Say what you will about his antics, but Kanye West is one of the most captivating people in American society today–and his new New York Times interview has already lit the internet world afire. There are countless page view hungry websites putting up “Kanye’s [insert number here] Most Stupid/Hilarious/Awesome Quotes” articles stemming from the article and it even sparked a discussion when I crossed paths with Harrison Boyce late yesterday. The article ranges from topics such as the process of designing and making music and really digs deep into the people/influences that made the polarizing figure who he is today–get to the NYT website and check it out.
Ricky Adam (one of my favorite photographers) just released a 48 page perfect bound zine called “Glad To See The Back of You”, which is all about punk jackets.
I am absolutely psyched on this photo series by Richard Gilligan. “DIY” is a four year long documentary photo series on do it yourself skateparks and skatespots throughout Europe and the US. The focus is on the adaptation of existing and abandoned terrain to fit the uses of skaters in a modern environment. Since some/most of these spots in the series also pertain to BMX, I felt this is definitely worth a post. Hope you guys dig it. Gilligan also has a book published with the entire series over at 1980editions.com, which I’m definitely going to scoop up for my own collection.
Click below to check out a few more from the series.
Satirical? Yes. Enigmatic? Certainly. Hilarious? Always. Keep an eye on the Hey Zeus blog for constant entertainment and hit up their web store to get your hands on goods like the amazing Holy Trinity button shown above along with some other goods–a couple of my favorites are featured after the jump.
Having learned that David Grant enjoys shooting photos from his recent DIG interview, I decided to hit him up and see if he would be down to contribute an Autophoto. Being a fan of riders who also shoot, I was psyched to know he was down.
Click below to check out David Grant’s Autophoto. All the photos were taken on Canon or Minolta 35mm cameras.
Seen a post of Lucia Griggi’s underwater surf photos over at Huh Magazine and thought they were rad enough to share. They surely got me excited for Chicago summer and shooting with my underwater film camera. Although, the water in Lake Michigan isn’t quite as clear as this.
Check out some more of her little interview and images here.
With the recent passing of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman, I’m sure most fans went through and listened to a little more Slayer than usual. Same here.
While doing so, I kept being drawn to the amazing covers on some of these albums (specifically the ones above) and started wondering who made them after all these years. My research led me to Larry Carrol. Apparently dude keeps a low profile, which I kind of like. I did come across THIS rad interview which was a good read and had some great nuggets of info. I recommend.
Of course for my first post I pick a lengthy documentary, but if you have time to sit back and watch this, you won’t be disappointed. William Klein is probably one of the most influential street photographers as well as one of the great early fashion photographers of the 20th century. He’s one bad ass old man to boot….he does whatever he wants. The stories this man must have!!!
Anyone who frequents Brian Castillo’s Instagram has surely taken notice of his unique “old-timey” motorcycle. It’s hard to overlook. I’ve seen it enough times to want to grill him about it, so click below to learn about Brian’s OTHER bike.
I’ve been hearing a lot about this guy who left his design position at Ralph Lauren, bought a Vanagon, and started living the life that a lot of people talk about. This week the awesome Need Supply blog features a great interview with that guy. His name is Foster Huntington; you may know him as the creator of The Burning House. I like how he has taken his fixation on the “just the essentials” idea and put his money where his mouth is, living in his van, keeping only what he needs, and telling the story on his blog A Restless Transplant.
Illmatic – released on 4/19/94. This calls for a WTF!!! I just had one of those “damn, that dropped 19 years ago” moments. I know time doesn’t stand still, but just like that, illmatic is almost 20 years old!!! This album dropped when I was still riding bikes to record stores and buying cassette tapes! Seems like a whole other life and numerous music formats ago.
Needless to say, I love this album and still do. It’s timeless. NO. QUESTIONS. ASKED. If there’s a question, shut up. For me personally, I remember there being a certain mystique to this album. Most of the info I’d pick up came from NYC radio or magazines only, so you didn’t know every single thing about this project. Nas was relatively unknown, but all these great producers were backing him. The end product just feels right. And that cover…damn.
Ok, enough about my Illmatic boner, click below to check out a sweet album release press kit from 94.
Our thoughts go out to everyone in Boston who was involved in recent events. Terrible, terrible, terrible.
This new Sports Illustrated cover is pretty powerful and says it all. In the spirit of never being defeated though, The 78 year old man in the photo got up and finished the race.
With Vampire Weekend getting ready to release a new album, I’ve been revisiting their previous material, wearing more plaids and trying to apply to Ivy League colleges. ALSO! I’ve revisited the video part that introduced me to Vampire Weekend in the first place; Dan Cox in Tomorrow We Work. I loved Dan’s part and this video as a whole, so check it out again.
Shout out to Joe Cox.
Click below for Vampire Weekend’s new video for “Step”.
For the motorcycle riding/wrenching enthusiasts out there. Kickstart this bitch and enjoy!
The Build explores the world of custom motorcycle making through the stories of 3 independent builders in Portland, OR. Hit up The Build site for more.
When he’s not working on or doing bike related stuff, Bauer loves wrenching on cars. Is “wrenching” still a current acceptable term to describe working on cars? Anyway… Petrolicious has caught up with Jim to discuss his minty green Porsche.
Brian Barnhart has put together a zine featuring photos from his travels in the Pacific Northwest. Fans of travel and photography should give it a look. Prints are available as well.
Casual Encounters can be viewed and/or purchased HERE.
The latest episode of Crate Diggers highlights the late J Dilla, one of the most respected producers in Hip Hop. Obviously Dilla is no longer with us, so they got his mom and other notable people to tell his story. They dig into his record collection, talk about his ways etc.. It’s a good watch.
According to twitter reports, there are 45 (or so) lost bikes en route to this years Simple Session. Definitely sucks. I know that layovers are usually the point where shit can potentially go tits up, but this still made me wonder how bags get lost in the first place.
My research led me to the handy infographic below which has some nuggets of info. Perhaps there is nothing a traveller can do to safeguard against lost luggage, but being informed never hurts.
