Porches' Beautiful "Goodbye"
Porches is currently on a North American tour in support of his last album The House. Watch the video for "Goodbye" below.
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Go Find Your People at Unsound
One thing you have to keep in mind when attending Unsound is that genre-bending is at its core. Those willing to go along for the journey of discovery with the artists are the ones who will leave having gained the most. The first Saturday of the festival, Arca presented AIRDOLL, a show featuring Bobby Beethoven, Mica Levi, KAVARI, and 2K88. The performances went until 3AM, and then it was time to head to the club just in time to catch VTSS’s infectiously dance-y set. It was a full-circle moment having her perform at Unsound, the place where she herself found an early appreciation for electronic music. That night, the party went until 9AM, and a line filled with chain-smoking cool kids (of all ages) wrapped around the block well into the early morning hours.
The next morning, festival-goers headed to Nowa Miodowa, a stunning concert venue situated in the heart of the city. Performances by the Milkweed and the legendary Klein were definitely curing hangovers boiling over from the night before. Klein strutted on- and off-stage in her distinctly unpredictable nature. After a costume change into a white tutu, industrial noises and jarring light design took center stage, lending her show a feel closer to political performance art. The sold-out crowd could not have been happier that Sunday morning, with many longtime fans in the audience trying to wrap their heads around their interpretation of the two avant-garde pieces.
Later that day, Arca hosted an intimate artist talk that paired nicely with the acts from the night before. Championing the idea that we should maintain an optimistic point of view, she inspired the room to pursue an unapologetic sense of self-expression in the face of judgment and hate. One moment that stood out was when she pointed out the importance of rage and anger. As someone who has had a hard time feeling these emotions herself, she noted how they can be channeled in a positive way and shouldn’t always be shied away from.
Heading into Sunday evening, the party couldn’t be stopped. Klub Ocski boasted a lineup that felt pretty unmissable. Pink Siifu, a rapper from Alabama with the freshest sound I’ve heard in a while, made it all the way to Poland. He had the crowd wrapped around his finger throughout, even getting hundreds of men to bark for him as he jumped off stage and ran through the middle of the crowd. This, combined with the impressive set design from Blackhaine’s moment, and NYC-based Debit’s cheeky Latin-techno beats, made for the highlight of the weekend.
Keeping in line with past years, Unsound has a community that makes the trek worth it. It brings together a group of welcoming individuals with a type of curiosity that is not always so easy to find. You can meet lawyers, club kids, musicians, health workers, creative directors, and locals all at one event. Throughout my time there, I met more than three couples who had met at Unsound and have been together ever since. There’s something beautiful in the air where you never know what the next performance or moment will hold. Whether that’s making a lifelong friend or finding novel inspiration for your own creative pursuits, Unsound will always challenge you to keep an open mind and leave you eager to return to your people next year.
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Tyler, The Creator Takes Over FC Barcelona’s Jersey With GOLF WANG
The partnership will also take over Barcelona off the pitch. On October 23, Spotify will host Copa De Golf, an event bringing together music and the city’s creative community. Yung Taco will headline with a DJ set, joined by Gabriela Richardson, Alu Nuenga, Duna, and Mushkaa, connecting Tyler’s wider creative world with a new generation of local talent.
The limited-edition FC Barcelona jerseys, of which 1,899 will be available in reference to the club’s founding year, went on sale October 15 through Barça Official Stores in Spain and online. The wider GOLF WANG collection is also available online and at select GOLF stores in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Sydney, and London.
The accompanying GOLF WANG collection takes the collaboration well beyond matchday merch. A Letterman Jacket, Track Jacket, retro football jerseys, and Soccer Shorts lead a wider lineup that also includes hoodies, track pants, graphic tees, and accessories. The palette moves between brown, teal, burgundy, blue, black, and white, with FC Barcelona and GOLF WANG branding running throughout. It’s a natural meeting point between Tyler’s playful approach to design and football’s ever-expanding place in fashion.
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Throwing Fits at The Strokes Flushing Meadows Queens Show
One way to know what you like, what you actually give a shit about, is to go back to what you liked when you weren’t paid to write about it. Better yet, when you were lowkey kind of bullied for liking it. Like when I loved The Strokes in my tiny Beaufort, South Carolina high school when everyone else liked country and rap, and I thought this one kid was hot cause he had that whole devil-may-care greasy vintage look that to me was giving “Last Nite” music video, but turns out his family could only afford to shop at Goodwill.
Anyway, the point is that back then, I loved a letterman jacket, a bowling jacket, unkempt hair, The OC, The Killers, The Strokes, and typing stream-of-consciousness posts (like this one) on my Xanga blog. Sometimes, like right now, when I’m writing for the internet, about my taste that hasn’t wandered much, I remember just how cool she must think it is, how sick 16-year-old me must be to hear that we saw The Strokes this weekend as part of her job. Hell, how even 2018 me, the one that got hooked on the oral history book Meet Me In The Bathroom and decided to blow her life up and move to NYC to be a music journalist and nobody else in my life at the time thought that was a great idea, but I did, and on my best days I think I was right; I bet she’d think this is cool too. I bet she wouldn’t complain about the freak rainstorm that happened after TV on the Radio and before Beach House. I bet she’d be happy to text people about access and tickets and lists.
So yes, we lost the film camera for this story during the great exodus from Flushing Meadows. And also yes, thanks to the steamy heat, then rain, then waiting for an Uber for two hours, my hair is like five textures now, but none of that matters.
What matters is that for some reason The Strokes … or maybe Beach House or Fcukers or TV on the Radio, have a disproportionate amount of attractive fans. I, being a musically inclined millennial, was not qualified to fully trust my fashion instincts (see: me wearing the same pre-canceled American Apparel red bodysuit I’ve been rocking since the 2010s). So, I entrusted my friend Jules Wettreich, stylist to the stars (she would never describe herself that way, but first of all it’s true and second of all she’s not proofreading this so I’m sneaking it in), to decide who we snapped for this story, who threw the best fits at The Strokes show, if you will. After each snap, we tried to articulate what made each of these beacons of style stand out. What we landed on wasn’t a trend or a particular way of styling, but innate taste. They seem to know what they like. It drew you in. They have this visceral authenticity. They have taste.
Another thing that matters is that The Strokes, in an era when bringing up politics, war, or calling out injustices can get you blacklisted from a venue or shut out of opportunities, have never felt the need to shut up and just play. Which is why Julian Casablancas moderated a panel (S.O.S. – EARTH IS A MESS Panel) with political strategist Maya Rupert, labor organizer Chris Smalls, and comedian Lee Camp before the lineup started. It’s also why AOC and Bernie Sanders welcomed The Strokes to the stage. Because even if you just want to sway with your friends to “Ode To The Mets” (and don’t worry, I did), you still need to wake it up. What’s the point of having a point of view, having taste, or caring about something if you do nothing with it?
So, ask questions. Vote in November. Push for change. Why? Because I know you’re exhausted, but the system is made to keep you jaded. It’s so overwhelming. What do you like? What draws you in? Do you have taste? Is it your own? Can you trust yourself?
