1. PM12 nationalpost.com NATIONAL POST, FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012
PHOTOGRAPHER
RICHARD MOSSE
Series Lush with exotic landscapes in
saturated hues of magenta and hot pink
that shroud an ongoing civil war over
natural resources and political control,
Mosse’s series Infra is a breathtaking
look at the complex political climate of
the Democratic Republic of Congo in the
group show Public: Collective Identity |
Occupied Spaces.
Style With an amplified visual aesthetic
that turns the Congolese landscape into a
psychedelic trip, Mosse takes an abstract
twist on documentary-style photography
with the use of a discontinued military
Infrared Kodak film.
Method “When you represent human suf-
fering in this way with a very beautiful,
lurid and dissident colour palette, you’re
setting up kind of a situation in which
the viewer is troubled by their response,”
says Mosse, who worked on the series be-
tween 2010 and 2011. “They’re enjoying
aesthetically something that they feel they
shouldn’t be and that’s a moment, sort of a
spark in which I hope people will begin to
consider and meditate on how this type of
photography is constructed.”
Aftermath After following military and
rebel groups through the Congo’s land-
scape for two years, Mosse has returned
home with an appreciation for the coun-
try’s optimistic people, but also disillusion-
ment with the Western way of life. “I came
back from the Congo, where the people
are sort of wonderfully alive ... to America,
where people are so burned out by their
comfort and so anxious with their strip
malls and their Xanax and people are so
cynical,” he says. “The people in the Congo
they have nothing, and yet they’re so joyful
and that’s very refreshing.”
National Post
Infra runs through June 30 at the University
of Toronto Arts Centre as part of the
multi-venue show Public: Collective Identity
| Occupied Spaces, which is also held at the
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art.
Glass Ceiling runs through June 2 at O’Born
Contemporary. For more information,
visit scotiabankcontactphoto.com.
PHOTOGRAPHER
JILL GREENBERG
Series Greenberg is no stranger to con-
troversy for her bold artistic statements
and body of work ranging from her im-
ages of crying children in End Times to
her mischievous manipulation of U.S.
Senator John McCain, but right when she
felt as if she had hit the proverbial glass
ceiling, Greenberg returned to her femin-
ist roots with her aptly titled new series,
Glass Ceiling.
Style Inspired by an outtake from her
2008 fashion shoot with the U.S. synchron-
ized Olympic swim team, Glass Ceiling
finds the swimming group the Aqua Lilies
clad in high heels floating aimlessly like
delicate Barbie dolls in a Los Angeles pub-
lic swimming pool, treading the treacher-
ous waters of a man’s world. The series is
highly stylized and dream-like as a soft col-
our palette of pastel hues of pink and blue
ripple on the surface of the water, an effect
enhanced by Greenberg’s ongoing affinity
for state-of-the-art photographic technol-
ogy. (She shot the series with a $60,000
Hasselblad camera, and enhanced the
pops of colour in Photoshop.)
Method Greenberg is well-versed in
tackling issues of feminism in her work,
exploring the subject in the ’80s and ’90s
with her drawings Women as Seen by Men
and a multimedia digital piece, Eve of the
Future, that proposed man’s ideal woman
as a genetically engineered body with no
head and multiple orifices. “What’s sort of
significant in making the work, in making
these pictures of women not really in con-
trol of their environment, is their agency
was somewhat taken away by the weight
of the water,” says Greenberg, who uses the
photographs as a metaphor to describe the
roles of women living in a patriarchal so-
ciety. “That’s what I was trying to portray
[here] with wearing high-heel shoes and
the water forcing their bodies into con-
torted positions.”
Aftermath “I think the culture we live in,
Western culture, I think that people don’t
necessarily still think that there’s a glass
ceiling, but I just wanted to remind people
that there still is,” says Greenberg, who
found herself in an incapacitated position
when shooting in the depths of a public
pool clad in heavy scuba gear, and weighed
down by the water — an apt metaphor for
what she sees as a constant struggle in a
man’s world. “I hadn’t really ever thought
about it, but it’s still right there.”
Now in its 16th year, CONTACT, the world’s largest photography festival, has firmly placed Toronto at the
centre of the international arts scene. As part of our ongoing look at the city-wide event, which runs until the
beginning of June, the Post’s Luis-EnriqueArrazola went behind the lens with exhibiting photographers
Richard Mosse and Jill Greenberg, whose two series use highly stylized images to convey dark eye candy.
AVENUE
JILL GREENBERG COURTESY OF O’BORN CONTEMPORARY
RICHARD MOSSE COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
AND JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY

2. S T Y L E & D E S I G N
Dave Lackie says At first sniff, I detect an office boardroom in the heart of New York
City. I smell four or five sales executives brainstorming ideas on how to drive sales
through brand extensions. One takes out a list of the most successful women’s perfumes
and checks off the key notes in each of them. I smell rose, mandarin, sandalwood and
amber. A few minutes later, I smell the marketing director suggesting the bottle cap be
designed in the shape of a Nine West heel. ◊◊
Nathalie Atkinson says The name makes all the sense of a composite such as Pottery
Barn — unrelated words paired up because they sound good together. Ditto the fra-
grance notes in the nonsensical Love Fury. We’ve moved from celebrity scents to scents
by mass market shoe brands. I don’t even want to think about what Eau de Uggs might
smell like. ◊ Weekend Post
SNIFF TEST
LOVE FURY
BY NINE WEST
$52 for 100 mL at
Nine West boutiques,
ninewest.ca
WP6 nationalpost.com NATIONAL POST, SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2012
ECO CHIC • THESE RISE ABOVE THE GREENWASHED MASSES
Lara Spencer’s day job is as co-anchor
for Good Morning America. Off-cam-
era, she moonlights as an avid thrifter
and second-hand bargain-hunter
who’s not above dumpster-diving
for a find. I Brake for Yard Sales
(Abrams, $27.95) is Spencer’s lively
mix of how-to, before-and-after and
easy projects, and it’s not only a cut
above the glut of DIY books out there,
it’s approachable inspiration for the
impending flea market season.
Homegrown eco-friendly and
vegan personal care brand Live
Clean gets bigger and better all
the time. There are already sooth-
ing baby products added to its
original lineup, even a Moroccan
hair care range featuring the buzz
ingredient, argan oil. Now there’s a
daily face cleanser and a line of pro
hair styling products (at Shoppers
Drug Mart, Wal-Mart and Loblaws
stores, live-clean.com).
Rowenta’s new Eco-Intel-
ligence iron operates at
high efficiency with a 25%
energy savings. That’s
thanks in part to its pat-
ented plate design, which
ensures that maximum
steam hits the garment
itself, and not just the air
around it ($140 at Home
Outfitters and other retail-
ers, rowenta.ca).
PHOTOS BY ARTHUR MOLA
BY LUIS-ENRIQUE
ARRAZOLA
Fourth-year graduates at Ryer-
son University’s fashion design
and fashion communication
programs are about to find out
about the fashion industry’s
Darwinian natural selection
process, and how only the most
sartorially savvy will survive.
Hot off the heels of the
graduating class’s Mass Exo-
dus fashion show, design pro-
gram graduates Devlyn Van
Loon, Stephanie Kia and fash-
ion communication student
Odette Beja are heading into
a workforce in which youth
unemployment is at a high
of 14.7%, according to a TD
economic report, with 27,000
fewer jobs available now than
this time last year for those be-
tween the ages of 15 to 24.
Not exactly statistics these
women are happy to hear half-
way out the classroom door,
degrees in hand and mounting
studentdebtintow.
“It’s frightening but it
kind of puts it into perspec-
tive that you can’t expect al-
ways to work in fashion,” says
Devlyn Van Loon, a 22-year-old
aspiring designer. Admitting
that goes against Ryerson’s
proudly touted 1996 statistic
that 95.5% of its fashion grads
find jobs in their field, and in-
deed, 2008 numbers from the
Council of Ontario Universities
found an 83.5% placement rate
in jobs somewhat or closely
related to the fields of a gradu-
ate’s study.
Whilemanyaspiringfashion
graduates may have launching
their own label in mind, they
often find themselves work-
ing as manufacturers, pattern
makers, sales clerks, tailors
and dressmakers.
“Maybe you’ll have to do
something else on the side to
make ends meet but I guess
it’s just a sign that you have to
work even harder to get what
you want because there’s so
much competition,” Van Loon
says; she takes in contract sew-
ing work for local fashion label
Thomas. “Just up your work
ethic.”
Alisha Schick, the 30-
year-old Edmonton designer
behind Suka Clothing, sup-
ports her label by working as
professor at MC College, and
knows only too well that work
ethic and dedication are the
best tools these newly minted
designers have in a financially
insecure and cutthroat indus-
try. Increased competition
amongst graduates pushes
them further away from their
chosen field of study or pulls
them out entirely, according
to the TD economic report.
“The ones that really want to
doitaregoingtobetheonesthat
survive. There’s a lot of people
I think right now just taking it
because it’s just a Project Run-
way trend,” says Schick, whose
day job includes teaching fash-
ion sketching, colour theory and
portfolio development to stu-
dents.“Thosepeoplearegoingto
get weeded out, but the serious
people are always going to be in
fashion and just keep growing
withit.”
“The difficulties that pres-
ent themselves across one’s
path can really be taken as an
opportunity to gain valuable
experience and growth,” says
23-year-old Beja, who may not
face the same difficulties as her
design student cohorts but who
still relies on a thriving fashion
industry for employment. “It
doesn’t matter if the industry
is tough to work in, as long as
they’re passionate and as long
as they work hard.”
Ryerson graduate and as-
piring bridal designer Steph-
anie Kia, 22, isn’t fazed, even
after a semester of studying
and researching the changing
job climate in the fashion
industry. She has already se-
cured a two-year contract as a
technical designer with Aber-
crombie and Fitch.
“I definitely think that people
shouldgoinwithlowerexpecta-
tions in this industry, especially
when they start up,” says Kia,
who showcased ethereal wed-
ding gowns in her Mass Exodus
segment. “You have to pay your
dues, you have to work your
way up, and I don’t think people
should expect to get instant
gratification right away. I defin-
itely think you have to be very
realisticaboutit.”
And ultimately, a four-in-
five placement rate for those
willing to stick it out isn’t bad
at all.
“Success is very subjective.
For me, as long as I can con-
tinue making things and learn-
ing while being able to pay my
bills, I would consider myself
successful,” Devlyn says. “As
long as I’m able to kind of do
that within the industry I
would say I’d be happy, but it
is a very cutthroat industry
and it can be hard sometimes
so we’ll see.
“But,” she adds, “I’m pretty
confident.”
Weekend Post
WHATNOW?For fashion graduates entering
a di∞cult market, the answers
are lowered expectations
and raised work ethics

3. A R T S & L I F E nationalpost.com PM9NATIONAL POST, FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012
N O L O N G E R R O L L I N G ? No satisfaction for you, Rolling Stones fans. Rolling
Stone magazine reported this week that the group
has nixed plans to hit the road in celebration of its
50th anniversary, instead aiming for 2013. “Basic-
ally, we’re just not ready,” the group’s guitarist,
Keith Richards, pictured, told the magazine. Re-
scheduling the tour for next year,
Richards added, seems “more
realistic.” Multiple sources
tell the magazine that Richards’ health is
at the centre of the postponement. The axe-
slinger is reportedly still getting back into
form after falling out of a tree and injur-
ing himself in 2006 in Fiji, while taking
a break from the group’s A Bigger Bang tour.
Plus, he’s 68 years old. And Keith Richards.
“They don’t want to do a full tour,” a source in the
concert industry told the magazine. Reuters
Well, he did fall out
of a tree, plus he’s
68 years old, and
Keith Richards
BY DAVE ITZKOFF
HBO said late on Wednesday
night that it was ending fur-
ther production on its high-
profile drama Luck, one day
after the announcement that
a third horse involved in the
show had been injured and
euthanized.
Luck, which was set in the
world of California horse ra-
cing and made its debut in
January, came with a top-
flight creative team: Its pro-
ducers included David Milch,
a creator of NYPD Blue and
HBO’s Deadwood, and Michael
Mann, the director of Heat and
Public Enemies, and it starred
Dustin Hoffman as a recently
released prison convict who
returns to his gambling ways.
But production of the ser-
ies raised questions about
the handling of the horses in-
volved with the show, which
had recently been filming epi-
sodes for a coming second sea-
son at the Santa Anita Park in
Arcadia, Calif.
The American Humane As-
sociation and People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals
had called for an inquiry into
Luck after a horse flipped and
struck its head on Tuesday
and was euthanized at the de-
termination of a veterinarian.
Two horses were also eutha-
nized during the production of
the first season of the drama.
HBO said in a statement on
Wednesday: “Safety is always of
paramount concern. We main-
tained the highest safety stan-
dards throughout production,
higher in fact than any proto-
cols existing in horse racing
anywhere with many fewer
incidents than occur in racing
or than befall horses normally
in barns at night or pastures.
While we maintained the
highest safety standards pos-
sible, accidents unfortunately
happen and it is impossible to
guarantee they won’t in the
future. Accordingly, we have
reached this difficult decision.”
The statement continued:
“We are immensely proud of
this series, the writing, the
acting, the filmmaking, the
celebration of the culture of
horses, and everyone involved
in its creation.”
The drama had already
been filming its second sea-
son, but that footage will now
reportedly be scrapped, and
the series will conclude with
its Season 1 finale, set to air
March 25.
Mann and Milch comment-
ed in a joint statement: “The
two of us loved this series,
loved the cast, crew and writ-
ers. This has been a tremen-
dous collaboration and one
that we plan to continue in the
future.”
The New York Times
BY LUIS-ENRIQUE ARRAZOLA
A
fter leaving Montreal for
Paris six years years ago
to launch his eponymous
couture label, designer Rad
Hourani is heading back to Canada
on Friday to make his Canadian run-
way debut with his fifth collection of
ready-to-wear line RAD at Toronto’s
World MasterCard Fashion Week.
As part of the runway presentation,
Hourani will also debut his new short
film Five Years of Rad Hourani as the
show’s opener, documenting the de-
signer’s inspirations as he celebrates
his fifth year in the cutthroat industry.
“I’m inspired by the idea of creat-
ing something that can’t be defined
by a limited category and things that
have no reference from the past,”
says the Jordan-born Hourani, who
moved to Montreal at 16 before leav-
ing for Paris in 2005. “I believe the
only way you can attend to this kind
of inspiration is by observing every-
thing around you.”
With a strong focus on modern-
ity, Hourani’s garments blur the line
between both genders, creating a
unisex collection of garments that
challenge and de-classify social con-
ventions through his unique use of
androgynous silhouettes.
“Even the most advanced societies
are very limited in the way they de-
fine themselves. The way I do things
without gender or season, it applies
to everything in life,” says Hourani,
who also sees his collection as a-
seasonal, preferring to numerically
name his collections; there is no fall
or spring here. “It’s about defying
those limitations that are so often
self-imposed and it’s important for
me to question things rather just fit-
ting in. My objective is to create gar-
ments that can be worn by anyone at
any time.”
Hourani goes as far as creating a
signature leather boot with a bold
square toe and a chunky heel meas-
uring a soaring 11 centimetres, defy-
ing all gender barriers and stemming
from the designer’s own personal in-
clination for towering footwear.
“I used to wear cowboy boots
and I would custom make myself
every year one pair of boots with
heels. They weren’t from a brand,”
says the 30-year-old, who is based
in Paris and New York but visits
Montreal twice a year to check on
the production of his clothes. “I just
found a shop that custom-made
them and that’s where I used to go
and I designed the heel boots as I
needed it.”
While Hourani’s heeled boots are
a provocative play on gender that fit
in well with the rest of his collection,
it isn’t often you see a man stroll-
ing down the street in pair of heels
higher than those of his gal pals. “My
shoes are very well received by all
genders and I’m always happy to see
people wearing them on the street
all around the world,” he says.
Combining symmetrical lines and
crisp cuts, Hourani’s collection main-
tains a sense of multi-functionality
with a series of transformable coats
that can be interpreted and worn
in different ways, with removable
sleeves and readjustable lapels that
create a drastically different look
with a just a zip.
“Fashion for me is about clothes
transcending simple functional-
ity and gaining symbolic, evocative
power by engaging in a dialogue with
their environment and their time,”
he says. “It’s a tool for self-expression
and self-invention. Therefore I’m not
into trends, I’m into style in which I
focus on my signature look.”
And what is that look rooted in,
exactly? For the most part, it’s stark
monochromatic materials, although
every so often Hourani will jump out
of his comfort zone and experiment
with particular coulour palettes. For
his fifth collection, he has focused on
shades of deep and olive greens.
“It’s a question of a feeling. I like
to study timeless colours and to use
my favourite shades in them in my
collections,” Hourani says. “It’s al-
ways about what I feel like wearing
and having in my wardrobe.”
And while most designers design
their clothes with a man and woman
in mind, Hourani opts to design with
himself and the “Rad Hourani per-
son” in mind.
“A Rad Hourani person is some-
one who does not follow a trend,
people who do not define themselves
as men or women, who feel ageless
all the time, and look comfortable
when they move, think, talk and
dress,” he explains. “I guess, they are
people that I see my reflection in. It’s
all about the mirror when it comes
to others.”
❚ Rad Hourani’s new collection debuts
at Toronto Fashion Week on March 16
at 8 p.m. For more information, visit
worldmastercardfashionweek.com.
National Post
larrazola@nationalpost.com
Q Why the decision to release
The Singer now?
A When Elizabeth Taylor
died, the week after she
was on the cover of Time
magazine. It said, “Perhaps
the greatest actress of the
20th century.” I thought,
“Wouldn’t Elizabeth love to
see that cover just a couple
of weeks before she died in-
stead of after?” Why do they
always praise the person
when they’re gone and can’t
stick around to see it? And I
thought, “Do I have to die in
order to gain my respect as
a singer who can really sing
all these years?” That was my
inspiration.
Q How do you compare
your solo songs on the record
alongside the work you did as
Simon and Garfunkel?
A I hear that Garfunkel the
singer steps forward and fat-
tens out his sound as a singer.
He becomes more of an oak
tree than a slender elm.
Q What were the major chal-
lenges for you when you be-
came a solo artist?
A My initial approach when
I made [debut solo album]
Angel Clare in ’73 was to
illustrate to the audience
that the production values,
the musicianship and the
colour of the Simon and
Garfunkel records was so
much about my contribution.
Of course, it misses Paul. …
Paul’s a wonderful acoustic
player. His grooves are very
sexy. And that’s very relevant
to what makes a tune work. I
miss that.
Q Paul Simon has been open
to reunion tours but not to
recording new music as Simon
and Garfunkel. How do you
feel about that?
A I’m a bigger Simon and
Garfunkel fan than Paul is. ...
I’m like the rest of the whole
world, I like Simon and Gar-
funkel. I like them in the pres-
ent tense and I like to see what
they can do this season, even
with new material, even with
a new album.
Q Vocal troubles indefinitely
postponed a Simon and Gar-
funkel tour in 2010. Did you
ever think during this time,
“What if I lose my voice?”
A Oh my God, I don’t want
to go down that road, even in
speculation! My heart would
stop beating I think. ... But
it’s all mending ever so slow-
ly. I’m ramping up to being
the Artie Garfunkel sound I
used to be.
Q And yet, you have had suc-
cess in other avenues such as
acting and writing …
A I’m the Renaissance guy,
Justin! But my first calling is
singing, more than anything
I’m here on Earth to sing.
But I am a creative guy. I can
write, I can act, I can raise
kids …
Q And you can walk across
the United States.
A Well, I’m an eccentric. …
One day, 25 years ago, I put
on my sneakers in my kitch-
en in Manhattan and said,
“I’m going to walk across
America.” And I went up
over the George Washington
Bridge and eight days later
I had crossed Jersey and I
found the whole thing is very
doable. And since then I did
40 more legs and crossed to
the Pacific Ocean.
Q On the Simon and Gar-
funkel song Old Friends you
sing, “How terribly strange
to be 70.” Having recently
reached that milestone, how
does that line resonate with
you now?
A At first it really is a case of
how terribly unstrange it is to
be 70. I’m the same kid. I’m a
musician, so I play with notes
and chord changes. That’s
outside of the aging process.
… Now it’s a few months later,
and I’m starting to feel, well,
the lower back knows what
age you are. When I put my
socks on in the morning, I
know what 70 is.
❚ Art Garfunkel performs at
Chai Lifeline Canada’s Sing for
the Children event on March
19 at Roy Thomson Hall in To-
ronto. For tickets, call
888-416-CHAI or visit
chaiconcert.com. The Singer is
set for release in August.
National Post
jgo@nationalpost.com
Although his name is most recognizable after the two
words “Simon and,” Art Garfunkel has had a successful
solo singing career, starred in several films (most notably
1971’s Carnal Knowledge), published a book of poetry and
walked across the United States (and most of Europe, too).
On March 19, Garfunkel will appear for an evening of con-
versation and song at Chai Lifeline’s Sing for the Children
event, a concert that will benefit children suffering from
serious pediatric illness, at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall.
Prior to the show, Garfunkel shared some of his stories
with the Post’s Justin Go, including the August release of
The Singer — a 40-song compilation celebrating his life’s
“true calling” — working with and without Simon and
“how terribly unstrange it is to be 70.”
‘Garfunkel the
singer becomes
more of an oak
tree than an elm’
HENNY RAY ABRAMS / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
“I’m a bigger Simon and Garfunkel fan than Paul is,”
says Art Garfunkel, left, pictured with Paul Simon.
Inthiscase,thirdtime’snotthecharm
LUCK CANCELLED
T E L E V I S I O N
‘The way I do things
without gender or
season, it applies to
everything in life’
For runway reviews from
Toronto Fashion Week, visit
nationalpost.com/life
NP nationalpost.com
T O R O N T O FA S H I O N W E E K
Designer Rad Hourani celebrates five years outside the box
Going beyond definition
QUESTIONS ANSWERS
‘Being the Garfunkel
sound I used to be’
RAD HOURANI
A “Rad Hourani person,” Hourani says, “is someone who does not follow a trend, people who do not define themselves as
men or women, who feel ageless all the time, and look comfortable when they move, think, talk and dress.”

4. PHOTOGRAPHY:M.A.CBYMILESALDRIDGE;HARRYBYCHRISSTEIN
M.A.C BY THE MILE
A dash of Russian Red, a stroke of Girl Trouble and a brush of Pink Venus paint
the visual world of photographer Miles Aldridge. Combining the shimmering
hues of M.A.C’s astutely named makeup and Aldridge’s hyperreal vision, MILES
OF M.A.C is a visual compendium for the cosmetically brave. Iris Apfel, Nicola
Formichetti and Beth Ditto, among other celebs, contribute glimmers of insight.
BEAUTY
&THE
BOOKA flip through the
season’s chicest pages.
By LUIS-ENRIQUE
ARRAZOLA
BLONDIE
HIGHLIGHTS
A leather-clad Debbie Harry and her punk cohorts
drip with New York cool in the lens of Blondie’s
guitarist, Chris Stein, amid the squalor of Ameri-
ca’s early punk scene. CHRIS STEIN/NEGATIVE: ME,
BLONDIE, AND THE ADVENT OF PUNK chronicles
Stein’s first encounters with Harry (who recently cel-
ebrated her 69th birthday) on New York’s Bowery
and Blondie’s many influences. From the raucous
CBGB to Warhol’s glittery Factory, the mono-
graph marks Blondie’s 40th anniversary and is a
personal and historical account of America in revolt.
LANVIN AT
A GLANCE
In an industry where the ephemerality of must-
haves and It girls keeps everyone on their toes,
nothing is as short-lived as the mise-en-scène win-
dowdisplaysatLanvin,whichtransformthefront
windows each month into sets of retail spectacle.
LANVIN: I LOVE YOU by Alber Elbaz documents
the artistic collaborations involved in the sets,
keeping them intact well into next season.
154
INDEXBY ELIO IANNACCI
Culture

5. Private
LivesLife in the northern reaches of To-
ronto’s west end is more often found
in a crime headline or mayoral scan-
dal than Canadian literature. And this
is what makes it such fertile terrain
for poet/writer Dionne Brand’s tight
190-page work, LOVE ENOUGH. In it,
Brand (winner of the Griffin Poetry
Prize and the Governor General’s Lit-
erary Award, to name a few) looks at
four Torontonians one summer; their
paths barely cross but for some, the
connections are deep. June, the soul
of the story, views the world through
a matrix of social injustice. Lia seems
far too young to be on her own and
wanders the streets pondering her
latest desertion. Political immigrant
Da’uud, an economist-turned-cab
driver, plies his trade along the city’s
lakeshore in an attempt to forget his
son Bedri, a young man sliding into a
life of crime. “We are all aware of the
newspapers, the lives of some young
men and how, when they appear in
the public, you don’t know anything
about their private lives and then
some incident happens, and they’re
splashed across the front page,” says
Brand via phone from her home in
Toronto. “I wanted to think through
some of that.” Bedri commands the
most intrigue. He has just commit-
ted a horrible crime and Brand uses
dreamy, illusory prose to evoke the
confusion and gravity of his situation.
You never really know why a boy from
a seemingly devoted family has fallen
into this life. That’s for the reader to
decide. “I’m not one to tie knots and
little bows,” Brand admits. “For all
the characters, whether it’s a daily
craziness or a daily contemplation,
the narrator just meets them there,”
she says. “It’s a moment, in a summer,
in the city.” —Jacquelyn Francis
BOOKS
DVF UNBOUND
The snug, sexy air of Diane von Furstenberg’s
printed wrap dresses was the epitome of ’70s
glamour. “This is what we need,” Diana Vreeland
stated back then, and a 2014 retrospective of
von Furstenberg’s iconic dresses in L.A. cements
that we still do. JOURNEY OF A DRESS is the
result of our 40-year fixation with the garment.
—Luis-Enrique Arrazola
Yohji 101
The debut of Yohji Yamamoto’s kimono-clad band
of avant-garde outsiders was an aesthetic anti-
dote to the conservative power suits of the ’80s.
Unadorned, enigmatic and androgynous with an
oversized play on proportions—these were the ele-
ments that shaped his silhouettes. YAMAMOTO &
YOHJI is a thematic study, featuring photographs
by Inez & Vinoodh and Nick Knight. —L.E.A.
Etro’s Elan
ETRO’s creative impulses lie deep within
the marrow of its garments—the fibres
and fabrics are the backbone to its metic-
ulous designs. The label’s roots as a textile
manufacturer and the expressive nature
of its prêt-à-porter collections form the
discussion of nature, art and the brand’s
signature paisley motif. —L.E.A.
STOLEN MOMENTS
Stella Sweeney, the protagonist of Marian Keyes’ lat-
est novel, THE WOMAN WHO STOLE MY LIFE, trades
the mundane for excess with such ease, it’s hard not
to be inspired by her. Her day job in a Dublin-based
beauty salon offers readers her quirky observations
on customers (and their problems) as well as a wealth
of insightful internal dialogues. You’ll never look at
your hairstylist the same way again. —L.E.A.
130
INDEXBY ELIO IANNACCI
Culture
FASHION NOVEMBER 2014

6. photography:charlixcxbyJamieBurgess;theknifebyAlexaVachon
Swede Beats
NobodybreaksandmakesmusicaltrendslikeSwedishelectronicduoThe Knife.
After a seven-year hiatus, Karin Dreijer Andersson (a.k.a. Fever Ray) and
Olof Dreijer return with the thoroughly avant-garde Shaking the Habitual,
a disc that follows 2006’s much-applauded—and often-knocked-off—Silent
Shout. Keeping to the experimental, beat- and orchestra-driven arrangements
that sound blessed by Björk and cursed by Prince, The Knife’s latest tracks
will once again challenge the Bieber-obsessed status quo.
Atjust20yearsold,withnoBillboardhittocallherown,Brit-
ish singer Charli XCX is creating quite a name for herself.
ShedropsherdebutalbumattheendofApril,broughtdown
the house with a performance at Azealia Banks’s Mermaid
Ballandco-pennedahit,“ILoveIt,”withSwedishduoIcona
Pop(featuredinapivotalsceneonthesecondseasonofGirls).
Your mixtapes made you an online sensation before you
releasedyourfirstalbum.Didthathelporhinderyourambi-
tions?“I’malwaysstrivingformore.Iwanttobeasuperstar—
Idon’tjustwanttobeaninternetsensation,eventhoughIwas
bornfromthat.”
Howdoyourvisualinspirationscomeintoplaywhenyou’re
creatingmusic?“Igetmostofmyinspirationfromfilm.Most
recently it’s been from movies like The Craft, Clueless and
Planet Terror.Mylatestmixtapewasalsoinspiredbymusic
videos from David LaChapelle and his photos of Marilyn
Manson…VivienneWestwoodismyhero.”
Howdoyourimagesandvisualsexplainwhatkindofmusic
you make? “[My album artwork] is kind of like Cher Horow-
itz’s diary meets Wednesday Addams’s. I’m really into inter-
net-based fashion like IRL London. That label is all about
printing the internet on clothes. I like wearing [images of
Tumblrandblogs]becausethat’swhereIcamefrom.”
HowhasyourfriendshipwithstylistAlexisKnoxhelpedyour
vision? “We’re inspired by the ’90s era and by the original
club-kidsphasewithMichaelAligandthatNewYorkscene.
We swap clothes all the time. At the moment, I’m wearing
hersee-throughbackpackandherblackfurcoat.Oneofour
favouritefilmsisPartyMonster.”
Whom are you collaborating with music-wise? I’ve been
workingwithBloodDiamondsandwithArielRechtshaid,
mylongtimecollaborator.Myfirstsingle,“You(HaHaHa),”
samplesthisGoldPandatrackcalled“You,”whichisoneof
my favourite songs, so it’s really cool to use that as a beat.”
—L.E.A.
NameToKnow:
CharliXCX
FASHION APRIL 2013146
Culture

7. A
djectives were in abun-
dance at the press
screening for Canada’s
Got Talent. “Everything about
this show is world class,” en-
thused Scott Moore, the head
of Rogers Broadcasting.
Performances were vari-
ously described as incredible,
amazing, mind-blowing and
jaw-dropping, and some-
times in combination. It was a
carpet-bombingofsuperlatives.
I’d argue that calling any 90-
second display of talent amaz-
ingly mind-blowing is setting
the bar a touch high, but let’s
just say that all those involved
with City’s new competition
show, from the producers to
the judges to the host, are quite
proud of the result.
But Canada’s Got Talent is
also something else: nice. In
a genre best known for the
flameouts of the auditions
on American Idol, and the
sanctioned abuse provided by
judges such as Simon Cowell,
the premiere episode was
almost bereft of nastiness.
Far more often than not, the
judges were jumping up and
applauding the performers
rather than smacking their
buzzers.
It was unusual. It was un-
expected. It seems risky. Can
a competition show, so often a
mix of performance and acer-
bic assessment thereof, hold
an audience’s interest by be-
ing largely ... friendly?
The producers must be
betting that it can. “Cynicism
is not a part of the show,”
said John Brunton of Insight
Productions, the house be-
hind shows from Battle of the
Blades to Top Chef Canada.
“I like to think of it as cele-
bratory as opposed to exploit-
ative,” Moore said.
And Martin Short, one
of the judges, explained the
attitude this way: “I don’t
think meanness would play in
Canada.” He said he thought
a Canadian audience would
be turned off by judges who
ripped, say, a juggler who kept
dropping his flaming batons.
I have my doubts on that
theory. Canadians have toler-
ated Simon Cowell just fine,
and edgy comedy, stretching
back to Short’s days on SCTV,
has a long history here. But
that said, Short is probably
correct when he says the deci-
sion to let the judges be them-
selves rather than have some-
one try to adopt the “Simon”
role was the right one, be-
cause it’s more natural and
honest. And it just so happens
that Short, opera star Measha
Brueggergosman and com-
poser Stephan Moccio come
across as very nice people.
At least, they did during the
show itself. In a press confer-
ence after the screening, the
judges flashed a bit of cyni-
cism, with Brueggergosman
noting that “it was always
the least talented people who
were most surprised” when
they were sent home. “Some-
times you wanted to say some-
thing like, ‘It’s nice that you
didn’t feel constrained by, say,
tuning,’ but you didn’t want
to tear these people down be-
cause that’s not our place.”
Judging by the premiere,
which follows the auditions
in Toronto, the tear-downs
are non-existent. A couple
of acts are booted, almost as
comic relief, while a range of
acts are advanced — none, it’s
worth noting, that consisted
solely of someone doing an
Idol-style a cappella song.
There was Bollywood dance.
There was a balancing act.
There was something called
a Chinese incline lion dance.
There were basketball dunks.
There was even a dog catch-
ing Frisbees. The producers
say the show, which included
auditions in Toronto, Mont-
real, Vancouver, Winnipeg,
Calgary and Halifax, will
showcase the country’s “cul-
tural diversity and regional
diversity,” a move which, like
the niceness, strikes me as a
calculated risk.
Brunton said he was proud
of the fact the Canadian ver-
sion of Got Talent is airing the
types of performances that
would never make it past the
initial cull on its British and
American cousins, but it re-
mains to be seen if the audi-
ence will respond in kind. One
can say quite confidently that
Canadians like singing shows.
Canada’s Got Talent is decid-
edly not one of those.
Audiences here have em-
braced the cutthroat competi-
tion shows imported from the
U.S. Will they do the same for
a nurturing Canadian one?
❚ Canada’s Got Talent pre-
mieres March 4 at 8 p.m. on
Citytv.
National Post
sstinson@nationalpost.com
A R T S & L I F EPM10 nationalpost.com
What do you get for the pop star who has everything?
If you’re Justin Bieber, pictured, how does a luxury plug-
in hybrid sports sedan worth about US$100,000 sound?
That was the pop star’s surprise 18th birthday present, at
least, presented to the Stratford, Ont., native on Thurs-
day’s edition of The Ellen Show. Bieber was presented
with the car by manager Scooter Braun, who told him,
“You work really, really hard. I always yell at you, ‘Don’t
get anything flashy!’ You know, we’re not about that. Be
humble, be humble. And I kind of broke my own rule.”
The vehicle, voted the top luxury car of 2011 by Top Gear
magazine, is extremely hard to purchase due to its limited
availability. (Leonardo DiCaprio
received the first Fisker Karma
off the line.) Bieber used his 18th
birthday to also reveal the title
of his new single, Boyfriend,
which will be released
March 26. National Post
B I E B E R B I R T H D AY
It’s not a humble gift, but somewhere his ex-swagger coach is smiling
Nice finishes firstCanada’s Got Talent won’t ‘tear people down’
SCOT T STINSON
on television
BY LUIS-ENRIQUE
ARRAZOLA
Oscillating between steely
soundscapes and the elec-
tronic pop-infused synths
of ’80s New Wave, the debut
album by Trust, the Toronto-
based duo of Robert Alfons
and Austra’s Maya Postepski,
is a sleazy riff that already has
critics buzzing.
With strident synthesizers
layered beneath Alfons’s voice
as it slithers between baritone
and wail, the album reeks of
repressed sexuality. It’s a rec-
ord that Alfons describes as
“the sound of rats running up
a mountain.”
While the disc seems most
obviously like a cross between
Depeche Mode and Brooklyn
DJ duo Creep, frontman Alfons
remains tight-lipped about the
inspirations for TRST.
“I think it cheapens it if you
try to start narrowing down
what little things kind of trig-
gered you,” he says. “I think the
album really speaks for itself.”
And what about the band’s
carefully crafted image, which
seems intentionally mysterious
and elusive? “We’re not about
hiding our faces or anything. I
think that we just haven’t had
those platforms to put our-
selves out there,” Alfons says. “I
don’t think there’s an intended
mystery.Ithinkthere’sacertain
vibe to our show and I think its
not about blasting a light.”
Propelling to online buzz
band status quickly after the
release of their singles Candy
Walls and Bulbform on Brook-
lyn label Sacred Bones early
last year, the band opened for
heavy-hitters Crystal Castles
and Death From Above 1979 at
Toronto’s Sound Academy re-
cently, solidifying themselves
as an act worthy of notoriety.
“Thoseareourbiggestshows
to date in terms of head count
but to be honest it felt tight. I
think these songs are meant
for vast spaces,” Alfons says of
the album’s 11-song track list
and his opening performances
with Postepski. “I think they’re
meant to be played loud and in
an epic setting.”
As the duo readies for an
upcoming tour with a three-
piece set, Trust has established
themselves as more than just
an Austra side project — They
insist they’re here to stay.
“It’s cool,”’ Alfons says of
the buzz. “I mean I don’t really
have proper perspective on it
but I’m ready to play shows
and do some things with the
record. I’m really proud of it.”
With bandmate Postepski
committed to both Trust and
Austra as they embark on tour,
the duo are working to reach a
balance between the two bands
with Postepski appearing at
U.K. and U.S. dates. “I think
that’s just coming to the fore-
front now because now we’re
both heading out whereas in
the past things were a bit slow-
er for the band,” Alfons adds.
“There’s more music on its
way. This record is a collection
of songs that have happened
in the last few years and there’s
just more to come, definitely.”
❚ Trust plays March 3 at Toron-
to’s Wrongbar. Their debut al-
bum TRST is available at arts-
crafts.ca.
National Post
larrazola@nationalpost.com
TRUST
‘It’sthesoundofrats
runningupamountain’
M U S I C
CITYTV
Host Dina Pugliese with judges Stephan Moccio, Measha Brueggergosman and Martin Short.
ARTS & CRAFTS
Trust’s Maya Postepski, left, and Robert Alfons.
NATIONAL POST, FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2012
‘I like to think of
it as celebratory
as opposed to
exploitative’
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8. nationalpost.com TO3NATIONAL POST, SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2012
BY MELISSA LEONG
Standing on King Street East,
I call Stephan Moccio’s studio,
late and lost. Moccio answers:
“Melissa? Where the f--k are
you?” He yells. “I’m joking. I
never use that word.”
He tells me the studio is on
Bloor Street and I gasp. Again,
he’s joking.
A young man, his audio en-
gineer, unlocks a glass door to
a taupe, square-faced build-
ing. I descend into the base-
ment, walk through a short
hall lined with signed posters
and album covers and into the
studio where Moccio and his
manager, James Porter, greet
me with hugs and double-
cheek kisses.
Moccio, 39, is energy and
activity. Speaking excitedly
about his projects, he rolls
his chair to his desk to find a
track from his third album,
Elements, which came out on
April 17. He clicks through his
laptop, past his Twitter page
and images of his two chil-
dren, to play a sports theme
song he has just created for
Sportsnet. Then he sits at his
custom-built Yamaha to play
another new piece.
Meanwhile, he is shooting
Canada’s Got Talent on the
weekends (“If we successfully
nurture one act at the end of
this competition, then we’ve
done something great,” he says),
and is also working on music
with producer and American
Idol judge Randy Jackson and
singerJohnLegend.
“I wear a lot of hats,” he says.
“We came up with this concept
album called Elements, the ele-
ments of me because I do a lot
of different kinds of music.”
“We’re saying, here’s a show-
case album with the piano as
his signature instrument but
with an orchestra and a voice,”
Porter says. “There’s something
for everyone on this album.
You don’t want to box him in
or label him as piano music or
New Age if people dare even
say that.”
“There you go. James Porter.”
The two laugh.
“Every few years, we have
a burst-at-the-seams growth
period,” says Moccio, who
grew up in Niagara Falls, Ont.
“Things suffer. Could be your
family life, your creative life.
But how do we do it? Just keep
your head down. Just keep
on working. You roll with the
punches. There are a lot of sur-
prises as well.”
As if on cue, his phone rings.
“With the Randy Jackson or
John Legend thing, you have
to jump at those opportunities.
Sorry, one second.”
Hepressesthephoneagainst
his curly mop. It’s Jackson.
“What’s up dog?” Moccio
says. “What are you doing up
this time of day? Listen, I want
to play you something quickly.”
He holds the receiver to the
monitor and blasts a punchy
pop ballad performed by a
female demo singer. “Yeah. It’s
f--king great. OK, let me call
you back in a couple of hours.”
Moccio,whowrotetheOlym-
pic theme song I Believe and
has written for Celine Dion and
Josh Groban, sings on his own
album. He turns to me: “Can I
play something quickly?”
Hetapshisfingersagainsthis
jeans as we listen to songs from
his album: Juliene, a love song
to his high school sweetheart
and wife; Beautiful Things, a
song performed by a children’s
choir; and Leopold, a wistful
classical piano piece with or-
chestralaccompaniment.
“iTunes has really changed
the way we create playlists.
Eminemcanresideonthesame
playlist as Chopin, if your tastes
are that eclectic. There are no
rules anymore in terms of cre-
ating records. I’ve approached
[my album] with that philoso-
phy,” he says.
“Can I play one last piece?”
he asks.
“I sometimes get tired of
working with machines be-
cause I’m still a piano player
at the core. I had this concept,
wouldn’t it be a cool exercise
for me to go back to the piano
and do what I love doing but
do it all one instrument. So
every sound that you hear is
created by my body or any-
thing I can find on the piano.
The end result is this fun piece
called Kaleidoscope.”
He presses play. “Here, I’m
plucking the strings,” he says.
The song is suddenly punc-
tuated by a drum beat. “I start
to use my thumb rings … and
then I’m knocking the bench.”
In time with the song, he re-
creates the sounds. He thumps
on his chest. “Bu-bu-bu-bu-
bah. I’ve got a microphone
right here.” He claps as if he is
dusting off his hands after a
job well done. “When you limit
yourself, you’re actually more
creative.”
National Post
For upcoming tour dates,
visit stephanmoccio.com.
P O S T T O R O N T O
ONTHETOWNWHO Stephan Moccio, pianist,
composer, producer, recording
artist and judge on Canada’s
Got Talent
WHERE Moccio’s studio on King
Street East
WHEN April 4, 11 a.m.
‘Whenyoulimityourself,
you’reactuallymorecreative’
MATTHEW SHERWOOD FOR NATIONAL POST
Moccio is going through a burst-at-the-seams growth period.
‘A
ny time you want to make a
change it’s not going to be
easy,” says Vanja Vasic, whose
take on fashion is outside the
box. “It’s going to be a struggle. I
think that Canada is very young still
and we do have an issue sometimes
supporting our own and I think
we’ve always been like that.”
Vasic would know. The 30-year-
old is the executive director of Fash-
ion Art Toronto and brains behind
FAT Arts and Fashion Week. From its
humble beginnings in 2005 as a two-
day runway event known as Alterna-
tive Fashion Week held in a now-
defunct bar on King West, FAT Fash-
ion Week has expanded with more
than 200 national and international
designers, photographers, musi-
cians, and video and fashion instal-
lations exhibiting over four days.
As Vasic sips on her latte in the
lounge of the Drake Hotel, it’s ob-
vious that she and FAT Arts and Fash-
ion Week have come a long way from
their rebel beginnings, managing to
survive Toronto’s predictable fashion
sensibilities since FAT’s inception
into the Toronto fashion scene.
Inspired by London, England’s
alternative fashion scene, Vasic saw
FAT as the answer to Toronto’s main-
stream, commercially oriented fash-
ion weeks. The goal was to bring in
designers who embody alternative
concepts, from House of Etiquette,
which combines latex in places you
would never imagine, to the min-
imalist designs of Pedram Karimi.
“I wanted to explore fashion cre-
atively,” explains Vasic, who began
FAT as a 23-year-old second-year
Ryerson fashion design student. She
sought out help from the Fasion De-
sign Council of Canada when launch-
ing Alternative Fashion Week in
2005 but was turned down.
The event has been her own
DIY project since. “I always
kind of saw myself looking
at fashion through all these
different art forms — going out,
exploring and researching, and find-
ing the concept behind the clothing.”
Seven years on, FAT Fashion Week’s
annualpresentationshaven’tlosttheir
lustre for conceptual ideas, eccentric
garments or latex, for that matter.
Plus, its industrial warehouse space in
Bloordale Village screams unsolicited
’90s rave. All of which has made it a
mainstay event in the Toronto fashion
scene.
“Xtra magazine called us the bad
girl and we still like to see ourselves as
the bad girl,” says Vasic, who’s retained
her commitment to what has seemed
attimesafledglingproject.“Ithinkthe
people that are followers of the festival
still have that feeling but I think that
it’sjust,like,gonetoanextlevel.”
While Toronto may not be the al-
ternative fashion capital Vasic hoped
it to be, with few commercial sales
generated for designers, FAT has be-
come a platform for the artists to dis-
play their work and divergent ideas.
“FAT is more a fit for my work be-
cause I don’t want to just focus on the
business side of the fashion. I want to
be more artist than business woman,”
says visual artist and second-time
FAT designer Mitra Ghavamian,
whose conceptual garments were in-
spired by the fabrics and way of life
of the nomadic Ghash-
ghaei tribe. “I’m very
honest to my audi-
ence and I want
them to know
that fashion
is not just
shallow. FAT
allows me to
be creative
without any limitation.”
For first-time presenter Nicole Ro-
scher of Berlin label Von Bardonitz,
whose designs verge on gothic and
androgynous elements with a col-
lection of unisex wear, FAT Fashion
Week is a place for Canadians to ex-
periment with their sense of fashion
and push their boundaries.
“I think it’s important that people
get more [of a] chance to express
themselves” says Roscher, a model
turned avant-garde designer whose
conceptual clothes have found a niche
audience in cities such as Taipei and
Hong Kong. “If you go on the street
you always see the same and I would
love [it if] the people opened them-
selves and tried more things out.”
While FAT Fashion Week tries to
push Canadian fashion away from
the sale rack at Urban Outfitters,
Vasic hopes that the event will con-
tinue to evolve with the possibility of
joining Toronto Fashion Week if the
opportunity presents itself.
“We have to bring in designers
who are more professional, more in-
teresting, and more conceptual and
continuing to connect internationally
with designers and organizations,”
says Vasic, who’s trying to put Can-
adian fashion on the map. “It’s
hugely important because not
only are you bringing attention
to Canada … but you’re also sort
of having that exchange of ideas
between countries and I think
that’s huge in fashion.”
National Post
FAT Arts and Fashion Week
kicks off April 24 and runs
through April 28. For
more information,
visit fashionart
toronto.ca.
AGAINSTTHE GRAINVanja Vasic’s Fashion Art Toronto was created to celebrate
alternative design and, in doing so, has become ‘the bad girl’
By Luis-Enrique Arrazola
Vanja Vasic, top, and
work by Berlin designer
Nicole Roscher.
PHOTOS COURTESY FAT

9. A R T S & L I F EAL4 nationalpost.com NATIONAL POST, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012
Daniel Craig has defended product placement for
Heineken beer in the upcoming James Bond movie,
Skyfall, the actor’s third secret agent outing. The 007 star,
pictured, told The Huffington Post: “We have relationships
with a number of companies so that we can make this
movie. The simple fact is that, without them, we couldn’t
do it. It’s unfortunate but that’s how it is. This movie costs
a lot of money to make, it costs nearly as much again if not
more to promote, so we go where we can. ... Having a beer is
no bad thing, in the movie it just happens to be Heineken.
There’s a big furor about it, but it’s not what the movie’s
about, I promise you. We haven’t sold out completely.” And
he joked: “It’s my favourite choice of
beer. I drink it every morning — doesn’t
everybody?” Skyfall, which also stars
Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes and Judi
Dench, opens Oct. 26 in the U.K.,
and Nov. 9 in North America.
The Daily Telegraph
L I C E N C E T O S H I L L
Bond’s got to pay for all those shaken-not-stirred martinis somehow
DANNY MOLOSHOK / REUTERS
Seth MacFarlane, best known as creator, producer and head writer of TV’s Family Guy, shows off his pipes with new album
of standards — with some surprises — Music Is Better than Words, which includes duets with artists such as Norah Jones.
TAYLOR HILL / GETTY IMAGES
Celebrity stylist Brad Goreski has gone from Port Perry,
Ont., to the cover of the New York Times’ style section. His
new book is Born to be Brad. (See what he just did there?)
VOCAL ACCORD
H
alf a dozen years
ago a Canadian
author, Chris
Turner, wrote a
book called Planet Simpson,
about the achievements and
ramifications of the greatest
of all TV cartoon shows. It was
encyclopedic and enlighten-
ing, and as far as I was con-
cerned there were only three
things wrong with it.
One was that it insisted on
referring to the inhabitants of
Springfield as Springfieldian-
ites. This is ridiculous; they
might be Springfieldians or
they might be Springflieldites,
but they can’t be a barbarous
combination of the two. To say
they are is to trespass against
the show’s own standards of
literate perfection. Or rather
what used to be its standards,
since the book’s second flaw
is its euphemistic description
of the show’s steep decline
(which has only got steeper
since) as a “long plateau.”
The author’s third offence,
and by far the most grievous,
was to attribute to The Simp-
sons his own philistine ideas
about musicals. He thought
that by employing musical-
theatre parodies The Simpsons
was exhibiting its contempt for,
and superiority to, the form.
The truth is of course the op-
posite; in the monorail num-
ber that pays tribute to Ya Got
Trouble from The Music Man
(“monorail … monorail …
monorail!”) or the sublime A
StreetcarNamedMargeepisode
couldonlyhavebeencreatedby
someone with a deep affection
for musicals and for the golden
age of American popular song
that gave birth to them. And
no wonder: You have to know
smart to do smart.
Further proof, at a couple of
removes, came recently with
the release of Music Is Better
than Words, the pop vocal CD
by Seth MacFarlane. MacFar-
lane is the Family Guy guy:
that show’s creator, produ-
cer, head writer and principal
voice. Now, if The Simpsons
was an expression of the rock
and post-rock generations’
contempt for the music that
came before them, you would
expect Family Guy to be even
more so, because its anything-
for-a-gag construction is a be-
trayal of the stylistic consist-
ency that makes — well, made
— The Simpsons great. It also
means that, hard though it
tries and funny though it can
sometimes be, Family Guy
can never be as deeply subver-
sive as The Simpsons, because
it never bothers to define what
it’s satirizing. But then maybe
its heart was never in satire
anyway, at least if MacFar-
lane’s heart can be found in
his singing. He’s come out as
a vocalist in the Frank Sinatra
tradition, and a superb one.
It’s hard to think of senti-
ments less Family Guy-ish
than “you couldn’t buy a ticket
to hear the first robin sing”
from this disc’s opening num-
ber, It’s Anybody’s Spring, de-
livered here with the kind of
Bing Crosby insouciance that
puts wit into whimsy. MacFar-
lane doesn’t have the edge or
the depth of Sinatra, and his
phrasing can sometimes be
stiff.Infacthesoundsmorelike
one of Sinatra’s more populist
disciples from the next genera-
tion, most of all probably like
Steve Lawrence. He has great
control, and intonation of envi-
able perfection.
The disc is a tribute not
only to the songs and singers
of the era but, very explicitly,
to the arrangers who contrib-
uted so much to the great jazz-
pop vocal records of the 1950s.
Unlike most singers who spe-
cialize in this material, Mac-
Farlane can afford to hire a
big orchestra of crack musi-
cians, and part of the joy of
this record is his joy in singing
with them, the way in which
he rides and crests the waves
that they create.
He also — something else
that distinguishes him from
the rockers who’ve recently
been jumping onto the big
band wagon — has an adven-
turous choice of repertoire. He
doesn’t just recycle They Can’t
Take That Away from Me and
The Way You Look Tonight.
There are four songs here at
most that would be generally
recognized as standards, and
only two associated with Sin-
atra himself: Johnny Mercer’s
Laura and Rodgers and Hart’s
It’s Easy to Remember. The lat-
ter is the album’s high point;
Joel McNeely’s orchestration
recalls Gordon Jenkins in its
symphonic sonority and Nel-
son Riddle in the cunning of its
architecture, while MacFarlane
brings off a breathtaking bra-
vura ending that’s both tech-
nically and textually superb.
MacFarlane does twice well
by Rodgers, making Some-
thing Good (one of the songs
added to The Sound of Music
in its film version) both more
tender and more thoughtful
than I would have believed
possible; the musing strings
match his vocal. Talking of
movies, the title song comes
from It’s Always Fair Weather,
one of the best but most neg-
lected of screen musicals. Gigi
is hardly a forgotten film, but
though I suppose I must have
heard The Night They Invented
Champagne sung out of con-
text before, I certainly can’t re-
member where or when.
A charmer of a song called
Nine O’Clock I had to look up;
it’s from a 1950s stage music-
al, Take Me Along (based on
Eugene O’Neill’s Ah Wilder-
ness); MacFarlane must have
one hell of a record collection.
There are a few flaws: Norah
Jones, duetting on Two Sleepy
People, sounds as if she’s on a
different record, and MacFar-
lane himself misses the hu-
mour of the lyric. But he com-
pensates on The Sadder But
Wiser Girl, another of those
gloriously intricate patter
songs from The Music Man,
which he sings with exhilarat-
ing precision and acts with
equally exhilarating abandon.
It makes an interesting con-
trast with, and complement
to, the other major album in
this vein to appear recently,
Paul McCartney’s Kisses on the
Bottom. Both men recorded in
Hollywood, in the Capitol stu-
dios where, we’re told, Mac-
Farlane sang into Sinatra’s
mic, while McCartney used
Nat King Cole’s. The contrast
is apposite; there are some or-
chestral tracks on the McCart-
ney record but the overall feel
is of an informal small-combo
date, the tradition that Cole
himself came out of.
McCartney also doesn’t aim
for anything like MacFarlane’s
virtuosity; he has a modest,
husky sound; though far more
expressive and certainly more
pleasing than the strangled
croon with which Rod Stewart
navigates these waters.
McCartney’s choice of rep-
ertoire, like his performance, is
cozier than MacFarlane’s, but it
generally avoids the obvious. I
was delighted by the inclusion
of More I Cannot Wish You,
from Guys and Dolls. More
familiar, but still largely ig-
nored by the general run of ret-
ro singers, are Bye Bye Black-
bird, complete with verse, and
a couple of songs, including the
sort-of title number, made fam-
ous by Fats Waller.
I’ll bet that McCartney, like
me, used to hear them every
morning on the BBC’s House-
wives’ Choice. It’s ironic, of
course, that the writers gener-
ally credited with supplant-
ing the preceding tradition
should turn out to be respect-
ful of it and even part of it, but
it makes sense; these were the
songs they had to have grown
up listening to and that they
could hardly help absorbing.
The Simpsons’ Matt
Groening, born a decade later,
seems to have avoided the
musical bigotry of his own
generation. For MacFarlane,
20 years younger still, it prob-
ably isn’t even an issue. He
simply heard music recorded
before he was born, and fell in
love with it. The love, however
unexpected, shows.
National Post
robert.cushman@hotmail.com
Music Is Better than Words by
Seth MacFarlane and a new
deluxe edition of
Paul McCartney’s Kisses on the
Bottom are both available from
Universal Music.
MacFarlane must have one
hell of a record collection
BY LUIS-ENRIQUE
ARRAZOLA
Minutes before kicking off
the Toronto book signing for
his new memoir, Born to Be
Brad, Canadian celebrity styl-
ist Brad Goreski sits cross-
legged in a Brooks Brothers
boutique, dressed head to
toe in a variation of his usual
dandy getup. It’s a refined,
highly controlled look Gore-
ski has cultivated, and it’s a
long way from the author’s
days as a Toronto club kid
dancing around on Electric
Circus with oversized green
sequin blouses and not a care
in the world.
Now 34 and with a grow-
ing roster of A-list celebrity
clients and an eclectic set of
designer garb, though, Gore-
ski still finds himself feel-
ing like an outsider looking
into the glamorous world of
Hollywood. You can take the
man out of Port Perry, Ont.,
but you can’t take Port Perry
out of the man.
“L.A. can be insane and
the fashion world can be
kind of crazy,” says Goreski,
who struggled to make it on
his own after his split with
long-time boss and reality
TV cohort Rachel Zoe. “It just
makes me really grateful be-
cause it makes me remember
what it was like to wish —
and to dream — and to hope
that one day I would get to do
something in fashion.”
Sold as the stylish memoir
of an overweight and overly
feminine boy from small-
town Ontario who quickly
got from point A to point Zoe,
Born to Be Brad is a candid
and lighthearted look at how
Goreski transformed himself
into one of Hollywood’s top
celebrity stylists.
“I’ve been given way more
than I ever expected,” says
Goreski, who found himself
on the front cover of the New
York Times’ Style section in
2010, dubbed as the Zelig of
New York Fashion Week. “I
feel like just at this point, I’ve
already been given so much
that whatever else comes
along — it’s just gravy.”
While the new book is os-
tensibly a memoir, it is also
Goreski’s unofficial inspira-
tional manifesto for fans
and readers facing similar
coming-of-ageplights,includ-
ing his cocaine addiction and
the bullying he faced before
enrolling in George Brown
College’s theatre studies pro-
gram. Goreski says the book
is meant to inspire readers in
the same way former Fashion
Television host Jeanne Beker
once inspired him.
“I really wanted people
also to know that I wasn’t
always fashionable. I think
you could see that from some
of the photos in the book,”
Goreski says, possibly refer-
encing an image of the auth-
or clad in an ill-fitting pair
of acid wash denim jeans. It
was an outfit his boyfriend of
10 years, Gary Janetti, would
later describe as “Eurotrash”
— a cringing fashion faux-pas
for Goreski. “There were a lot
of struggles ... and I think
that sometimes we look at
people that we admire and
don’t really think that they’ve
been through a lot.”
With his own Bravo! re-
ality show It’s a Brad, Brad
World currently on the air
in the United States (it has
yet to make its way home up
north) and a roster of celeb-
rity clients including Jessica
Alba, Demi Moore and Anne
Hathaway, it appears Goreski
has finally found stable foot-
ing in the cutthroat fashion
industry.
“I love what I do. I love the
reaction I get from my cli-
ents when they see the dress
they’re going to wear. I love
looking at the monitor and
seeing the photos that we’ve
collaborated on and created,”
he says. “I know that at this
moment and at this time,
everything is as it should be.”
National Post
Born to Be Brad by Brad
Goreski is available from
It Books ($27.99).
Brad Goreski’s
memoir returns
to his acid-wash
Port Perry roots
‘I wasn’t always
fashionable’
B O O K S
There’s love to
be found on Seth
MacFarlane’s
big-band album
ROBERT CUSHMAN
on falsettos & Family Guys
‘I’ve been given so
much ... whatever
else comes along
— it’s just gravy’