MOUNTAINS AND MIRRORS

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Friday Colouroïd plays live again, this time at Grolsch Block Party! We play 9.20 pm at Högkvarteret, Närkesg 8, Stockholm, and Cynthia Stern 12 pm at the same venue. (I can't find us or a schedule but it's true!) This inspired me to tell you about our new track Obsidian. Prepare for a long and winding post, full of inspiration.

For our Colouroïd performance at the Norbergfestival we wrote a couple of new songs. One of them is called Obsidian (click to listen!). The Glenn had given me an instrumental basis to work from and I was googling to find my topic for the lyrics. Through the winding roads of internet I came across the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. He seemed like an 80's character to me: His name is often translated as Smoking Mirrors - how saxophony, pulled down blinds over a nighttime city outline isn't that? His animal counterpart was the jaguar - an 80's animal just like the black panther - and his jaguar aspect was the deity Tepeyollotl, which means Mountainheart. Isn't that beautiful?

{ Tezcatlipoca and Tepeyollotl. Cropped and put together, pic link 1 and 2, pic link 3. }

Tezcatlipoca was associated with the night sky, night winds, hurricanes, the north, the earth,  jaguars, sorcery, beauty, war and strife. He got his name from obsidian, the material from which mirrors were made. He was usually drawn with a black and a yellow stripe painted across his face, which makes me think of 80's characters like Boy George, the video for Visage - Fade to grey oh, and these two ladies:

{ Princess Hijab. Pic link. }

Princess Hijab, who I luckily once upon a time found via dear diary, is a Parisian street artist. Here's a video which contains an interview where she explains something about what she does and why she does it, and watch this video for her art and stunning outfit - immedately as I found Tezcatlipoca I thought of her - Princess Hijab is like an urban, nocturnal, mythological, 80's warrior roaming the subway to change the world into something mystical and magnetic.

I love this quote of hers about the act of wearing the niqab from the forementioned video: "...by wishing to disappear from the public sphere you are far more visible, you take possession of the public space. It's an empowering piece of clothing, but it can also be frightening. I'm creating an artistic universe by  giving my models a new visibility, a different point of view, which can be disturbing."

My mind also went to the warrior princess in the video for Fever Ray - When I grow up.

{ Pic link. }

{ Cropped and put together, pic link 1 and pic link 2. }

There's something about this god that makes my mind go to the androgynous. Here are the lyrics, a summary of all that inspired me:

Colouroïd - Obsidian

Follow the night wind
I go with my mountain heart
Follow the jaguar
I go with my mountain heart

Mirrors, mountains
North, earth, obsidian
Mirrors, mountains
North, earth, obsidian

Here you can listen to Obsidian and some of our other tracks and maybe see you Friday? Now I'll go eat cough medicin and try to get my voice back - ! I lost it somewhere during our travels.
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