Chi-Town here we come!

New Years Day! Blackhawks vs Redwings! It is so on!

Supreme x JA x Fuck This Life

Here we go with another superb Supreme collab. This time we got two of NYC's baddest, JA one (xtc), and Fuck This Life (weirdo Dave). These are the '3rd Delivery' tee's for the F/W season and they're really dope in my opinion! I've always loved Weirdo Dave's Fuck This Life books and mags and who doesn't love and hate the king of NYC, "JA"!? Anyhow, they were available via Supreme's online store last week for a mere $30 bucks, but now if you really want one (cause you most likely slept), you need to dish out $70.00 for a JA tee on eBay. Keep sleeping...













Speaking of Supreme, Aron Bondaroff and crew are having their 2nd exhibition at O.H.W.O.W. in Wynwood this week for Basel. It's called "It Ain't Fair" and lasts from Dec 2nd-7th featuring works from Agathe Snow, Todd James, Phil Frost, Kenneth Cappello, Dash Snow and tons of others. Last night was the "It Ain't Fair Book Fair" with lots and lots of dope books for sale, including Deitch Projects and O.H.W.O.W.'s "Maneater" book, plus plenty of limited t-shirts for sale as well by Off Bowery and Supreme.

Sloppy Seconds

Man you gotta love Sean Avery. No wonder he's definitely one of my favorite hockey players! Not only is he the NHL's biggest pest, he definitely knows how to remain in the spotlight! Check out his lovely comments towards Calgary's Dion Phanuef. Sad thing is I'd probably be the same way if I were an NHL player!

New Lipp

Homie Eliot Lipp has a new EP out this month and as usual he delivers nothing but the best in analog sounds. It's out now on Eliot's Old Tacoma record label. His new single "Beamrider" which can be downloaded here, has to be one of the tightest electronic joints this season. Kinda has an old school Whodini-'Friends'-esque vibe to it. Definitely diggin' this one!

I DON'T VOTE CAUSE I DON'T GIVE A FUCK

I'm so immensely tired of people looking at me as if I'm a fucking alien when they ask me that same motherfucking stupid question "did you vote?" and I tell them no. Look people, this is "free" America and yes, there are a rare breed of people out there that DON'T FUCKING VOTE! And being that I don't vote I hate talking about/giving opinions regarding any issues with politics. So if you don't like that, take your lame, politically-fused bullshit elsewhere and move the fuck on!

The Cool Kids...

...are a new outfit on Chi-town's quality Chocolate Industries label. They hail from Detroit and Chicago, and carry a sound reminiscent of the crunchy, IDM-fused hip-hop of early 2000 along with great catchy vocals and theme's. They've toured with M.I.A. and Diplo and most recently have started to appear in Gap ads, video game soundtracks and Mountain Dew commercials.

Lately I've been really feeling one of their releases titled 'Black Mags'. Check out the video below for freshness, be sure to turn up that bass! And look out for their 'Bakesale EP' out now. It's a seriously good EP!

Lords Off Bowery

The kids are alright!

Bomb Down Broadway

Wow, 2 posts in one week!?!? I must be smoking! This post is a dope one I'm sure everyone will enjoy. See, this summer in NYC, Zoo York had one of the greatest ideas ever! Have a BMX race down the streets of NYC in 2 different heats, with 5-G's up for grabs! Take any shortcut possible, any route, but you must make it from point A to point B first, and beware of getting crushed by traffic or roped by the po-po's, no holds barred! Check it out money grip!

Toys, toys, and oh yea.....TOYS!

My online peeps over at the unkle/mo'wax forums have been asking me for quite some time to post some photos of my toy collection. Since I don't think it's nowhere near as good as most of my buddies' collections I admit I procrastinated just a tad. However, lately I've been collecting GI-Joe's again (i know right, i'm in my 30's and still doing this shit!?!? Thanks Cullen!) and it's kinda made me a little toy crazy again, so without further bullshit, here it is in full detail. You can click on each photo to view it in a larger size. Enjoy!

These are all my Be@rbricks. I ran out of shelf space so I decided to give them a bird's eye view from atop the shelf. In this collection there is one of my favorite toys I own, the blue camo James Lavelle Be@rbrick (with all his tats) that my wife gave me for my birthday a while back. Notice the pink B@pebrick rockin' in the front.

Here is my Futura shelf with the exception of 1 Stash figure. In this collection you'll see the Unkle 'Psyence Fiction' promotional blue camo Pointman released on Mo'Wax toys as well as the highly limited Unkle 'Never, Never, Land' promotional 25pc figure Kubrick set and a few other Futura Kubricks.

This is my urban toy collection. On this shelf there are plenty of Kubricks including the famous Supreme x Kermit Kubrick as well as the Grand Theft Auto collection. Plus others done by Kaws, Stash and Maharishi. You'll also see there a few of the Qee toys that my boy Gabe brought me back from Japan. And finally the Nozzle Heads from Kid Robot chillin in the cut.

Here is my collection of hockey stars with molds made by Todd McFarlane of Spawn fame. Also here are my Transformers and 25th Anniversary GI Joe's. Notice the Snake Eyes with Black Timber variant, ohhhh!

This is the Star Wars collection. As you can see there are plenty of the Kubricks as well as Lego's (my wife built those) and in the back are the entire collection of Star Wars watches from BK in their respective container.

RAD!

Ahhhh, the 80's. Ronald Reagan, feathered hair, Pac-Man, tight jeans w/high tops, MTV (when they played videos) and of course cheezy ass films. In the 80's you can make a movie (or song) of just about anything you can imagine. Breakdancing (Beat Street/Breakin'), surfing (North Shore), hockey (Slap Shot), skateboarding (Gleaming The Cube), bike mesengers (Quicksilver) and even teens turning into wolves (Teen Wolf). But the best one out there has to be the 1986 BMX film 'Rad'. Even more so now after seeing the debut of BMX Racing in the Beijing 2008 Olympics (about time!). I remember seeing this movie in a small, low-budget, dirty theater on Miami Beach called Surf Theater (now a gym). Over the years it's become a cult classic and there's even an ongoing online petition to have it released to DVD. Believe it or not but as of December 2007, more than 400,000 fans had signed the petition. Also, they created a website recently in an effort to gain support for the release of the film by tracking down the rights and contacting the holders. But I guess due to it's cornyness it probably won't make it onto the digital format anytime soon. I mean all of these films are indeed extremely corny but hey, it was the 80's.

The film is basically about a young man named Cru Jones that lives in a small town and is faced with a tough decision: the qualifying races for Helltrack are the same day as his SAT's (wow, SAT's...remember that shit!?), which he must take in order to attend college. However, winning Helltrack means a lucrative sponsorship deal and fame. Cru chooses the latter option, ignoring his mother's wishes. Helltrack is a huge event that comes to this small town and is sponsored by Mongoose Bicycles. But the event co-ordinator keeps adjusting the rules in order to keep Cru out of the race as he know's what a good rider he is and to ensure BMX star Bart Taylor has an easy road to victory, thus providing a financial windfall for Mongoose Racing, Bart's sponsor.

Of ourse in the end, Cru qualifies/enters the race and wins and get's the girl (promoter/rider for Mongoose as well) just like any and every 80's flick. But seriously, I would like anyone that reads this blog to sign that petition so I can sit on my couch, smoke a bowl, and reminisce about my days as a BMX wannabe whilst watching my favorite corny movie, RAD! Now, somebody get me my red checker-board Vans slip-ons!


This is the opening intro to the film. Gotta love the music!


This has to be one of my favorite parts! This is during the High School dance (of course, isn't there ALWAYS a high school dance in every 80's flick) and Cru and his new found counterpart get on their bikes and rip shit up on the dance floor to the 80's nu-wave classic "Send Me An Angel". How gay & appropriate! Enjoy!

The Young And The Banging

Been hearing about the making of this book for quite sometime now. Glad it's finally dropping! It's basically a book featuring NYC's finest, and I don't mean the po-po's. Everyone from photographers to skaters to fashion designers to graffiti artists. It's a sure-fire riot of a book! Read below for more info.

Once you start living downtown, it can begin to feel like a big kids high school. It's like never never land, a place where one can stay young forever. The taxis begin to feel like the school buses. The restaurants are like our cafeterias. The bars and clubs are like our school dances and the streets are like our high school hallways!

But if downtown NYC were really a high school, what would it look like and who would the school body be?

Inspired by both the traditional American high school yearbook and Ezra Petronio's book "Bold and Beautiful" of Self Service, THE YOUNG AND THE BANGING is a downtown NYC yearbook that provides a look at almost 200 new faces of todays creative youth through polaroid photography.

A first of its kind, co-created by 15 girls or as PURPLE magazine calls them, "A fascinating NEW GENERATION born into the realms of fashion, art and success." The contributors include local favorites Tracy Antonopoulos, Sage Grazer, Rachel Smith, Philippa Price, Nicole Saldana, Louise Erhard, Laura Gerster, Katia Hakko, Kate Brien, Kathy Lo, Julia Tepper, Dana Veraldi, Carly Mark, Anna Skladmann and Amanda Merten.

We invited them to partner as co-creators to make the book through artistic collaboration. They were asked to highlight the young and creative people around them through Polaroid photography to act as their class photo and given spreads in the book to design in a way that best represented the lifestyle and creativity of those people.

-Heron Preston

Order it here

Desperate times call for.....well, you know.

Miami and it's people make up such a lovely city!

Just the facts...

Like, totally!

Sick Flick

It's about time somebody shed's some light on The Watchmen. It's basically a twelve-issue comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons that will hit the silver screen spring time next year. I'm not really that into comics as much as I used to be but this series always interested me for some reason. Originally published by DC Comics as a monthly limited series from 1986 to 1987, it was later republished as a trade paperback, which popularized the "graphic novel" format.

It's being directed by Zack Snyder from "300" fame so you know this is serious shit! The film is due to be released March 6th, 2009 but you know how things change so keep an eye out for that drop! I know that I will (and Mr Mike Pupo too...lol). Definitely a movie not to be missed! Peep the trailer below.

THRASHER!

NYC's Todd Jordan can really rip shit up! No wonder he's sponsored by Nike SB. Peep the craze below and learn something new!

Ain't it dead yet?

The other day I read yet another article stating that retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy are trying to bring back the wax. Claiming that vinyl is back in high demand. Gee, really!?!? Well at least in my book it's always been in high demand. Anyway, I first noticed the craze about a month or so ago on cnn.com then this last week on msn.com so this is definitely becoming another hyped up trend. Artists are indeed releasing more music on vinyl format these days, this is true. In fact, just the other day at a used record store I saw tons of old material (and new) that have just been re-released/repressed on wax. Apparently, labels are re-releasing back catalog material and sales are supposedly doing good. Many popular bands such as Portishead, Coldplay, R.E.M, Radiohead, etc are releasing their new albums on vinyl format as well. For one reason, I think it's great! I mean, I managed to buy Metallica's "Ride the lightning" and "Kill em' all" at store value. Waaay cheaper than what these babies are going for on E(vil)-Bay. And better, they have been re-mastered from the original tapes and re-pressed on 180grm vinyl at 45rpm. For those that aren't geek's such as I, that means they sound really fucking good! Seemingly so, record pressing plants are not many these days, and the few that exist are overwhelmed with the demand. In my opinion, this is something for the die hard music collector and not for your average person, being that Mr. Economy isn't feeling too good and music is free/downloadable everywhere you look. Let's just see how long this goes on. Check out the msn article or the cnn article to see for yourself!

Under The Milky Way.....Tonight

The Church is definitely one of the many bands that achieved 'one hit wonder' status during the 80's. Their unforgettable jam "under the milky way" always brings me back to my glory days of DJing at The Kitchen Club here in Miami. Every time I would play this track it would always fill the dance floor, I mean people would literally run to that dance floor so they can hear it nice and loud and sway to the acoustic guitars of this lovely tune. The song is a nu-wave classic by all standards and most recently I discovered the video, which I never knew existed, on youtube.com (thank the lord for youtube) so I've been jamming out to it lately. Apparently, the title of the track is in reference to a hash bar in Amsterdam that the lead singer/bassist Steve Kilby would frequent. Another quick fact, when I bought this CD back in the 90's, my then future wife Liz helped me find it as she was working at Spec's Music during the time. Anyway, check out the video below and get lost in the milky way tonight!

David Axelrod

Jazz music has always been a part of my life ever since I was a kid. My father had many LP's from Lou Rawls, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and many more of the like, all of which I luckily inherited. Specifically, I've always liked the funk-fused style of jazz. Like the kind found sampled in most hip-hop songs.

Back in 2000 whilst digging in the vaults at NYC's Turntable Lab, hoping to find that one Mo'Wax or Warp record I didn't already have, I discovered a Mo'Wax LP by David Axelrod. I knew for sure I've heard the name since I remembered reading somewhere that Mo'Wax was indeed releasing his work. And I most certainly knew he produced jazz, but for one reason or another I still had not lent his sound an ear (what a shame). Well, being the Mo'Wax collector that I am I went ahead and purchased the LP and took it home for a listen. First thing I thought after hearing the first few tracks was 'WOW! Now I know where DJ Shadow got his inspirations from!' Then after a closer listen I noticed how pure and how real his songs are. It's basically the essence of hip-hop as we know it. The way the guitars moan and snares crack make his sounds so unique, unlike any other jazz producer out there. Most of the recordings on this album were made at least 30 years ago and it's still on the pulse! Here is one particular track titled "The Shadow Knows" that I think has to be the best way to describe his work. Check it out aqui.

Dash Snow

If there is any artist that one can call 'unique' it's definitely no-one other than NYC's Dash Snow. Also known (in earlier times) as Sacer from IRAK crew, Dash Snow is recognized as a very controversial figure in the art world as most of his pieces consist of urine, semen, spit and wax as well as his personal photographs. But believe it or not his work is highly sought after by many influential collectors such as Charles Saatchi, founder of the world famous Saatchi & Saatchi advertising firm amongst many others.

His father was an avid art collector and museum founder so he was born and raised into the art world that he grew to love. He started to get into photography around the age of 13 when he ran away from home and started documenting his life on the streets as a record of places he might not remember the next day. Those Polaroid photographs (see below) are now the aesthetic & foundation to his work. Instances of sex, drug taking, violence and art-world pretentiousness are documented with disarming frankness and honesty, offering insight into the decadent lifestyle associated with many young New York City artists and their social circles.

He has exhibited in galleries and museum's in London and NYC such as the historic Royal Academy of the Arts in Piccadilly as well as the better known Deitch Projects in New York's Soho district. To view more of his work, click here. To read an interesting article regarding Dash Snow from New York Magazine click here. Some of the photos below might not be safe for work.
















Definitely not for the faint of heart, eh? Now, move over Terry!

Hockey Post Season Wrap-Up

Here I go again with another hockey post. But this time, it's much shorter and I just want to show everyone how damn right I was about my playoff predictions on my previous blog-post. To begin with, I was right about the Detroit Red Wings. They were the very first team I spoke about and (of course) they won the cup without much of a struggle. I was also correct on the fact that the Washington Capitals were going to make the playoffs when at the time I wrote that they weren't even in the playoff spot. I also mentioned that Mr Alex Ovechkin would definitely win the MVP trophy and he sure as hell did (amongst many others). I was right about how Carolina, Ottawa, and Boston didn't stand a chance, and they sure as shit didn't. I kind of doubted Dallas as well but they played strong as hell. And I sorta hyped up the Anaheim Ducks a little too much when in fact they played a gash game! But boy was I on target when I spoke about the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Now that the season is over there is not much left for me in the sports world. I shall crawl back into my cave and hibernate till October when the new season starts. Till then, remember that I am a hockey god sent to the earth to school you cats!

Percussion Lab

Well, after a short (much needed) vacation, I'm back on the blog with my usual bag of tricks! Miss me? I doubt! But to commemorate 'my return' (who reads this anyway) I decided to put up a link to my infamous Percussion Lab Mix I made back in 2004. Percussion Lab is an on-line radio station in New York that has had a variety of special guests from the IDM/Electro scene including Funkstorung, Machinedrum, Caural, Lackluster, Sense and many others.

Anyway, the mix contains some hip-hop, IDM (of course), electro, and a bit of hardcore (as some call) drill & bass. You'll hear tracks from Modeselektor, Chris Clark, Two Lone Swordsmen, Smash TV, Vast Aire, Team Shadetek, Jimmy Edgar, Beans, Dabrye, Venetian Snares plus many others throughout the mix-set. Here is a direct link to the mix and bio page on the Percussion Lab site. Enjoy!

Friends...

...how many of us have them. Whodini hit the nail on the head with this oldie, but goodie! Peep em' doin' it all the way live!

In Motion

In Motion is a tiny, short film that was directed, filmed, edited and narrated by amateur director Richard Calvache in my old neighborhood in Queens, Woodside. It is a very inspiring piece that makes you re-consider our humanity and I recommend everyone to check it out.

People are strange...

...when you're a stranger.

Risky Tangerine

The movie Risky Business has to be one of my top 10 favorite films of all time. I grew up watching movies like this...The house parties in suburbia, the chicks, the fast cars, high school, the lame jokes and of course the soundtracks. Tangerine Dream wrote the score & soundtrack to Risky Business in 1982 which was actually my first introduction to ambient/electronica music. As soon as the movie opens you hear Tangerine Dream's beautiful soundscapes and melodies. The track "Love On A Real Train", is featured in the soundtrack and is still to this day one of my favorite ambient pieces ever. The gentle keys and angelic textures always bring me back to a much better time. It's such a brilliant song. The track is featured in the movie during the famous "train scene" with Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay, hence the name, and is one of Tangerine Dream's most popular songs.

I know I've been posting lots of music blogs (which I normally don't do) but I am really feeling this track at the moment so I wanted to bring it back to light. Perfect for long city nights or some quality time with yourself. Download it here.

CSNY

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are a great band period. First time I ever heard them was while I was going through my father's extensive vinyl collection as a child. All of their songs are listen-able and for some reason can always relate to your current situations. Though there is one song I must present to you, if you haven't heard it already, called "Wooden Ships" off their self titled album which during the time Neil Young was not present. The song was written on Crosby's boat in Florida. Crosby wrote the music, and Stills and Kantner wrote most of the lyrics. I love the smooth undertones and vocals, especially the deep bass guitar providing that humm that only a good bassist can create. Download it here and listen closely to one of the greatest bands of our time.

New Beginnings

My memories of my first nightclub experience are still as vivid as if it were just yesterday. I remember I was 11 years old, it was 1987 and there was a club in South Beach, at that time known as the Art Deco District, called '1235' (currently Club Mansion) which my older sister used to frequent on teen nights. It was a Friday night and I was at home playing with my Transformers when my mother says to me "I gotta go pick-up your sister at this nightclub 1235, I'll be back". I asked if I can tag along, even if it was close to midnight, I really wanted to go since my sister used to brag about how cool this club was and the music and blah, blah, blah. I wanted to see this place she continuously spoke about. So mother says "let's go" and I throw on my Nike's, get in the Mercedes and we are on our way. When we get there to pick her up, of course she's not outside like she should be so we waited (and waited) and still, no sign of sis. Finally, my mothers impatient cuban side goes off like a rocket. "We gotta go inside and look for her! We've been waiting 10 mins and she's not here like she's supposed to" so she asks the valet guy to watch the car and asked the door man if she can search for her daughter. The door man said "quickly" and since it was an all ages night, he let us into the sea of music & lights to search for my sibling. What I saw when I went through those velvet ropes was unbelievable! I remember the song "Weekends" by Debbie Deb was blasting through the bass bins with green lazer's streaming throughout the club and thousands of Miami teens having the time of their lives. The venue was huge and the bass was letting off an unexplainable vibration inside of me as the beat went 'BOOOOOM'!

Quick, look, there's my mother freaking out, scoping out everyone, getting more & more frustrated, meanwhile there I am running off closer to the sounds of the speakers, claiming "I'll look for sis in this general area", mommy was like "you stay right here next to me" thinking I would probably get lost in the abyss which is what I truly wanted. Finally my sister appears through the masses all red faced and looking totally embarrassed saying "mami, why are you in here? And why did you bring HIM!?!" I guess having your mother and little brother pick you up at the club isn't the coolest thing but she looked as if she wanted to die right then and there. Meanwhile I'm trying to ignore my sister and her grief as I stare at the moving bodies on the dance floor and watch the DJ spin his records as the music flows perfectly in sync with the massive light system. It was all new to me and I remember thinking how badly I couldn't wait till I was old enough to go to these places or better yet, how much fun it would be to be that DJ in the booth making all these people move.

Two years later I'm 13 yrs old and finally old enough to hit the teen nights. 1235 was now defunct and now the same venue has changed owners, revamped the sound & lights and switched up the theme. I didn't know this at the time but the new promotional/marketing team would be the same people from the legendary Studio 54 as my good friend/promoter Michael Alig pointed out much later in life. Anyway, the venue was now called 'Decos' and they specialized in Freestyle and Bass music, my two favorite genres during that time. I started going to teen nights every Friday. I still remember though how depressed I got when I went to Decos for my first time and not being able to get in since it was at full capacity. I think I went home and cried. But sure enough, the next Friday, and every Friday after that it was on! I remember seeing acts like Stevie B, Paris by Air, TKA, Lizette Melendez, Coro, etc. What a time! I used to go to 163rd street mall to get the Decos flyers so I can get in $5 buxx cheaper, I was hooked! One night I found this VIP card and only used it once since right after I found it the club was closing as it was sold again, how sad. I was thinking I'm hooked up for life!
At first, my mother used to drop my sister and I off at the club along with our friends and of course my sister would tell me "just stay away from me" as to not be seen clubbin' with her little brother. I still remember bumping into her and her friends on the dance floor and her totally ignoring me...too funny indeed. My older sister was always the cooler one in the family, but once I got into the whole scene and started hanging out with my own little crew, I was like "I'm cool too! I go to clubs!". All in all it was so much fun!

Well, there you have it. My humble beginnings as a clubster. As most of you know I would continue my nightlife endeavors for many years following those glorious days that paved the way. Starting with the freestyle scene to the much darker gothic/nu-wave scene then to the happy happy, joy joy rave scene, most angles of debauchery have been attained throughout the years. And I forgot to mention my times of DJing clubs like Mass, The Church, Kitchen Club, Culture, Revolver, etc. Of course, the new breed of club kids came about and being 30 yrs old & married at the club wasn't ideal anymore. Now, we gotta hit lounges or pubs to be accepted. It's true! I remember seeing cats over 30 at raves and thinking what a total loser! Either way, I had my fun and luckily managed to make it out alive, to some degree!