Dispatch One
A dispatch of links, wishlists and digested media that hopefully don’t get lost in the ether. Slow digestibles if you will!
Sound Lounges in a period of Pop Uprisings
The vibe of Khan Jamal’s free spirtual jazz feels respiteful and like a watercooler break from bops the music industry has been dropping since the year began. Listen as ambient noise or if you’re just looking into a different genre cleanse.
In Focus: Khan Jamal, via NTS Radio
Pleasure Lists and the return to Mails & Letters
I recently downloaded Substack on my phone and plan to get back to reading newsletters first thing in the morning. Ever since -ber months crept in, I’ve been so behind this and my 7,000+ mail count has been piling up. Going through my inbox feels like wiping out the guilt I sweep under the rug when it comes to my screentime and doomscrolling on my phone. I don’t think I can compare the feeling of reading newsletters and discovering new things along the way because it feels like having gems in my pockets and having a post purge glow.
As a creature of habit, I devour substacks like The Pleasure Lists and other similar formats, but have also been a paid subscriber to Substack’s hall of fame queen Emily Sundberg for a while now. The yearning for analog and slow media has never been stronger and I’m glad I get to be in the crux of this reckoning.
The Pleasure Lists Q&A: Emily Sundberg of Feed Me
Fashion Freud-ward
Leaning towards her actual bloodlines and the British cheekiness that can also be seen in her clothing line, Bella Freud launched a fashion podcast with a ‘free association-esque’ theme, but less of the cringey therapy speak we’ve probably seen everywhere (even in podcast platforms). Each guest is to 'lie on the couch' and explore the connection between fashion and identity, going deeper in engaging conversations that goes far beyond what we wear: diving into the unspoken language of clothing and the ways in which we use style to navigate and communicate in the world.
Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud
High (Tea) on Surrealism
I recently bought an Abode Set from Saan Saan as a birthday gift for myself and have been sorting through my saved shop lists and Carousell for a nice container to house them. The cleansing set meant to protect spaces or put a protective shield around your home includes a black tourmaline, pyrite pyramid, desert rose selenite and a palo santo stick originally consigned from Woo Woo Ritual Goods. I’m gutted but also glad I got to save this cup and saucer from the Salvador Dali Surreal World collection from a now defunct local Instagram biz that used to sell these along with other artful goods. It reminded me of some Gohar World pieces by Monica Magsanoc, a Filipina illustrator and designer that became a zeitgeist mainstay.
Salvador Dali: The Surreal World collection, Museum PH
From Active to Everyday Wear
I discovered this brand from a NYC based ballerina I follow on Instagram and immediately fell inlove with how the garments were styled and how she wore them IRL when teaching a Pilates class. Their take on their Collections with a fashion-forward eye is so refreshing and makes you look forward to styling them in endless ways, coining the pieces as ‘evolutionary activewear.’ Because if there’s an activewear recommendation I’d trust, it would be from a ballerina.
Live the Process, Evolutionary Activewear
Fresh Faces & Cat Eye Experts
Though I rarely save beauty, skincare and makeup content, I have a few Vogue Secrets videos I always turn to and one of them is Olivia Wilde’s. Her effortlessly cool and simple routine spoke to me the most because it already felt like how I get ready and how much I’ve enjoyed the process of it over the years. However, I might still have to rewatch and continuously scrub through the video to learn how she puts on a cat eye like a pro.
Olivia Wilde for Isla Beauty, ‘Washing Faces with Friends’
The Art of Jump Scares
Actual Source is ahead of the publishing game in many ways, so it’s hard not to browse their shop without adding something to your wishlist. They managed to create the secret sauce of what it means to create meaningful work they want to do, but also function as a studio doing groundbreaking work for A24, Atmos, and Popeye (to name a few). This photobook by Jacob Haupt, which captures scenes from his haunted apartment, is no exception to the other titles they’ve produced via their publishing arm, which are equally unique and a ‘can’t get anywhere else’ piece.
Jacob Haupt: Did I Scare You?, by Actual Source
A Graceful Edit
As much as I'm part of the crowd who gets entertained and has a knack for well-put-together or high-concept shows, (see: Sabrina Carpenter’s opening show number) the lofi-ness and, in some way, relatable imagery Gracie Abrams has been putting out has struck me in the same light. With a little bit of researching and Instagram stalking, it made sense that her stylist has clothed the bodies of Lily-Rose Depp, Billie Eilish, Kiko Mizuhara and has work in the spreads of Homme Girls, a magazine created around the concept of women dressing as men, the 'HommeGirl'. I think it's very satisfying when an artist looks exactly what she would sound like because it enriches the whole experience and this new appetite of how we enjoy music today.
On Set with Gracie Abrams, for NET-A-PORTER