CRUSH-India Salvor Menuez

India Salvor Menuez is an artist, actress, model and all round total babe. A born and bred New Yorker, she resides in an apartment in the Chinatown neighbourhood of Manhattan which she shares with fellow Luck You Collective member Jack Shannon.  

As co-founder of the Luck You collective, India is undeniably cool. And seeing as this collective had its first show in 2008 when India was just 15 (*insert life re-evaluation here*) it's no wonder that she's such a fascinating young artist. She often collaborates with friend and fellow babe Petra Collins, this includes covering her naked body in coconut vodka jello for her performance entitled 'FREE BODY SHOTS' at the opening of Petra's group show 'Pussy Pat'. This performance was simultaneously a celebration for International Women's Day and to be quite honest I can't think of a better way to celebrate. India has also featured in the film 'Something In The Air' plus the video below (my new obsession) for Rita Liefhebber's  Spring/Summer 2014 collection. This video is beautifully created and intensifies my envy for all those who can whistle properly. Be prepared to fall in love with the captivating India Salvor Menuez.

Don't save me

Although I'd heard their name kicking around for a while, for some reason I never thought to look Haim up. But with the start of the Easter holidays I suddenly remembered - Haim. I'm glad I did. The first song I heard of their's was "Don't Save Me" and from first listen I was hooked. They're a band that simply oozes cool- 3 sisters, hailing from LA, armed with guitars- ready to kill. Plus it's just nice to see female musicians being given some recognition, Haim are signed to Roc Nation, topped BBC's sound of 2013 and won Best International Band at the NME awards this year. Their videos are a must-see too. (Anything with synchronised choreography in it just makes me happy.)

Crawling back to you

I though I'd give you a round up of some of the best new music around (or soon to be around) at the moment. A lot of artists have put out some great fresh sounds for us to vaguely shake our bodies to. I have been playing AM by the Arctic Monkeys on repeat ever since 'Why Do You Only Call Me When You're High?" slinked its way on to the radio. The album won Best British Album at the Brits this year and you can certainly see why. This album will make you want to slick back your hair, shrug on a leather jacket and slink your way through the streets; feeling like possibly the coolest person ever.

In the new category there's Lakutis' new LP-Three Seashells. His last LP 'I'm In The Forest' is often heard blaring from my speakers, so I was waiting in anticipation for his newest offering. The LP is released on Himanshu Suri's label Greedhead. I have heard a couple of the tracks before-'Body Sceam' and 'Too Ill For The Law'; I have found that Lakutis' music is the kind that you don't love at first listen, but then somehow by the end of the night you've played the LP at least 10 times and now know all the words. He's released a video for the single 'Jesus Piece', featuring fake blood, animal heads and gold paint-oddly compelling.
Stream the LP here.

And finally in the nearly category Chromeo's newest delight 'White Women'. I cannot even put into words how freaking excited I am for this album. I managed to fall in love with Chromeo quite by accident; they were playing a gig near me and my sister was going so I bought a ticket on the door and I congratulate myself on that decision every time I hear some funky synth or a talk box put to great use. Seriously SEE THESE PEOPLE LIVE. You will not regret it. The atmosphere is fantastic- everyone strutting out their best moves; in fact one guy managed to clamber on to the stage and dance his way out of the security guards' grasps (he was later rugby tackled to the floor but you know). They've released some songs from the album on their soundcloud and have made a video to their single 'Come Alive'. If you're not dancing by the end of it someone must have removed your funk gene. 'White Women' will be released on May 12th, better practice your moves.

For the love of hats

Jumper-Homemade, Dress-H&M, Shoes-Primark, Hat-New Look

Fashion tip #357-Buying a hat will make any outfit look fancy.

I had also been an admirer of hats from afar, secretly envious of those who could just wear a hat so nonchalantly. I think that my envy stemmed from the fact that I could never just so blatantly wear something that was in no way necessary. You can't even play it off as a way of keeping warm. However, with the new year in full swing, I thought god dammit Anna. You're 16. If you want to wear a hat for nothing more than vanity's sake then just buy one already.

 So I did. This beauty came from New Look for a not unreasonable price; I also love the wide brim on it as it frames the face perfectly. So, my advice for you secret hat enviers is just do it, you may feel like a bit of a prick at first, but my my the world does look good from under this brim.

No gifts to give

While listening to one of the Christmas playlists on Rookie, a less upbeat song crept up, with lullabying melodies and hushed piano-it drew me in. This song was Christmas In The Room by Sufjan Stevens. The song is beautifully romantic and sweet with a soft sadness to it, so when you begin to feel sick from all the sweetness and goodwill surrounding this holiday Sufjan Stevens is my prescribed antidote. And with a song called "Did I make you cry on Christmas day? (well you deserved it)" you'll see why he's the perfect palette cleanser.

Quand j'écoutais à un des playlists sur Rookie, un chanson moins entraînant s'approche, avec des mélodies de berceuse et du piano calme. Cette chanson était <<Christmas In The Room>> de Sufjan Stevens. Le chanson c'est très romantique et adorable avec un peu de tristesse aussi, donc quand tu commences d'avoir mal au coeur de tout la bonne volonté de ces vacances, Sufjan Stevens est mon antidote prescrit. Et avec le chanson s'appelle "Did I make you cry on Christmas day (well you deserved it)" tu verras pourquoi il est vraiment rafraîchissant. J'essaie practiquer mon français, donc je suis désolé pour tous les erreurs et s'il vous plaît me corrigez!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Uh huh honey

Sorry for the gap in posts, I've been ill/busy/in my pyjamas crying over Breaking Bad so yeahhhh excuses excuses. My new tripod arrived so I can actually do outfit posts now (rejoice!), so what I'm wearing is a vintage blouse, Jaeger jumper (get me being fancy) (jokes it was my auntie's) (I have no money), cheapest stretchy black skirt thing and my Doc Martens. Which are the clumpiest, comfiest things ever, plus they make me feel slightly better while clomping my way up the hill to sixth form in the dark and the cold. In other news, I've been listening to some Yeesuz lately. I have most of Kanye's other albums so I thought I'd take a listen, pretty good but I'm still not sure if I'll buy it. Definite favs though were Blood On The Leaves and Bound 2. I'm sure many of you will have seen the video for Bound 2 which features Yeezy on a motorbike with a naked Kim Kardashian curled around him (yeah I don't know either), however this video is definitely rivalled by James Franco and Seth Rogen's remake Bound 3 . Which instead of Kim Kardashian features a naked Seth Rogan I still haven't quite made up my mind as to which is better yet. It is actually pretty impressive as they made the video shot for shot and some ingenious person has put both videos side by side so you can see for yourself. Something about naked Seth Rogan being curled around James Franco is terrifying yet strangely mesmerising...

Skateistan

This story has been floating around on the internet for a while, but it's only now that I have decided to take a look to see what Skateistan is really all about. It caught my attention when I saw pictures of these (what I think we can all agree on) bad ass girls doing their thing on the skateboards.

Skateistan is an international, non-profit organisation which provides skateboarding and educational programming in Cambodia and Afghanistan. Pretty cool right? They began as a grassroots 'Sport for Development' project in Kabul in 2007 and have now won a load of awards for their, frankly awesome, work. They work with ages 5-18, 50% of their students are street working children and 40% are girls. They provide access to education (focusing especially on girls and working children), develop leadership opportunities and build friendship, trust and social capital. All fantastic things. They've recently brought out a book about Skateistan so go check that out if you want to find out more. Also go like their page on Facebook, it'll be a ray of sunshine on your newsfeed between those selfies and passive aggressive statuses. (which gotta be said I do also love.) 

I think we'll all have to accept that we'll never be as cool as these girls. Keep on rolling guys.