When Kenny Scharf was painting his mural—an orgy of candy-colored cartoon faces in various states of distortion—on the northwest corner of Houston and Bowery in downtown Manhattan, he said he wasn’t worried about graffiti writers painting over his piece, as they did to Shepard Fairey’s “May Day” mural at the same spot in July.
There’s a ludicrous amount of snow here in the NYSheezy, so what better way to warm up from playing and making snowmen than to jump into this week’s magical music update?
There’s something quite wonderful about pure pop songs; tunes that force one to throw whatever musical pretentiousness one might have to the wind and just enjoy an upbeat song for what it is and nothing more. As someone who has a tendency to be over analytical and at times get far too into my own pandahead, pop songs are like a breath of fresh air. I have such respect for those who have the ability to create things that make people smile, to uplift moods. It’s far easier to get tears out of someone than it is to make them laugh. With that in mind, check out the latest from The Go! Team featuring Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino “Buy Nothing Day” and Peter Bjorn & John’s “Second Chance;” two infectious tracks that you can’t help but getting up and rocking out to (just a little bit).
Dan Charnas witnessed and participated in hip-hop’s explosive growth from a 1970s New York subculture to its status today as one of the world’s most predominant cultural movements. The New York native worked for record labels and was a journalist, both helping promote rap records that mattered and discussing them in the media.
Charnas’ just-released book, The Big Payback: The History Of The Business Of Hip-Hop, is a must-read for anyone serious about hip-hop culture and its evolution. In the following Q&A, Charnas discusses the genre’s growth, how it was able to thrive and how he would like to see it presented.
Just before Christmas in 1989, Arturo di Modica, a Sicilian artist living in New York City, recruited a few friends, loaded his sculpture, “Charging Bull,” a 7,000-pound, 16-foot-long bronze bull, onto a flatbed truck. They transported it from his studio to Wall Street and deposited it, without permission, in front of the New York Stock Exchange. The sculpture was swiftly removed by the city the next day, but due to public outcry it was reinstalled at a location nearby, where it has since become a neighborhood landmark (and judging by its prominence on Flickr, a popular tourist attraction).
The Boo-Hooray Gallery reluctantly announces the first SUCKADELIC retrospective gallery exhibition. Intentionally confusing, misleading, disappointing and really funny, these limited-edition parodies of action figures reverberate with a vicious wit and are oddly eyeball-pleasing in the manner of all kinds of toothsome 20th/21st century collage and montage art. The toys and their aggressively situationist piss-take packaging comment on pop culture commodification and the consumer habits of compulsively shopping kidults: The very process that made KAWS, Takashi Murakami, and Michael Lau art-stars on the Art Basel Miami/Armory Show/Venice Biennale tip.
From stylish shoes and accessories to The Sexual Politics of Meat, vegan haven MooShoes has a little something for everyone.
Hey, all you vegans out there – have a hard time finding 100% cruelty-free motorcycle boots? Or party-appropriate heels that consist of absolutely no animal products whatsoever? Then let us introduce you to MooShoes.
Started by sisters Erica and Sara Kubersky in 2001, the online and brick-and-mortar store in NYC will not only hook you up with handpicked vegan lines (including their own called Novacas – Spanish for “no cows”), but also with handbags, wallets, belts, tees, and faux leather jackets that look as good as the real thing. They even carry books with provocative titles like The Sexual Politics of Meat, along with vegan cookbooks so you can whip up the best dairy-free, gluten-free cupcake ever.
We sat down with co-founder Erica Kubersky for a little Q&A. Read on to find out about factory farms’ symbiotic relationship with the leather industry, those crap Davy Crockett-style hats, and advice on going vegan (if you aren’t already). Make sure to check out the image gallery for Erica’s holiday gift suggestions from the store!
The fire’s a blazing here at Boyd Manor and my whisky is a waiting, so let’s get right into this week’s magical music, shall we?
Iron & Wine are giving away “Tree By The River,” a track off their upcoming album Kiss Each Other Clean which you can grab here. It’s your standard Iron & Wine tune, by which I mean it’s completely gorgeous and I’m totally in love with it. Kiss Each Other Clean is out January 25th; really looking forward to checking out the rest of this sure-to-be gem.
At first I thought it was just me who felt as though this week was taking it sweet time and Friday would never get here, but after talking to a few people, the general consensus was that there were indeed multiple Wednesdays. But alas, Friday is (finally) here, Christmas is just around the corner and for the first time in my life, I’ve actually got all of my Christmas shopping done before December 24. WIN! So, what better way to end this ludicrously long week and kick off the weekend then with some magical music news from yours truly?!
OK Go released their latest video, this time for their song “Back From Kathmandu;” yet again these boys do not disappoint – time and time again they put out such interesting, unique and often hilarious visuals. Per OK Go’s press release, “The video documents the 8.5-mile parade we took through Los Angeles using Range Rover’s ‘Pulse of the City’ app to checkin’ and spell out the word’s ‘OK GO’ with the route. Make your own journey around your city, and be featured in a similar documentation video we’ll make in 2011.” Details here and “Back From Kathmandu” below.
Twin brothers HOW and NOSM are on the move – constantly. Currently painting murals all over Rio de Janeiro, the graffiti artists return to their home base of New York very briefly before heading down to Miami at the end of the month to paint in Primary Flight, a mural project during Art Basel week.
Born in San Sebastiano, Spain, and raised in Dusseldorf, Germany, the brothers landed in New York in 1997, where they live and work (they are part of the . They paused just long enough to tell us what it’s like to be not only all-city, but all-world.
It seems like everyone and their mother are coming out with headphones these days. First came Beats By Dre (paws crossed good ol’ Saint Nick brings me a pair for Christmas) then Beats by Beiber (they’re purple! Because that’s his favorite color! How adorable…) and now: TRON: Legacy Headphones by Daft Punk (who did the (awesome) soundtrack for TRON: Legacy) Medicom Toy. What makes these headphones oh so special, you ask? They have light-up LEDs! Totally reminds me of those kicks that were all the rage when I was 8, LA Lights. Anyone else remember those?! God, they were cool… Anyway, so these – totally ridiculous looking headphones – run for a cool $350 (USD) but! you also get a copy of the TRON: Legacy - soundtrack. Win.