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tabbycasto · 5 years

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The Purge

Tips tricks and product dupes from a makeup artist trying to go cruelty free ...

Over the last few years I’ve been trying to take on the mamoth task of switching my personal and professional makeup kit to a cruelty free one. It’s been a learning curve as I’ve realised this issue of cruelty free beauty is not always a black and white discussion, although I wish it were. Currently my kit is not 100% cruelty free, but I am working towards this goal and thought it might be useful to other makeup artist and makeup enthusiasts to share the cruelty free product dupes that I have replaced my previous items with.

Everyone is familiar with the leaping bunny logo marking a trusted certification that a product is approved to be cruelty free by the respected boards, but what I’ve discovered, is that not all brands animal testing policy is neither clear nor easily found. Websites like Cruelty Free Kitty & Crueltuly Free International provide valuable insight into the issues of animal testing for cosmetics. I’m finding that it’s not just enough to ask “are you cruelty free” it is now more helpful to ask “are you cruelty free AND do you allow affiliates or suppliers to test on animals on your behalf when selling your products in other countries”.

This except from Cruelty Free International may be useful :

“From 11 March ‘09, the EU banned the testing, within the EU, of cosmetic ingredients – irrespective of whether there were non-animal alternatives. It had already banned the testing in the EU of cosmetic products. The bans are known as ‘the testing bans’. From 11 March ‘13, the EU completed the ban on the sale of cosmetics animal-tested after that date anywhere in the world. The ban applies to both cosmetics products and ingredients, again irrespective of whether there are alternatives. It is known as the ‘marketing ban’.

Cosmetics companies which are not Leaping Bunny certified can still test their products or ingredients on animals – as long as they don’t do these tests or sell these products in the European Union. For example, before some cosmetics products can go on sale in China, they must be tested by the Chinese authorities, which normally involves a range of animal tests. Companies certified by the Leaping Bunny have not been permitted to sell in China unless direct to consumer. These companies made a big commitment to ethics over profits as China is a fast-growing market which they weren’t able to access, unlike companies which aren’t certified by the Leaping Bunny.”

Basically, it is worth doing your research if you decide to purchase cruelty free alternatives. There are areas of my kit which, financially, will take time to replace and I don’t feel good about using these products, but bit by bit I am trying to make changes.

Here I thought I would share which products I have successfully swapped over, tried and tested and trust on a professional level. I hope it may be of use to some of you :

The Eye Gloss

For the longest time, Mac Gloss Brilliance has been a kit staple for creating those really striking editorial high shine finishes. Now I love and use 3ina The Eye Gloss & Glossier Lip Gloss. These two alternatives are just as good if not better at providing a full shine over eyeshadow or on cheekbones/lips for full on shine :

The Eye Cream

There are LOADS of great cruelty free eye creams but I really love Burts Bee’s Eye Cream which is gentle enough for use on sensitive skin but also powerful enough to make a visible difference to the under eye area and provide a good base for concealor and powder :

The Lip Conditioner

[Photography: Joanna Wzorek for M Project Look Book]

Again another really easy swap to make is lip conditioner. If you’re looking to go organic there are so many on the market. I really like the Burt’s Bee’s Intensive Night Repair Lip Balm as a day lip balm. It’s SUPER juicy and hydrating and smells amazing. Models love it.

The Bright Pop Matte Eyeshadow Palette

[Photography: Joanna Wzorek , Eva for Wonderland Magazine]

This one is a new swap over and I couldn’t be more pleased to have discovered it! From using the Mac matte eyeshadow range and decanting them into a palette, I’ve now switched to Illamasqua’s Experimental Artistry Palette which has everything you need all together in one pre made palette. The colours apply really pigmented and last and work well alone or on top of bases.

The Mascara Primer

Another simple swap over. Mac Prep and Prime eye for Jane Iredale’s Mascara primer. Jane Iredale are also organic so this was a win win.

The Bronze Shimmer for Face & Body

[Photography: Mateus Sitek, Model Sandra PCZ]

This one is another fantastic discovery. Jane Iredale’s Golden Shimmer for Face & Body! OH HOW I LOVE THIS. It gives skin a great luminosity and works on pale skin too. Also organic so win win. You can also decant a little of this into a spray bottle with your favorite face mist, shake it up and use as a body mist. I can’t recommend it enough.

The Highlighter

[On set (bts) with Lazy Oaf and Florence Rose at Milk Model Management]

I love a cheek highlight. Dewy skin is my favorite fresh look and so face highlighters are something I invest in heavily. It was hard at first to let go of my trusted collection but I’ve found replicas that are cruelty free and do just as well if not better. From Nars Cococapana, Mac Naked Pigment and Cream Colour Base I have now switched to Inika Organic Light Reflecting Cream, Glossier’s Highlighter Stick *these come in a variety of shades* and Illamasqua’s Furore Pigment. No Complaints here! Inika is organic if you're looking for something like that. I think it’s important to have a variety of highlighters in your kit, not just a shimmery cream. The Glossier provides a wet look subtle dewy finish while the Furore pigment is more full on obvious sparkle. The Inika Cream is really fresh and can be worn subtle or more built up :

The Clear Brow Gel

Excuse the state of my very well used clear brow gel below! This is now in the bin and I have replaced it with Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel and Glossier Boy Brow. Both cruelty free and give great results. Glossier also do a range of other brow gels that work well too.

Unfortunately, there is a set number of images allowed per blog post, and I’ve hit it for this one haha so I will continue to share these dupes as I go along my journey and will call this thread “The Purge”. Stay posted for more cruelty free product dupes...

Have you also started switching your kit ? Please do drop a comment if you have found any products that you love and use now instead of something else! I’m always keen to hear about new products that work well!

#cruelty free makeup #cruelty free beauty #going cruelty free #makeup artist #london #fashion #tabby casto makeup artist #product dupes #cruelty free product dupes #dupe #glossier #illamasqua #jane iredale #inika #burts bees #anastasiabeverlyhills #3ina

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 3 years

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KAT VON D SHARES THE UNEXPECTED INFLUENCES BEHIND HER LONG-AWAITED DEBUT ALBUM ‘LOVE MADE ME DO IT’

The glamorous gothic queen of art, tattoos, business and beauty now redirects her attention to her original passion – music.

Kat Von D has been a staple in alternative culture and pop culture as a whole ever since first exploding onto the scene in the reality television show ‘Miami Ink’ and then promptly securing her own series, ‘LA Ink’, at her home in Hollywood. Quick to prove herself as far more than just another bland reality TV star, Von D built an empire around her interests and established a unique brand of tattoo artistry, best-selling books, art galleries, clothing lines, and most notably, a massively successful and world-renowned beauty line.

But what most people don’t realize about Von D is that out of everything she’s sunken her teeth into and made business ventures out of, her first and most consistent passion has been music. She’s been a constant presence in the world of rock and metal for quite some time – and not just because she’s dated musicians like Nikki Sixx and Deadmau5 and is married to Rafael Reyes of Prayers. She’s been classically trained on the piano since she was a child, practicing every day and growing an appreciation for all different genres as she’s grown older.

Much like her dedication to veganism and animal rights, Von D has a significant place in her heart for music, adorning her body with tattoos of multiple acts like the Misfits, AC/DC, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, ZZ Top, and appearing in numerous music videos for bands such as HIM, Alkaline Trio, and Gunship. In 2008, she founded the MusInk Tattoo Convention and Music Festival, which has featured artists like Suicidal Tendencies, Limp Bizkit, The Used, Hatebreed, NOFX, Bad Religion, Deftones and more. She’s even had an entire song written for her by Eagles of Death Metal. Needless to say, her street cred in the scene is well established.

She’s now set to release her debut album, entitled ‘Love Made Me Do It’, a project that has been nearly a decade in the making. Described as “a pastiche of shapeshifting analog synths, post-punk dreamscapes, gothic hues, and shy pop magnetism”, the record deals with heartbreak, disillusionment, and ultimately enlightenment. While some might be expecting a hard-hitting, in-your-face type of attitude, Von D opts for a moodier and more atmospheric feel to her music that rides on soaring synth waves and danceable beats. Joining her are bandmates Gregg Foreman, Sammi Doll, Dave Parley, and Brynn Route, as well as notable collaborators Dave Grohl, Linda Perry, Dave Sitek, Peter Murphy, Danny Lohner, Ladyhawke and Charo.

In a conversation with Knotfest, Kat Von D discusses the many inspirations behind her music and unique sound, the artistry that goes into crafting not only her songs but her music videos and live performances as well, and shares some personal stories like the time she and her husband hit up a Rage Room and a week-long horror movie marathon she undertook with a friend.

What made this the right time to finally release your debut album?

Kat Von D – Music has always been a big part of my life and although most people know me from tattooing, they actually don’t know that music has been kind of the most consistent thing in my life. I’ve been not only classically trained since the age of five, but I’ve been playing with my friends’ bands and singing on all my talented friends’ albums and stuff like that. So I’m not a stranger to it but I think that a lot of people are not familiar with me having some form of musicianship. They’re like, “What? She’s coming out with music?” So it could be a little confusing to some people but like everything else I’ve ever done, I’ve always said the proof is in the final product. I’m not here trying to be like a celebrity just slapping my name on something and you know, collecting a check and not really caring about it. I want music to be my main focus in life. I’m not sure if this is the right time, to be honest. I feel like I probably should have released this album ten years ago when I wrote it, but I think life just got in the way. I was filming the TV show and going on book tours and just allowing all these other other forms of expression to kind of get in the way of focusing on music. Basically like a year and a half ago I decided to sell my makeup line so that I could have the time to go on tour and really give the music the attention it needs. And then obviously last year everything kind of got turned upside down and everybody was put to a halt. So I’ve just been waiting within this last year for everything to open up again so that we can go on tour and finally release the album.

How do you go about mixing your unique brand of alternative style with the kind of synth pop sound you’ve got going on?

Kat Von D – I think a lot of my fans and followers were expecting me to come out with like, metal just because I’m a huge fan of metal and I think people kind of know me for liking that music. But I also love a lot of darkwave and I love analog synthesizers and I’m a huge fan of post-punk era music. I love Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, that kind of stuff. I feel like when it comes to the music that I want to create it’s more along the lines of that. I love poetry, I love strong lyrics and soulful singing. I love Arch Enemy, but my voice does not lend itself to sing like Alissa [laughs] so I know where I belong.

It’s interesting also because like you were saying, you have your scene with metal and rock and all that stuff, but at the same time, you’ve also always been this kind of like, pop culture icon with LA Ink and everything.

Kat Von D – Yeah, I love pop structure. I’m not a big fan of pop music per se, but I do love the structure of songwriting and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. For us, I feel like we do have pop elements in our music but there’s definitely a darkness to it. Even in a lot of synthwave bands that I love, they tend to sound a lot happier than what we’re producing. I like to live in the more melancholy world. I don’t know how to write a happy love song.

There’s a consistent sound throughout the songs but each one still distinctly feels like it takes inspiration from different genres and eras. There’s definitely that predominantly 80s kind of sound.

Kat Von D – Yeah, especially the drum sounds and not just the synthesizers. I think we only have one song that actually has guitar in it. I really love that era but I also think that when my bandmates and I write songs, we don’t sit there with like, a reference. Like, “Oh, I really like this song, let me try to do a version of it.” We actually just start from scratch and we do a lot of sound design, finding specific synth sounds that are not presets in any way. It doesn’t feel dated to me. I feel like there’s a bit of a modern take on the 1980s I guess, and I think that’s important. We’re not trying to be Depeche Mode or any of those other bands that I mentioned, although you might feel the sentiment of that era.

That instrumental breakdown in ‘Fear You’ is so good, that’s very much in my lane. And that part of the music video looks dangerous as hell!

Kat Von D – Thank you, I love that too. I wanted to do a violent video because I feel like all of our other videos were beautiful. I was thinking, how do we create violence without hurting a person, or violence towards somebody versus like, inanimate objects, you know? So I had taken my husband to this thing called a Rage Room. You can rent these rooms and you buy different packages and you can just break break shit. We obviously got bored after like the first 15 minutes [laughs] but I can see how that could be therapeutic. That was a really cool experience so why not take that experience and make that into a music video?

Did you guys have any protection while you were smashing stuff?

Kat Von D – What’s funny is everybody didn’t want to wear protection, they were like, “we’ll wear some sunglasses”. Dave Parley, our drummer, was the only one that didn’t wear sunglasses and for a minute we thought he got a piece of glass in his eye. Thankfully it was just like, a dust particle but I was like “Oh my god don’t do this, Dave!” [laughs] I think aside from that we might have gotten a few little nicks and cuts but nothing crazy. We did use real glass, there was only a few prop glasses, like the sugar glass. I actually posted a video of Sammi, one of my synth players, breaking a bottle over my head and people were like, “Oh my god, that’s so crazy.” It literally felt like a kitty cat just whispered into my ear. [laughs] Those things break if you just like, squeeze them. I got those red glass skulls made and those were made out of the sugar glass, but other than that we do all our own stunts.

In the music video for Exorcism, you wrote that the song was partially inspired by a week long exorcism-themed movie binge.

Kat Von D – With my friend, Kevvy. We actually ended up writing another song together called Lost At Sea that’s on the album. He’s a huge horror fan and I am too, we’ve seen like, every single one. There’s so many terrible ones. It’s crazy. But there’s a lot of really great ones too and I was fascinated by the concept of demonic possession because it seems like there’s a pattern within every culture and every era in history that calls to some form of possession and exorcism. I just find it so weird that in an era like today, where we have cell phone cameras and all this stuff, you never actually see any footage on YouTube. It’s never like in the movies, you know? I think it’s like this romanticized idea of surrendering control to an outside force. I feel like people write a lot of love songs about the correlation between love and death or love and drugs or addiction. I just wanted to take it one step further and do a song about love that was in correlation with a demonic possession because I think that’s how I felt in the past a lot. It’s like you’re no longer in control or you don’t feel in control and you’ve given this power to somebody that may not be the greatest thing for you.

From that movie binge, which ones were your favorite and which ones were the absolute worst?

Kat Von D – I feel like I’ve subconsciously blocked out the worst ones. I think the worst ones were always like a Blair Witch-style filming, you know? One of my favorites through that marathon was one with Anthony Hopkins called The Rite. I love Anthony Hopkins obviously, who doesn’t? It was shot beautifully and it was the most realistic possession scenes. I don’t want to spoil it but there’s a giant twist at the end which I think was really different than every other exorcism movie out there. I think all of it was shot in Italy, so it’s a very beautiful background. Anthony Hopkins plays an exorcist. I loved The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but I would consider that more like a court case movie. It was so compelling, I think I cried at one point. I didn’t know that there was a part two and three to the original The Exorcist, and I had read the reviews prior to watching and everybody was talking shit about these movies. I thought they were so great. I love part two especially, I love the kind of origin story of Egypt and when you think about that era, they had pretty good CGI effects in that movie. So I gave those a thumbs up.

Were there any other kind of movie inspirations that helped guide the direction of the album?

Kat Von D – So Gregg Foreman AKA Mr. Pharmacist, he’s my other synth player and we’re both huge fans of John Carpenter, especially all the scores for most of his movies. I feel like there is inspiration behind some of those sounds that you find on the album, but as far as inspiration from movies, it was more for the music videos. For the Exorcism video, that one was really inspired by one of my favorite directors, Alejandro Jodorowsky. He did The Holy Mountain and El Topo and Santa Sangre. El Topo was my favorite just because the aesthetic way you would see these like, black silhouettes. The opening scene, for example, is this man in black on a black horse with a black umbrella just cruising through the desert. It was like putting together two things that didn’t belong together and I love that. For the music video for Enough there were definitely some Fellini inspirations with the props of the ocean where we’re kind of like, rowing through the storm and it’s a little bit campy, but in a good way. I don’t feel like the Fear You music video was inspired by any movie in particular, I just had a really clear idea of what I wanted the storyline to be. I love movies, or good movies at least. [laughs]

Do you feel like music videos kind of went away and then steadily came back with stuff like YouTube?

Kat Von D – I don’t know, I think that there are a lot of videos but the filming process for us has been pretty brutal because I don’t tend to do like, the lip syncing videos. I think that’s what the majority of people do, whether it’s hip hop or even metal. It’s like, okay, cool, you’re gonna do a fake performance and then we’re gonna lip sync and we’re gonna have some smoke and stroke. I don’t have any interest in doing that. For me, I’ve always loved music videos that have a narrative. Those just take a lot of time and energy and I can understand why bands don’t do them, but I like these little mini films. It kind of helps storytell the music more than just doing a performance piece. I think there’s creative ways of doing the performance pieces as well, I’m not gonna knock that, but to me, I’m not interested in just shooting a bunch of lip syncing all the time.

It helps show the artistry behind it. I like when artists go the extra mile.

Kat Von D – Me too. It’s funny because I really like our band, we get along so great and we love each other. We always laugh because we’re like The Munsters because we have a contortionist in our band and she looks like Marilyn Munster and then Gregg’s like Herman and so we’re this really weird little kooky family and stuff. I feel like everybody’s so extremely attractive in their own way. When I think of music videos, I always think about different parts that I want to create for each band member. Like, “Oh, this would be a really good scene for Sammi or for Dave.” In the music video for Exorcism, we actually got a stunt crew to come out and put us into those harnesses to make the bandmates fly into the air for those jumping scenes. Then we had to remove the little wires and stuff in post. My drummer always wears this leather fringe fanny pack and then he’s got this long beard and hair and I just want to see that flowing in the wind. It was my favorite jump scene out of all of them.

I just wanted to add that your work concerning animal rights is commendable. Dominion, in particular, that’s an incredibly affecting movie. If everyone was able to view that, you know, maybe things could change faster. I don’t know how you learn and see these things and not be changed by it.

Kat Von D – For sure, there’s definitely some trauma behind all that, I mean you could only imagine. But I always just commend Shaun Monson, because he’s dedicated his life to making those movies. He worked on Earthlings as well and those are just so, so brutal. But thank you, that’s very sweet.

And just so we don’t end on a bummer note, what kind of show can audiences expect to see on your upcoming concert dates?

Kat Von D – I’m a huge fan of going to see bands play and my biggest pet peeve is when you really love a band and you go and see them and it’s just like, a guy standing at a mic. So I definitely want to create an experience, especially with visuals. Like I said, I have a contortionist in my band who’s amazing and she’s part of our group. She is actually going to be playing some sounds but she’ll be moving her body in a crazy way that you won’t even be able to understand. We’ve been shooting all of our live visuals with Linda Strawberry, who does all the art directing for Smashing Pumpkins and a bunch of other bands. Her and I really see eye to eye on finding the beauty in the dark stuff. So we’ve actually been filming and prepping all of the light works and for the LED panels and everything else that we’re doing.I think people are gonna be in for a visual treat. I like that that’s just one other way of storytelling for music and I think that’s how you should be able to present your music to the world. To go back to my bandmates, it’s like they’re all superstars in their own way. I feel like they already have their own fans as well. I’m not interested in just shining a spotlight on myself, we’re all going to be doing some crazy things onstage. We’re like the goth Power Rangers.

#Kat Von D #2021 interviews

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sitekbeautyinstruments · 1 month

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SITEK BEAUTY INSTRUMENTS

#sitek #sitek beauty #sitek beauty instruments #beauty care instruments #beauty kits products #sbi #beauty care #beauty care kits

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bringinbackpod · 3 years

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Interview with Kat Von D

We had the pleasure of interviewing Kat Von D over Zoom video! Gifted multi-hyphenate Kat Von D shares driving darkwave laced single ‘Enough’, the third track from her forthcoming debut album, ‘Love Made Me Do It’, due August 27th and available for pre-order now. The pre-order of ‘Love Made Me Do It’ includes limited edition signed red vinyl, red cassettes, CD digipack, hoodies with Kat’s signature star face tattoos on the hood, custom sketchbooks and much more. Other limited edition colour vinyl variants are also available for retail. Listen to ‘Enough’ here - Pre-order ‘Love Made Me Do It’ here. ‘Enough’ is an ode to lost lovers in which Kat continues exploring the darkest angles of an unhealthy relationship. The new cut follows on recently released singles, the vulnerable synthwave slow jam, ‘I Am Nothing’, which found the talented artist at her most intimate and vulnerable, and the debut single ‘Exorcism’ - defined by Billboard as “a darkwave bop about love, loss and change” - which unveiled the album's recurring theme, in Kat’s own words; “‘Love Made Me Do It’ is a collection of all my hopeless romantic thoughts poured into one album.” Talking to American Songwriter, Kat revealed; “it’s being able to dip into those feelings of codependency or craziness but not actually live in it. Although most of the songs were written during a time of depression, that’s definitely not where I want to live, but there’s a beauty and vulnerability and a strength to that as well. I’m not ashamed of writing out my faults. I’m so full of them.” Talking about the new single, Kat reveals; “It was written by Chris Brenner, Danny Lohner from Nine Inch Nails introduced us. They’d actually worked on the song together, but they’d never done anything with it. It’s one of only two songs I didn’t write on the album. When I talked to Chris about it, he said, ‘That was my big breakup song’. The intro lyrics are, ‘Dove down to the bottom of the dark blue sea searching for any traces that are left of me’. I love that idea. You tend to lose yourself in relationships—good and bad. You’re reflecting on your part and why you stuck around. It attests to our willingness to stay in shitty relationships.” ‘Love Made Me Do It’ sits at the core of Kat’s universe, proving that music is her first and strongest passion. Having been a classically trained pianist since her youth with a deep appreciation for music of all genres, Kat poured her soul into this long-awaited full-length debut album. The project features collaborators including Dave Grohl, Linda Perry, Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio), Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails), Ladyhawke and Charo. Long before the history-making tattoos, ubiquitous television shows, best-selling books and an influential beauty empire, Kat Von D sat down at a piano for nearly two hours a day and played. In essence, music became her first creative language and most trusted outlet. Classical training and a deep appreciation for music of all genres essentially underscored her life. She studied voice under Ken Tamplin six days per week, strengthening her vocals. In 2012, she began writing with GRAMMY® Award-nominated Linda Perry. Following this experience, Kat continued to write on her own, sitting at the piano and summoning songs from raw emotion. During 2014, she retreated to London to record the original mix of what would become her full-length debut album ‘Love Made Me Do It’ (KVD/Kartel Music Group) before cementing it with her band – Gregg Foreman AKA Mr. Pharmacist (synth 1/Cat Power, The Gossip), Sammi Doll (synth 2/IAMX), Dave Parley (drums/Prayers), and Brynn Route (contortionist). They moved into a bungalow cottage on her property, lived together, and finished the record. Capping off the process, Dan Haigh of Gunship handled mixing. A pastiche of shapeshifting analog synths, post-punk dreamscapes, gothic hues, and shy pop magnetism, these eleven songs echo the eternal will of the perennially brokenhearted to love until death. We want to hear from you! Please email [email protected]. www.BringinitBackwards.com #podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #KatVonD #LoveMadeMeDoIt #LAInk #HighVoltage #MiamiInk #Prayers #zoom #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwork Listen & Subscribe to BiB Follow our podcast on Instagram and Twitter! source https://www.spreaker.com/user/14706194/interview-with-kat-von-d

#podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #music #aspn #americansongwriter #americansongwriterpodcastnetwor

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jazzgroovews · 6 years

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Portrait that I find aesthetically appealing The Brazilian beauty Renata Guerra Otoni 💋❤ Photo by Mateusz Sitek 📷 ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ ✦ https://www.instagram.com/jazzgroove.ws/ ✦

#JazzGrooveWs #renata guerra otoni #mateusz sitek

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thesinglesjukebox · 7 years

Video

youtube

KESHA FT. THE DAP-KINGS HORNS - WOMAN [7.50] Another spot in the motherfuckin' best of the year...

Lauren Gilbert: Now this is the Kesha I've missed. For all "Praying"'s manifest virtues, it is a song about things that happened to Kesha, and the fallout from those things. "Woman" is a song about Kesha being Kesha, having a fucking amazing life, a song about joy and doing whatever the fuck you want. This is freedom in a way "Praying" is not; not announcing that freedom, but living it instead. It calls back to "We R Who We R" and Kesha's previous persona, brash and bossy and sometimes drunk; Kesha's going to be exactly who she wants, and she doesn't really give a fuck what anyone thinks. [9]

Thomas Inskeep: Now, this is the anthem. I like "Praying" enough, but "Woman" kills. Just think how great "I'm a motherfucking woman!" is gonna sound when sung by 15,000 people in concert. I've not traditionally been a fan of Kesha's; I really loathed her early party-time singles. So the narrative around her is significant, musically, I think. And the fact that she's got some grease on this song thanks to the Dap-Kings Horns, to match the lyrical attitude she's throwing all over the place, is smart. I believe this version of Kesha, and that counts for a whole hell of a lot. [8]

Stephen Eisermann: It's a testament to Kesha's artistry that she can go from "Praying" to this, working both sides of the spectrum with finesse and the conviction of someone who's lived through both narratives. Here, Kesha comes out guns blazing, singing about her independence and how she doesn't need a man for anything -- a familiar theme, but sung with such motherfucking confidence that I challenge even the most prudish individuals to not sing along and smile. The Dap-Kings Horns frame the chorus in the best possible way, and the laugh in the second verse manages to come across as both cute and natural -- rare for affectations/emotional one-offs in studio recordings. Most of all, though, it's just so nice to hear Kesha being happy again, and there is no convincing me that she isn't. She's a motherfucker, after all, and I don't think anyone who isn't genuinely happy with herself describes themselves as such. [8]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: "Woman" is all about the hook, arriving so fast that the enthusiasm with which Kesha sings it has incredible impact. But "Woman" is also all about the hook. The verses are generic filler whose purpose is to simply make way for the chorus. Infinitely worse is the decision to stretch out a plodding bridge to a whopping fifty seconds. I really wish it were more acceptable to release pop songs under two minutes, because this would be far more exciting if it ended at 1:45. But hey, that hook! [5]

Anthony Easton: A weird bookend to The Killers' "The Man," except that Brandon Flowers is (at least partially) ironic, and Kesha's gorgeous reclaim is anything but. The liberation is economic as much as it is sexual, which deepens a party anthem for someone who has written some of the best. Extra points for the laugh break in the middle. Extra extra points for how her voice pushes the propulsive horns, and how the horns structure her voice. The act of mutual reinforcement is as much Ruth Brown or Tina Turner as it is Beth Ditto. [10]

Katie Gill: Kesha's strength is in her vulgarity and willingness to push the extra mile. Starting from brushing her teeth with a bottle of Jack to the entirety of "Dirty Love," Kesha's succeeded when she's gone above and beyond conventional levels of taste. This chorus, starting off with "I'm a motherfucking woman," pushes right past the level of taste into beautiful, unabashed shamelessness. The rest is very much a play-by-numbers "who run the world? girls" type of song with some boring lyrics ("girls in the front / boys in the back") and some questionable lyrics (I still don't know how I feel about "don't touch my weave"). But Kesha's beautifully brassy delivery and the added punch of the Dap-Kings take this song from the tawdry to the sublime. [8]

Katherine St Asaph: The Dap-Kings being on this at all is such a coup, specifically against the producer who once wrote that "A-list songwriters and producers are reluctant to give Kesha their songs because of her weight." And Kesha laughing throughout the song is relieving to hear, and also a coup. But it does give "Woman" (inadvertently?) the sense of a flippant session of karaoke, a laugh at the idea of doing soul music -- not helped by the pat arrangement, or the just-short-of-plagiarism pastiche of Destiny's Child and the presence and delivery of "don't touch my weave." (Particularly that one background adlib, yikes -- how would this be received if the name in the credits was Meghan Trainor?) But irreverence was part of the deal ever since Kesha was Ke$ha, and she's far better at it than playing sedate. And I'll always welcome anything that sounds like Back to Basics. [6]

Alex Clifton: Most of the self-empowerment tunes released lately have been lackluster. "Scars to Your Beautiful" was annoyingly inspirational, "Most Girls" well-intentioned but boring, and "Power" a good concept but muddied by poor production. That's what makes "Woman" stand out: it's relatively simple, but does it ever pack a punch. The Dap-Kings Horns suit Kesha's voice perfectly as she howls "I'm a motherfucking WOMAN!" with infectious rage/joy. I'm delighted to hear Kesha laugh through the song: there's plenty to be furious about these days, but at the same time, you've gotta pump yourself up with some kind of positive feeling to make it through the year. [9]

Dorian Sinclair: I love how exuberant and, for lack of a better word, goofy a lot of the choices made on "Woman" are. The happily exhausted laughter at the beginning, the shouts and cheers throughout the song, the part where Kesha cracks up in the middle of a line -- it all combines to make something weird and full of personality. But it's important to have a good song to hang all that on, and "Woman" delivers there as well, particularly thanks to the contributions of Saundra Williams and the Dap-Kings Horns, whose back and forth with Kesha's lead vocal really is fantastic. If "Praying" is a song about coming out of the darkness, "Woman" is about finding a way to be joyful in defiance, which is certainly a mood I can get behind. [8]

Joshua Copperman: A discussion ensued in the comments of "Praying" about Kesha's media narrative and respectability with regards to pop music. I deliberately avoided mentioning the narrative, as it remains a powerful piece of music regardless of backstory. "Woman" doesn't hold up quite as well -- the letter Kesha wrote announcing the single has more life than the recording, which sounds like all the horns and various other instruments were crammed into an elevator like Arcade Fire. The lyrics and performance are fun throughout, though, and occasionally transcendent -- the break into laughter in the second verse is a great moment that doesn't require further explanation. [7]

Will Adams: Our conversation on "Praying" gave me pause. Was my praise a product of respectability politics? Was I letting myself be played by appeals to authenticity, no matter how well deserved? Did I actually enjoy that stock piano ballad template that much? "Woman" helps to clarify the matter for me, in that despite it being a similar concept ("fuck you, I'm rising above all this") approached from a different angle of authenticity, it's much harder for me to get behind. I'm not interested in poptimist readings of the merits of this or "Praying" or Animal. For one, Kesha's ordeal has complicated it immensely, and for another, it simply comes down to things I like versus things I don't like: studio talk, laughing through lines (but not too much so as to keep it coherent), a bridge that goes on way too long and confetti horns cluttering an already cluttered track. [5]

Alfred Soto: A partial return to the I'll-try-anything ecumenicism of her early 2010s work, "Woman" creates such good will that I'm inclined to overrate it when my imagination creates scenarios in which it competes with "Senorita." I'm not sure if The Dap-Kings Horns are an essential embellishment or if their parts are the song; it's also easy to imagine a "Woman" without them. When I'm feeling ornery, I imagine Dave Sitek and Kelis. Ah, fuck it: "Woman" is fun to listen to. [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#Kesha #The Dap-Kings Horns #Woman #TSJ Best of 2017

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kekepanggabean-blog · 7 years

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My Blessing 19!

Banyak orang berkata “hari ulang tahun itu ya apasih”, “makin tua makin kerasa kalo ulang tahun ya biasa aja” hmmm so do I, makin kesini makin terbukti kalo apa yang mereka bilang is true!

Entah karena sekarang kondisinya udah jauh dari keluarga dan udah banyak melalui liku-liku drama korea hidup ini jadi sekarang berpikir ya ulang tahun ya hari biasa,gak perlu berekspektasi kayak anak SMA lagi. Karena gue pribadi yang gak suka ngumbar my birthday will be come, be like upload snapgram di awal bulan kelahiran dengan embel-embel “welcome bulan kelahiran” atau “H-30 kelahiran anak domba” dan banyak variasi lainnnya. Gue pribadi gak suka hal yang kayak gitu karna gue berpikir kalo kamu emang berarti buat seseorang gimanapun ceritanya your birthday pasti akan mereka ingat. Jadi ulang tahun gue tahun ini gue sama sekali gak berharap banyak karna menurut gue asal masih sehat dan bisa makan ayam crispy sambel maktin(sambelnya harus lebih banyak dari nasinya),roti bakar greentea tumpeh tumpeh dan mie iblis cabe 18 masih sanggup dilidah, udah bersyukur bgt sama Tuhan.

Sebelumnya gue udah dapat ucapan dari keluarga gue dan teman akrab gue yang puji Tuhan nyempatin ngucapin hbd ke gue di 00.00 dan sekitarnya. Gue merasa terberkati dengan masih diingat huhuhu. Berhubung ultah gue tahun ini ada di hari minggu gue makin merasa nothing special today. Yap, sunday its mean go to church! Jadi gue udah janjian bakal gereja bareng sama kakak kosan lama gue dan sohibnya pacar abang gue (riwueh ya) namanya kak Damayanti panggilannya Damay (orangnya gak ada damainya sama sekali,lasak bgt) karena dulu sering jalan bertiga sama pacar abang gue yang sekosan juga sama gue dulu,ke mall bareng,ke Bromo of course! dan ke our private mall 35 (cuman kita deh yang paham wkwk) karena kak Riry udah lulus dan hengkang ke Semarang jadinya kak Damay menjadi janda kesepian dikosan doi. Padahal baru kenal ya paling berapa bulanlah dulu tp gue udah nganggap mereka berdua seperti kakak kandung gue. Ketawa bareng,makan bareng,gosipping bareng dan dari mereka gue belajar buat jadi dewasa perlahan so..I'm so lucky to have them! Jadi,kita janjian gereja pagi dan gue jemput doi dikosnya dan kita pergi ke gereja dengan damai sejahtera. Berhubung kak Damay kondisinya gak tau kalo gue lagi ultah dan gue juga gak ada niatan bilang tapi pas mau pulang dan papasan sama kakak-kakak NH yang salah satunya mungkin tau gue ultah dari notif path dia sambil nyalam gue bilang hbd dan gue sedikit kaget dan dengan muka heran kak Damay said “sumpah kau ultah isa?” so,we decided go to mie setan (my favorito ever) nah pas disananya gue udah diline mulu sama gina nanyain gue balik jam berapa,kenapa lama bgt cause kita tiap minggu itu masak dikosan (gina yang masak sih sebenarnya-_-) dan makan barenggg yiy! Jadi mereka bilang kalo mereka udah lapar bgt nungguin gue balik spy makannya bareng hmm be sure gue gak ngeh kalo itu alasan doang buat surprisein gue. Oke pas dijalan balik pake hujan segala jadi gue sama kak Damay ada tuh nunggu hujan reda di pinggir jalan setengah jaman huhuhuu.

So,setelah gue nganter kak Damay balik dan gue cus ke kosan kedua gue dan di lokasi ada Amel,Sarah,Boyen dan Gintol. Okey kita seperti biasa ngobrolin semua hal yang gak ada faedahnya dan pas Gina masuk kamarnya dia dan tiba-tiba Boyen nyusul gue sama sekali gak ada feeling bakal disurprise pada saat itu dan dengan begonya gue pengen pipis dan masuk ke kamar Gina sementara mereka berdua lagi siapin kue dll so they failed wkwkwk setelah gue dicaci karna menggagalkan misi mereka cause gue udah gak sabar pengen makan kuenya kita foto,boomerang as usual dulu dan gue dapat kue 2 yang satunya bikinan Gina katanyasih special for my birthday yiy! Words are not enough to show how much I love you both;Gintol-Boyen.

Dah tu… sekitar jam 6 sorean gue balik ke kosan gue dengan kondisi udah lepek bgt jadi sampai kos gue rebahan bentar sambil balesin chat,snapgram satu-satu yang ngucapin (rada gak nyangka ajasih masih banyak aja yg ingat huuhuu) trus gak lama gue dapat vidcall dari my bestie boy yg ada di pulau dewata pas gue angkat taunya dia lagi rame-rame sama temannya trus mereka nyanyiin lagu hbd yang make me so feel bleesed to have him in my life! Padahal gue gak kenal sama sekali sama teman-temannya yg lain tp sok kenal aja jadinya. Buat Jojo,teman gue dari masa masa alay until now thankyou utk selalu ada,makasih udah jagain gue dan teman-teman yg lain pas di Bali be honest pengen bgt ada rezeki lagi trus ke Bali lagiL

Next…sekitar jam 9 malam, gue kaya dengar suara orang manggil dari bawah gitu,trus gue pergi ke balkon dan lihat ternyata eh…ternyata udah ada Barbara dan Kak Lestari lagi nyalain lilin didepan pagar wkwkwkwk terfailed sejagat raya,trus gue turun ke bawah dan bukain gerbang sontak kita bertiga ngakak ngakak ria. Trus akhirnya ke kamar gue dan foto trus makan kue dari Bara yg super duper luar biasa hehehee. Gue sama sekali gak nyangka si Bara betulan ngasih kejutan dan I am so happy for that Bartul! Fyi,mereka berdua balik dari kosan aku jam 12 lewat wkwkwk emang balada wanita ya ada aja yang dibahas. Karena udah capek max gue otw sleep beauty tp masih ada PR satu lagi hamper lupa. Karena gue LDF(Long Distance Friendship) sama dua pembokat gue; Sonya dan April jadi gue diamanahkan buat beli kue sendiri trus make a wish sendiri (katanya anggap aja mereka ada disini,untung aja kadonya udah nyampe jd sisi romantisnya masih ada dikit) yap, I do it dan salah satu wish gue biar bisa rayain ultah bareng mereka suatu hari nanti hehehehe semoga ya,Amin.

Feb,20…berhubung tgl 20 adalah first day kuliah di semester ini jadi itu baliknya cepat karena ada dosen yang belum pada datang gitu. Siangnya,Naomi ngeline gue nanya dikos apa kagak katanya dia mau ngambil sepatu btw rada kesal gitu in my heart soalnya si biawak itu ngucapin aja beloman trus gue balaslah blg kalo gue dikosan. Trus sekitar jam 4 sore gue lagi asik tuh lihat-lihat snapram orang dan tiba-tiba gue dengar suara orang bisik-bisik gitu depan kamarnya gue,trus ada yg buka kamar Mikha(tetangga kamar) tiba-tiba sambil ada suara yang bilang “gak mungkin ini anjir kamarnya rapi bener,bukan ini pasti(u know me so well olan bangsyat)” trus gue udah feelingnih pasti itu para unta-unta yg lagi kebingungan nyari kamar gue yg mana (karna gue baru pindah kamar ke lantai atas) spontan gue ngakak geli gitu trus gue ngintip mereka dari jendela kamar gue eh taunya si Ines nangkep gue lagi ngintip trus dia bilang “lah itu si keke woi” wkwkwkwk coba aja gue gak ngintip trus sampe malam mereka masih nyari kamar gue kan so funny ya…trus gue buka pintu kamar dan kitapun ngakak ngakak ria akan kebohodan mereka. So after that,kita foto foto,boomerang ala-ala dah tu sambil masih aja ngakak dan I got a big doll(jgn tanya boneka apa ya) and big size pizza from them (tau aja lagi laper emang). Dan demi apa Olan sama Naomi belum ada ngucapin apa-apa ke gue (tahan bgt emang tu unta berdua) sampai akhirnya tadi diucapin juga kecuali Ines sama Dinda udah dari pas gue ultah udah diucapin so I am so lucky to have them…love u guys! Jangan lupa nabung buat holiday part 2 lagi ihihihiiii.

Feb 21…siangnya gue tiba-tiba disamperin Mikha ke kamar dan ngasih gue coklat vanhouten yang gede bgt dan ngucapin hbd ke gue padahal kita kamarnya depan-depanan woiii karena dia selalu bilang “entar aja ya beb ku salam kau (sambil ketawa)” untung sayang ya Mikh…dan dalam sekejap tu coklat langsung sisa bungkus hmm…lapar apa doyan ke.

Feb 23…sore gue janjian sama my 2W(widya,wifi) buat ketemuan karna gue sok sok gabisa gitu and then si Wifi nge line trus bilang “kami mau surprise kau loh bodat jadi gak boleh gak bisa” wkwkwk sebenarnya udah maklum kok kalo yg dua ini saraf romantisnya udah kritis jadi kita janjian ketemu di KFC MOG akhirnya gue nyamperin mereka kesana dan kita tiup lilin bareng-bareng dan makan habis itu,karna so lapar (saking konyolnya cerita dibalik surprise mereka gak kuat lagi daku buat flashbackinnya wkwkwk) pokoknya still like that since SMA until tak terhingga ya we! Ku syg kalian!

Feb 25…malamnya pas selesai mandi tiba-tiba si Susi (teman kos) datang ke kamar trus minjam motor katanya mau beli sesuatu trus gak lama setelah itu ternyata Itin,Tiur,Dindra,Susi,Kak Ulfa,Kak Eka datang sambil nyanyi lagu hbd dan bawa martabak yang dipenuhi lilin dan yap lumayan sukseslah mereka karna gue sama sekali gak ngeh si susi minjam motor taunya buat beli martabak. Thankyou my queen of WT 15A yg jadi alasan buat aku malas pindah kos lagi cause karna kalian kalian huhuhu jadi kangennnn…

March,2…Okay gak terasa udah bulan Maret aja entah kenapa makin tua hari berlalu makin gak kerasa kenapa yaaa… Sekitar jam 2 siangan gue diline sama Erlis (teman pertama gue dikuliahan) katanyasih dia mau main ke kosan gue,be honest gue emang udah tau dia pasti datang buat kasih kejutan karna gak logika aja gak ada badai dan topan tiba-tiba dia mau datang tapi pas gue buka gerbang buat dia dibawah taunya ada my luvlis Sitek dan Atul jugaa aaa bisa dibilang yg ini sukseslah wkwkwk,dan mereka gak cuman bawa kue kesukaan gue sepanjang jalan kenangan tapi sekuntum bunga-bungaan juga uhlala. Jadi guys,gue sama erlis,sitek dan atul itu sekelas di semester 1 jadi kita saling nyambung satu sama lain apalagi cuman atul doang yg dari jawa kita bertiga dari medan jadi kalo ketemu pasti lupa mungsiin otak. Dan gue sama sekali gak nyangka sitek sama atul ikut ngasih surprise cause gue tau pasti susah bgt buat nyamain waktu mereka bertiga dan padahal yg paling wownya Sitek dan gue sekelas lagi di semester 4.

Cerita in this day gak sampai situ aja… karna malamnya gue udah janjian juga sama my bestie boy 2 yg paling gue gatau sampe skrg kenapa ada ciptaan Tuhan kayak dia dibumi ini, berhubung dari libur kemarin kita belum ketemu jadi kita pergi buat makan dan as always sepanjang jalan cant stop ngakak dan saling mempermalukan satu sama lain as usual. Mulai dari bahas Negara-Drama Korea (dia lebih tau jauh dari gue demi apa) sampai ke tiang listrik yang gak penting bisa jadi topik bahasan. Pas dia nganter gue balik ke kos trus dia ngasih sesuatu ke gue yang katanya itu emas batangan susah dapatnya hmm ok oc dan dari semua kado yg gue dapat mmg ini yg terestetik utk taraf pria gak waras like him. Padahal kita kenalnya belum ada setahun tapi kayak udah kenal dari masih janin so I am so lucky to have him in this life,thankyou for always make me laugh even my day full of trouble my sahabat gelembung,Rei (dia yg buat tapi gue gatau maknanya apa).

April,7 okay okay… udah april aja dan gue gak mikir bakal dapat kue kuean berlilin lagi tapi dihari itu gue dapat kejutan lagi dari Cintas cintasku; Bella,Novita,Barbara di Pantiez Pizza Batu. Kita emang udah niat kesana dari jauh hari cause lagi pengen makan pizza bgt tp pas lagi semangat 45 nih mau makan pizzanya tiba-tiba ada mas pelayannya datang sambil bawa kue trus bilang ke gue “mbak ini ada titipan dari Jogja” demi apa gue sumpah syok berasa yaampun mas salah orang pasti gila malu bgt… trus gue spontan bilang “hah gak ada mas” tapi dia ngulangin kata-kata dia yg tadi dan gue lihat mereka bertiga udah ketawa-ketawa dan yap they’re successful! Thankyou cintasku,still like that until tak terhingga ya we,ku cinta klen!

Inti dari intinya I’m feeling so blessed to have them in my life,really! Mungkin di tahun ini gue belum bisa rayain ulang tahun ala ala dongeng dengan pangeran tampan tapi… puji Tuhan tahun ini gue dikelilingi orang-orang baik yang selalu ada buat gue dan selalu ingat gue. Sebenarnya menurut gue hal yang terpenting di hari ulang tahun itu bukan mahalnya kado,enaknya kue dan panjangnya ucapan yang kamu dapat tapi dengan masih diingatnya dirimu dan harapanmu adalah harapan mereka dan dihari itu namamu terbesit dalam doa mereka…menurut gue itu adalah bagian terpenting di hari ulang tahun. Gue gak minta banyak sama Tuhan,cukup dengan hidup gue dikelilingi dengan orang-orang baik dan tulus yang selalu bisa jadi partner in crime gue dalam segala kondisi seperti sekarang ini. Salah satu harapan gue adalah orang-orang baik yang ada disekeliling gue bisa bahagia sebahagia gue punya mereka. Terimakasih untuk selalu ada buat keke dikala laporan,tugas,makalah kuliah benar-benar buat gue sangat sangat lelah,terimakasih untuk jadi alasan gue mengucap syukur disaat gue belum punya apa yang orang lain punya. Terimakasih untuk jadi alasan buat gue gak boleh sedih apalagi galau karena gue punya tugas harus bikin kalian terus ketawa.

Terimakasih juga buat teman-teman yang udah ngucapin februari kemarin yang gak bisa disebutin satu persatu yang mau luangkan waktunya ngetik panjang lebar dan buat wish untuk gue. Semoga gue bisa jadi orang yang lebih baik setiap harinya seperti wish kalian ya!

Dan,ditahun ini gue sadar kalau untuk bahagia itu sederhana. Dengan kamu cukup hanya fokus pada hal-hal yang membuatmu bahagia,pada orang-orang yang menyayangimu dan menginginkan kehadiranmu selalu,tertawa dengan orang-orang konyol bukan dengan memberikan pikiran pada orang-orang yang salah menilaimu dan mungkin membencimu dengan alasan tertentu. Simpel kan?

Terimakasih Tuhan, I have them.

#birthday story

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