cool people // fun stuff

Smellin the hyphy in ES

2010-07-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

This summer has been working wonders for me, culturally and physically. I've been doing a lot of traveling since day one, and for the past month I've resided in El Salvador taking classes and enjoying the night life (I'll be sure to post some photos of my better moments!). While Salvadoran culture has treated me well, I must admit that the overwhelming amount of US cultural influences here has led me to keep a closer eye on my nation of origin than usual. Take for instance the state of California: Katy Perry's "California Gurls" single dominated the radio waves here and two of the most popular TV shows here are based in CA, neither of which interests me, but they help my point. Something else that has come out of CA and seeped into ES is, unfortunately, gangs. Most (if not all) the gang related issues ES has faced since the 80s originated from the mass deportation of Salvadoran immigrants in CA back to their mother land. Today, Salvadoran gangs, i.e. Mara Salvatrucha, Calle 18, etc., control many towns and villages in rural ES. But I bring up this dark side of El Salvador for one reason in particular: Californian gangstas.

I love 'em. It's a pity that as an East Coast native I must always uphold Biggie Smalls in the Tupac-B.I.G. debate (when I really love both equally!). But one rapper, owing much of his present street cred and music acclaim to Tupac, has been reeling me into California gangsta shit like no other: E-40. He's been holding his own for 20 years and earlier this year released two complimentary albums, Revenue Retrievin': Day Shift and Revenue Retrievin': Night Shift. They're great in their entirety, staying true to the hyphy movement while also taking some liberties to satisfy Mr. 40's personal agenda (such as a "Its Gotta Get Betta" in which E-40 remarks on the passing of his grandfolks). Well, judge for yourselves. Posted below is a track from each of the Shifts. Buen Provecho!

E-40 - Undastandz Me

E-40 - Show Me What U Workin With (ft. Too Short)

good things

2010-07-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

lately i've been catching up with my boyfriends, and they've all had some pretty great things to talk about- here are some of friends of coolpeople//funstuff's

f r e s h f r o o t z

"belhaven meridian" is a music video made by SHABAZZ PALACES, butterfly's (from digable planets) side project. the video pays homage to charles burnett's film, killer of sheep released in 1977. the track itself is an interesting mesh between afrobeats and classic hip-hop "boom, bap".

next in the order of business is this interesting artist going by the name of BROTHERTIGER, who is just another white guy from ohio but he's the man with a plan in this new chillwave scene. his recently released vision tunnels EP is fantastic (dare I say joyful?), and certainly worth purchasing (though cds/eps may be sold out by now) especially considering that it costs a dollar. ONE DOLLAR. you'll want to get nice and lifted for this one, friends.

brothertiger - feel

drooling yet? more here.

vision tunnel?

this last track I found on my own, doing a little bit of digging around for any leaked upcoming hercules & love affair material. they're playing an aftershow (with full band!) for outside lands at MIGHTY in San Francisco on august 13- tickets onsale 21 july (I believe it's all ages or 18+). this early 2010 remix of finnish DJ Jori Hulkkonen's track I Am Dead has that unbelievably classic (yet crisp) sound/production of old-skool house that Andy is known for: in a few words, damn fresh. CFCF was also commissioned for a remix, but it just doesn't compare, nope.

jori hulkkonen feat. jerry valuri - I am dead (hercules and love affair remix)

over and out!

klein, aber oho! bread & butter, a few tunes

2010-07-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

hello friends,

I've gotten quite accustomed to the pace of my l a z y summer. Waking up without alarm clock, snacking on fruit all day, cooking delicious meals and traipsing around the san francisco bay area while enjoying the lush, green california bounty is nothing short of glorious. That hasn't kept me from keeping an ear to the ground, and there's a lot to be seen and heard in the summer of 2010.

In the spirit of my adventures to berlin next month, I've been doing a bit of homework to try to get a taste of what's cooking in their kettle. It's currently fashion week in Berlin so I've been checking out what sort of digs these designers from all over the world are showcasing, aber natürlich. I was particularly intrigued by the Bread&Butter Berlin pre-week summer event. Not only did I notice more than a few familiar names of ranging caliber while perusing the aptly-named "brand bible", but I was quite taken with number of international labels I'd never heard of caught my eye as well. their "sport and street" website is also quite fun, I'd certainly recommend having a look.

RüTME
this new line of women's streetwear based in Denmark just launched not even 6 months ago, but designers Rikke Larson and Nicole Rindsig have clearly declared themselves worthy enough of a invitation to one of Berlin's biggest fashion week events. The eye-catching, yet deliberate incorporation of warm and cool colors into their clothing attracts individualistic (but conscious) shoppers who strive for a progressive look.

The two ladies attribute the inspiration for their debut collection is inspired by "all the great girls in music who just wanna have fun including Lucy Love, CocoRosie, and La Roux singer Elly Jackson" which sounds very cute and all. However, these two have managed to extract the best qualities about this (now viral) "color-splash" phenomenon without detracting from the overall badass-ness and actual style of the pieces. There aren't a too many retailers stocking them right now, but I'm sure that's going to change quickly. to see more of their collection, visit their lookbook.

also partaking in the week of festivities was OVERKILL BERLIN, one of the city's premier sneaker retail locations. though the photo of their empty bb&b fleamarket booth doesn't tell us too much, their little launch party seems to have boasted some serious fun. Whatever they've got up their sleeve this coming summer and later on in the fall certainly proves enticing, and I'm most definitely a fan of their new "dolomiti" colab with the italian-made brand IUTER (pictured below).

on a more "refined" note, the elegant stylings of the father-son duo whom comprise the fashion genius behind London brand CASELY-HAYFORD are absolutely impossible to merely gloss over.

Influenced by the atmosphere of London's artsy/melting-pot Kingsland Road area, their 2010 spring/summer line emphasizes "lightweight tailoring, superlight outerwear, transparency and print. The palette is understated and subdued using Casely-Hayford’s signature colours of mushroom, navy and cream, and is punctuated with bursts of vibrant colour inspired by African textiles" to effect the sort of voluptuary ease synonymous with the lackadaisical attitude of summertime: in a word, YUM.

further interested in this new 'afropunk' thing they've got going? head on over to the Casely-Hayford webpage.

f r e s h f r o o t z

the majority of HOLY GHOST'S new tracks are fairly good at best, but there are a couple of gems on their newest release, static on the wire.

I will come back
I know I hear

released earlier this year, sébastien tellier's sexuality remixes are mostly incredible, but with collaborations from aeroplane, kavinsky, floating points, danger (and the like!) this album certainly merits a listen at the very, very least.

elle (kasper winding remix)
divine (danger remix)
kilometer (aeroplane italo '84 remix)

SHLOMO'S camping ep is perfect baking music, and I know he's got an album coming out (or maybe it has come out already) so if you enjoy the EP definitely pick that up.

tomato smash
sippy cup

so we all know that onra's long distance dropped last month, and whole damn thing is obviously fantastic. my attention to the full album has brought me to the conclusion that the three pre-album singles don't quite exhibit the depth of what this dude is really doing with his "nu old-skool": listen for yourself.

my comet
send me your love

HEALTH'S DISCO 2 is out there, ya'll. to be honest, it's really hit or miss (as usual with them) but here are a few good ones for preview.

die slow (nastique remix)
eat flesh (baron von luxxury remix)
we are water (soft encounter remix)

I think a little fruit salad action to top things off will do nicely.
kavinsky - nightcall
lindstrøm & christabelle - lovesick (four tet rmx)
james blake - cmyk
taken by trees - anna (cfcf remix)

tschüss!

Hi there!

2010-06-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

First of all, a huge "thank you" to Ari for the invitation. Second, sorry for prefacing this post with first of all: I have nothing else to say or post. But rest assured a cool person or fun thing will be posted in the near future. Ciao for now!

man oh man

2010-06-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

all right, i'll be the first to admit that we dropped the ball on our end. real life iz hard!

but with some team efforts (more on that to come!) we're finally bouncing back, and to start us off here are some of our favorites from the past 6 months or so.

f r e s h f r o o t z

ONRA

this sexy frenchman is bringing back the old school. his LP , long distance just dropped. get on that fire shit- here are some singles to hook you:

onra- long distance

onra- high hopes (ft. reggie b.)

onra- the one (ft. t3 of slum village)

anyone diggin on that should most definitely grab real life is no cool the newest collaborative work from lindstrøm and christabelle. unfortunately lovesick is now featured in an cadillac commercial, which is more than mildly heinous. also check out DÂM-FUNK, a gangsta-lookin dude that rocks out on a keytar and knows how to put on a show. caught him at sxsw, and I will attest that the studio material does not reflect the sheer awesomeness of his live performances.

dâm-funk- mirrors

dâm-funk- howugonfuckaroundandchooseabusta (new single!)

lindstrøm & christabelle - lovesick

lindstrøm & christabelle- music in my mind

FEVER RAY & THE KNIFE

so this fever ray biz ain't new, but if you haven't checked out karin andersson's most recent release, live in lulea and you liked the fever ray album, you'll really enjoy the live recordings. top tracks as follows:

fever ray- concrete walls (live in lulea)

fever ray- i'm not done (live in lulea)

now THE KNIFE's opera, Tomorrow, In a Year had been in the works for some time. the studio album finally dropped in march, and while most of it is bizarre bird noises, (I mean what else do you expect? it's the knife) there are definitely some solid tracks worth grabbing- the foremost being the primary single, colouring of pigeons

the knife, planningtorock & mt. sims- colouring of pigeons (apocalyptic opera shit)

the knife- the height of summer

HEALTH and SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO have been doing quite a bit in electronic world lately-- both bands have got a few five star singles and remixes floating around, especially with the HEALTH's upcoming album release, and SMD's recent extra temporary. peep the jointz:

HEALTH- usa boys (solid electronic track with those typical health moany noises over a legit beat)

HEALTH- in heat (javelin remix) new/old boogie instrumentals with some groovy slap bass in the mix

simian mobile disco - cruel intentions (heartbreak's slow action remix) check out the original too!

simian mobile disco - do not exceed stated dose (ominous electronic, orchestrally-dynamic epic type stuff)

if you're into that heavy techno SMD shit, then definitely check out this energetic DANGER single i've been feeling. but if you preferred the beth ditto diva vocals and grooves, then get after this 2008 remix of fragma's fist-pumping diva anthem, toca's miracle.

danger - 4h30

fragma- toca's miracle (inpetto remix) epic music video, to be posted at the very end

craving more techno/disco/house? the juan maclean dj-kicks is BOMB, and so is this recent track by sean roman. be on the lookout for new hercules & love affair tracks this summer.

sean roman- lick

in other news and sounds, i've got MORE XX REMIXES!

they BLEW UP everywhere year, as was bound to happen. while the florence remix is fairly well-known by this point (as it should be), jamie did a few other nice tracks recently, one of the best being his remix of THEMSELVES (who gets away with that ever? unbelievable i know )

the xx- space bass (jamie's remix of basic space) (dark but gorgeous)

yacht- afterlife (xx remix)

that first remix has that bump-worthy, yet foreboding dubstep vibe, and kinda speaks to the type of thing JAMES BLAKE has been doing these days. not only does he have two freshly released EP's, the bells sketch and CMYK. i'll be talking about those in the near future, but for now check out these banging remixes:

untold - stop what you're doing (james blake remix)

james blake - maybes (mount kimbie reflux)

for more straight-up dubstep, JOKER's new single more than delivers.

joker - tron

if scary noises and weird beats are up your alley, then caribou's new remix of four tet's angel echoes may also be for you. but if the r&b-esque vocals and synths in those last two grab ya, then i'd say flying lotus' new album cosmogramma will certainly agree with you.

wait, what am I saying? FLYING LOTUS IS THE SHIT. PERIOD. dude's got the hiccup-y yet relaxed vibe thing down pat, and this new release shows it beautifully.

four tet- angel echoes (caribou remix)

flying lotus - zodiac shit

FLOATING POINTS

homie is up and coming on the scene and doing big big things already. not only has he remixed legendary electronic acts like FOURTET and BONOBO, but his original work isn't half bad if you're into mellowed-out electro boogie. his new EP, peoples potential was recently released.

bonobo- eyesdown (ft. andreya triana, floating points remix)

floating points- vacuum boogie

anybody else feeling that newfangled chillwave business? if you haven't heard toro y moi, you ought to slap yourself. this kid has serious talent. here's his remix of fellow chillwave artist WASHED OUT (also listen-worthy) single, feel it all around.

toro y moi - feel it all around (washed out remix)

toro y moi - fax shadow

last but not least is this nice little remix of the widely-loved (but only since merriweather post pavilion) indie band animal collective's daily routine. its a pretty interesting take: one of the most prominent features of the original is its emphasis on the off-beat, but phaseone lays a solid rhythm down in time with the synths, which makes the track sound pretty g.

animal collective - daily routine (phaseone remix)

anyone looking for some excitement and fun in the bay area ought to know that quite a bit is going on in these next few weekends: not only is the fairfax festival going on in the sleepy/stony that the fest is named for, but the annual haight street fair is happening this sunday! GOLD PANDA and INDIAN JEWELRY will be opening for HEALTH tonight at SLIM'S. $15 a ticket, and that's a big bill yall.

I hope that longass post makes up for the months we've left you all alone. check back for some exciting surprises! and without further ado:

more to come soon, friends! if you don't believe me, just trust the bitches, cause they don't fuck around.

stay up, homies

jam city

2009-10-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

so we're going dealing with some technical issues right now, but here's a few kickass songs to get you through the brief hiatus

azari & iii- reckless with your love

raw man & blanche- united (club mix)

health- before tigers (cfcf remix)

bag raiders- shooting star (kris menace remix)

solange- would've been the one (edwin van cleef remix)

and a little bit of dubstep...

burial- fostercare

joker- digidesign

both those tracks are off the new hyperdub compilation five years of hyperdub. sweet stuff.

in other dubstep news, PEVERELIST will be releasing his upcoming album, jarvik mindstate next month. keep an eye on this guy, shit'll be nuts.

if you haven't already heard the xx' remix of you've got the love, check this out. its definitely out there at this point (rcrd lbl, pitchfork etc.,) but if you have yet to experience this kickass track, here it is. HOT SHIT.

florence + the machine- you've got the love (the xx remix)

by the way, if you didn't grab andy butler's sidetracked I HIGHLY recommend it. its a modern iteration of 90s house at its best, combined with old school disco and the general badassness of h&la.

cool people // fun stuff will be back on schedule soon. keep dancing till then

FUN STUFF- jams, jams, jams, sneaks

2009-09-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

hello friends,
so sorry about the unannounced break-- things have been a bit hectic.
soon, cool people // fun stuff will also become the online home of our radio show FRESH FROOTZ. we'll be posting recordings of the show here, so look out for that within the next few weeks.

if you have yet to experience florence + the machine, I highly reccommend that you pick up the album, lungs. florence's style quite literally epic, and fairly cinematic. she draws heavily on orchestral instruments, which creates a really interesting dynamic in terms of the emotiveness and intensity of the music.

florence + the machine- cosmic love
florence + the machine- between two lungs

apparently she pounded on the walls to contribute to the percussion on between two lungs-- pretty damn badass. but even more badass is the BOY 8-BIT remix of FOTM's drumming song, which honestly blew my mind the first time I heard it. the track is fairly ominous, and almost scary at parts, but overall fresh as hell.

florence + the machine- drumming song (boy 8-bit remix)
florence + the machine- drumming song

the continual building up/ breaking down throughout the song, in addition to the timing of the percussion is very successful and seals the deal for this tune as a dance jam. this approach seems to be the new direction in which electronic music is going. It's much more techno-based, as opposed to pop-oriented electronic music which has been most influential in the recent past, as well as the technique of building up to a moment which brings a significant change to a song.

that very same approach in boy 8-bit's remix (a constant crescendo followed by decrescendo) is present in deadmau5's remix of calvin harris' as well as the boyz noize remix of sebastian tellier's l'amour et la violence. both are fantastic.

calvin harris- i'm not alone (deadmau5 remix)
sebastien tellier- l'amour et la violence (boyz noize euro mix)

PASSION PIT has been doing some remixing work lately, again using that same new techno-ish style. their remix of yeah yeah yeahs' heads will roll has that scary element to it as well, but is a definite jam.

yeah yeah yeahs- heads will roll (passion pit remix)

despite the growing popularity of overly-colorful and borderline tacky sneakers, the soon-to be released mita x asics collab on the gel lyte is BEAUTIFUL. it manages to pull off being a multicolored shoe, mainly because of the de-emphasis of the bright colors-- they serve as accents on the entire shoe, which is mostly tan. good luck finding these at any US shoe retailer, i'm almost positive they're only being released internationally.

small hiatus

2009-09-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

sorry for the lack of posting, cool people // fun stuff is currently undergoing changes. expect word from us later on this week.

FUN STUFF- antony, black spot shoes, lolla

2009-08-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

a friend of mine showed me this AMAZING cover of beyonce's crazy in love by antony and the johnsons.

the official video was just released a few days ago-- take your pick:

despite this year's lackluster headliners, LOLLAPALOOZA really was three days of awesome. both fleet foxes and bon iver put on great shows on friday. A-TRAK, SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, AND CROOKERS all spun that night, obviously making for a crazy dance party. the MAJOR LAZER, SMD, CROOKERS, and LA RIOTS aftershow at congress theatre was nuts-- a hype dude for major lazer spent quite a while feigning sex with raunchy caribbean girls and pouring alcohol into people's mouths in the audience (including mine). fantastic sets on all parts, though.

saturday began with a set from KASKADE, who had a pair of scantily-clad dancers/cheerleaders attempting to hype up the crowd. he was followed by avey tare and geologist of ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, who were fairly awful. their set consisted of music that heavily influences their work, which wasn't bad, just inappropriate for a festival setting. not to mention the infinite number of tools pretending to enjoy it just because it was animal collective. ANDY BUTLER put on a mind-blowing DJ set after perry farrell's cracked out performance with his terrifying wife. from what i saw, LA RIOTS was pretty good, but shortly after they started i headed over to the vitaminwater stage for the animal collective show, which I also left almost immediately.

YEAH YEAH YEAHS headlined, which was fantastic-- karen o was sporting a pretty fantastic outfit-- or outfits, i should say, and put on quite a show.

sunday was a busy day. we began by catching a bit of a glitch mob, which was shitty, and only for the purpose of seeing BOYS NOIZE, who pretty much started a riot at perry's. this was followed by SNOOP DOGG, and a bit of MSTRKRFT, and a deadmau5 headlining show.

BLACKSPOT shoes are the the new, anti-brand/corporation sneaker. they're 100% hemp and vegetarian--I definitely like the concept, but the design isn't quite enough to make me want to run out and buy these. even though its more about the idea as opposed to the design, they could definitely do a little more with it. if they're your style, you can check them out at the adbusters website.

FUN STUFF- music music music

2009-08-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

so the summer is coming to an end-- for me, at least. but that doesn't seem to be putting a stop to the amount of awesomeness that began two months ago! I spent last week on a number of san diego beaches consuming unhealthy amounts of liquor, (among other things) and grooving to the following tunes:

calvin harris- i'm not alone (extended mix)
synkro- closer
tilly and the wall- bad education (no context remix)

the first track is a jam, hands down. calvin harris has really been doing it for me lately. he does a really cool harmonizing/round type thing with the synths in this one. second is kind of a quiet, darker song from dubstep artist synkro-- it samples closer by r&b artist ne-yo. kind of a unique spin on a fairly popular track. last is a tilly and the wall remix-- those girls are so cute. i was pleasantly surprised by this one.

so lately i've been pretty disappointed by amanda blank's work-- it just doesn't live up to those old standards. when heard that rusko was remixing might like you better, i got my hopes up, but yet again, a little too high. the track is solid, but it's no bionic commando.

amanda blank- might like you better (rusko remix)

my prediction for lolla aftershows:

COOL PEOPLE- KATIE SKETCH & NALEPA

2009-07-24T01:23:00.000-07:00

everyone knows that KATIE SKETCH, former frontwoman of (now defunct) toronto-based band THE ORGAN is amazing. and seriously skilled at a number of things-- in addition to her success as a musician and model for MARC JACOBS, the canadian renaissance woman has taken up a new venture-- opening a bar with ex-bandmate, jenny smith. and god dammit, she's good at it. sadly enough, i think that at this point it's evident that sketch's supposed side project for the past oh i dunno two plus years is on hiatus indefinitely. especially after that AMAZING glimpse we were given in 2007 from one of their few (only?) performance(s).

all i have to say is DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!

if you're feeling as depressed and nostalgic as i am, maybe a few of my favorite organ songs will cheer you up or something. if that doesn't work, you can always eat chocolate.

the organ- love, love, love

the organ- sinking hearts

the organ- brother

STEVE NALEPA is so-cal based electronic musician who's been working with solid artists in the world of electronic music for some time now. he'll most definitely be making a name for himself in the near future. and his recently released EP sunflowers is going to help guarantee that. unfortunately for nalepa, the remixes on the EP put the original track to shame in a big way. i've been cranking these remixes nonstop lately, and one of the things i love best about them is how incredibly different each one is. and by different i mean it's pretty much impossible to deduce that they stem from the same song. I was so pleasantly surprised by that i didn't even mind the one remix that was kinda bullshit. if you're into it, i recommend listening to these tracks in a lifted state.

nalepa- sunflowers
nalepa- sunflowers (salva remix)
nalepa- sunflowers (virtual boy remix)

so i just can't seem to stop raving about machine drum. I caught this track he worked on with glitch/dubstep DJ cacheflowe, who has also worked with some serious electronic giants. this is from his 2008 release cache, stacks, and queues.

cacheflowe- flowebot ft. brer rabbit (machinedrum waterfall dub)

august is approaching, and with it comes some serious excitement for me. I'll be traveling all over the east coast, and hopefully catching some cool happenings which will all be documented narratively and photographically. i've also got some exciting announcements to make as we gear up for the fall.

COOL PEOPLE- BURIAL, FOUR TET, KID SISTER, DUCK SAUCE, CALVIN HARRIS

2009-07-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

I really love burial. I also really love four tet. so you can imagine how excited i was when BURIAL and FOUR TET released their wolf cub/moth 12"-- basically i pooped in my pants while the tears of joy streamed down my face. after listening to it, i was definitely not let down by either parties. you'll find yourself noticing who did what in each track, which really sets wolf cub/moth apart from any other 12" collab. then again, what do you expect from fucking burial and four tet? not only do they fit totally unique sounds together in unthinkable ways, but the two artists manage to work around the other's style so that both are heard and recognized. the end result is a single mind-blowing track. or tracks in this case, cause there's two.

you'll be hard pressed to find this on sale through text or any other retailer for that matter. if you're lookin to buy, i'd suggest ebay. no previews for this one, but a little present if you click on the image of the album artwork. happy hunting, vinyl-heads.

KID SISTER's got a new track that i'm definitely digging on. it's called right hand hi, and its gonna be on her upcoming album ULTRAVIOLET-- i don't know whether or not she worked on this with a new producer or something on, but it definitely breaks new ground for her. in other words, i'm so down.

kid sister- right hand hi

CALVIN HARRIS' recently- released single ready for the weekend from his upcoming album with the same title definitely got me amped for the shenanigans that were afoot these past two days. the original is good, and the remixes are GRRRRRREAT! the vocals on ready for the weekend are reminiscent of 90s house music-- resonating sort of black woman power ballad, chaka khan-esque, crystal waters type stuff. you can't not love it.

calvin harris- ready for the weekend (original mix)
calvin harris- ready for the weekend (fake blood remix)
calvin harris- ready for the weekend (spoon broken remix)
calvin harris- ready for the weekend (high contrast remix)

A-TRAK & ARMAND VAN HELDEN have banded to form an exciting new duo called DUCK SAUCE. they're getting a ton of hype right now, and with good reason. i foresee much more from these two in the near future, so keep your eye on them. that first track has similar vocals to that harris tune. you're nasty is fairly hilarious. both are a little overwhelming, but this could honestly go anywhere from here.

duck sauce- anyway
duck sauce- you're nasty

COOL PEOPLE-- major lazer, jessica 6, dash snow

2009-07-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

if you haven't already seen the music video for stillness is the move off of the new dirty projectors album bitte orca, then check it out now:

in a word, awesome.

diplo and switch's joint project, commonly known as MAJOR LAZER released a self-titled debut around this time last month, and it's pretty great. they've got quite a number of badass artists collaborating on various tracks such as the up and coming swedish-born female mc MAPEI (who's EP cocoa butter diaries is nothing to glance over), AMANDA BLANK, (ps i love you dropped yesterday!) SANTIGOLD, as well as a slew of caribbean-influenced vocalists that they have worked with in the past, which gives the album a crazy jungle vibe. here are some of my favorite tunes from the album; enjoy.

major lazer- hold the line (feat. mr. lexxx & santigold)

major lazer- bruk out (feat. T.O.K. & ms. thing)

major lazer- pod de floor' (feat. vybz kartel)

HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR has a shit ton of aberrations going on currently. vocalist nomi ruiz has a little something going on called JESSICA 6, a project that in development since 2008. bassist andrew raposo and keyboardist morgan wiley make up the other two-thirds of the trio. their first single fun girl, is super hot and somewhat ominous. the other track on the recently-released fun girl 7" entitled not anymore is a late 60's/early 70's-esque love ballad. on the whole, their sound is fairly dark, but the difference between the two tracks speaks to the range of style that jessica 6 commands.

jessica 6- fun girl

jessica 6- fun girl (keinemusik remix)

on july 16th, ANDY BUTLER will release a compilation for renaissance called sidetracked-- it is the first of what will become a series. "sidetracked has been developed to show the other side of bands from the electronic genre who can, and do DJ" according to renaissance spokesman geoff oakes. this potentially marks the start of something good-- considering they've begun the series with andy butler, it can only get better. the album itself is a double album-- the first cd with the tracks mixed by andy butler, and the second unmixed. for more info, check out the official renaissance website.

dash snow's 2007 "hamster's nest" installation

so is it just me, or does it seem like everyone is dying these days? the oxy-clean guy, farah fawcett, and of course, MJ. well to top all of this off, one new york's downtown scene prodigies, dash snow, passed away on monday due to a drug overdose. known for the founding of graffiti crew Irak at 15, his sperm-centric artwork, and for being one of the youngest artists to have a showcase at the whitney (along with photographer & compatriot ryan mcginley), snow most definitely created a splash in the world of contemporary art and urban culture. he battled with a heroin addiction for a time, but was reported to have overcome it a few months ago. rest in peas, homes.

street artists OS GEMÊOS (portugese for "the twins") have dedicated their recently-completed new york mural to snow:

great stuff. i'm headed to a la roux show on wednesday--expect photos!

COOL PEOPLE // FUN STUFF- GROTESK, more summer jamz

2009-07-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

hey everyone, i know it's been a while but hopefully after hearing all these sweet new choonz the wait will be worth it.

we've got some ass-kickery from MACHINEDRUM aka travis stewart, who released his sophomore album want to 1 2? in mid-may. i finally got around to listening to it late last month, and it is by no means a slump. however, it is quite the departure from his instrumentally focused, dreamy, and somewhat abstract debut now you know. it almost seems as if his approach to this album was entirely different-- stewart incorporates a number of vocalists on the majority of the tracks, which assists him in segueing into a more accessible style of music-- kind of like what daedelus tried (and clearly failed) to do with love to make music to. the tracks that are solely instrumental on want to 1 2? reminded me somewhat of the style of aphex twin's richard james. i'd say this is definitely an album worth picking up. my top three favorite tracks are as follows:

machinedrum- brighty (feat. denim & natalie weiss)
machinedrum- freshkidz (feat. mickey factz)

machinedrum- thisgo ball (feat. marissa champoonote)

if you haven't grabbed the latest album from peaches, YOU'RE A FOOL. well, kind of. not all of the tracks on the new album i feel cream are to die for, but the ones that are-- absolutely fantastic. this album definitely raised the bar for peaches, especially in terms of musical maturity. i mean how many combinations of profanity can you string together before it gets old? which it did, and pretty quickly at that. i feel cream diverges from that over-sexed, swear-heavy attitude that is characteristic of peaches' past work, and it's definitely beneficial-- its no wonder, considering james ford (of simian mobile disco) helped produce it. the track that the album is titled for, i feel cream is going to quickly become fan favorite, and i'd say a summer anthem for sure. its absolutely infectious. top tracks as follows:

peaches- lose you
peaches- i feel cream
peaches- mud
peaches- relax

THUNDERHEIST released their debut a while back as well. i have to say, i wasn't very impressed at all. the string of EP's released prior to their self-titled album were much more enjoyable. fortunately for them, they're somewhat redeemed by a track called LBG or little booty girl on the album. the beat is a combination of 90's-esque booty bass and snare taps characteristic of late 70s hip hop. that in addition to the catchy synths and chorus makes it a cool little tune. thunderheist mc isis salam tends to be inconsistent on the tracks, and her rhymes aren't that great which can definitely make or break a song.

thunderheist- lbg

i've recently begun to notice the growth in popularity of swiss-born street artist/graphic designer GROTESK, aka kimou meyer-- his talents absolutely cannot be doubted. though he is the senior art director at zoo york, he doesn't do very much design or artistry for the brand. if you've seen the cover of the cool kids album the bake sale, then you're already familiar with his work. he tends to incorporate icons of hip-hop culture and urban life into his art. meyer is also quite a talented photographer: his focus is mainly urban culture, street art, and the like-- see the flickr link below for his work. he currently lives in brooklyn with his wife and two children. here are some samples of his art:

to find out more about him, check out his blog, flickr, or upcoming website.

that's it for now.

a quick update

2009-07-07T10:55:00.001-07:00

hey everyone,

I just wanted to let you guys know that for the past month or so i've been dealing with computer issues and that's why I haven't been posting. but at some point this week I'll be back, and i've got a ton of things to talk about. get excited!

love, ari

FUN STUFF- 35mm photography, joshua allen harris, death of autotune & treasure fingers

2009-06-14T00:33:00.001-07:00

" i know we facin' a recession but the music yall makin gon' make it a great depression"

JAY-Z's new track death of autotune pretty much shits on every mainstream rap artist, which therefore makes it pretty awesome! ironically enough kanye produced it, and pretty much every single track on the latest kanye uses autotune. a hidden message from jay to kanye maybe?

jay-z-death of autotune

new york magazine featured this artist about a year ago-- his name is joshua allen harris, and i think what he's done here is pretty cool, and very unique in terms of street art. nothing new, but worth checking out if you haven't already seen it. that there was a youtube video of more recent work a few months ago- something called silverwall which looked pretty interesting, but it was removed. keep looking out for his work, cause he's obviously capable of some pretty off the wall stuff.

this weekend i had the opportunity to shoot a couple of rolls of film with my ftb at the fairfax festival--pictures to come soon. it was a fantastic time, and the weather was great. i consider myself a big proponent of summer, so if you haven't spent much time outside lately, get out there and enjoy it before winter is upon us. in the spirit of summer and general awesomeness, here are a few photographs of summer according to one of favorite photographers: dutch-born RINEKE DIJKSTRA. the crispness of such neutral colors, the lighting, and the subjects themselves make these three pieces look like modern renderings of vintage photographs. the first two seem characteristic of what life might be like in a present-day great depression or something. that last one is just gorgeous, plain and simple.

in other news, a track from the COOL KIDS called popcorn has surfaced. the beginning of the track makes use of the same sample used by gregg gillis aka GIRL TALK on hold up off of night ripper. to be honest, they did it better than he did. lyrically, i wouldn't say this is the greatest, but they definitely put an interesting spin on this track with that beat. on the whole, it seems that their work has been steadily declining since the totally flossed out EP, but this i don't mind at all.

cool kids- popcorn

COOL PEOPLE- amanda blank, rusko

2009-06-12T02:50:00.000-07:00

anyone remember that classic 80s arcade game bionic commando? this slap is inspired by the theme music.

rusko-bionic commando
rusko has done it yet again-- this shit is ill as fuck. talk about a fresh summer jam! for more of rusko and his filthy beatz, check out the essential fabriclive 37 or his xlr8r interview with caspa. so there's nice little tune for you to knock in your car. now, on to new things!

i've been obsessed with amanda blank ever since i first noticed her on the baltimore club scene, working on a number of tracks with spank rock, including bump off of YoYoYoYoYo before releasing her own tracks with alexxxchange on the get it now EP. I must say, I like it dirty! she's got that 90s trashtastic thing going for her, and she can most definitely spit with the best of them.

personally i prefer her work when she is featured on other artists' tracks, but here's the best of both worlds.

amanda blank- get it now (JAPATTACK Fierce Remix)
amanda blank- dj-play that shit
amanda blank, pink skull, ghostface killah & plastic little- crambodia (plastic little pink skull remix)

adios amigos!

FUN STUFF- SPIN, new music

2009-06-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

so SPIN's got these new-fangled digital editions of their magazine, featuring grizzly bear, pains of being pure at heart, dead weather, and hot leg.

spin's digital edition
i'm not generally a fan of the whole "digital magazine" thing but this isn't bad at all. to the developers at spin, i commend you.

pains of being pure at heart played at the Iron Horse in Northampton a couple months ago with Ponytail, and they were fantastic live. it wasn't much of a high-energy performance, but you can't knock quality music. a few photos:

and now some news!

COCOROSIE released an EP last week. it's called plenty of junk food. there are five new tracks on it and they are only selling it on tour, so if you get a chance to see them, pick that up!

other albums coming out this month: SUNSET RUBDOWN's dragonslayer, (june 23rd), DINOSAUR JR.'s farm (june 23) and NOUVELLE VAGUE's 3 (june 29).

CLARK will be releasing a new album entitled totem's flare on july 13th. all of these albums have leaked, but i figure i'll wait until they're properly released to give my take.

G/L/A/S/S/C/A/N/D/Y just dropped this new track called beatific-- beat is decent, but as expected, the vocals are not so good. if you're into them, give it a listen:

on the other hand, here are some tunes i've been groovin' to:

desire's if i can't hold you (part 2)
i'm so down with this tune. it's got that 80s r&b vibe going, with a little electro twist. the vocals aren't the greatest--they could be a little more funky, but overall they remain catchy. i'd love to see a remix of this.

I Don't Feel Like Dancin' (Erol Alkan's Carnival of Light Rework)

an oldie, but goodie. sparse vocals, but i'm a sucker for beats.

finally, my pre-summer dubstep summer anthem. i wore this out all last month:

I Remember (Caspa Remix)- Deadmau5

gotta love that fucking wobble.

FUN STUFF- summertime

2009-06-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

winogrand's Los Angeles, 1969. wheelchair man.

so i don't know about you, but summertime to me means nonstop dance parties. ergo remixes! and there are tons of good ones coming out these days. the ALLEZ ALLEZ remix of triangle walks off of the recently-released fever ray album is some raw shit.

exhibit a:

for those of you in the san francisco bay area, MIIKE SNOW is playing a show on thursday, june 18th. there are no advance tickets being sold, but i think it's 12 bucks. i'll be dancing my ass off, for sure. if you don't know them, definitely check them out-- everyone is on their jock right now, there are tons of different remixes of their single animal floating around on the internet. if you want to hear more of their shit hit up their myspace.

did anyone get out to the live 105 BFD thing at the shoreline? the lineup wasn't too hot, but i'm definitely not happy about missing yeah yeah yeahs and designer drugs.

patrick wolf and jaguar love are playing tonight at slim's, and handsome furs are at the Great American Music Hall with the cinnamon band. Camera Obscura is also playing tonight at Fillmore. lots of fun to be had! (but not by me cause i'm broke)

FUN STUFF- TIMEX 80 & Fat Freddy's Drop

2009-06-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

summertime! it's been awhile, but i'm fired up and ready to go. i'll be all over the place this summer-- la, miami, chicago, baltimore, etcetera and i'm going to be accounting for all the craziness, so get excited!

timex just came back with their classic timex 80, in new colorways. definitely planning to grab one of these cause they're gonna go fast. here's a look at two of my favorites:

daaaAAAAAAAMN!

on another note, FAT FREDDY'S DROP released a new album called "Dr. Boondigga and the Big BW." it's got some pretty funky tunes on it, but overall i'd say that Based on A True Story still reigns supreme. however, dr. boondigga is absolutely worth checking out-- it seems like FFD tried to use this album to branch out in terms of musical style and approach. As opposed to their first album, which makes use of dub/reggae rhythms for almost every song, this new album ventures more into r&b/soul oriented rhythms and melodies. I wouldn't say that it exactly works, but the group still manages to retain that upbeat, groovin-type vibe they started out with. "pull the catch" is without question the hippest track on dr. boondigga and the big bw, however I prefer the single version over the album version. "the raft" is also pretty damn catchy. for more info check out their website-- the artwork is fantastic on the new album, as always with FFD.

pull the catch

i'm really hoping that they do some touring in the US this summer/fall. showdates will likely be posted soon.

COOL PEOPLE- KAZUO OHNO

2009-01-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

kazuo ohno is without a doubt one of the coolest guys ever. he's renown for his dancing skillz-- he is a master of butoh, which is a form of japanese dance that essentially aims to depict grotesque scenes and other ridiculous shit. it's amazing and off-putting at the same time. which is cool, but this is the good part: HE'S 102 YEARS OLD.

here's a ghetto youtube video of him performing-- if you're high, don't watch this it'll freak you out.

antony and the johnsons' newly-released album, a crying light, is dedicated to ohno. he is featured on the album cover.

if you want to find out more about kazuo ohno, you can find more here .

COOL PEOPLE- GHOSTS ON TAPE

2009-01-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

ghosts on tape is a DJ out of san francisco

he does what he calls "an american version of uk grime"

but its really a bunch of off the wall genres brought together in a really interesting way AND IN NO MANNER AT ALL MASHUP-Y. some consider it dancehall, but it didn't really come off that way to me. awesome stuff, regardless. the best part is that he started out using really outdated recording methods, which made his overall sound pretty unique.

ghosts on tape was just in the mix on mary anne hobbs' radio show, so if you're into dubstep and grime, homeboy is up and coming on the scene.

you can check him out at www.myspace.com/ghostsontapesf

c u next tuesday!

number one

2009-01-01T12:33:00.000-08:00

all right kidz

if you want to read about KEWL PPL and FUNNNN STUFF

then you're in the right place.

so since it is the first of january and whatnot i suppose i'll begin with something that falls under the umbrella of fun stuff:

four words: LIGHT-ACTIVATED DRUM MACHINE

it's called a drum buddy!

i stumbled across this magical creation online a couple years ago, and ever since then i've desperately wanted to try it out.

created by quintron of quintron and miss pussycat,this badass (and colorful) machine can turn an ordinary hipster fuck in to a masta beat dropper!

it was originally released in 1999 but they've created newer versions of it since-- there was a 2000 edition and an 07 edition.

only 10 were released in 2008 (SO INDIE)

to see how it works, check out the demo video

you can also check out the sound demos posted on the drumbuddy site

its expensive as shit, but it'd probably be worth it. i know they're not selling any right now, but they'll probably release a few this year.

if you manage to get your hands one one of these, hit me up and tell me how great (or not great) it is