Ep. 169: Giallobrutalism w/ Ella Dorn

This week, Alexi is joined by music critic and columnist Ella Dorn to unpack her viral essay declaring Giallobrutalism as the defining visual language of mid-2020s pop, informed by the stylish delirium of Italian giallo cinema and a pervasive unease about surveillance and stardom. We discuss the aesthetic’s formal signatures—cool temperatures, split diopters, painterly tableaux, and more— as well as the rise of early-onset popstar histrionics, the existential glamour of centripetal girls in centrifugal settings, and the decade’s watershed fashion moments so far, from Miu Miu micro-minis to Sandy Liang mega-bows. We also challenge the default Y2K reading of modern pop aesthetics, arguing for a closer look at their 20th-century antecedents, and reflect on our shared past as stans of doomed K-pop girl groups. Links:“‘Giallobrutalism,’ or why everything looks like that” by Ella Dorn on Fairyland!Ella Dorn on TwitterFairyland! on InstagramK-Pop Music Video Analysis w/ Alexi One on Top of the Other (1969) dir. Lucio FulciA Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971) dir. Lucio Fulci“Music, Fashion, Film is Charli xcx at her subversive best” by Ella Dorn in The New StatesmanBalenciaga F/W 2024Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernity by Edward Dimendberg“The realities of being a pop star” by Charli xcx on charli’s substackEp. 162: Crayola CasualEp. 102: Just Dance w/ Lexee SmithNicole Kidman wearing Miu Miu S/S 2022 for Vanity Fair’s 2022 Hollywood Issue coverSandy Liang S/S 2024Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting by Sianne Ngai“In Defense of the Leopard Print Midi Skirt” in Paper magazine (the original @leopardmidiskirt Instagram account is GONE omg)