and punk is dead again...

'Zombie Hipsters' asserting their civil rights on Halloween (more by Amanda Hatfield)

When you think of an outlet with its finger on the pulse of "what's next," it might not be Forbes Magazine. Nevertheless the rag has compiled its list of "hippest hipster neighborhoods" in the US, which lands Williamsburg Brooklyn at #3:

1. Silver Lake, Los Angeles
2. Mission District, San Francisco
3. Williamsburg, Brooklyn
4. Wicker Park, Chicago
5. Pearl District, Portland
6. H Street Corridor, Washington D.C.
7. East Austin, Austin
8. Capitol Hill, Seattle
9. The Uptown, Oakland
10. Warehouse District, New Orleans

Williamsburg may have spawned the hipster craze, but the neighborhood is evolving in a direction that's far less hospitable to the patchily employed, fedora-wearing crowd. "The more successful neighborhoods like Williamsburg become in attracting people, the real estate prices go up and a lot of the urban pioneers end up moving on," says David Morley, a research associate with the American Planning Association, a nonprofit educational group for community developers.

Real estate prices in the north Brooklyn neighborhood have been steadily rising...his firm reports that Williamsburg rents in July were 23% higher than a year ago ... [and] the mean rent for a studio apartment in Williamsburg was $200 higher than for a comparable (albeit smaller) apartment in Manhattan's Greenwich Village

Kurt Cobain in his homemade Flipper shirt vs Forever 21's version

Forever 21 is under fire... this time for selling a shirt designed by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide at his Seattle home in 1994.

No, Cobain wasn't much of a fashion designer. But he knew how to use a magic marker, which is how he made the noted Flipper band T-shirt he wore during a 1992 performance on "Saturday Night Live."

Earlier today, a replica of the shirt was retailing on Forever 21′s website for for $16.90. The shirt has since been pulled from the site, meaning Forever 21 might not be too keen on fighting legal battles over items that cost less than $20.-[SeattlePI]

Continue reading "Clothing store Forever 21 pulls replica of Kurt Cobain's handmade Flipper shirt"

"I do not understand how anyone not named Grace Jones was ever allowed to think of themselves as "fierce." - Sasha Frere-Jones

I skipped Jarvis and the Diesel thing (Kanye West played one song with Clipse) last night (7/30) in favor of checking out Grace Jones at Hammerstein Ballroom (there was time to go to Webster Hall after Hammerstein actually, but I wasn't in the mood).

Possibly more than the music, video, lights and special effects, a Grace Jones show is about her outfits. The whole thing ran about 90 minutes, and she changed at least 10 times (I lost count). While she changes, she talks to the crowd from a mic back stage (except for before the encore when the change break was also the encore break). Each outfit was over the top and caused the mostly-gay-men crowd to cheer loudly. Each outfit ranged in the degree to which they revealed the 61 year old diva's in-shape body.

She had one especially memorable all-red, dress-like outfit that came out far on both sides of her - making her into a big circle, and making her somewhat immobile (like the kid in Christmas Story) during the song she had it on for. She sang most of that song facing the front in all her red glory. At the end of it she started spinning which revealed that, though the front was a giant explosion of red, her back (head to toe) was basically naked save for the g-string/strap that was holding the whole thing on. I wasn't super close to the stage, so I may be describing it slightly wrong.

For "Hurricane", the title track of her new album, she whipped out this giant cape and sang towards a fan so the cape could blow in the wind (no, the cape wasn't the only thing she had on) (see above). There's a good video of it, below...

Continue reading "Grace Jones played Hammerstein - check out the video "

McCarren Pool - Summer 2008 (more by Ryan Muir)

The much-delayed new Topshop store opens in NYC on Broome and Broadway on April 2nd (remember all that advertising at McCarren Pool last summer?). What does this have to do with music (besides the fact that people will probably start adding this place to the list that already includes H&M and American Apparel when they say where 'hipsters' shop)? Well, as previously posted, celebrity-musician deejays (The Rapture, Late of the Pier, James Murphy, etc), in conjunction with East Village Radio, will be playing music in the store all week while people shop (full list here).

And as also previously posted, Santigold and Mark Ronson will be performing, BUT not in the store. There are two nights of Sir Philip Greene-hosted, invite-only parties going on at Balthazar. Tonight, March 31st features Mark Ronson backed by the Dap Kings, and performances by Amazing Baby, Jimmy Fallon, Santogold/Spankrock, Nicolai from The Strokes, Alex Greenwald from Phantom Planet and Daniel Meriweather.

April 1st has Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and "a special guest we cant announce, big voice". Maybe it's Lady Gaga, who was originally mentioned, and who plays two shows at Terminal 5 on May 2nd (after the ones that were supposed to be TONIGHT were postponed) (though I don't know about the "big voice" part).

Then on Thursday, April 2nd, TopShop is having a third party. This time at the Box, and hosted by Sir Philip Greene and Kate Moss (who has a line of clothes in the store), with performances by Adele and La Roux, and DJ sets from The Misshapes and James Murphy.

Sounds fancy.

Spank Rock is performing at a Unis & Anna Sheffeild party tonight (2/12) at Chloe (81 Ludlow St) (10pm - 3am)

The Duke Spirit are performing an an Alexander McQueen party on Friday (2/13) at 330 West St (8-11 p.m.) The Duke Spirit also play NYC-area shows on Sunday and Monday.

NY Magazine's Fashion Week party list includes performances and/or DJ sets by The Virgins (acoustic), James Murphy, Mandy Coon (2MANDYDJS), Mike Nouveau, Deakin (Animal Collective) (DJ set), and White Magic (DJ set).

Santos Party House is hosting a Fashion Week party (DOSSIER / NOMIA) on Sunday (2/15) with DJ Holy Ghost and a live set by Lemonade (downstairs 9pm... 21+).

A rumor is going around that Thom Yorke is here and possibly performing, but Men.Style.com says...

I've got some good news and some bad news for all you fashion, music, and fashion music fans. The bad news first: Despite the rumors Twittering around the Interwebs, Thom Yorke will not, in fact, be playing tomorrow's Rag & Bone show. The good news, however, is that the Radiohead singer did "curate" the tunes that'll accompany the models down the runway. Guess he's returning the favor after the nice bomber jacket the lads hooked him up with for the Grammys. (Notably, Lil Wayne also wore the brand last Sunday--who knows, maybe he's hard at work on a playlist for Spring 2010.) In any case, autograph seekers should leave the Sharpies at home, as I'm told Yorke won't even be at the show. (I assume the same's true for Wayne.)

This is the second time Terminator Salvation came up recently. The first was because of Christian Bale freaking out.

Leave more party tips (if you have them) (preferably ones where bands are playing) in the comments.

A "child" of Andy Warhol, friend of Debbie Harry, buddy of artist Keith Haring, inspiration to Marc Jacobs and collaborator with them all, Stephen Sprouse was among the first generation of artists who didn't distinguish between fashion, art and rock. Mostly known for his upscale version of downtown street fashion, Sprouse's artwork extended from design to silkscreen to paper. Before his premature death in 2004, Sprouse had been preparing for a retrospective of his life's work. And this January, five years later, it will be ready for display in a full-blown Sprouse-esque exhibition called "Rock on Mars" -- a futuristic, pop-influenced smorgasbord -- at Deitch Projects.

"Hopefully people saw his fashion designs when people were wearing them out," says Suzanne Geiss, director at Deitch, "but I'm excited to see what he did on clothing extended to total installations. Seeing these things together will be a first." Sprouse often incorporated musicians into his work -- in this exhibition, designed and curated by long-time collaborator Jamie Boud, there will be paintings of a crucified Iggy Pop and a rarely-seen Sid Vicious with his pants down. In conjunction with the exhibition, Rizzoli is set to release a book of Sprouse's work by Roger and Mauricio Padilha, The Stephen Sprouse Book; and Louis Vuitton has created a new line of clothing and accessories based on the original Vuitton-Sprouse 2001 collaboration.

The exhibition runs from Jan. 9 through Feb. 28, 2009, at Deitch Projects, 18 Wooster St., New York.
[Paper Magazine]

Vuitton will honor the late artist with three events this Thursday [January 8th/today]. The night will kick off with cocktails at the Vuitton boutique on Greene Street, with a simultaneous event at nearby Deitch Projects' Wooster Street Gallery for the opening of the "Rock on Mars" Sprouse retrospective [see above]. Afterwards, Vuitton and Jacobs will host a bash at the Bowery Ballroom, featuring a performance by Sprouse's friend Debbie Harry, followed by DJ Jus Ske. The venue is expected to have a Sprouse feel, with a special graffiti-and-neon decor.

Continue reading "Stephen Sprouse remembered @ Deitch, by Louis Vuitton, Debbie Harry plays Bowery tonight, Cat Power @ Union Pool"

Extending a partnership which began and culminated in an MTV Europe music award in 2006 for their song "We Are Your Friends", music group Justice is leading the way in a collection of apparel with creative collective Surface to Air. The collection holds a lot of weight in Justice's love of leather goods with three jackets designed alongside two pairs of denim. The collection will be available at select locations worldwide including Surface To Air Paris, Surface To Air Brazil, Colette, Barneys, Lane Crawford, Isetan, Le Bon Marché, Paris Texas, Asylum, Le Shop, Incu. [hypebeast]

Members of Bat For Lashes, Earl Greyhound, Blonde Redhead and others modeled for today's NY Times. None of the pictures come even close to the ones Paper just published of Joanna Newsom though.

Check out the video of Kazu (Blonde Redhead) performing with Paul Banks & Samuel Fogarino of Interpol, below...

Continue reading "Kazu Makino, Natasha Khan, Earl Greyhound & other models"

These days, she's been hanging out in New York after her two-night sold-out run at Brooklyn Academy of Music, in which she played the entirety of Ys, accompanied by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, to an enraptured audience. Newsom's Manhattan break (rumor is she's spending time with her boyfriend SNL-ster Andy Samberg) is a prelude before heading back to her home in Northern California, where she plans on taking a good chunk of time off after two straight years of touring. In the meantime, she's staying up until all hours of the early morning (Newsom's sleeping patterns have always been off-kilter, she explains), making like a flaneur through the empty cobblestone streets of the West Village, getting 9 a.m. mani-pedis and eating berries with cream for breakfast at Cafe Cluny, while flipping through copies of French Vogue.
[PAPER MAGAZINE]

Continue reading "Joanna Newsom got all dressed up for PAPER"