Lady Sovereign is Coming!

So I know I have posted about her before, but with the cover story about her in this month's URB, her recent dealings with Jay-Z, and the announcement of her upcoming release "Public Warning", I couldn't resist another post. Ever since hearing Lady Sovereign over a year ago I have been hooked. She has been called the "female Eminem". But the cute, British, 19 year-old standing at only 5'1" not only has better music, she now has hip-hop master Jay-Z backing the release of her U.S. debut. Watch out America, Sov is coming.

Watch the new video for her hit single "Random"

Coachella On the Big Screen

Coachella has grown to be one of the largest and most eclectic music events in the world. Bringing together all different genres of music and different types of people. I would say it's a little overdue, but now those who haven't had a chance to check out Coachella live can check it out on the "bigscreen". Coachella the Movie features two hours of footage taken over the past six years at the event. Not much information had been released about the movie and I was unable to find a trailer. It will be playing in select theaters around the nation, but at the moment there are only three veiwings listed. Watch for a show near you!

Antipoda Creating "Wearable Art"

Being someone who spends countless hours browsing clothing, fashion and t-shirt sites, I am easily bored with many tees these days. I have much respect for those designers who are not afraid to push the boundries a bit with t-shirt designs. Afterall, who wants a tee that looks like all the rest? Antipoda has realeased their 2006 line of tees which really stood out to me. With guest artists such as Charles Glaubitz, Fonz Schiedon, Stephen Holding, Fawn Gehweiler and Luke Chueh they have created "wearable art" as they say. I agree.

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Computer Arts Magazine

Why is it all of the best design magazines come out of the UK? Nothing against the England, but it just makes them all way too expensive if you live in the U.S. One of these great 'zines I speak of is Computer Arts, a recent favorite of mine. I had always been reluctant to buy it because of the cover price of $14.99, but after I did I discovered it was well worth it. Packed full of very useful tutorials with a CD-ROM including all the files used, reviews on the latest technology, and interviews with the worlds best designers Computer Arts just may become a regular monthly purchase for me.

Stuntwood Premiere @ X-Dance

For those of you who are going to be in Park City for the Sundance Film Festival over the next couple of weeks, make sure not to miss out on some of the other great events going on. One of the events you should especially check out is the X-Dance FIlm festival where the Fishegg Film Stuntwood - The Birth, Life and Death of the Skateboard will be premiered. The documentary takes a deeper look into the skateboard itself, how it is made and how it effects the culture we live in. The cast includes world class skate legends such as Paul Schmitt, Tommy Guerrero, Bob Burnquist, Ryan Sheckler and more. If you don't get the chance to catch the premiere at Sundance the film will also be showing on Fuel, so check your listings.

Urban Outfitters Biting Indie Designers?

On a recent trip to Urban Outfitters I noticed how much they have become just like any other store (Pac Sun, American Eagle, Zumies.). They do carry some nice tees, but they seem to stock hundreds of the same t-shirt. I would much rather shop in a smaller boutique that stocked tees with a limited amount of prints, even if it means paying a little more.

Not only does it seem Urban Outfitter has become a mass stocking t-shirt whore house, but it also seems they are having trouble coming up with original designs for their clothing line. Small indie clothing line Johnny Cupcakes is claiming that Urban Outfitters has "ripped-off" one of their designs (as shown above), and I would say their claim looks very valid. The likeness between the tees is undeniable. And although I actually like Urban's design better, nobody likes a copycat, especially when it's corporate monster ripping-off indie label.

Elkland-For the 80's Babies

Staying with my friend Li Hui here in SoCal means massive amounts of music discovery and music geek talk. One of the bands found in Li's iTunes library that is sure to make every Erasure loving 80's child drool is Elkland. Elkland is painfully catchy and any track from their new album Golden could be played at your favorite 80's nightclub with nobody knowing that it was released this year. While they will most likely not be added to my favorite's list anytime soon, being an 80's child myself, they have already been added to my guilty pleasures list.

Elkland - Apart

The Annual Bloggies

Hey peeps, the annual Weblog Awards are here. If you have been a reader of TheDopeFiend and have enjoyed it, I would love if you would take a second to nominate me in one (or a few) of the catagories, I think "best kept secret" might be fitting. Thanks for your support, much love.

TDF In L.A. - Sushi Roku

Due to some quick decisions and somewhat unexpected occurances I have found myself in Los Angeles for a few weeks. Last night was my first chance to get out and do something since having been here, we found a great little sushi place in Hollywood called Sushi Roku. If you ever get the chance to check out one of their four locations (Hollywood, Santa Monica, Pasadena and Las Vegas) I highly recommend it. The prices are typical of a posh sushi restaurant with a wide variety of rolls as well as many other entrees. My favorite was the tempura salmon roll, it's not on the menu so ask about it. The service is super-friendly and the atmosphere is more of what you would expect of a cocktail lounge with loud downtempo music and dim lighting.

Stay tuned for more of TheDopeFiend's adventures in SoCal.

Katamari Damacy T-shirts

The team over at Panic (maker of my favorite FTP client Transmit) has team up with Namco Japan and produced several Katamari Damacy t-shirts designed by the creator of the game, Keita Takahashi. The t-shirts are printed on American Apparel (of course), and they have several different unique designs. While I don't quite understand the craze over the game itself, I think these tees are pretty damn cool.

We B Girlz: Girlz Get Down

Out of any musical genre Hip-Hop has had one of the largest impacts on the life we live today. As we all know Hip-Hop is much more than just music, it's a culture. And for as long as it has has been around, so has breakdancing. We B Girls is a book that takes a deeper look into an aspect of breakdancing that is all too often overlooked, and that is how women of all ages all over the world have helped innovate breakdancing. Photographed by Martha Cooper and writen by Nika Kramer the book features pioneering B-Girlz like Rokafella from the Bronx, Asia-One from LA, twelve-year-old Wonder Woman from France and sixty-five-year-old Krazee Grandma from Sweden.