joseph stalin’s favorite music

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after his wife committed suicide, with a gunshot to her heart, stalin, the great dictator of russia, lived a lonely and isolated life.

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with his wife, nadya

mozarts piano concerto no. 23

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stalin and his beloved daughter svetlana alliluyeva

afraid of his own circle, and them afraid of him. imprisoning and committing to death, many of his very own relatives he became even colder after tanya’s death… he would escape the kremlin to his isolated private country home in the woods, dacha, guarded by 100’s of special forces. inside, no one was allowed, except his illiterate, but loyal governess. he slept in the day time and seldom at night, in various rooms in the house, and always on the couch with his shirt as his pillow. i found it fascinating and very melancholy to learn that in this house, often alone and yet all powerful, stalin (meaning steel/man) isolated from his people, family and the world, would listen repeatedly to his favorite song, mozart’s piano concerto no. 23 in a major, k. 488: II. andante… now that’s one fuckin’ state of mind… by uh

gucci 2016 campaign by glen luchford vs nick cave and jarvis cocker fifteen feet of pure white snow

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gucci’s 2016 video ad campaign shot by photographer glen luchford

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nick cave and jarvis cocker – fifteen feet of pure white snow

this nick cave video is a favorite of ours. not only the song and the lyrics are incredible, but so is the video and then there is the bonus of spotting jarvis cocker in the crowd just before they pull off what appears to be a signature jarvis stint (think back to pulp and common people group dance sequence). the gucci peace is not as great as nick caves video of course but yes we do like the references mister luchford. by dd

nick knight teaches lady gogo how to dance: tom ford SS16

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tom ford spring summer 2016 – the video to replace all runway shows

i want your love – le chic c’est le freak!…. disco days are back on saturday night and john travolta will be happy to know… master of all ceremonies mister nick knight kills it with this feverish demonstration of tom ford’s spring summer 2016 released today. as halston did a few years back “a video is apparently worth a thousand shows” because the show is for 15 minutes and a youtube video is your BBF forever… did we mention its also much cheaper? i wonder if someone ever thought of doing a catalog in that way? hmmmm….

“instead of having a traditional show this season, i decided to try something new. i wanted to think about how to present a collection in a cinematic way that was designed from its inception to be presented online.” – tom ford

well done tom we like that man, and nick you just cant do wrong mister. of course it would have helped if the models could actually dance! was coco not available? and what about karlie kloss? she had a bit of experience in i’ll be there the inez and vinoodh clip we posted a few months back, coincidentally it has a song by the same band “chic”… the cast include: social media (sig!) character lucky blue smith, alongside fellow male models alex dunstan, david agbodji, tarun niijer (who was the first model of indian descent to open burberry) as well as mica arganaraz, kayla scott, xaio wen ju, valery kaufman, aymeline valade, lida fox, lexi boling and some pop star called lady gaga – i want your love, chic. by kc

happy birthday to the original sartorial

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friendly snap of brian ferry of roxy music during breakfast one summer morning

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damn this looks just like hashtag dave! brian ferry extended play LP, it’s only love, heart on my sleeve and the price of love

did you know that our beloved brian ferry was once a pottery teacher at holland park school in london before forming his seductive carrier in pop music? well that is true! in any case, happy birthday mister ferry… 26 september 1945… damn that’s old now. by dd

I’m loving this so much i can die: but you must be crazy just like me

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this is an alternative slower version of the original song and possibly the best version in my opinion.

musically, “crazy” was inspired by film scores of italian spaghetti westerns, in particular by the works of enino morricone who is best known as the composer of sergio lenone’s dollars trilogy but more specifically the song “last man standing” by gian piero reverberi and gianfranco reverberi from the 1968 spaghetti western viva! django (italian preparati la bara), a sequel to the better-known django. “crazy” not only samples the song, but utilizes the parts of the main melody and chord structure. the original songwriters for “last man standing” are credited by gnarls barkley for this song alongside their own credits.

the lyrics for the song developed out of a conversation between danger mouse and ceelo… ceelo took that conversation and made it into ‘crazy,’ which we recorded in one take… regardless its a massively incredible heart renching song. its on our repeat playlist all day long. and the lyrics:

i remember when, i remember, i remember when i lost my mind
there was something so pleasant about that place.
even your emotions had an echo
in so much space
and when you’re out there
without care,
yeah, i was out of touch
but it wasn’t because i didn’t know enough
i just knew too much
does that make me crazy?
does that make me crazy?
does that make me crazy?
possibly
and i hope that you are having the time of your life
but think twice, that’s my only advice
come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,
ha ha ha bless your soul
you really think you’re in control
well, i think you’re crazy
i think you’re crazy
i think you’re crazy
just like me
my heroes had the heart, to lose their lives out on a limb

and all i remember is thinking, i want to be like them
ever since i was little, ever since i was little it looked like fun
and it’s no coincidence i’ve come
and i die when i’m done

maybe i’m crazy
just wait and see… by xy

here we go now weekend playlist: happy listening

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our friends at “here we go now” yoga to the groove. here are just 4 of the many eclectic playlists available from their blog. click on links to check em out. happy listening and good weekend y’all… above: dj & kundalini yoga teacher yeva don with her poetic inspiration towards infinite gratitude to mother earth. this music mix is a journey of emotions that teaches you how to breathe, feel, give, live and dance…” follow her on instagram. khan-gerald-forster

“to all who hear this collage as it concerns you, i put this together as an extension of myself and what i am standing for, freedom. i want for this to leave you moved and inspired to do what it is you are here to do in this space and time in every moment, thus you will be free. so, here we go now…” – anthony “the twilite tone” dj khan…” DJ-Lima-Love

dj lima love, has created a transcendental meditation mix with a beautiful melodic and sensitive soulful splash of vertical love… “ Ucef-Hanjani-ceft-coalition

“ceft coalition is a musical collaboration led by “internationalist buff”, ucef hanjani. the collective includes various friends, producers and selectors who have came together in NY in the past decade  for appearances at 675 hudson, sunday sessions, frying pan, cielo and capital. here we bring you an exclusive mix of vintage and new electronic tracks with reggae/funk roots. expect to be surprised at the range of genres colliding in this mix – a true hallmark of this collective…” follow them on instagram. all photos by herr gerald forster. visit “here we go now” blog by clicking here.

time for some Krautrock: the can vs. kraftwerk

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the can surely can: damo suzuki killin’ it on stage

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early kraftwerk rockpalast 

if you like electronic music here are the godfathers before it all started. early kraftwerk experiments using home made machines and instruments

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diggin’ the scene in the 1970’s rockpalast

the can concert : soest 1970

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the audience was dumb founded, going between “can i get the f#@ck out” and “i’m gonna kill the guy on the flute”

you gotta look at this post not as entertainment, but rather as your “duty”. remember history class in 7th grade? yes it’s torturous, but in the name of art, evolution and experimentation, here are two devastatingly difficult concert you must submit to watching. if nothing, just to accept the future generations experiments in the highly intellectual world of music and art. just look at that acclaimed work of today’s giants, like kenya east or lady gogo, and ponder for a moment of what they have contributed to our world. (pardon our sarcasm).

kraftwerk include: florian schneider (flutes, synthesizers, electro-violin) and ralf hütter (electronic organ, synthesizers) met as students at the robert schumann hochschule in düsseldorf in the late 1960s, participating in the german experimental music and art scene of the time, which the british music press dubbed “krautrock”.

the can constructed their music largely through collective spontaneous composition—which the band differentiated from improvisation in the jazz sense—sampling themselves in the studio and editing down the results. bassist/chief engineer holger czukay referred to can’s live and studio performances as “instant compositions”. i think you can see that! by rb

Bumcello: we are all wet inside

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“wet” acoustic version below

“wet”live

this is a song about wetting your pants. but in france that is very romantic supposedly. crazy french guys doing some crazy shit. bumcello… there is much interesting stuff coming out of france, exported by pp. worth a listen. by pp+uh