStyle]

Carine Roitfeld has released another teaser photo for her upcoming CR Fashion Book. This one features model Marie Piovesan holding a doll and/or baby. We would have gone for a more literal interpretation and wrapped the magazine in the blanket and then had her hold it like a baby, but so it goes. [TheCut]

Here's the Trailer for Josh Radnor's Liberal Arts With Elizabeth Olsen

August 7, 2012, 12:45 pm

≫ Next: We Need To Talk About These Animal Fans.

≪ Previous: Bill Blass Fires Everyone + SHIFT's Jorts-Decorating Contest In Today's Style Scraps

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Welcome to Trailer Trash, highlighting the best, worst and so-so in new movie trailers.

Unsurprisingly, many of us at PAPER received liberal arts degrees. We also may or may not have a huge crush on Elizabeth Olsen. So naturally we had to look at Liberal Arts for today's Trailer Trash! Josh Radnor -- of How I Met Your Mother fame -- wrote, directed, and stars in this film in which he plays 35-year-old guidance counselor who returns to his alma mater to speak at his old professor's retirement party, only to fall for a 19-year-old student (played by Olsen). We were particularly excited to see Richard Jenkins and Allison Janney starring as well. Liberal Arts looks to be appropriately charming, light and rom-com-y, and we'll definitely be seeing it hungover on a Sunday afternoon when it hits theaters September 14th.

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We Need To Talk About These Animal Fans.

August 7, 2012, 1:50 pm

≫ Next: 5 Under $50: Cute-Stuff-on-Etsy Edition

≪ Previous: Here's the Trailer for Josh Radnor's Liberal Arts With Elizabeth Olsen

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We've been into the website One Kings Lane for a while now, it's basically Gilt for home stuff, and are super excited about this fan sale they're having today and tomorrow. We are fans of these fans! They're really cute and look like they'd make a good little desk-top fan, perfect if you're one of those annoying people who's always talking about how hot you are despite your office's blasting, arctic central air (us). Also, slow news day. Scroll to the bottom for the grand finale.


Hey guy! $79



Even cuter because it's one of those little birds that hops everywhere. $35


Zebra, straight CHILLING. $79

Horse in similar Zebra straight-chilling pose. At first we were not feeling this horse, but then decided that his or her tail flapping in the breeze is what really makes this fan.  $69


It looks like you've said something to offend this white tiger but he will still blow a hostile, frowny breeze your way. He'll never forgive you. $69


Maybe our favorite. This seal's pose feels very senior portrait to us, no? He just needs a letter jacket, Soundgarden poster and other fav things scattered around him with a big prop '99 in the background to really complete the scene. $39

AND NOW FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

 
Oh. $29

My.  $29

God. $29

See the complete collection here.

5 Under $50: Cute-Stuff-on-Etsy Edition

August 7, 2012, 2:16 pm

≫ Next: Joss Stone Talks Her New Album and Introduces Us to the Expression 'T*ts Up'

≪ Previous: We Need To Talk About These Animal Fans.

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Here are five cutie-patutie items for under $50, available at everyone's favorite online marketplace Etsy.

Megg the Egg Cup by Tuesday Bassen, $20, available here.

Leather girl face keychains by Leah Goren, $20 each, available here.


Vintage doll head candle holder by Modern Retro Reproductions, $30, available here.

Lined paper pillow by pilosale, $45, available here.

Fabric aloe plant by Sian Keegan, $55*, available here.


*We know this is more than $50, but we just had to put this on here!

Joss Stone Talks Her New Album and Introduces Us to the Expression 'T*ts Up'

August 7, 2012, 2:35 pm

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Joss Stone released her debut album, The Soul Sessions, at the tender age of 16 and, nearly 10 years later, she's back with a sequel. The Soul Sessions Vol 2 features covers of Sylvia's "Pillow Talk," The Chi-Lites' "Stoned Out Of My Mind," and Womack & Womack's "Teardrops," among others, and arrives via Stone's own imprint, Stone'd Records, along with S-Curve, after a long and publicized saga with the singer's former label, EMI, whom she at one point offered to pay 2 million pounds to terminate the contract.  Now, with newly-gained artistic freedom, it makes sense that the musician would choose to return to the genre that launched her career, soul.  And, though she's grown up quite a lot in the last ten years, the singer's trademark neo-hippie style and laissez-faire attitude seem to be perfectly intact. Below, Stone shares her thoughts on the new album, and why her acting role on Showtime's The Tudors could have gone "tits up."  Read on.

What's been the biggest change in your life since recording the first Soul Sessions almost ten years ago?  

Well, there has been every change that a normal 15-25 year-old person would have and we could talk about that for two months. But musically, I've learned how to make music.

I was signed when I was fourteen and I was in the studio when I was fifteen. I didn't know how to sing at all. I only made it up, which I kind of do now. I didn't know how to work a microphone. I didn't know how to lead a band. I didn't know how to listen to a mix and understand what was going on. I knew nothing about it. Zilch. I didn't even play an instrument.  I was literally going in there because I managed to make a noise out of my mouth that they happened to like -- that's all I had. Right now I feel like I've got a little bit more knowledge and I've been taught these things and I've sat in these environments and I've watched and I've learned and I can understand now how to create a piece of music with a band. I still don't play an instrument. I play a little guitar and sometimes a bit of piano but enough to understand it and lead the band.  

Is it fair to say that with more knowledge, you've had more control over this album?

Knowledge can give you more control if that's how you want to use it but it also gives you safety and makes you feel more comfortable and less out of place. When I was younger and I made the record, I was shitting myself the whole time. I was so nervous. You can't have that much fun when you're that nervous. You don't know what you're doing -- it's scary. I'm not scared anymore. I feel really comfortable and really happy and really elated when I'm in the studio.  

But I try to set up the Sessions [in a way that] there isn't really a lot of control. Having fun is the most important [thing] in making an album. That's all it's about, man. If your musicians are having a wonderful time and they're brilliant musicians, then you've done a good job.

How did you decide which songs to include on the record?

I don't have a lot of knowledge of songs. I'm not the type of person to sit and investigate anything, actually. Anything. Even if I'm really interested, I still don't. I just let things come to me and let things be and it's just like, "If I'm meant to hear it, I'll hear it." It's just how I live my life.  Steve Greenberg, who helped me make the Soul Sessions, has a massive vault of songs and played me loads and loads of them. The way I chose them was obviously taking into account the lyrics, the melody, and whether you can tell that story because this is soul music we're talking about here, so it's got to be told. How famous it was matters too because I don't want to cover really, really massive hits like "Stayin' Alive" or "Simply The Best" because I feel like you're wasting an opportunity. The opportunity that we have is to show people music that they might have missed or that they didn't hear.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, is it safe to say you believe in fate...

I believe that anything's possible -- that's truly, truly what I believe. I believe that one day pigs will fly. There you go. That's my philosophy. I've been very lucky. You just have to be open and happy and you draw in good things.  

What do you like to do when you're not recording or performing?

I'm at home as often as I can be with my dogs. I've got lots of dogs.

How many?

Four. I've got a teacup poodle. 

You live two hours outside of London?

Yeah, I live about two and a half hours in the middle of the countryside. Have you ever seen Lord of the Rings? That's what it's like. It's like the shire. I love it. It's so beautiful there.

Are you going to do any more acting?  I loved your guest role on The Tudors as Anne of Cleves.

I'd love to do some more. I don't have much time at the moment and nothing's really come up but when the opportunity presents itself, I'm in, man. I'm so in. I was so worried about being one of those [crossover artists] and that it would be a dodgy thing to do but I was like, "I'm not going to let the fear stop me from having fun. I'm just going to try." And it could've gone tits up. Everyone could have gone, "Joss, what the fuck are you doing? Get back in the singing booth!"  But actually all of the feedback has been really nice. I've been encouraged.

Okay, last question: William or Harry?

I think they're completely different and they're so different in personality as well. Harry is quite fun but so is William. William doesn't get enough props for being fun and a little bit cheeky.  He's just as cheeky but he covers it up a little more.

Converse's Leather Jackets For Your Feet

August 7, 2012, 3:25 pm

≫ Next: Fifty Shades of Grey, the Album + Daniel Day Lewis as Abe Lincoln = Eight Items or Less

≪ Previous: Joss Stone Talks Her New Album and Introduces Us to the Expression 'T*ts Up'

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Though it's been a little cooler her in N.Y.C. the past couple of days, the intense heat and humidity this summer have been freaking me out as they are ferociously fashion un-friendly. I am so over being forced into sporting a "cute tee" and light fabric pants every darn day. I long to wear my new (well, bought in June when it was also hot as hell) BLK DNM leather jackets (I have them in black and white) this fall. But until cooler days, my inner-punk is sated with Converse's Chuck Taylor All Star "Moto Leather" high tops, replete with a zippered trim for that Joey Ramone feel. Black leather never felt so cool.

Fifty Shades of Grey, the Album + Daniel Day Lewis as Abe Lincoln = Eight Items or Less

August 7, 2012, 4:22 pm

≫ Next: The Morning Funnies: Miley Cyrus Got a New Haircut + Victoria Beckham Didn't Dance

≪ Previous: Converse's Leather Jackets For Your Feet

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1. Fifty Shades of Grey: The Classical Album is coming to get your money on September 18th. The album "aims to provide the perfect accompaniment to the Fifty Shades reading experience, setting a mysterious and alluring atmosphere with just the slightest hint of danger..." The songs, hand-picked by EL James herself, features Pachelbel's 'Canon in D,' the 'aria' from Bach's Goldberg Variations and more. Oy.

2. Here's a first look at Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's new biopic. [via EW]


3. BuzzFeed is launching a food vertical that'll be edited by Bon Appetit's Emily Fleischaker. [via Grub Street]

4. The sexy asparagus-eating lady on the cover of the latest Newsweek sure does get around... [via Eater]

5. Justin Timberlake is rumored to be working on a "crazy" new album. [via Digital Spy]


6. Check out a trailer for Ry Russo-Young's wonderful-looking new film Nobody Walks featuring a whole bunch of people who have appeared in PAPER throughout the years: Olivia Thirlby, Rosemarie Dewitt, John Krasinksi, Justin Kirk, Jane Levy (who was profiled by Nobody Walks producer Alicia Van Couvering) -- not to mention Ry, herself, and her co-writer Lena Dunham.

7. The Woolworth Building is being turned into luxury apartments. [via Gothamist]

8. A group of interns at the Brooklyn College library have gathered together 600 zines for the exhibit, "Fold, Staple, Share: Highlights from the Brooklyn Zine Collection." [via Animal NY]

The Morning Funnies: Miley Cyrus Got a New Haircut + Victoria Beckham Didn't Dance

August 13, 2012, 7:50 am

≫ Next: Mika's "Celebrate" ft. Pharrell Is Our Music Video of the Day

≪ Previous: Fifty Shades of Grey, the Album + Daniel Day Lewis as Abe Lincoln = Eight Items or Less

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Miley Cyrus got a pretty dramatic, Robyn-y haircut. Did her hipster sister do this to her?!? [via HuffPo]

You know, if we were Victoria Beckham, we might have refused to dance, too. [via BuzzFeed] 

We love the look of glee on the face of this Olympics volunteer after he gets a fist-bump from Usain Bolt. [via 4GIFs]

Speaking of Usain Bolt... [via BuzzFeed]

This guy is the winner of Facebook. [via knusprig-titten-hitler]

Hey girl, Hey Girl, It's Paul Ryan is back with a vengeance.

2-for-1. [via Unlikely Words]

Baby Leonardo DiCaprio!!! [via This Is Not Porn]

Nom nom nom. [via Nik Naks Blog]

Erg: An NBC commentator mistook Jesse Eisenberg for Mark Zuckerberg at the Spain vs. USA soccer match. [via Business Insider]
 

A) This is amazing and B) This guy is so cute, and kinda looks like Elijah Wood! [via LOLRiot]
McKayla Maroney takes her meme into her own hands. [via E!]

Mika's "Celebrate" ft. Pharrell Is Our Music Video of the Day

August 13, 2012, 9:15 am

≫ Next: Listen to Azealia Banks Diss Jim Jones On New Track, "Succubi"

≪ Previous: The Morning Funnies: Miley Cyrus Got a New Haircut + Victoria Beckham Didn't Dance

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It's been three years since Mika's last album (and five years since the singer burst onto the pop stratosphere with 2007 hits "Grace Kelly," "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" and "Stuck in the Middle") and now he's back with his third LP, The Origin of Love, out October 16th.  The first single off the new record, "Celebrate," features vocals by Pharrell and production by Nick Littlemore from Empire of the Sun.  The new music video stays true to the song's name and features lots of special occasions -- a birthday surprise, a homecoming, an engagement -- while Mika suffers from what looks to be an excruciating case of writer's block in a fancy loft ostensibly  in Brooklyn.  Watch the video above.

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Listen to Azealia Banks Diss Jim Jones On New Track, "Succubi"

August 13, 2012, 10:00 am

≫ Next: Atlas Genius Plays "Trojans" and "Symptoms" in the PAPER Kitchen

≪ Previous: Mika's "Celebrate" ft. Pharrell Is Our Music Video of the Day

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Leave it to Azealia Banks to name her latest song after female demons who have sex with sleeping men.  In the Araabmuzik-produced track, "Succubi," Banks heads to the dark place, moving away from the tropicalia/mermaid/fantasyland she's evoked on many of her recent tracks.  She also uses the single to ratchet up her beef with fellow Harlem rapper Jim Jones, going straight for his jugular.  To wit:

Here's a reminder, hymen / Tru Life stole all your chains - Yes / Max B wrote all your flames - Yes / Montana rode on your wave - Bet / Killa called you a lame / It takes a Harlem bitch to execute a Harlem bitch / You pop shit, I pop shit, no problem, bitch

No word if this song will appear on Azealia's forthcoming album Broke With Expensive Taste, but if in the meantime you're curious about how this whole Banks-Jones quarrel started, head over to MTV. 

RELATED:
Aural Fixation: We Are Eating Up What Azealia Banks Is Spitting Out

Photo by Emily Shur

Atlas Genius Plays "Trojans" and "Symptoms" in the PAPER Kitchen

August 13, 2012, 10:45 am

≫ Next: Our Un-Awkward Conversation with "Awkward Black Girl" Creator Issa Rae

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"Trojans"

"Symptoms"

Our Un-Awkward Conversation with "Awkward Black Girl" Creator Issa Rae

August 13, 2012, 11:00 am

≫ Next: 5 Under $50: Shark Week Edition

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"My name is J. I'm awkward and black. Someone once told me those were the two worst things anyone could be." That's how Issa Rae -- as her acting alter ego "J" -- launches into the first episode of her web show, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. The over 1.4 million people who have watched that premiere since it first hit YouTube on February 3, 2011, would probably disagree. 

In just a year-and-a-half Rae finished the 12-episode first season of ABG, started on season two after partnering with Pharrell Williams' i am Other production company, and continues to work on other projects like the hilarious RATCHETPIECE Theatre. (What's ratchet? Here's Rae's definition: "It's like if ghetto and hot shitty mess had a baby, and that baby had no father and became a stripper, then made a sex tape with an athlete and became a reality star." Seriously, go watch it.) 

We caught up with the L.A.-based Rae in New York, while in town for the preview screening of ABG's newest episode.

Tell me how you came up with the concept for the series -- did someone really tell you that being "awkward and black are the two worst things anyone could be"?

Yeah, it was a joke though -- it wasn't a life-changing experience. I've always been writing and have always been an avid TV watcher. There's a specific type of quirky, observational humor that I've always liked (on shows like The Office, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm), and I wanted to bring that to a character that I felt like I could relate to. There were never any leads of color who were like me, who had personality traits like me, like Oh my god, I go through this, or Yes, I get her, I understand her logic. So I wanted to create that character and I just meshed the two together. 

I knew I was black for a long time, but I realized I was awkward just in the middle of the day. I was sitting in my bed, in my small closet-apartment in New York, and it just came to me. And I wrote in like a Facebook [text] box, "I'm awkward and black," and my friend who is on the show now, she wrote, "Haha those are the two worst things anyone could be." I thought it was funny and then when writing the show two years later, I was like, Oh OK, that's a good line to open it. That's something the character would say.

Any other favorite shows?

I love Arrested Development; I could watch it every single day and learn something new. I still love The Office, I love Community, Parks and Recreation, Seinfeld is huge, Curb Your Enthusiasm. That's my comedy canon right there. And drama, I love Scandal, Dexter... 

How much of you and what you've experienced is present in those ABG storylines?

They're mostly exaggerated situations that I wouldn't want to go through. Like I put the character through all the stuff that would make me cringe. But a lot of the characters are based off of either encounters I've had, or people that I've met. They're all different archetypes of my pet peeves.

Like Boss Lady is loosely based off a sixth-grade teacher I had who was really, really nutty and was a white woman who taught a predominantly black class who needed to show that she was "down." So she used to always ask questions about my hair. She asked if I wore it a certain way to honor my ancestors. She was really, really a bizarre lady -- we had a mixed girl in our class and she asked her in front of the entire class, Hey, you're mixed, right? The girl was like, Uh, yeah. Like black and white? And she was like, Oh okay, because my boyfriend is black and I wanted to see what our kids would look like.

Oh my god.

In the sixth grade I remember thinking, This is weird.

When did you realize ABG had become a hit?

I was just putting it out there; I knew that my friends would find it funny, and my family, because we share that sense of humor. But I started getting letters and stuff around the first episode of people saying, Oh my god, this is so me, and Oh my god, I'm so glad that a character like this exists, I really hope this makes it to TV.

How does funding work for the show?

Kickstarter funded the rest of Awkward Black Girl, season one. Season two is funded by Pharrell Williams' i am Other. And I'm still doing a lot of low budget stuff but I am able to revenue from YouTube partner programs. I just joined with a new network, Full Screen, which helps to integrate sponsors and ads. And merchandising through ABG has been fruitful. So I use all of that money to just put back into the shows.

Before Kickstarter and i am Other, how did you fund ABG?

I didn't. I have really, really good friends who are just great and were able to lend their time and volunteer. The crew was amazing, just doing it for minimum money. So that's why Kickstarter came in handy, to give back pay and to actually compensate them for their time. The first episode cost me $25, to buy lunch for my two friends.

Do people approach you often with their own awkward stories?

Every single day, yes. Some of them aren't even awkward though. Unfortunately I can't take anyone's ideas for legal reasons, but yeah all the time.

What's the strangest story you've heard?

Oh my god. We had a contest, Show Us Your Awkward, so people could submit stories and we would actually put them in the show. So this one girl submits a video of herself telling a story about how... this is kind of explicit.

That's okay.

She wins the award for Worst Person Ever. She was talking about how she and her boyfriend like to use food in the bedroom. And they wanted to experiment with ice cream. So she said her boyfriend put his junk in this ice cream, and whatever they were done, and she put the ice cream back in the fridge. She says her mom comes home and was like, Oh I want some ice cream. And she goes in the fridge and she's like, Should I stop my mom from doing it? And she doesn't stop her mom from eating this penis ice cream. And she was like, Awkward! That's not awkward, you're a horrible person.

Are there new characters this season? Anything you can tell us?

There will definitely be some guest appearances. We're incorporating some other celebrity directors in the latter half of the season. There are definitely going to be new characters, nothing I can say right now, but we're going to explore more of the family and friends of "J" and "White J."

When did you decide that film production was for you?

When I saw Love & Basketball. Oddly enough, it made me write my first screenplay. I knew I wanted to go into television early on. In sixth grade I wrote... do you remember, Bill Cosby had his own show? He had a show on CBS [called Cosby], and for some reason I felt like I could write for that and submitted my script. And of course it was horrible, but my grandmother saved it and it's just so cringe-worthy.

But film specifically, I knew when I saw Love & Basketball because it was done by a black director. She wrote it, she produced it and it was set in my neighborhood. And it wasn't like "a black film." It was just, two people are in love. It's not about the struggle, it's not about drama, they were just normal people. And I was like, I want to tell stories like this, where it doesn't matter what race someone is, we're just being. That really inspired me to do that.

Do you see filmmaking in your future?

I would love that, for sure. That would be my end goal. But I'm also very impatient and film takes a long time.

Are there any filmmakers, directors, or television writers who you really look up to?

Shonda Rhimes, 100%. She's awesome and running the game -- she has very much stayed true to her original vision, which is very inspiring. And I do look up to Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld because I really appreciate their aesthetic and they're hilarious.

Do you ever get asked to do a gangsta rap on the spot?

All the time. Everybody always ask me to rap. Like I'm not that great and I usually start under the influence of alcohol, so when you ask me to do it cold, it's nerve-wracking but I do it.

Can you do one right now?

Nooo!

You knew that would be the follow-up question.

I did not! Um, Paper magazine rap...

[Vanessa Anderson, Rae's publicist: Are you about to rap?]

Am I about to rap? / Why are you concerned? / This is, between / Me and her / 'Cause we on this interview / We 'bout to get it do / Uh, uh, uh, that's it / You fool.

Check out the latest ABG episodes here.
 

Images courtesy of i am Other.

5 Under $50: Shark Week Edition

August 13, 2012, 11:48 am

≫ Next: Michael Phelps Strips Down In a Bathtub For Louis Vuitton + Vogue's Edith Wharton Editorial in Today's Style Scraps

≪ Previous: Our Un-Awkward Conversation with "Awkward Black Girl" Creator Issa Rae

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Happy Shark Week, y'all! To get into the Selachian spirit, we present to you five fun shark-y items for under $50.

Shark socks, $9, available here.

Nice to Eat You T-shirt, $24, available here.

Morn Creations Shark Backpack, $42, available here.

Shark bit oven mitt, $14.99, available here.

Hammerhead shark dog costume, $20.60, available here.

Michael Phelps Strips Down In a Bathtub For Louis Vuitton + Vogue's Edith Wharton Editorial in Today's Style Scraps

August 13, 2012, 12:30 pm

≫ Next: Roman Coppola Talks Four Stories Film Series, Charlie Sheen and the Best Breakup Movies

≪ Previous: 5 Under $50: Shark Week Edition

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The Fat Radish gents are starring in GANT Rugger's new campagin (that's Phil Winser at the very end and Ben Towill second from right).  Read more about them in an article from PAPER's May Issue HERE.  (It also looks like GANT Rugger tapped one of their buddies -- third from left -- as he also appeared in our photo shoot.) [via GANT]

Happy 30th Birthday, G-Shock!  The watch brand celebrated their big day with a blow-out party last week, featuring a rare performance by Eminem. (He wears the watch brand's sparkly white model, shown above, in his video "I Need a Doctor.") [via G-Shock]

This year marks what would have been Edith Wharton's 150th birthday, and Vogue assembled a very interesting cast for an editorial spread in honor of the novelist.  Shot by Annie Leibovitz at Wharton's Berkshires estate, The Mount, Natalia Vodianova plays the author and a whole slew of writers, actors, and artists play her inner circle.  Check out authors Jeffrey Eugenides, Junot Diaz and Jonathan Safran Foer as Henry James, diplomat Walter Barry and architect Ogden Codman Jr., respectively and actors Mamie Gummer and Max Minghella as Wharton's niece, Beatrix Farrand and painter Maxfield Parrish.  Juno Temple, Elijah Wood, Jack Huston and Nate Lowman also appear in the spread. [via Ciao Domenica]

Kim Kardashian gets her Fashion Issue cover via New York Magazine. [via nymag]

Michael Phelps is barely home from the Olympics (or still partying in London...who knows) but Louis Vuitton has already released images of their campaign with him.  In the first, he's seen posing seductively in a bathtub while an LV bag lingers nearby and in the second, we see him chatting on a couch -- this time all buttoned up -- with Olympic gymnast Larisa Latynina whose record for most total career medals he recently broke. [via Fashionista]

What do you think of Vogue Paris's new look, as seen on their September issue's triple covers featuring models Kate Moss, Lara Stone and Daria Werbowy? [Vogue Paris via High Snobette]

In case you missed it last night, here's Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Jourdan Dunn, Karen Elson, Lily Donaldson, David Gandy, Lily Cole and Georgia May Jagger walking the catwalk at last night's Olympics Closing Ceremony. [via Fashionologie]