City Guide

So, having just come back from a trip to a handful of great cities, I figured it would be cool to type up a little guide to some of the bigger cities and what you can find there in terms of fashion and music. I'm also still on Berlin time, and so woke up at about 3:30 in the morning, so I have nothing else to do. So here goes...

LONDON

I won't talk about London much because most of us know what's what in the LDN. I think we all know the important places to hit up, so I wont really mention them. The only new place I went to was the New Era store, which is really awesome. I can't wear hats and look really dumb in them, but this is the kind of store that makes people like me angry. A bunch of awesome London-specific hats as well as some kickass superhero hats. They had Superman hats which were kind of lame, Batman hats which I think most of us have seen and are awesome, and my favs were the Spider Man hats. Other than that, though, it was all the usuals, seeing as I had little time, but all had some great new (to me) stuff in.

PARIS

Paris is interesting because they don't have much of a scene when it comes to our stuff. There are three names that come to mind when one mentions Paris, and those are Colette, La MJC and Sold Out!, only one of those being a physical store. However, Colette happens to be one of the coolest stores I've ever been to. The first floor has loads of tables with huge books on graffiti, toys, you name it. It also has a rather large music section, playing almost exclusively good dance music. Har may be happy to know that Ed Banger, Kitsune and co. are all well represented here, but even more so is the minimal scene. There is a wall of CDs from the likes of M_nus, Kompakt, and all the others. On the back wall there are six or so iPods with all of the CDs loaded on so you can listen to the CDs. They also have a little batch of records, and, while I saw a couple of goodies, they were pricy.

Which brings be to the problem with Colette: pretty much everything is overpriced there. Upstairs is where the fashion is, and you see many of the latest fashion for ladies which is awesome, and then you get to the streetwear corner (probably the most crowded area of the store). Here, the couple of Air Force 1s are rather lame but cost a lot. Same with the tees and jackets: maybe a couple things from good companies, but mostly dominated by BBC and stuff like it, which I happen to hate and I think most will agree with me on. However, Colette is most certainly awesome, and a good place as more of a museum than a store. Other than that, Paris, while a great city, is not so big on really good record stores or clothing stores.

KOELN

In terms of streetwear, nada. It's not a terribly big city and not one in which I would expect to find much streetwear, and, popping my head into a couple of stores that showed semi-cool shoes in the window, I found no stores with anything very special. However, that is not the reason I'm talking about it: Koeln is all about Kompakt. Kompakt has defined Koeln musically, and you can walk around hearing the sounds of various Kompakt records in your head.

My trip to Kompakt was a very big highlight. It's a massive store, which records from every label I've ever cared to look at spanning back years. They also, of course, have the freshest releases on display, and it's easy to spend half a day there just listening to new records on the turntables.

BERLIN

Berlin, being such a huge city, I will split into two: Former East and Former West Berlin.

WEST BERLIN

West Berlin contains one of the best stores in Berlin period: Solebox. Solebox is in Charlottenberg and very far from where all of the other stuff is, so it would not be in a typical 'SoHo' run, but is worth it (we were staying in Charlottenberg, so it wasn't out of the way for us). They have a deal with Nike SB and, because of this, have the biggest collection of the best dunks I've ever seen. They also have the best Adidas I have seen anywhere (including Adidas stores in both New York and Berlin!). It's hard to leave Solebox with only a couple of items, then, but somehow I managed. Aside from one of the best selections of shoes you may ever see, they have plenty of awesome clothes. Unfortunately, again, BBC and Ice Cream are prevalent here, but they also carry MHI stuff as well as other good brands. Hikmet, who owns the place, is really nice and will help you with anything.

Other than that, not much in terms of fashion in West Berlin. Kreuzberg has the Overkill Shop, which is not bad, but Kreuzberg is much better for records. The famous Hardwax is there, as are plenty of other record stores.

EAST BERLIN

...is where it's at. There's SoHo in New York and London, and then there is the area northwest of Alexanderplatz in Berlin. The highlight is certainly Wood Wood, which, along with Wood Wood stuff, carries the freshest in men's and women's fashion, including MHI's more expensive brother Maharishi. I'm sort of convinced I saw Richie Hawtin there, but I wasn't sure enough to ask. Anyway, aside from Wood Wood there is Trainer, which is Solebox's sister store, as well as Apartment, which sells tons of good stuff from Supreme and the like. Scattered throughout are stores which looked really cool, but I didn't have time to go to, as well as the 3rd Adidas store I saw in Berlin and a Comme des Garcons a little north of the area. (All in Mitte, sort of boardering Prenzlauer Berg). Mitte also has plenty of great record stores, but again, I was so crunched for time that I couldn't possibly have visited many of them.

Obviously there is a lot more than that, and most reading this I will see in person and talk to about all these places, but I didn't want this to be too long, so it's very kurz. It's now very obvious to me that, in terms of clothing, there are four places you want to be: New York, London, Berlin and Tokyo. Speaking of, hopefully James can update us on Tokyo when he gets back.

DAAAAAAAMN

HAFJSHJASHDJAHSD Nike is bossy and in charge, that is all that matters.

In about two months urrbody will be heading off to school, unless they are old and decrepit, and urrbody is gonna need some new supplies to take wonderful notes and make use of their education. So Nike has decided to help out a bit and put some school supplies you can snatch up to be prepared for a full year of learnin'!

First of all, you'll be needing a notebook to put your scribblings in. Nike has you covered!

But wait! You'll be needing something to write with too or that notebook is totally useless. Why not get some crayons?


And then you can get some elmer's glue I guess. You really don't need it but uh, yeah why not (PS I don't think much of these).


So yeah! Don't forget to pick these up when you're shopping for binders and bookbags and all.

I stole all these photos from uptowns

Summer is here...

Well, it's summer, and immediately Ibiza comes to mind. There will be loads and loads of new releases, label compilations, live shows, residencies and everything in the coming months, and so I'll start by reviewing some new releases that you'll be hearing all summer.

Loads to review, so I'll just start of with Mr. Dear (who is featured on, count em, four of the five releases reviewed here).


False
Fed on Youth
Minus 55

The first single from his upcoming album "2007" under his False moniker, Dear returns a week after the release of his monster "Asa Breed" to release a proper False release. Fed on Youth returns to sirens and wails, but this time they are more subdued and much more..foreboding. There's an anxiety to the track that just builds and builds and soon sirens are all around us. Listen to this at three in the morning; it's devestating. Face the Rain again builds loads of tension but is never quite resolved, something Dear loves doing. It's not as rough as Fed on Youth, but just as good. No idea which is the A-side, as both are killers, but considering Fed on Youth is included on the next release I'm reviewing, I'd say it's the A-side. It's good to see Dear return to False, as his releases as Audion over the past couple of years have been predominantly for the dance floor, where this release, while very dancefloor-compatible, is much more of a listen-at-home affair.

Richie Hawtin / Troy Pierce
Nothing Much / Something More
Minus 53

Here's something that I don't see too often: a retrospective best of label compilation. If you've never really heard Richie Hawtin's label, this is essentially the perfect gateway. "Nothing Much" (how humorous) is an unmixed 11 track best of over the past five or so years. It has classic after classic after classic: 'Baby Kate', 'Bay of Figs', 'Seeing Through Shadows'; these are some of the finest minimal techno tracks ever released. The new 'R U OK' by Ambivalent and new False track 'Fed on Youth' as well are destined to be classics, while Hawtin's 11-track mashup 'The Tunnel' on DE9:Transitions and Gaiser's "Egress" are well established top tunes. Label boss Hawtin handpicked these tracks and did a great job representing the label: minimal techno that is aimed directly at the dancefloor. Disc 2 sees Troy Pierce (personally my favorite producer on Minus) in the mix with a 24 track mix chronicling the label. It's a solid mix, and while maybe not as eclectic as a mix ought to be, it serves its purpose: to showcase Minus.

Various
Cocoon Compilation G
COR CD/LP 013

Another summer, another cocoon compilation. Last year's "F" was really great, with killer tracks such as 'Sea of Sand' on there, but 'G' is, in my opinion, much better. We start with My My's 'Fast Freeze', which is a really great track from the boys that brought us the 'Songs for the Gentle' LP last year on Playhouse. Chaim is definately a name to watch, due to the fact that pretty much all of his productions have been stellar, and 'Genesis' is no exception. Stephan Bodzin and Tiefschwarz both give us great tracks, but soon we get to one of my favorites, 'Tämä Tuli Jarvestä' by Aki Latvamäki. His 'It Is Not Now Either' was a high point on Ellen Allien's fabric mix last month and is a staple in my sets as of late, and here he delivers another smasher. The rest of the tracks are great, by big names such as Audion and Jamie Jones, and there is really not a weak track here. The only problem here is that, like every other Cocoon Compilation, I really have no hope of getting it on vinyl (due to the fact that they limit it to 2000 copies). Oh well...

Black Strobe
I'm A Man
Playlouderrecordings 22T

Black Strobe have, well, not benefited at all from the loss of Ivan Smagghe. Monsieur Rebotini seems to have changed one of the premier electro groups into...well, a rock band. I was looking forward to their new album, but now I see why Smagghe left. However, on this single we get one of the best tracks of the year. No, not the original, which is a cover of a Bo Diddly song, but Audion's Donation Remix. Already heralded as remix of the year and song of the summer, Audion has turned the original 3-minute cock-rock into a sprawling 11 minute journey of subdued synths and rather simple kick drums. Dear takes Rebotini's vocal, slathers it with reverb, plays it forwards and backwards, and surrounds it with slowly building stabs and pads. It's interesting to note that the original carried some of the feel of Audion's original tracks; in your face with hi hats, loud kick drums, and synths that could rip you to shreds. This remix shows Dear's recent trend (Fred's Bells, anyone?) of moving his Audion alias toward the more subtle end of the spectrum. Regardless of which Audion you prefer, this remix is a triumph; even better than his remix of Hot Chip's "No Fit State" last year and his best remix yet.

Ricardo Villalobos
Primer Encuentro Latinoamericano de la Soledad
N/A

If this is ever released, it will be huge. Ricardo here takes the good parts of his experimentation as of late and leaves the not so great parts. This sounds like it should be Fizheuer length, but is only (haha) 20 minutes. It's rather simple, but somehow feels much less repetitive than Fizheuer. He uses a vocal sample (where the title comes from) and puts in crowd noises, really adding something special to this song. The rest is standard Villalobos fare, but this gets a massive tip as a possible tune of the summer. Really, you feel as if you're in the middle of DC10 with this one.

(Picture is of Ricardo at DC10, and you can see Richie Hawtin in the background)

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT

Bape just got a lot of props for like the next decade.

Marubeni Infotec

The two coolest things you can do with your computer these days is to make it Steampunk, or to make it wooden. However, while Steampunk mods look awesome and industrial, they don't always really look comfortable to use. I mean, take this mouse for example:



Yeah alright so that looks awesome and I want it badly, but the track wheel can't be fun to use at all.

Wooden stuff, however, doesn't have this problem. It just looks awesome, and fits right too. I mean, just look at this keyboard.



That is much. It's made by some japanese company called Marubeni Infotec, and they've got a bunch of other wooden stuff made as well. You can check it out at gizmodo, where I stole all this stuff from.

M.I.A. - Arular

If you haven't gotten this album yet, DO IT NOW. It's nine bucks plus shipping. That's fucking ridiculous.

Seriously, this is some primogranderolaye grime stuff.

Krudmart

BOOTIE>>Best of Bootie 2006

MASHUPS
take two good songs, put them together and BAM, GOOD MUSIC!
Well, no not exactly. There are tons of terrible mashups out there that are too jumbled and chaotic because people do exactly what I just described.
However there are tons of good ones as well, which are fantastic for party dances and club dances.

Bootie is a big mashup party that's thrown in several cities across America, Paris, and also in Second Life (not so rad). This year (as well as last year) They've released a "Best of" CD for all their favorite mashups they've heard and played this year. I've already gone through the whole thing and it is filled with some major tracks. Of course there are a few that you'll probably want to skip through (like the Beyonce v Dave Matthew's track) but the majority of the CD is filled with quality mashups. The "Oh What a Night" and Jay-Z track has to be one of my favorites from this CD.

But anyway yes. The entire CD is free up on their site, but you gotta sign up for some music site thing in order to download it. I'll post that link, but I'll also update this post again later with a rapidshare link or something so you don't have to go through the trouble of registering. Just don't say I haven't done anything for you.

Bootie

UPDATE:
SendSpace

GAH

I love the French electro scene. A lot of people love the French electro scene. I feel like a dick head when I say "French electro scene", but god dammit, its good. We all know the artists that contribute, and we all have something we like about them. The shitty thing is, when something becomes popular, someone else is going to want in on the action. It was only a matter of time until someone ripped of the electro sound, and it appears to be the very Kanye West who was whining about loosing the MTV Music Video Award to Justice last year. The footage of him performing his new track at the Hiro Ballroom in NYC says it all.



Sampling is cool, and remixing is cool too, but Goldigger was annoying, you are too, Kanye.

Levi's Disco Jeans

Fragment is fucking fantastic. First they come out with the polka-dotted AF1s, and now this; jewel studded Levis.







Yeah sure I guess the jewels wouldn't really appeal to you if you didn't like to feel pretty, but you have to admit that putting them on the zipper is pretty boss. And the lightning pocket detail is great too.

These jeans come in different colors too, but the turquoise is the newest, and I think it beats ruby.