Barracuda Boutique

My first post since I have been back from LA, sorry for my absence. It was a short trip but I managed to see some friends and check out some shops. One shop in particular that was bound to make a dent in my wallet is a small boutique on Melrose called the Barracuda Shop. From the second I stepped in the store and heard B. Fleischmann playing on the stereo I knew it was my kind of place. The shop has goods to satisfy anyone into fashion and urban culture. Carrying exculsives from labels such as Syndrome, Dim Mak, Stussy, Neckface and many more, the Barracuda Shop is a must see when visiting LA.

Info:
7600B Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
p: 323.852.7179

Mixtape Madness

Hey peeps, it looks like I am heading to the good ol' "City of Angels" tomorrow. Sandy beaches, fly hunnies and the craziest parties in the nation await. While I am cutting loose in SoCal I probably won't be posting much, so I decided to leave you with a little treat. The first installment of Kidplastik's "Mixtape Madness". This mix entitled "Fuck Me I'm Scene" is perfect for any summer house-party or getting down in your underwear in front of the mirror. It features artists like MSTRKRFT, Diplo, Test Icicles, Lady Sovereign and Tigarah. So download it now and feel the funk.

Kidplastik's Fuck Me I'm Scene Mix

Michael Kennedy's i-Deck

We live in a day where you can fit 5,000 songs in your pocket, technology has come along way from records, 8 tracks and tapes. Somewhere along the line of all this new technology album cover art seems to have disappeared. For those of you who miss your cover art there's the I-Disk. The I-Disk allows you to dock your iPod Nano and display your music's cover art on the LCD screen of an artificial record. The record itself is also a touchscreen that you can use to control your player, giving you the feel of an old-school record player.

VW Beetle Art

I have always found myself attracted to Volkswagens. I am not sure what it is about them, but it seems there is almost a cultish group of artists, designers and creative people who own VWs their entire lives. I think one of the reasons may be the company's ability to really step outside the box and try something no other car company is willing to do. VW has recently launched their Beetle Art website that allows you to design your own decals to be printed and applied to your new beetle. I think the idea of giving the consumer more power to customize their products is very appealing, especially for a company that already appeals to so many creative people.

Remix Rush: Banquet

Just when you though you had heard all of the Bloc Party remixes there was to hear, another one pops-up out of nowhere. I think I have more remixes of this band than any other, and I am always down to hear another. I found this mix on the mp3 blog at Vice Records which isn't updated enough, but has some free goodies once in awhile. The remix is done by party-boy Junior Sanchez who has other great remixes on his myspace page (including a really good one of another Bloc Party track "Two More Years"). I think he's done a good job of giving the track a different sound than previous producers who have remixed the track. Have a listen for yourself.

Bloc Party :: Banquet (Junior Sanchez Remix)

$10 Sale @ Sodium Apparel

Just a quick note to let everyone know Sodium Apparel is getting rid of the rest of their current designs in preparation for more limited edition designs to be released. This means the rest of the current designs are on sale for only TEN SMACKAROOS! Get 'em while they last peeps.

Naketano Clothing

This one goes out to the ladies. Not that the guys won't enjoy looking at Naketano's gorgeous models, admittedly that is what caught my attention, but the clothing is even better. Head designer of the small boutique style company, Nicole Christensen, brings amazing designs and bright colors together for women's clothing that looks super-comfy but still ultra-stylish. In the eyes of Nicole a fashion designer's ultimate goal is to design clothing that becomes the owner's favorite peice in their closet, with these designs I would say her goal has already been achieved.

DForm1 Motion Graphics

Founded in 1997 by Denmark native Anders Schroder, DForm1 is a design and motion graphics firm working for clients all over the world. For nearly 8 years Ander's amazing motion graphics skills have been used by clients such as Gatorade, VH1, MTV and the US Airforce. It takes a certain kind of person to take beautiful pictures and art and make them move in such amazing ways. Ander is definitely one of these people, and I am sure it is only going to get better.

Flavorpill's Activate

If you are like me you have a hard time keeping up to date on world news. With everything that's happening there is so much information you could spend all day on CNN.com trying to stay informed. This is why Flavorpill has created its 10th email publication Activate. Activate is a weekly email publication that filters world news and gives you relevant news to you without all the excess baggage. Be smart, stay informed.

The Hype Machine

Audio blog aggregators are something I discovered after they started linking to my "Remix Rush" posts. They have since become one of my biggest tools for finding new artists and music. It works like this - an aggregator searches all of the best audio blogs out there in the blogosphere and gathers all of the songs uploaded to these blogs. This way you can search their database, and preview the songs all in one place. If you like what you hear you can download the song from the audioblog and then put it on your list of "music to buy". The best aggregator I have found so far is a site by the name of The Hype Machine. The Hype Machine was instantly added to my daily reads and I could spend hours searching and discovering.

Steven Shein VS. B/D Skull Necklace

Summer 2006 is the summer of jewelry. Sure there's been 20-pound-iced-out-spinner-wheels-on-a-6-pound-chain kind of jewelry, but for the rest of us there's jewelry by Steven Shein. Shein has got some really cool stuff ranging from plastic necklaces to leather bracelets. One of my favorites being the skull necklance, a collaboration with Beautiful Decay.