I was not in on the ground floor with Odd Future, just like I was late to Bloc Party (2003), missed The Crying Game (1993), and was the last one in my 2nd grade class to hear about the opening of Disneyland Tokyo (1983). Given my somewhat systematic addiction for being on the bleeding edge of “what’s now,” being put in this position usually emits a reaction I call “passive hateration.” Not to be confused with proper hating—which is an active dismissal of whatever person, place or thing that happen to be on-trend—passive hateration is more of a laissez faire approach. I don’t actively hate. I just revel in the not-knowingness of it all, letting the wave of enthusiasm pass by like a surfer training his watchful eye on the Next Big Thing. I don’t surf, either.
Category Archives: Gallery
Featured Gallery Music Into the Lab, The dublab
dublab is the NPR of DJ’s. This non-profit Los Angeles based internet radio collective has transcended your typical playlist of listening pleasure by fostering 12 years of growth in positive music, culture and modern art channeled through a roster of talented and eclectic music maestros.
Those skills shined brightly at their recent anniversary party up at the Atwater Crossing & Innovation Complex. It was a fair-ish event with food trucks, the requisite photo booth live-screen painting by local shirt shop Hit+Run, and a bike valet. Local dublab DJ’s spun to the outdoor crowd while names like Take aka Sweatson Klank, Julia Holter, Gaslamp Killer, & Daedelus kept the hipster crowd’s moccasin covered toes a tapping.. A mini-film fest and a #hellofanidea popcorn booth tied for second on the billing. Kutmah was to be beamed in live from the NTS Radio Studio in London but somebody forgot to set their alarm.
Gallery Music Sexpop Dance Party Reptar Style
Hailing from the Dirty South, aka Hotlanta, Reptar’s Ryan Engelberger, William Kennedy, Andrew McFarland, and Graham Ulicny share one unanimous goal: To create dance inducing music. “We always have epic dance parties at our shows. It’s what we do,” says lead vocalist/guitarist Ulicny. Since coming onto the music scene in 2008, Reptar has caught the attention of music fans 1) For sharing the same name as the giant green dinosaur on the popular 90’s Nickelodeon show Rugrats and 2) Their playful electro-pop sound which fuses together indie rock, punk, soul, and afrobeat influences.
Ulicny and the boys came through LA to open two sold out shows with Foster The People and Cults at The Wiltern Theatre this past week. Prior to their set, Ulicny gave us the rundown on the band’s unique sound. We also discussed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, his mother making his Halloween costume, and the celebration that occurred when the band’s touring van hit 300,000 miles.
Gallery Music Rainbow Arabia and the Lebanese Synthesizer
Danny Preston (keyboardist of Future Pigeon and Whiskey Biscuit) and his wife Tiffany had no intention of starting a band in their early days of sampling beats and experimenting with electronic music together. It wasn’t until a friend requested a basement performance from the married duo that they realized they had something special that warranted being performed outside of the confines of their home.
In an exclusive interview with ChinaShop the Prestons discuss how they unintentionally stumbled upon their electronic project, Rainbow Arabia. They attempted to estimate how long they have been married, and explained that it was their dogs that brought them together.
Fashion Featured Gallery Anthony Franco’s Timeless Creations
Swarms of fashion lovers headed to Sunset Gower Studios this month to catch a peak at the highly anticipated 2012 Spring Collection by Anthony Franco. The trend following world knows Franco as a celebrity designer who creates high-end clothing for both men and women. Whether it’s for Red Carpet appearances or commercials, the label designs with the idea that “all clothing is timeless and has its place.” Anthony Franco Designs have been recently seen on the likes of Kourtney Kardashian, Kate Botsworth, as well as members of Panic! at The Disco and OutKast. Franco collections were also just spotted in True Blood, Pretty Little Liars, a Colgate commercial, and at a recent InStyle Party.
Featured Gallery Music Why Is This Man Smiling? The Smashing Pumpkins Go Big
For the past two years, Billy Corgan has been dribbling out songs online—some as individual tracks, some grouped together in small EPs—as part of a massive, 44-song magnum opus called Teargarden By Kaleidyscope. Loosely based around Corgan’s interpretation of The Fool’s Journey in the Tarot, he described the project as a return to the Smashing Pumpkins’ psychedelic roots. If you’ve spent seven minutes rocking out to his epic 2008 jam “Superchrist,” you know that an unfettered and experimental Billy is exactly the kind of Billy you want pumping out records on a regular basis.
Fashion Featured Gallery The Heart and Sole of Spring Fashion: COEUR
Spring is coming, faster than you think. And earlier this month ChinaShop got an insight into what lies on the spring fashion horizon. As we stepped inside Coer, we were instantly surrounded by all sorts of trendy goodies including women’s fashion accessories, gifts, handbags, shoes, and more.
According to the show’s co-founder, Henri Myers, who helped to hand pick the brands in the showroom, COEUR is about evoking freshness in the LA market. “Pretty much all the designers here are brands that we find needed a bit of some type of visibility in LA here specifically. A lot of brands included in the show are from New York or elsewhere. They didn’t have showrooms or showroom reps or agents and we’re really providing a space that they can all be under one roof.” Myers explains that the name of the show, COEUR, means “heart” in French. “It’s about all the things that we love and introducing the things that we love to everyone else.”
Characters Gallery Hungry? Halloween Never Tasted so Good (HARD Characters Gallery)
Boo! Did I get you? Well, either way, we all know that “it,” Halloween, only happens once a year and I think we can all agree that it brings out the kid in us. There is something great about dressing up and slamming sugar that never gets old, no matter what your age… plus we only get so many chances to let the weird out nowadays…
While exploring this past weekend’s HARD Haunted Mansion festival, ChinaShop managed to capture some weirdness as well as some of the kids in costume to share with you hoping it will keep your sugar buzz rolling a few more minutes. Enjoy, tallyho and happy Halloween.
Gallery Music HARD Haunted Mansion – The Biggest Halloween Party Not on Halloween (Part 2)
Day Two of the HARD Haunted Mansion continued with the tradition of showcasing several breakthrough acts which are not as frequent in America. Goose, performing in America for only the second time, got the Main stage warmed up as people began trickling in from an exhausting day prior. The Harder Stage included a ménage à trios of sorts as Jackmaster, who rarely makes his way to America, played a set heavy on funky and UK-garage tunes which seem to be more popular in Europe than here, judging by the disappointing turnout. The Magician, formerly of Aeroplane, played one of the most surprising sets of the weekend. There’s something about disco that seems to make even the most shy of dancers, attempt to recreate the choreography they saw in LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” video. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, or T.E.E.D., seemed a surprising act to book, but quickly rounded out the threesome of stellar performances on the Harder stage with his live instrumentation and vocals.
Event Featured Gallery Love Manor’s Haunted Bayou
When you throw a Halloween party, you are limited by the space you are working in. You can plaster your home in fake spider webs, hang bats from the ceiling, and carve as many scary pumpkins as you want, but unless you have a really cool location, it’s hard to make the party memorable. Fortunately for Southern California Halloween adventure seekers, Mr. Johnny Love has a Master’s Degree in haunted festivity hosting.












