June 16, 2009

{      Fresh Jive "Bike City" Shirt      }    

I just can't not put this up... This tee is part of a collab with legendary porn sticky pages Screw Magazine, and features one of their notoriously graphic graphics. Nasty as it wanna be, you can buy the Fresh Jive "Bike City" shirt at Turntable Lab.

June 14, 2009

{      THIS MUST BE THE PLACE (June 20 LA)      }    

It's not our norm to mention specific upcoming art shows on CrownDozen but in this case we're making an exception. Friend and past contributor Dustin Hostetler has taken his art-zine Faesthetic to the an even next-er next level this month, curating the 'This Must Be The Place' art show opening June 20th in Culver City / LA in partnership with SCION. More info from the Faesthetic site below, but if you're in the area it's a do-not-miss!

Los Angeles area friends and fans, MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Faesthetic’s first LA curated show will be opening at the SCION Space gallery in Culver City, June 20th. Featuring the work of Gluekit, Matt Curry, Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch, Skullphone, Damien Correll, Dan Funderburgh, Joel Speasmaker & Jemma Hostetler. All artists will be on hand for the opening.

From the press release: This Must Be The Place, curated by Ohio based Faesthetic Magazine, opens June 20th, 2009 at Scion’s Installation L.A. Gallery Space in Culver City. The exhibition features nine American artists from the Faesthetic family who represent the diverse styles appearing in the magazine. This Must Be The Place is comprised of art centered around a theme of “Home,” and loosely limited to a 2 color palette, just like an issue of Faesthetic.

Here's the SCION-made promo video:

Scion Presents: 'THIS MUST BE THE PLACE' Preview from Scion ART on Vimeo.

{      CRATE: June '09      }    

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...

The Bumblebeez "Misfit"
Cam'ron "Silky (No Homo)"
Coconut Records "Microphone"
Colin Munroe "Piano Lessons (feat. Joell Ortiz)"
Discovery "Orange Shirt"
Free Energy "Dream City"
Fugazi "Long Division"
Jay Reatard "It Ain't Gonna Save Me"
Kennedy "Karate"
Lee Fields & The Expressions "Ladies"
Miike Snow "Burial"
The Phenomenal Handclap Band "Dim The Lights"
Phoenix "Fences"
The XX "Teardrops"
Wave Machines "Keep the Lights On"
YACHT "Psychic City"

All 16 tracks, one zip file: Zshare / Direct DL

June 6, 2009

{      Infectious ate Popdeck      }    

Infectious, makers of original-art skins for iPods, iPhones, laptops, wall coverings, cars and more have recently acquired and will be the new home to limited-edition skate deck design community Popdeck! This means of course that Infectious will be adding decks to their product line as well as holding design challenges for skate deck designs.

To ring in their new venture Infectious is having a good 'ol design challenge, searching for the best five designs to go on the first five new decks to enter the Infectious line. The challenge began last month but is running thru July 1st so you still have plenty of time to get your work together and something in the running!

First prize is a solid 1G plus a percentage of your deck's sales and even another $100 in Infectious merch, so stakes is high and you need to get to work!

- Infectious Design Challenge
- Infectious Artist Roster

May 14, 2009

{      Phoenix "1901" Video      }    

One of my favorite magazines, Dazed & Confused, just premiered today the video for Phoenix's "1901", the first official single from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The album has been on repeat rotate for weeks and weeks now, and is the front-runner hands-down for my favorite album so far this year. I cannot recommend it enough.

The interesting thing about the video is that Dazed Digital actually commissioned and produced the video themselves, which is quite the novel approach in these new and adventurous times for both the print, web and recording industries. It's not the most complex of videos, but it fits perfectly the band's aesthetic, as well as lends itself well to the 'brands' of both Dazed and Phoenix. Well played fellows, well played!

See the video here: Dazed Digital's exclusive video for Phoenix's '1901'.

May 9, 2009

{      CRATE: May '09      }    

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...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy "I Am Goodbye"
Catcall "August"
Clubfeet "Teenage Suicide (Extended Original)"
Crocodiles "I Wanna Kill"
Empire Of The Sun "We Are The People (The Golden Filter Remix)"
Fan Death "Goodbye Horses"
Felix Da Housecat "Kickdrum"
Fever Ray "Triangle Walks (Tiga's 1-2-3-4 remix)"
Giant "Calvin"
Johnny Thunders "You Can't Put Your Arms Round a Memory"
Justice "D.A.N.C.E. (CFCF Remix)"
Kid Cudi "I Poke Her Face (ft. KanYe West and Common)"
Kid Cudi "She Came Along (feat. Sharam)"
M83 "Teen Angst"
Mayer Hawthorne and The County "When I Said Goodbye"
Passion Pit "Moth's Wings"
Phoenix "Lisztomania"
Tiga "Shoes"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Zero (RAC Re-Mix)"
Zoroaster "Brazen Bull"

April 29, 2009

{      Faesthetic No.11      }    

Just a quick note to let everyone know that our pal Dustin just dropped the latest issue of his fantastic art magazine Faesthetic, and it looks to be a beauty, again, and of course!

About this issue: Issue #11 showcases 128 pages of "Ghost Story" themed art from over 40 artists. Featuring high quality 2 color offset printing, original cover art by Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch, and an interview & contributions by Studio Number One.

Also of note is that Dustin & co have trimmed 2" off the cover size and subsequently $2 off the cover price, so now you can grab the new Faesthetic #11 for only $8 + S&H!

- Buy it now at Faesthetic.com!

{      The Black Dahlia Murder "Majesty" DVD      }    

April 6, 2009

{      Lost Constellations - The Art of Tara McPherson Vol. II      }    

Crowndozen has been digging the work of Tara McPherson since back in her early gig-poster days, her muted pastel palettes and signature characters have taken up permanent residence in our minds ever since we first laid eyes on them. The past few years have seen an explosion of interest in her work and a subsequent unfolding of her skills into a variety of mediums, from toys and sculpture to paintings and screenprints. This collection from Dark Horse manages to capture McPherson in full bloom, with the same attention to detail and lavish presentation seen in Volume 1 applied to these newer works.

March 25, 2009

{      Where the Wild Things Are (trailer)      }    

This looks so good I almost got teary-eyed. Really.

March 15, 2009

{      New York Art Fair Snapshots 2009      }    

The 2009 round of Snobicons made their appearances last week and yet again crowndozen.com was there.

With Obama now in the White House, The Great Recession on us and everyone twitbooking about EVERYthing it would be easy for me to connect the dots and throw in some cheeky analysis that trashes the upper echelons of the artistocracy. But any Marxist schaudenfreude I may feel watching the mighty tremble over sales vanished and portfolios diminished provides only temporary comfort. After all, I like many of my contemporaries have had nothing all along and prospects for getting by are steadily growing dimmer.

Instead we're going to take a little look back as a way of striking a contrast to the 140 character nature of a "now" that is shorter and shortr and shrtr than it ever has been. (Aaron is OMG! LMAO at this tinyurl!) I'd like to draw your attention to the review I did of this same cycle 2 years ago when the economic environment was better and now was just a bit longer than it is in 2009. When you come back from the jump check out what I saw at the following 2009 fairs:

The Armory Show
Scope New York
Pulse Contemporary Art Fair
Volta New York
Bridge New York Art Fair

February 19, 2009

{      "Let the Right One In" by John Ajvide Lindqvist      }    

Set in 1980 in the Swedish suburb of Blackeberg, this unusual re-telling of the vampire myth manages to transcend all of our expectations of that genre. It's also one of the most complex, intimate and endearing coming of age stories put to the page, as well as an examination of the darker heart of Sweden. The novel steps beyond the golden-ABBA-sunshine stereotype into the shadows where we encounter a host of characters struggling with their morality. Human and otherwise, we observe as their lives play out, each action and its consequences propelling us into further and further transgressions.

Those who've seen the film based on Lindqvist's novel will readily identify these themes as part of the central story, but if you've only seen the film you're missing half of what the novel has to offer. That's not to say that the film isn't remarkable in its own right. It is, and it's deserving of every bit of praise thrown its way. But as is often the case, there's a bit more to be discovered on the page, and with the time and space to introduce and fully develop several characters that simply couldn't be approached given the film's necessarily limited scope, we see a much broader picture here.