Portastudio Playlist...Friday Nights Live Weekly*8

FRIDAY NIGHTS
+Live WEEKLY
EDITION 8

portastudio

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THIS WEEK'S MUSIC
“LULLABY BAXTER”


To Proudly presented the Friday Night +Live Weekly
we bring you this special from our Canadian singer/songwriter
Lullaby Baxter hints at multiple pasts and a candy-coated,
just-out-of-reach future. Baxter's jazzy alto, meanwhile,
carries echoes of singers like Ella Fitzgerald,
with a sprinkle of pixie dust rather than the venti cappuccino
smoothness of such like-minded chanteuses as Norah Jones and
Madeline Peyroux. Pop duo Hercules, who produce,
lavish Baxter's songs with the 1960s baroque-pop perfectionism
of their overlooked 2004 album, In the Alleyway.

Cappuccino Smoothness Night*

and take a close look at the Contemporary-Jazz tradition.
Featuring the musical highlights has compared her to Jazz iconic
Ella Fitzgerald to Similar Artists Let's Go Sailing from the past
to the present, that the perfectly suit their approach,
this quiet friday nights live weekly,
best moments set their distinctive arrangements alongside
bits of jazz and fairytale magic, a masterwork of urban planning
for a city blocks in early autumn twilight.
our panel which also includes selected by the Portastylistic
every Friday afternoon.


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ARTISTS

THIS WEEK IN PLAYLIST

Lullaby Baxter
Garden Cities Of To-morrow

Lullaby Baxter | Live |
Little Song | Rattled Little Clam | Lullaby
| Sugar | Rattled Little Clam (Album Version)

Ella Fitzgerald | Famous Iconic Jazz Singer |
Blue Moon | Dream A Little Dream Of (&Louis Armstrong) | Cry Me A River

Let's Go Sailing
Sideways | Come Home Safely

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“ EVERYDAY HAS A SOUNDTRACK! ”

-the portastylistic

Porta's Look!...Small Business Express!

Small Business Guide|

COFFEE VAN COMPANY
Motoya Espresso Express

“ Working for a city, Working for people...
to making community. ”


-Mr. Motoki Ito
Owner, Motoya Espresso Express

More and more Tokyo residents are switching from tea to coffee. And in some cases, it’s thanks to Motoko Ito who runs a small fleet of yellow vans which sell lovingly brewed lattes at key points around the city.

by debtech

by jetalone

by masahiko

The little company offers not just coffee but a moment of human contact amid the hurly burly of the city. It’s staff know their customers on first name basis. That’s the secret, he says, of his success.

Franchise...

more on...
motoya
espresso
express

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QUALITY OF LIFE

Writer: Tyler Brûlé

“City halls need a new focus on helping small businesses. It was something we did in 2007 but this year we're making a more vocal recommendation for city governments to do more to encourage existing small businesses to flourish and expand, and wide-eyed entrepreneurs to launch fresh new ventures.”


While some cities are better than others at creating an environment that's hospitable to mom, pop and their offspring, none are outstanding. In some cities clued-up developers have been standing-in for government to put the right pieces in place to let small enterprises grow but we're keen to see an easy to use, effective and sustainable shop-front concept spring up in one of our top 25 cities (or any other for that matter) and engage people with ideas, banks and backers, developers and the broader community. Small business is not only the mortar that binds infrastructure and community but in many cases it's what keeps an entire city ticking over. The coming year is going to see a wave of people checking out of shiny glass towers and taking to the streets to hang out their own signs and launch businesses that they've been keeping on the back burner for far too long. A smart city hall would make it its mission to ensure that it could attract and help launch as many of these ventures as possible.

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WE CAN MAKE IT

-the portastylistic

pop*eye...Parker Lewis

“ PARKER LEWIS MAKES MUSIC FOR THE SUMMER.
IT'S MOSTLY NAIVE AND INNOCENT STUFF,
BUT IT'S GOT A FEELING OF WONDERMENT ABOUT IT
EVEN THOUGH THE BACKING MUSIC IS FULL OF
STRAIGHTFORWARD BEATS,
SIMPLE SYNTHS AND SAMPLE. ”

-the portastylistic

Parker Lewis-Parker Lewis (2008)

Don't pass this album up!!!

"Oh dear Mr. Taxidriver, won't you please turn arooound? Oh dear Mr. Taxidriver won't you please slow dooown? Oh please, Mr. Taxidriver don't drive me out of this tooown!" On Cezanne, the fourth track of the self-titled debut album of the charming Swedish pop artisan Parker Lewis on the tiny Swedish netlabel Mad For It, he sings a metaphor for what the listener is thinking by the end of the album. Readers who've been reading the blog for a time and those with a good memory already knows that Parker Lewis is a favourite of The Lemur Blog and there was never any doubt that whatever he would let out through my speakers, it would become highly regarded in my domains. There is no reason to further reason to delay an exclamation of joy over this album!

Parker Lewis is perhaps more known to some as Alvy Singer, an alias under which he performs dancier indie-disco stuff equally catchy and sweet. But I am most assured that his debut album will change that. He is as lovely and charming as ever when he once again proves that he with seemingly no exertion can mobilize a handful of songs so perfectly crafted that you start to wonder wether if he is from this planet or not. The album contains only one song which we can recognize from his previous releases: Hjältar, here named Heroes and in a shorter edit.

Heroes starts off like a soft-funky sweetly melodic 90s pop trifle. But Parker's utterly Swedish indie pop sensibilities seems likely to be able to save any sinking ship a musician can break down. Alongside the likes of Swedish fellow pop patriots The Tough Alliance, Kalle J, Jens Lekman and why not Studio, Parker also proves what can't be denied anymore. I'm talking about the sound of Swedish indie pop music that is to pop what France and its French touch was to house music in the late 90s.

Parker Lewis goes from strength to strength and nothing should be able to stop this greatly talented and enormously gifted producer in his way to the history books of Swedish musical expertise and grandeur. This album is the most elegant and romantic Swedish pop music record since Night Falls Over Kortedala or A New Chance. Oh please, Mr. Music Producer don't stop playing nooow!

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All about
Parker Lewis

Parker Lewis is a Swedish pop artist who has been traveling outside his home country for some time now, now holing up in New York City for a few months. He just released Written & Directed By Parker Lewis on Cloudberry Records. A wonderful melding of that sentimental, heart-warming, utterly sincere Swedish pop aesthetic and this old-fashioned folksy rock style. It’s like Jens Lekman mixed with the eccentricity of Wayne Coyne or Peter Bjorn & John song recorded by the Beach Boys circa 1966. Absolutely wonderful, absolutely a joy, absolutely what will keep you warm as we drift into fall and only want everything to come to life again.

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You’re going to love these, don't stop

Playing Noooow!

-the portastylistic

Portastudio Playlist...Friday Nights Live Weekly*7

FRIDAY NIGHTS
+Live WEEKLY
EDITION 7

portastudio

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SPECIAL*NIGHTS WITH 'KUBOTA_IRIN'

the Portastylistic welcome very special guest Kubota_irin to the edition
this week for a Birthday weekly set of Duet Music and
set the playlist on studio, this song career and the differences

between popular and soundtrack motion picture.

" Duet Selector Weekly "

from which our performs a set of songs on this edition*7
of the vacation on friday nights +live weekly.
which also includes selected by the Portastylistic & Kubota_irin

this week.

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ARTISTS

THIS WEEK IN PLAYLIST

Huey Lewis Duet With Gwyneth Paltrow | Hugh Grant Duet With Haley Bennett
Cruisin' | Way Back Into Love

Ewan Mcgregor Duet With Nicole Kidman | Owl City
Come What May | The Saltwater Room

Damien Rice Duet With Lisa Hannigan | Brett Anderson Duet With Emanuelle Seigner
Cold Water | Back To You

James Morrison Duet With Nelly Furtado | Jason Mraz Duet With Colbie Caillat
Broken String | Lucky

Bryan Adams Duet With Mel C | Pete Yorn Duet With Scarlett Johansson
Baby When You Gone | I Don't Know What To Do

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“ EVERYDAY HAS A SOUNDTRACK! ”

-the portastylistic

New Modern Classic...Dries Van Noten/Spring Summer 2010

Dries Van Noten/Spring Summer 2010 | Women's Collection

LOVE LOVE!

As promised, I just had to devote a post to Dries Van Noten's breathtaking SS'10 collection. Having taken a slight detour from his trademark ethnic prints in his last two collections, Dries returned full-force with his renowned artful use of ethnic prints with Japanese kimono fabrics, Indian saris, Chinese embroideries, royal Java batiks (you can tell they’re royal by their large-scale patterns), and ikats from Uzbekistan...As a textiles lover I was in absolute heaven

Dries Van Noten shows he can mix prints and proportions like no other, incorporating “occidental elements and Parisian chic, and in the end to forget it all and make a nice outfit. That’s what it’s all about, no?” (his word one day before the show). In addition to his feast-for-the-eyes designs, the accessories were jaw-droppingly beautiful: incredible necklaces of rich-looking pearl chokers dangling geometric pendants set with large semiprecious stones and crystal, printed & sparkly clutches, gorgeous bracelets tied with large silk ribbons and the shoes: spectator pumps (in particular, I have my eye on the crochet pump version, and will definitely not say no to a nude patent pair).

Apologies for the picture overload, but I just had to include close-ups so you could all see the amazing accessories, embellishments, prints and textures...

(note to self: dig up any batik prints I can find in my parents' closets...actually, I have already been using my mom's Malaysia batik skirt for several years).

L O V E L O V E

all photos via style.com

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Dries Van Noten

One of the original Antwerp Six, the group of emerging Belgian designers who transformed the city into an epicenter of avant-garde fashion design in the eighties, Dries Van Noten marked his 20th anniversary in the business in 2005. That's no small feat, considering that his company is entirely self-financed, and that of the Antwerp Six, only two, he and Ann Demeulemeester, retain a prominent role in the industry.

While a brooding, intellectual quality has evolved as the hallmark of Belgian designers, Van Noten continually balances it with what Vogue refers to as his "poetic, ethnic-eclectic" aesthetic. His loyal following remains so thanks to his artful and dynamic prints, intricate embroidery, and the wearable nature of his designs. His signature looks include the floral tent dress, the iris-print blouse, and a chunky sweater layered over pants or a skirt in contrasting patterns.

A sense of restraint pervades his designs, and not surprisingly, Van Noten is known for his politesse. He grew up literally surrounded by fashion, as both his parents owned boutiques. As a boy, he often accompanied his father on buying trips to the collections in Milan, Düsseldorf, and Paris. After studying fashion design at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Van Noten debuted his wares at a trade show in London. Barneys New York snapped up his first collection, and the designer opened his first tiny storefront in Antwerp later that year.

Today, Dries Van Noten boasts five boutiques and is sold in more than 500 stores worldwide. In 2008, the Council of Fashion Designers of America honored him with the International Award. He still lives and works in Antwerp.

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“ Power of that simplicity, but it felt spot-on. ”


-the portastylistic