Ace Hotel is definitely the place to stay if you ever find yourself in Portland, Seattle, Palm Springs or New York City. Their offbeat, nouveau-bohemian interior design has been attracting artists, designers, geeks with style & international jet setters — you know, people just like you — since 1999.

 The New York City location has morphed into something beyond just a place to rest your head.

On any given day, you’ll find the lobby teeming with the meticulously disheveled, sunken into plush armchairs with cups of Stumptown coffee or staring seriously into glowing MacBooks. In addition to Stumptown Coffee Roasters, there’s a restaurant by the owners of The Spotted Pig called The Breslin which serves incredible British-inspired cuisine. And soon there will be an Opening Ceremony boutique to satisfy all your shopping urges. Talk about a one-stop shop!

 With a sprawling, 8-level boutique in Tokyo’s Shibuya district as well as a rabbit warren-esque location in Los Angeles, Opening Ceremony has made a name for itself as a painstakingly-curated store for the style obsessed.

They collaborate with designers to create individual shops within the store, which gives each label the ability to differentiate & brand themselves however they wish. In addition to hosting designers such as Alexander Wang & The Row, Opening Ceremony has also conjured up collaborations with Pendleton, indie style icon Chloë Sevigny & industry darling Rodarte. While Opening Ceremony already has a location in New York City, this one will be very different.  Owners Humberto Leon & Carol Lim said that they tried to think of what they would want on hand if they lived in a hotel, & plan to stock the boutique accordingly.

What does this mean for the discerning traveler? It means that in addition to a selection of the very best & most stylish clothing (Hussein Chalayan & Christopher Kane, anyone?), you’ll also be able to buy condoms by Proper Attire, fantastic toothpaste, toiletries by Proenza Schouler and a range of snacks, including imported potato chips & “the best gummies from France.” The Leons said they plan on installing a McSweeney’s bookshop, too — which means you no longer need to resort to the Gideon Bible for bathtub reading. Very thoughtful!

 Opening Ceremony is set to open in Ace Hotel’s New York City location in February 2010. We can’t wait.

Words by Gala Darling

Kill Rock Stars | Though they bill themselves as “Progressive/Concrete/Fusion”, The Shaky Hands‘ self-appointed genre categorization might prove a little misleading for some: First, all you prog-heads might be disappointed to learn they’re not exactly Yes or Dream Theater or Rush; second, the term ‘Concrete’ might conjure up notions of sludge, stoner, or some derivative of hard rock, which for all intents and purposes they eschew as well. With that extremely relative label ‘fusion’, however, we have what is probably the most appropriate of terms, as elements of folk, indie, and — dare I say — a sprinkling of shoegaze (Don’t believe me? check out the track “Air Better Come”) successfully blend together for an album both ingenuitive and unapologetically nostalgic.

The Shaky Hands – Let It Die

Let It Die fondly conjures up the ghosts of folk years past, with songs like Allison and the Ancient Eyes invoking the lingering phantoms of a pre-Victoria’s Secret-advertising Bob Dylan, and even a bit of Bruce Springsteen. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, the quartet of gifted musicians which comprise The Shaky Hands have a new record due for release at the end of September. Those of you looking for something both original and unabashedly sentimental should find something to love in Let It Die.

Words by Jeff Nau

As Hockey’s “Song Away” would tell you, they make truthful songs over eighties grooves, but their music goes further than that – more diverse, but a good start in trying to describe their unique sound.

Hockey started their musical adventure as a two-piece. Jerm Reynolds (Jeremy, but nobody calls him that) and Ben Grubin got together when the two attended college together in Redlands, California. After moving to Spokane, Washington (on a whim) in hope of finding new band mates, they soon re-located to Portland (adding drummer Anthony, and later Brian on bass). Although Hockey calls Portland home when they aren’t spreading the gospel from the west coast to the UK, the band members hail from every corner of the United States and their musical style is the sum of their disparate parts.

The guys from Hockey are fun loving, laid back friends with nomadic tendencies (too edgy to be considered hippies), and the music is a reflection of their personality.  Hockey seamlessly weaves over and through genres with a powerful brand of soulful dance-rock -  infusing their tracks with all sorts of heavy textural sounds and strange samples. Mostly resembling “indie” on most of their songs, singer Ben Grubin’s punchy one-liners (and great hooks) make Hockey even harder to peg. Never shy of intelligence or sharing his thoughts, Ben Grubin’s lyrics often tell witty stories of past experience, often wrenched out with his raspy (sometimes gutteral) howl – adding spices of soul into their highly infectious melodies and up-beat rhythms.

Hockey talks about what they know, where they have been and what is on their minds, which seem to be fairly simpatico across the board – one of the main reasons that Hockey’s style seems so genuine – they are musicians on a mission to have their stories heard. After the release of their “Mind Chaos” EP, Hockey headed back into the studio to cut a full-length album of the same name, scheduled for release in the first half of 2009. The chaos inside the minds of the Hockey team must run deep, as they decided to stick with the title, shedding some light on what inspires their crazy brand of “New Wave Soul.”

Hockey are constantly hitting the road taking their game to venues across the US and the UK (and beyond), check out www.myspace.com/hockey for updates on their travels and tribulations.

Words and photos by Jamie Newman

Hockey – Too Fake