#01 Captainfantastic for FLAT shop Spotify Playlist
Condensing a year of music into a single playlist is always complex, but I have tried to select both new favorites and a few surprises from this twenty-twenty-three, spanning genres that are even quite distant from one another, creating a heterogeneous experience that represents my identity—multifaceted yet clearly defined.
What I listen to on a daily basis is directly connected to my style: always different, often confused, definitely refined. After all, music and fashion are two worlds that go hand in hand; one inspires the other and vice-versa, making it impossible to separate them. And for me, scale never matters in either domain: whether it’s a mainstream or independent act, a global brand or a small label, what matters is beauty, originality, and experimentation, finding a sort of aesthetic coherence between the parts.
That is why I start with my great love for hip hop—the bangers by Drake (I’m a fanboy, even of his Nocta line for Nike), Bad Bunny (this reggaeton is worth re-evaluating), Travis Scott (the track “MY EYES” is an absolute gem, featuring Sampha, who authored one of the albums of the year)—then move on to the heavy guitars of avant-garde metal by CELESTE, Code Orange, and Full Of Hell, the shoegaze of Nothing, and above all, the immortal emo (sometimes hardcore, sometimes not) of our own F4 and Liquami, concluding with a few off-topic tracks like AmEN! by Bring Me The Horizon and the nostalgia of Linkin Park, two of my personal fetishes that I am well aware of. There is little electronic or similar music due to a lack of effort, but I must at least point out a track from the new albums by Actress and James Blake, those eclectic masters, as well as "Washed Away" by Kelela, one of the best contemporary artists. There is also great emphasis on the trip-hop debut by a.s.o.
Streetwear moves in tandem; depending on the mood of the period, if not the day itself, I can jump from a more modern and fresh style tied to current urban fashion trends (from tech jackets and baggy pants to trail shoes, in a great tribute to techwear and the y2k subculture, of which FLAT Shop is a pioneer and benchmark), to a more classic and timeless style related to skating and punk (skinny jeans, low-top sneakers, merch shirts) that I will never be able to detach myself from, with shades of British ultra style featuring football jerseys, Stone Island, and the omnipresent three stripes. Having said that, 2016 Kanye West, I miss you.
By Lorenzo Mondaini aka Captainfantastic.
