February 3, 2010

{      Selector!      }    

Selector! is a reggae-inspired, design-oriented t-shirt brand made by reggae fans for reggae fans, owned and operated out of Venice, California by longtime clothing and magazine industry player John Hall. Having worked for several years in the biz with the likes of Mass Appeal, Vapors, Missbehave, Staple, Digital Gravel, Ludwig, The Hundreds and more, in 2006 John decided his obvious next move was to create a label of his own. Focusing on his love of reggae and it's poor representation in the market, Selector! was born.

Looking at the available tees for the serious reggae fan all John saw were weak, nearly insulting efforts consisting of tired designers throwing pictures of drums under palm trees and slapping bad cliche phrases underneath. And Bob Marley - so much Bob Markey. Where were those that came before Nesta? Beginning with simple, creative pieces, John payed tribute to classic reggae artists like 60's ska groundbreaker Prince Buster and the "Godfather of Rocksteady", innovator Alton Ellis. The graphics were strong, the icons classic, and Selector! was off.

With Selector! John wavered into darker, "street" territory only on a few occasions, focusing more-so on the positive "one love, one heart" message which has carried reggae around the world over these past decades, even unifying island music's many "one" concepts (one blood, one God, one people, one world, one love, one peace) into the label's hand-drawn, most signature design titled 'Universal'.

Moving forward with the brand, John has recently pushed to widen his label's appeal by interlacing Selector!'s Jamaican-roots with reggae's international influence, resulting in designs like the 'Jamaican in NY' tee and it's spirited overlaying of the NY logo with the colors of the Jamaican flag.

These backward-recognizing tributes compounded with Selector!'s forward-facing ideas, as well as John's creativity and continuing close involvement with the clothing and magazine industry, solidify the label's upward rise and ensure us that there is much more greatness yet to come.

~ You can find Selector! at RiddimSelector.com and on DigitalGravel.com.

January 26, 2010

{      CRATE: February '10      }    

The top twelve tracks gettin' pulled out the crates at CrownDozen this month, in alpha order, plus a few more for good measure! All links go to Mediafire-hosted MP3s...

Charlotte Gainsbourg "Looking Glass Blues"
Cold Cave "The Trees Grew Emotions and Died"
Damian Marley & Nas "As We Enter"
Florence & The Machine "Addicted to Love"
Four Tet "Angel Echoes"
Gucci Mane "Lemonade"
Hidden Cat "Shooting Stars (Bag Raiders Cover)"
Hot Chip "Alley Cats"
Jay Reatard "All Wasted"
jj "My Way (ft. Lil Wayne)"
Lindstrøm & Christabelle "Lovesick"
Nicki Minaj "Saxon (prod. by Chase & Status)"
Phantogram "As Far As I Can See"
Private "My Secret Lover (Diplo Remix)"
Sleigh Bells "Ring Ring"
Surfer Blood "Anchorage"
Thee Oh Sees "Rainbow"
Toro Y Moi "Blessa"
Twin Sister "I Want a House"
Yeasayer "ONE"

All 20 tracks, one zip file. (Mediafire)

{      "Dizzy" Lizzy Rachtman's Top 12 Metal Releases of 2009.      }    

"I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth."
-Revelations 6:8.

1. Baroness "Blue Record"
2. Shrinebuilder "Shrinebuilder"
3. Agoraphobic Nosebleed "Agorapocalypse"
4. YOB "The Great Cessation"
5. Cobalt "Gin"
6. Converge "Axe to Fall"
7. Dethklok "Deth Album 2"
8. Pestilence "Resurrection Macabre"
9. Cattle Decapitation "Harvest Floor"
10. Vader "Necropolis"
11. Nile "Those Whom the Gods Detest"
12. Slayer "World Painted Blood"

January 14, 2010

{      Dieter Rams: Less and More Interview      }    

Dieter Rams: Less and More Interview from Gestalten on Vimeo.

December 23, 2009

{      2009 Miami Art Fair Snapshots      }    

One more year, one more whirlwind week of aesthetic overstimulation. As usual: No credits, no judgments, no control. Just a whole lot of snapshots of the art that caught my eye in Miami in early December 2009.

The 9 Set Flickr Collection

November 19, 2009

{      Mishka Malamute Snorkel Jacket      }    

This holiday season Mishka NYC has three incredible jackets on the racks to get you thru the harsh winter months, the Malamute Snorkel Jacket, the Paddington Cloaked Duffle Coat, and the Leather Keep Watch Coach Jacket.

Of the three I have to say that I'm instantly OBSESSED with the Malamute Snorkel. It's lightly padded with a wool blend shell, a removable hood, and many other signature Mishka details yet to be seen. Such a clean cut, taking the best elements from a parka and a pea coat, then giving it a slight military feel, this beast is gonna feel warm and look straight heat. WANT.

Check more colors and details after the jump...

November 16, 2009

{      MUST SEE: Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No by James Blagden      }    

Presented by NYC-based sports-centric brand No Mas (Spanish for “no more”), artist James Blagden created an incredible animated film telling the story of how Pittsburgh Pirate Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter against the Padres under the influence of LSD.

More info from No Mas:

In celebration of the greatest athletic achievement by a man on a psychedelic journey, No Mas and artist James Blagden proudly present the animated tale of Dock Ellis' legendary LSD no-hitter. In the past few years weve heard all too much about performance enhancing drugs from greenies to tetrahydrogestrinone, and not enough about performance inhibiting drugs. If our evaluation of the records of athletes like Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds needs to be revised downwards with an asterisk, we submit that that Dock Ellis record deserves a giant exclamation point. Of the 263 no-hitters ever thrown in the Big Leagues, we can only guess how many were aided by steroids, but we can say without question that only one was ever thrown on acid.

Sadly, the great Dock Ellis died last December at 63. A year before, radio producers Donnell Alexander and Neille Ilel, had recorded an interview with Ellis in which the former Pirate right hander gave a moment by moment account of June 12, 1970, the day he no-hit the San Diego Padres. Alexander and Ilels original four minute piece appeared March 29, 2008 on NPRs Weekend America. When we stumbled across that piece this past June, Blagden and Isenberg were inspired to create a short animated film around the original audio.

- Check out No Mas
- See more from James Blagden

November 4, 2009

{      Prohab Helmet Society 2010 Calender      }    

The Prohab Helmet Society is a non-profit in Vancouver dedicated to providing helmets by donation to active individuals who wouldn't normally use them. To help fund their effort, Prohab put together a 2010 Ladies bike calender, a collaboration of artists, photographers, models, and friends. Featuring helmeted women in and around Vancouver having fun with their bikes, the 2010 Ladies Bike Calendar proves/aims to show that you can have fun–and be sexy–while being safe.

If you're into seeing gals and their bikes, then you can pick up a calender for about $23 USD shipped. Printed copies are being sent out early November, with an official release party on November 13th.

Visit Prohab Helmet Society to see more and preorder a copy today!

October 27, 2009

{      Fan Death "Reunited"      }    

Not much to say but that you really need to see this new video from Fan Death for the rad extended mix of "Reunited" from their forthcoming EP A Coin For The Well c/o The Pharmacy Recording Co. You especially need to see this video if you're a fan of Prince, Marilyn Manson, Andre 3000, Depeche Mode, Bjork, Peter Gabriel, Fad Gadget, Siouxsie, Courtney Love, Axl Rose, Left Eye, David Byrne, Adam Ant, Pee-Wee Herman, Billy Corgan and really, really cute girls. It's for you.

You can watch it after the jump, but do yourself a favor and go watch it in HD on Youtube.com by clicking here, and please be sure to watch it through to the very end!

- Fan Death "Reunited" (128kb Mediafire link)
- Fan Death on Myspace
- Also, go read what 'fan death' is on Wikipedia, it'll make you like them even more.

October 12, 2009

{      Three Hearts Club      }    

Three Hearts Club (a.k.a. The Hash Crew) is a prominent and influential graffiti crew from Chicago, formed in the early 90's and still going strong these many years later. With a diverse membership of not only graffiti artists, but also fine artists, graphic artists and musicians, the Three Hearts Club crew is known for their smooth blend of classic graffiti with contemporary abstractions, ideas and mediums.

You've seen their work on the street, in the galleries, on skateboards, posters, books and album covers, so it's only fitting that you be able to find them on some tees, right? Well, that's what's up with Bopzink.com, the Three Hearts Club online store. You can pick up mixes, prints, and of course tees - our favorite being the Auto Drop pictured above. I just got mine in the mail today and I love it!

- Check their work at ThreeHeartsClub.com
- Check the store at Bopzink.com

October 11, 2009

{      Tone Tank and his 'Beast Hombre'      }    

Rapper/artist Tone Tank (owner of Scumlife, member of the Nuclear Family, and one half of Iller Than Theirs) has always been obsessed with bootleg action figures. What are they, you ask? They're the weirdo generic-ish toys that you find in 99 cent stores, flea markets or wherever junk can be sold that just ain't legit. The figures tend to be ripoff superheros with mismatched body parts or purposely erroneously painted costumes, like where you think it's the Superman 'S' at first, but instead you realize it's a '5'. The variations are infinite, but as Tone noticed, nearly all of them almost always have some kind of glowing something included, and it's usually their chest.

So that brought Tone to create his own bootleg figure, the 'Beast Hombre', an orange superhero dude with a howling beast of a head and of course, a light embedded in his chest. He made only 24 of these gnarly orange dudes, hand cast in resin and they sold out f-f-f-f-fast.

So why am I mentioning this if you can no longer acquire your own? Because Tone Tank is a fucking rad dude that does a ton of rad shit, and you need to know that. Not only does he make action figures (I mean, who does that?!), he also has an ill clothing line and more importantly, all the music he's involved with is fucking DOPE. Really. Like, I thought it was gonna suck, I'll be honest, but now it's kinda my jam for real. Go check out Tone Tank on Myspace, then get some Iller Than Theirs action, 'cause there are three free downloadable EPs between the two of them that all slay. Get at it.

September 30, 2009

{      Cupco Fear Demon      }    

New stuff from Luke at CUPCO - mean-lookin' little biker jerks called Fear Demons! From the site:

The Fear Demon captures all your fears, paranoia, neuroses and negativity and uses them for his evil, twisted slightly nazoid purposes! Basically to KILL! KILL! KILL! and then go back to the CUPCO clubhouse and get a drunk as is demonly possible.

The 100% handmade figure features a removable helmet, detachable head and a hand-printed back - plus it comes with a CUPCO Suicide Bomber keyring and stickers! It's 14" x 6.5". All that for just $60! Check it out in the CUPCO Shop...