Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Studio Soundtracks:
Sounds Spooky
Today’s the day to indulge the dark and the strange, to celebrate the ridiculous–the veil between this world and the other side is at its thinnest! This is also a good excuse to spend a lot of time in front of the mirror. And you’re going to need something to listen to as you paint your body silver, glue on all those rhinestones, or meticulously concoct faux bloody slashes across your face. Here are some of our favorite tracks to revel in the odd and the magical… Happy Halloween, Nasty Ghouls!
”People Are Strange” – The Doors
”Halloween” – Siouxie and the Banshees
”Nail In My Coffin” – The Kills
”Fainting Spells” – Crystal Castles
”Highway To Hell” – AC/DC
“I Was A Teenage Werewolf” – The Cramps
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Studio Soundtracks:
Guilty Pleasures
Everyone has that song, the one that makes you feel so good no matter what, even if you’ve had the worst day ever. The song to which you’ve likely made up an elaborate dance routine (at least in your head), despite the fact you would probably change the channel if you were around friends and it came on the radio. Or maybe you’d share a brief knowing glance with your BFF and the two of you would break out and sing it at the top of your lungs. Fifty-fifty between shameful and shameless. We at Nasty Gal HQ started talking about guilty pleasures and realized it was time to get a little closer, and have it all out. We’re not naming names to protect certain reputations, but here it is: The Nasty Gal Guilty Pleasures Playlist.
”Vision Of Love” by Mariah Carey
”Now you have all my dirt.” – Anonymous, in the studio
“Total Eclipse Of The Heart” by Bonnie Tyler
”Best Karaoke song ever.” – Anonymous, Merchandizing
“Just Fine” by Mary J. Blige
”I live my life just for me…and I’m great, got no time for hate!” – Anonymous, Creative
“Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House
“I like to roll up the windows in my car and sing along to it really loud when I’m stuck in traffic.” - Anonymous, Creative
“Head Over Heels” by Tears For Fears
“OMG, this one is all my mom’s fault…but I’m not mad at it.” – Anonymous, PR
“I Love The Nightlife” by Alicia Bridges
”I mean, in all seriousness, can you really think of a better song for a girl to crank in her apartment while she’s getting ready to go out on a Saturday night? I can’t. And that’s why I do.” – Anonymous, PR
“I Still Believe” by Tim Capello
”The concert scene in The Lost Boys with Tim Capello performing shirtless in jeans + power sax + pyrotechnics. I mean…” - Anonymous, Creative
“Return Of The Mack” by Mark Morrison
”My friend Marcus makes me listen to this all the time! I love to blast it in the car, it just makes me feel….COOL!” – Anonymous, PR
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Studio Soundtracks:
Playing Favorites with Ultrademon
Mid-week we’re kinda in the need of a serious pick-up and blast of the weird to get to Friday. Chicago DJ, producer and Coral Records founder Ultrademon is just the trick. He’s currently throwing bonkers parties called “MAINFRAME” with his sweetheart (a performer and DJ named Zombelle) and working on his first full-length record for a label we’re not allowed to mention – it’s big though, trust us. He took a break from the action to give us insight on a few of his favorite tracks right now.
”The Giver” by Duke Dumont
The Twin Turbo record label puts out a lot of stuff I like, but this one kills the dance floor.
”You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby” by Fatboy Slim
I’ve recently been revisiting this entire album. It was a huge influence when I was playing GameCube .
“B Squared” by Blue Angels
Niche bassline is always in my heart.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Studio Soundtracks:
British Invasion
We’re having a British invasion inspiration in Nasty Gal HQ, obsessed with that period in the 1960s and 70s when everything musically and stylistically interesting in the United States was brought to us overseas by our old friend, England. From mod to punk, these genres were all headed up by rebellion and wild expression. Here are five of the major UK players who influenced multiple waves of cool we still see today.
“My Generation” by The Who
The Who were some of the cover boys for London’s mod craze in the 60s, illustrated in style with bold lines and spots of color in an otherwise extremely minimal color palette. The band played together for a couple years before they found legendary drummer Keith Moon, who during his audition accidentally smashed up the kit loaned to him. The band found him so radical, they invited him in, and from there they took off to serious stardom.
“You Really Got Me Going” by The Kinks
The Kinks rode that similar line between mod and rock were a blueprint for the UK punk that was born a decade later. And it’s no wonder they were the forebears of total rebellion: They achieved their pioneering dirty guitar sound by slashing the speaker cone amp with a razor blade.
“Holidays In The Sun” by Sex Pistols
If there’s one name synonymous with British punk, it’s the Sex Pistols. Largely credited as the creators of the genre, their message and attitude was about total freedom from all the cares in the world, and rebellion against all authority.
“Oh Bondage! Up Yours!” by X-Ray Spex
Singer Poly Styrene was one of the first visible woman performers in the whole 70s punk scene. This rad lady sported braces and sang about her experiences from a decidedly feminist point of view, a breath of fresh air (or scandal, depending on who’s asking) in a total boys’ club.
“Transmission” by Joy Division
Joy Division’s angular, minimal sound and laid-back visual style pioneered the post-punk movement of the late 1970s. “Transmission” is one of the greatest indie anthems ever. It has the attitude and the beat that makes you want to dance dance dance to the radio.
“Damaged Goods” by Gang Of Four
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Studio Soundtracks:
Su Tissue
With her beautifully strange and sometimes jarring voice, Su Tissue had a lilt of sweetness that gave away her legendary shyness. Recordings of Suburban Lawns, the Long Beach-based band she fronted in the late 70s and early 80s, are few and far between, and videos of them are even more rare.
Su’s one of those legends who seems to have disappeared, and as Kate Carraway noted in our SUPER NASTY story about her, she “occupies an almost abandoned street corner of cool.” The mystery of Su’s near-anonymity at this point led us down an internet wormhole to Denise Gallant, who made the video for Suburban Lawns’ “Janitors” in 1980 (and also provided the images you see here). Not many people were making music videos then; in fact, it was Denise’s first. Here’s what she said to us about it:
“The video was shot with a black-and-white video camera at the Whiskey in LA. It was then colorized thorough our video synthesizer…our company then was called Synopsis Video, and we are listed among the early video synth people on several sites.
I did a second video JUST with Su Tissue around the end of 1984. I have not seen that video in years…so I am not sure where it is now.
I do have a video of cars that we ran at the Roxy when we played live with them—unfortunately all my decks were being used to play the show, and there were none left for recording. I really wish we had pictures and video outtakes, but we were all so poor then. A 20-minute videotape cost $25, which meant we used them over and over again. So the videos I have online are the precious few that made it past the early 80′s.”