Holiday Booty

Isn't holly poisonous?  I know it's spiky.  Figgy pudding sounds horrible

That title should up the page views huh? It's holiday time, I can tell because my co-worker is playing Christmas music non-stop, yeaahhh!!! What the fuck is figgy pudding and why would you come to my doorstep and demand some?  Just because you sing your demands doesn't make them any less demanding.  Let me try, and see if you like it.  "Now bring me your youngest daughter and a bottle of beeeer."  *Runs at the sound of sirens*  This music must stop.  I'm warning you lady subjecting me to this nonsense is like poking a bear in a cage, I am liable to...ask you to please refrain from such activity post haste. Maybe more like poking a very civilized well mannered bear in a cage, but a bear no less!! *adjusts monocle*  Either way, y'all gon make me lose my mind. How many of you muttered "up in here, up in here" to yourself? How many of you are now growling and speeding through the Arizona desert with suspended licenses?

The main reason for this post was because of the amazing online store that Boingboing featured the other day. Das Programm only features products designed by Dieter Rams, who is pretty much a god when it comes to design. His record player is my profile pic on this blog and I have pined for his stuff for years.  His work is displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art and is also currently on exhibit at the SFMOMA.  So he is kind of a big deal.  I have no idea how these guys are able to stock an online store with his stuff, since they are literally museum pieces.  But I can tell you that I go and look at the SK5 almost every day and hope that someone else buys it so that I can stop obsessing and thinking that I may be able to obtain it.  Gaaah, can't stop drooling.

Dieter Rams, Braun SK5 (Snow White's Coffin) $1022.32

Braun RT 20 $1179.60

Braun G 11 $940.00

Braun Atelier 3 $940.00-$1570

Braun AB 22 Black and White $125

Braun ABW 30 $235-$393

Perhaps some more reasonable options for your loved ones after the jump...although if you really loved them you would get them the items above. Just saying.  *Clears space for record player*

The Goods

Shout out to a friend of a friend, Jaime Tibbetts.  Jaime, who is a Berkeley High graduate, runs Like Minded People.  Like Minded People makes awesome shirts.  I have been rocking the Marvin Gaye and one of the Oakland ones for a couple of years now.  Support your local small businesses and check out his goods here.


Behind the Jump, beautiful art that will make you *weep.

*tears not guaranteed, no refunds upon entry, risk of karate chop to the thorax if upon entering you do not declare your presence vocally.

The Goods

We be poppin tags, throwin things in bags, being Louis Vuitton Dons and shieeet  This is what happens when I don't have access to my music, or a music post seems like a daunting task.  I tell you to buy things.  It's like we are taking a trip to the virtua mall and you are my sugar daddy/mamma, can we stop by the Cinnabon stand on the way out? 

Shirts by Acrylick availabe here

Sterling silver cassette tape necklace by Minx. 20" Chain.  Available here for $40.  The very similarly styled, "Harajuku Lovers - "Hair & Makeup Girls" Boombox Charm Necklace, on Antique Silver chain."  Is $24 and can be found here.

 101 Apparel has a solid clothing line.  Kind of on that retro tip with their graphics.  "101 takes inspiration from various genres and cultures, showing influences from classic designers of the 60's & 70's such as Alexander Girard, Milton Glaser and others. Combined with an extensive background in music related design, the outcome shows a unique positive energy, color balance and treatments."
Peep their stuff here. 

I suck for not copping this when I had a chance.  Chaser LA teamed up with Technics for a line of shirts awhile back and I slept on getting this.  Now it's hard to find in my size now and is the main reason I weep at night.  Well that and the fact that my size is two hefty bags sewn together.  More of their stuff here.




Gama-Go Goodies

"From the turntable to the dinner table, this 45 styled trivet is sure to make your next green bean casserole a hit.
Molded from 100% silicone, complete with grooves. Comes in three colors, you choose.
Washable. 7" diameter."  Availble for $11.95 here. 

The Amp Mug is $12 here and the shirt below is $28 here. 

I am a fan of Gama-Go's aesthetic.  I think they have a nice design style, I am a sucker for animation infused designs.  They also have great character work and the colors pop.  Gamma-Go is a local Bay Area company, so show them some support.  "In late 2000 Tim Biskup, Chris Edmundson, & Greg Long started screen printing t-shirts and working out of the basement of Greg's house. In 2006 Tim Biskup stopped working creatively for Gama-Go. Still a dear friend and partner in the company, Tim now enjoys an illustrious career in fine art. In April of 2009 we opened our first retail store, if you're in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco, stop by!"  Check out the rest of their stuff at their site.


Upperplayground Shirts by Grotesk
This series of music inspired tees by Grotesk is cool.  Feeling all three of these.  Buy them here.

DJ Greybush Presents: Jams Fo Yo Grams

I see you Gertrude, shaking dat azz!!  *Points at old lady in a chair gumming her boiled carrots.*  These right here are "Jams Fo Yo Grams," or lullabies for teenagers.  They have a little bit of oomph for old people music, they might get your false hip a swaying.  Make your blue permed hair stand on edge.  Just don't try and spin this mix for the 8th graders, they like stuff like the Real McCoy, songs sung by Germans about Tawk Tawking and running away to "Another Night."  At least that's how it was in my day, minus the liking German's part, we sort of had issues with them in my day, but that's a story for another day.
Seriously?  This was popular?  The 90's were gross.

The Real McCoy


That was like showing you the 3 so you consider sleeping with the 5 at the bar.  I apologize for that, as a child of that exact type of catastrophe, I can say that it doesn't end well for anyone.  But hey, now anything you listen to will sound that much better, it's only through the bitter that we can appreciate the sweet.  This track from the mix is a 10 no matter what though so that whole exercise was pretty pointless.  I just wanted to take you back to that awkward cafeteria of segregated genders awkwardly gyrating in a stand off, the smell of fake smoke and puberty wafting through the air.

Songs and the mix after the jump.

The Goods

It's that time again where I play hypebeast.  *Pushes button to seal the air lock on closet*  Sorry about that, can't let those uv rays fuck up my kicks, nah mean?  *Adjusts thick rimmed glasses, lays on bed to wiggle and writhe into skinny jeans*  Sorry about that, I don't know why I was talking to you without any pants on.  Let's get our consumption on!!!

First up is some music infused art, which is like bacon encapsulated by fried chicken, or Mike and Ike's smothered in Vegemite, two of my favorite things in the world colliding into a brilliant wreck of awesome.  Is the Mike and Ike's thing just me?  Thought so.  Ian Johnson just had the opening for his new show, “Of The Living Sky, at Park Life in San Francisco.  Here is Ian's bio from his site, "Born in Syracuse, NY 1979 Lives and Works in San Francisco."  I guess that's all you need to know about him.  Not really, Ian does excellent intricate, realistic, renderings, of jazz luminaries and musical icons.  He infuses these with geometric designs, rays of rainbow colors, and abstract visuals to create awesome graphic depictions of legendary talents.  Check out this piece he did from his last solo show of one of the loves of my life, the Reverend.  That is a dope ass piece. 

 My only problem with Ian's work is that I don't know everyone he paints.  The pieces all look amazing, but I feel like I have to be a huge fan of someone before I display a prominent picture of them on my wall.  Ian knows his jazz, and his works are mostly focused on people I am not that familiar with.  I have the same issue with concert posters, and it's weird placing this guideline of synchronicity between liking the image and also supporting the person being depicted in the piece.  Usually I just go off image but portraiture is a different ball game that adds that other dimension....I want that Al though.

Either way if you are in the Bay Area you should go check the show out, it closes on May 1st, so you still have time.  Go see the Billie Holliday piece, it was stunning in it's simplicity and cleanliness.

Park Life
220 Clement St
SF CA 94118
415.386.7275

Two more things you should buy and a free Roots x Dilla mixtape after the jump.

The Goods

Dilla Dounts goodies.  Might have to cop that vinyl, I am a sucker for clean packaging...plus it's Dilla. 

"Serato and Stones Throw have teamed with the J Dilla Estate for the official J Dilla Serato release, Donut Shop. This is 2 discs with six J Dilla tracks, 2 sides with Serato Control Tone (for use with Serato Scratch Live DJ software), and 2 donut slipmats in a package designed by Studio No.1. This will be released May 10th (the day after Mother’s day–what’s up Ma Dukes?). Pre-order is available now.

The J Dilla tracks consist of three previously unreleased instrumentals selected by J.Rocc from the Dilla archives – “Safety Dance”, “Sycamore”, “Bars & Twists” – and three unreleased instrumental versions of Dilla’s production for Mos Def, Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes, each remastered by Elysian Masters who mixed and mastered J Dilla’s Donuts, The Shining and Ruff Draft albums."





 
This is a nice little package of Hiero/Souls goodies from Carhartt in the UK.  That shirt is pretty clean.

"Introducing the Souls of Mischief x Carhartt Limited Edition Box-set. The package includes a copy of their 2010 album ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ repackaged in a special black foil embossed housing & 8 page booklet, a Spring / Summer 2010 Master Shirt in Leather with breast embroidery, a Chenille Varsity Patch in Carhartt Duck Brown and a selection of A6 size foil stickers.
This Box-set is an edition of only 200 worldwide which we are officially dropping Monday 15th March at The Carhartt Store, Neal Street. Souls of Mischief themselves will be in attendance for a signing session from 7pm. See you there!"
 http://www.thecarharttstore.co.uk/

I just got an email for the preview of the BarnStormers Group show at Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York.  "The Barnstormers are a collective of New York/Tokyo-based artists who create large-scale collaborative paintings, films and performances."   

The Barnstormers are:
Chulo, Che Jen, Daikon, David Ellis, Doze Green, Maya Hayuk, Kenji Hirata, Mike Houston, Che Jen, Kami, KR, Alex Lebedev, Madsaki, Martin Mazorra, Christian Mendoza, Mike Ming, Blust One, West One, Jose Parla, Stephen Powers, Rostarr, Sasu, Yuri Shimojo, South, Swoon, Chuck Webster, Kiku Yamaguchi, and documentarians Joey Garfield, Miyuki Pai Hirai, and Gion Yukio

It is a super legit collective of some really high ranking figures in the art world.  My favorites are Doze Green, David Ellis, Stephen Powers, Swoon, and Parla.

David Ellis does these dope ass "Sound Sculptures" in addition to his paintings.  One of them is featured on the cover of Verve remixed  vol 3 and can be seen at  his actual show in the picture below.  I thought that he did the one for volume 4 but I think that it might have been done by Mikal Hameed, based on the pieces he has in the group show.  I would totally cop that one from Verve 3, it's amazing, I would settle for a turntable tree though, I am not picky.  Some of the tracks from Verve remixed will be on the next old person mix and one will be on an upcoming soul mix, check out that series though if you haven't heard of them.  They get contemporary people to remix the old verve catalog, so if you ever wanted to hear a Postal Service remix of Billie Holiday, your wish has been granted.  The RJD2 remix of Astrud Gilberto's "Gentle Rain" is a head nodder, maybe I will post it later.

If you have a couple g's and need a new sound system why not go all out?  Here are the pieces from the current show.

























Barnstormers
Mikal Hameed - Bossanova
Fully functional sound sculpture
2010
$6,000

Mikal Hameed - Bon Vivant Soul
Fully functional sound sculpture
2010
$8,000

Not sure about the chair ones, I don't really agree with taking away the functionality of the object, chairs you can't sit in isn't really my thing but it's pretty I guess.

All of the show can be viewed here Barnstormers Group Show

And some concert news.


Maxwell and Jill Scott will embark on an arena tour starting in Cleveland on May 21. Announced today (Feb. 26), the tour will bring the neo-soul artists to 20 cities including New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Washington DC, with more dates to be announced through June.

Date and venue information for the LiveNation / Haymon Events tour will be released shortly. Currently, the tour is scheduled to stop in Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York.

Who's coming with me?