#35: Odwa Zamane (FRM editors recs)
#35: Odwa Zamane (FRM editors recs)
Our editor pops in with a fresh batch of recs including new album releases from 100 gecs & Yves Tumor, Laguna Beach (2004), independent magazines, and more!
Odwa Zamane is a Johannesburg-based writer & creative consultant – mainly focused on fashion, art, music, film, literature and its impact on local youth culture. He is the founder & editor of FRONT ROW MEDIA, as well as the curator of this newsletter.
We welcome him back to The FRM Newsletter to drop some editors recs & share what he’s been into recently!
So let’s get the order correct first: from a timeline perspective, it’s: 1) the O.C. 2) Laguna Beach & then 3) The Hills. But long story short, I shall state on record that I am a huge fan of all three. Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County is an American reality television series that originally aired on MTV in 2004, focused on the personal lives of several students attending Laguna Beach High School. Think rich teen driving a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta in their Y2K low-rise jeans matched with a Von Dutch cowboy trucker whose biggest concern is attending the next Blink-182 concert with her boyfriend. Yeah, it’s that kind of show.
💅💰 Discounted nail polish
This is a non-binary rec for all of the real fashionistas. The key is finding the discount — Clicks is usually the answer. Preferred nail polish brand is always Sally Hansen, of course.
🚆👀 People watching on the Gautrain
I commute to work daily using the Gautrain, so wearing a pair of sunglasses is mandatory for this specific reason. People watching on the train is probably one of the favourite parts of my day. Strongly recommend that you accompany your shades with a pair of good #wired earphones and a killer playlist to match — slight head bopping is mandatory. Oh, and podcasts work too.
🐤⏸ Adding tweets to your drafts
The key is to never post the tweet. This pro-tip has saved me a lot from oversharing with strangers.
💿✔ New album releases
I am not entirely sure what I am currently going through music taste wise, but I like it. On rotation I’ve got a few new album releases, mainly 100 gecs’ ‘10,000 gecs’, Yves Tumor’s ‘Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume’ and JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown’s ‘SCARING THE HOES’. I also recommend watching the 100 gecs Boiler Room (Los Angeles) which just came out yesterday — some really good shit. Honorable mention also goes out to Lana Del Rey’s new album ‘Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd’.
🏳️🌈🎊 Bad Girls Club
Created by my friend & familiar face to the FRM newsletter, Savon Matjane, aka DJ HOT ATHENA (her edition was #15 by the way), Bad Girls Club is a JHB-based queer-focused alternative and experimental music event. I’m somewhat of a regular at their eclectic events which play music which oozes dumb girl energy, and their next soirée is taking place next week Thursday, 6 April 2023, so make sure to go check it out — it’s free entrance!
I’m still halfway through watching this one but ‘Toon’ (2016) is a Dutch comedy television series revolving around Toon, a jingle writer who becomes famous after performing an impromptu song with his friend, that becomes a viral hit. Soon, Toon's sister becomes their manager and starts to promote the duo into stardom. Simply put — it’s very good television.
📔 Independent magazines
My favourite online and print publications right now consist of Forever Magazine, Perfectly Imperfect (both based in America) and Sabukaru (based in Japan). My dream is for FRM to become like a blended mix of all three.
Toon sounds silly and fun !