BEST OF 2011: Print

5. Lily Cole
PHOTO: Koray Birand
Harper’s Bazaar Turkey
October 2011

Lily Cole gets high on the top of towering city buildings for the October cover shoot of Harper’s Bazaar Turkey. Lensed by Koray Birand, Lily sports some of fall’s best shapes selected by fashion editor Isabel Dupre. Topped off with tight red curls by Deycke Heidron and flawless makeup by Hung Vanngo, Lily wows in the high gloss images.

Production by Productionisin

More Images: FashionGoneRogue

4. Abbey Lee Kershaw
PHOTO: Elle Muliarchyk
ManiaMania “The Third Mind” Campaign
Spring 2011

Abbey Lee Kershaw returns as the face of Australian accessory label ManiaMania’s latest campaign lensed by Elle Muliarchyk. Part psychedelic haze and part spiritual journey, Abbey Lee dons designers Melanie Kamsler and Tamila Purvis’ handcrafted jewelry with a sense of carefree sensuality.

More Images: FashionGoneRogue

3. Penelope Cruz
PHOTO: Mert and Marcus
V Magazine
Fall 2011

V #72 - The Transformation Issue. Starring film’s global crossover queen, Penélope Cruz - photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott -the issue celebrates the spirit of transformation, available in a limited edition with a blinking lenticular cover!

More Info: VMagazine

2. Cara Delevingne
PHOTO: Sølve Sundsbø
Vogue China
December 2011

Sølve Sundsbø photographs some of the season’s most ethereal looks with these stunning images featured in the December issue of Vogue China. With Cara Delevingne as an angel on earth, fashion editor Nicoletta Santoro selects a wardrobe of ivory gowns from labels such as Versace, Givenchy Dior and Alexander McQueen to complement the otherworldly landscape. Makeup by Polly Osmond, Hair by Shon

More Images: FashionGoneRogue

1. Gertrud Hegelund
PHOTO: Sebastian Kim
Numéro #129
December 2011

Gertrud Hegelund is a hypnotic beauty for the December-January edition of Numéro where photographer Sebastian Kim captures her in some of the season’s most standout looks. Outfitted by fashion editor Charles Varenne, Gertrud gets swathed in the designs of Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino and Giorgio Armani amongst others. Bright lips by makeup artist Maud Laceppe and a sculpted coif by hair stylist Shay Ashual give the shoot an imaginative touch. Set design by Anne Koch.

More Images: FashionGoneRogue

BEST OF 2011: Albums

5. Tycho
Dive (2011)
http://tychomusic.com/

Tycho’s third studio album finds Scott Hansen creating instrumental soundscapes, which he sees as artifacts from a future that has more in common with our past than our present.

01. A Walk
02. Hours
03. Daydream
04. Dive
05. Coastal Break
06. Ascension
07. Melanie
08. Adrift
09. Epigram
10. Elegy

4. Neon Indian
Era Extraña (2011)
http://neonindian.com/

Era Extraña, follows Neon Indian's 2009 breakthrough debut Psychic Chasms. Recorded in Helsinki, the record builds on the charm of its predecessor by adding new musical colors and depth to Palomo's swirling, computerized pop songs.

01. Heart: Attack

02. Polish Girl

03. The Blindside Kiss

04. Hex Girlfriend

05. Heart: Decay

06. Fallout

07. Era Extraña
08. Halogen (I Could Bea Shadow)
09. Future Sick
10. Suns Irrupt
11. Heart: Release
12. Arcade Blues

3. Com Truise
Galactic Melt (2011)
http://www.comtruise.com/

Producer/designer Seth Haley envisioned Galactic Melt as a sort of film score, from the mind, chronicling the life and death of Com Truise.

01. Terminal
02. VHS Sex
03. Cathode Girls
04. Air Cal
05. Flightwave
06. Hyperlips
07. Brokendate
08. Glawio
09. Ether Drift
10. Futureworld
11. Galactic Melt (Vinyl Exclusive)

2. Radiohead  
The King of Limbs (2011)
http://www.radiohead.com/

The eighth studio album from the epic, experimental UK five-piece. Recorded on and off throughout 2010, the album is a cohesive collection of songs that were laid down by the band in a more relaxed fashion than the ambitious In Rainbows.

01. Bloom
02. Morning Mr Magpie
03. Little By Little
04. Feral
05. Lotus Flower
06. Codex
07. Give Up The Ghost
08. Seperator

1. Big Black Delta
BBDLP1 (2011)
http://www.bigblackdelta.com

Big Black Delta is the new project from Mellowdrone front man Jonathan Bates. Under this new umbrella, Bates creates a new series of frequency modulations fit for an upcoming extraterrestrial invasion.

01. Put The Gun On The Floor
02. Capsize
03. Huggin & Kissin
04. Betamax
05. IFUCKINGLOVEYOU
06. Dreary Moon
07. The Zebrah
08. PB3
09. Roost

HONORABLE MENTION:
Bjork - Biophilia (2011): At a time when many musicians are being forced to downscale their aspirations, Björk dares to dream. The Icelandic chanteuse has been relentlessly experimental, challenging listeners with music that defies expectations of what popular songs can be.
http://www.bjork.com/

Cat's Eyes - Cat's Eyes (2011): Subverting the romance of ‘60s girl group pop and male-female duos like Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra with plenty of psychedelic atmosphere, Cat’s Eyes features the Horrors' Faris Badwan and Canadian soprano Rachel Zeffira.
http://catseyesmusic.com/

Dumbo Gets Mad - Elephants at the Door (2011): Dumbo Gets Mad is a psychedelic avant-garde musical movement from Italy. Although little is known about this outfit, all we need to know is on this record. Elephants At The Door is the debut album which is available now on Bad Panda Records.
http://dumbogetsmad.viinyl.com/

BEST OF 2011: Extended Plays

5. Phantogram
Nightlife (2011)
http://www.phantogram.net/

The follow-up to Phantogram’s beautiful trip-hop brew, Eyelid Movies, this EP shows the upstate New York duo sealing the deal. Here, Phantogram submerges its fluid beats and faintly pop undertones in the lush yet intimate vibe that’s colored all of its music.

01. 16 Years
02. Don't Move
03. Turning Into Stone
04. Make a Fist
05. Nightlife
06. A Dark Tunnel

 4. Toro Y Moi
Freaking Out (2011)
http://toroymoi.blogspot.com/

Freaking Out finds Columbia, South Carolina's Chaz Bundick reveling in twenty minutes of boogie, roping in the heavy sounds of groups like the Gap Band and Mtume. Follow-up to 2011's Underneath The Pine.

01. All Alone
02. Freaking Out
03. Sweet
04. Saturday Love
05. I Can Get Love

3. VHS Head
Midnight Section (2011)
http://soundcloud.com/vhs-head

Towering above the ghetto, stands one block, taller than the rest. Trapped on the top floor the only escape is down. Nocturnal eyes scan from the darkness, barricades blink like beacons of safety as night falls. Mayhem lurks in every corner, there is no escape. This is the Midnight Section.

01. Sundown
02. Jager
03. Decapitron
04. Nightmare Park
05. Death Dimension
06. Siege Express
07. Midnight Section

2. Jacob 2-2
Fantasiarexia EP (2011)
http://www.jacob2-2.com/

Jacob 2-2's latest release Fantasiarexia is equally influenced by the crystalline new-age tones of 80's film soundtracks as it is by bass-heavy funk and jazz fusion.

01. Fantasiarexia
02. Vidnight Flight
03. Palaces/Bump In
04. Hallucid
05. Monitor(ed)
06. Nanny Blaze
07. Earth In Reverse
08. The Dinosaurs of Cabazon (Starfawn Remix)

1. Starfawn
Starfawn EP (2011)
http://starfawn.com/

Starfawn is a collaboration between Producer Misha Mross and Vocalist Amber Schaefer that began in early 2011. The two met through mutual friends and connected over a shared love for synthesizers and electronic music.

01. Nothing Dead
02. Err
03. Dark Touch
04. Infinity Focus
05. Greenlight
06. 12,000 B.C.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Com Truise - Fairlight (2011): This year saw a few new releases from Seth Haley (aka Com Truise). For his first release on Ghostly International, Truise takes us on a journey with his own brand of "slow-motion funk".
http://www.comtruise.com/

Big Black Delta - BBDEP1 (2011): Big Black Delta is the new project from Mellowdrone front man Jonathan Bates. Under this new umbrella, Bates creates a new series of frequency modulations fit for an upcoming extraterrestrial invasion.
http://www.bigblackdelta.com

Sun Glitters - The Singles (2011): Sun Glitters sound is an ocean of lush melodies, pitch-shifted vocal samples, ghostly digi-diva choirs, warm bass melodies driven by alternately dense and relaxing beatwork combinations.
http://www.sunglitters.com/

BEST OF 2011: Horror Films

5. Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)
USA
Directed by Jason Eisener
NR, 86 min.

This gory, gleefully over-the-top revenge fantasy stars Rutger Hauer as the Hobo, a bum who rolls into town hoping to start over, only to find his adopted city saturated in violence and ruled by a vicious crime lord known as the Drake (Brian Downey). The Hobo's answer? Pick up his handy pump-action scattergun and start laying waste to crooks, corrupt cops and every other lowlife who crosses his path.

Random Trivia: The film has been shot in Nova Scotia where there is a considerable French community. In the schoolbus scene, you can read ''sortie de secours'' on the rear window of the bus, which is french for ''emergency exit''.

4. Red State (2011)
USA
Written and Directed by Kevin Smith
R, 88 min.

Director Kevin Smith puts a unique spin on the horror genre in this tale of hormonal urges gone awry. Three high school boys answer an online ad from a woman seeking wild sex and soon find themselves in the hands of some dangerous religious zealots.

Random Trivia: Kevin Smith wrote the role of Abin Cooper for Michael Parks after seeing his performance in From Dusk Till Dawn. Smith has said that if Parks had not agreed to be in the film, he would have dropped the project entirely.

3. Stakeland (2011)
USA
Directed by Jim Mickle
R, 98 min.

This genre-bending thriller combines vampires, religious fanatics and post-apocalyptic horrors with a coming-of-age tale that finds drifter Mister (Nick Damici) training young Martin (Connor Paolo) to survive the nightmare that has become America as they journey to New Eden. While they combat the mutated bloodsuckers and vicious humans seeking to rule the land, Mister and Martin rescue other wanderers and become a tightly knit family of warriors.

Random Trivia: The football helmet that Martin puts on at the beginning is a Daniel Boone football helmet - a reference to directer Jim Mickle's high school.

 2. Attack the Block (2011)
USA
Written and Directed by Joe Cornish
R, 88 min.

When aliens attack a South London neighborhood, a teen gang pulls together to protect their turf by any means necessary. But extraterrestrials prove far more formidable than anyone they ever jumped on the streets.

Random Trivia: Members of the gang compare the film's aliens to various fantastical creatures, all British in origin, namely: "Dobby", the house-elf from J.K. Rowling's series of Harry Potter novels; "Gollum" from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien; and "Gremlins", who while they are now best-known for the two American films by Joe Dante, were initially popularized by author Roald Dahl in his first novel.

1. The Innkeepers (2011)
USA
Written, Directed, and Edited by Ti West
R, 100 min.

In this eerie ghost story, a venerable inn closes after a century in business and the two remaining employees are determined to uncover the truth about longtime rumors that the majestic mansion is haunted -- but will they survive their explorations?

Random Trivia: Writer/Director/Editor Ti West has stated in interviews that The Innkeepers was partially inspired by true events. While filming The House of the Devil (2009) cast and crew stayed at  The Yankee Pedlar Inn. Many of the crew members experienced unexplainable events such as doors opening and closing on their own, TVs shutting on and off and very vivid dreams experienced only while staying at the Pedlar.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011): A malign and murderous spirit continues to dwell within a San Diego home in this second creepy sequel to 2007's chilling Paranormal Activity. Hoping to catch photo evidence of Bloody Mary, the residents soon become victims in their own horror film.

Insidious (2011): Josh and Renai confront terrifying tribulations when their son falls into a coma and his body starts to attract malevolent forces. But when the family moves, hoping to leave the evil spirits behind, they realize their problems are only beginning.

Melancholia (2011): This inventive drama charts the disintegrating relationship between newly married twentysomething Justine and her melancholy sister, Claire, just as Earth hurtles toward certain collision with a newly discovered planet.