New York had been a long time coming. In a sense it was just the next step, yet in another sense it was simply destiny. We didn’t know what we had yet, but we knew where we were going; glimpses of what it all meant revealing itself with time. The 2012 providing the most peculiar and extraordinary experiences. To say it was all coming together was an understatement, because in reality it had all already happened.
But as efficient and beautiful as digital photographs are, there’s an unmatched spontaneity that comes from a film camera. Although a disposable cam leaves a little to be desired in terms of aesthetic pleasantries, it’s hard to deny the moments they capture. Yours truly had a few on hand this Saturday, and this is what I saw…
Saturday was special. Number 13 just felt right all around. I remember asking Will after our first party if he could imagine what number 7, number 8 and number 9 would feel like; my hopeful prediction being that the parties would only get better. And in a lot of ways they have. I sort of feel redundant in thanking you for coming, but in reality these parties start and end with you. Otherwise, it’d probably just be Will and I sitting around hella drunk in an empty bar listening to some slaps. The vibe is what makes the parties so good, and the vibe starts and ends with good people, so thank you. Much love to Pops and Neijah for holding down the photos on the digital end and to As-Is for blessing us with one of his dopest sets thus far. And again to the friends and the friends of friends, thanks for making these nights so special.
Their title, not mine. And generally, I’m not big on the sensationalizing, fear-mongering thing in regards to substances. But in the case of scopolamine, it seems like at least some of the hype is warranted. The World’s Scariest Drug, the latest in Vice‘s ever-expanding catalog of video journalism pieces, finds reporter Ryan Duffy taking a journey to Columbia to explore the phenomenon that is scopolamine live and in the flesh.
So what exactly is it that makes the drug so dangerous? From what I’ve gleaned, the drug basically eliminates your capacity for quality decision making, and for all intents and purposes, your free will. Maybe even more problematic is the claim that even while you’re on it, you remain coherent and articulate throughout the trip. I’ll let Vice take it from here, but this looks like one for the stranger than fiction category. Definitely worth the watch.
Recently I had the chance to converse about the life journey of Elisha Gobi, an Israeli citizen who came to the U.S. in 2007 after spending three years in the Israeli army. With an upbringing so different from mine and other kids in America, I was fascinated by the trials and tribulations of Elisha’s journey from Israel to the States. Offering a unique view into his life and upbringing, we share Elisha’s story to provide a little perspective from a man who’s no stranger to adventure.
Don’t get me wrong. Chromatics already had one of the year’s highlight albums with Kill For Love– a towering, dramatic collection of synth-soaked anthems, most of which might sound just as comfortable in a stadium as they would on your car stereo driving home at 3 AM. With that said, sometimes less is more. This week saw Chromatics drop a drumless version of their album, completely identical apart from the lack of percussion, and the result is something pretty stunning. Isolating those soft vocals, heavy waves of synth, and wistful guitar peels makes Johnny Jewel’s fuzzy, evocative Los Angeles nostalgia (think Drive) feel that much more powerful. If you haven’t checked out the OG, do that. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that some of the drumless tracks sound like they were meant to be heard that way. Pretty gorgeous stuff.
Download: Chromatics – “Kill For Love” (Drumless)
“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, ‘Dear Jim: I loved your card.’ Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, ‘Jim loved your card so much he ate it.’ That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”
Yesterday, my homie told me he fucked a pornstar for the first time the night before. He told me she hollered at him at the bar, left him a sexy note; he hollered, she slid through and the rest is history. It was a pretty cool story, and a series of events that I wouldn’t say happens all the time (unless it does). Regardless, the real lives of adult performers remains a topic that’s piqued my interest since my early days of sneaking Striptease VHS’s from the movie store.
Apparently I’m not the only who’s been interested in the subject. In an ongoing project from Chicago-based photographer Saverio Truglia, the artist has assembled a series of photographs portraying the lives of adult entertainers in the comfort of their own homes. Revealing in their reflection of the performers’ lifestyle, Truglia’s work reminds us of just how similar, and just how different our lives really are.
With all the commitments and obligations we have nowadays, it’s hard to find the time to sit through a full game of basketball. Shit’s damn near two hours, and that’s not even including commercials. But if you’re like me, those precious minutes right before I knock out are spent on nba.com, checking out the Top Plays of the Day.
And for this year, and much of last year, Blake Griffin has remained that perennial superstar that sits atop the countdown. Easily the most athletic player in the game since Bron Bron entered the L, Blake’s highlights remind me of Vince in 2000 or ‘Nique in 88. In a sense, Blake is one of my favorite artists, simply based off my excitement for what he’ll do next. So for this Tuesday afternoon, what could be better than the Top 10 Plays from Blake this season? Probably just a Top 20.
Sometimes you just gotta strike while the iron’s hot. Next Saturday we’re coming to San Francisco, the Haight to be specific, to throw number thirteen. For the folks that came to The Homecoming, you can expect more of the same. DJ As Is on the boards, Mom & Pop in attendance, and a room full of superstars.
This past Thursday marked the 25th anniversary of J-Hyphen’s birth, and the 12th installment of our Wine & Bowtie celebrations. Many thanks to everyone that came out to celebrate. Your presence at the function is so appreciated. For those in attendance, we also got to witness the DJ debut of dJ Hemisphere and Louis XIII, both equally appreciated for their selection of slaps throughout the night. We’re coming with the back to back this weekend, so for those up in the Bay, get ready. And to anyone who’s read these words and been a part of this journey, thank you for reading Wine & Bowties.
There’s something profound about singing and dancing alone to something in your room. Personally, it happens pretty often, with a pretty unpredictable soundtrack, although a Prince is a pretty consistent go-to. As is the case with most things though, it turns out watching pretty girls do it is a lot more enjoyable, and I’m glad Dev Hynes and director Haley Wollens picked up on that. The visuals for “Champagne Coast”, one of a handful of extremely groovy pop cuts from the appropriately titled Coastal Grooves, finds Hynes and Wollens depicting that particular scene with an expert visual eye, and an unusual set of techniques.
The video features several girls, each getting down to Blood Orange in their own environment, with each room constructed entirely out of two-dimensional images in Photoshop. Each girl’s dancing is constricted to a few stop-motion poses, the kind of dancing you might expect to see if you won a game of Street Fighter on NES or Super Nintendo back in the day. Of course, like each of the ways in which Dev’s represented the Blood Orange project visually, it’s all carefully calculated with a certain reverence for retro inspirations– pop art, vintage interiors, bygone, kitschy fashion. Like the music, it’s a collage of ideas pieced together from different eras, a formula that makes it feel impossible to place. Maybe the word is timeless.
1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.
It’s a fascination with nature and its processes, and with those vast pockets of the planet virtually untouched by humans that seems to inform Bernhard Edmaier‘s stunning aerial photography. Most centrally, Edmaier describes his work as “abstraction” from nature, and the description only seems accurate, with Edmaier’s lens capturing textures and patterns in nature that only become apparent when seen from a distance. Not only is Edmaier’s selection of subjects extraordinary, but his eye for framing awe-inspiring shots is hard to overstate.
Earth on Fire, one among many of his impressive collections, finds the German photographer examining one of nature’s most impactful, sublime phenomena, travelling the globe in search of volcanoes and their varied effects on the world around them over time. From massive lakes and craters to active eruptions, the selections below represent just a brief sample of the images from Earth on Fire, published by Phaidon in 2009. Cop here, or from your local bookstore.
I can’t help but feel sometimes that there’s something uncomfortably comfortable about the music most folks our age listen to. That even as people purport to be expanding their horizons, it usually leads them back to music that’s not too far out of their comfort zone. I suppose it’s understandable. Whatever my gripes about that might be though, it’s not as if there isn’t plenty of room to do weird, off-the-wall shit in the modern music climate. In a lot of ways, the internet age is making the shit that used to be marginal much more viable. Bringing something distinctive or abrasive to the table can put you on a lot of folks’ radars in a short period of time.
Case in point, Sacramento-based whatever-the-fuck you want to call it auteurs Death Grips, the three-man wrecking crew responsible for last year’s bracing Exmilitary, a handful of punky, tripped out videos intentionally lacking in big budget polish, and most recently, the dizzying, explosive mass of frantic energy that is The Money Store. What’s exciting about Death Grips has plenty to with them being loud, angular and hard to process. But beyond that edge, what makes them stand out is the feeling that their particular brand of strangeness actually looks like something that could gain traction on a pretty wide scale.
Download: Death Grips – “Hacker”
