This morning Greg & I set off on our Biannual trip to Asia to deal with production, distribution and all sorts of other upcoming projects with our friends in the East. We leave with our baby in the hands of all of our employees to look after for 2 weeks while we finalize details for Spring 2009. And what exactly does 2009 hold? Well I’ll be frank… those of you waiting for a Banana Streetpublic version of Mishka, are going to have a long wait. I know the trend everyone is desperately steering their ship towards is being simple, basic, or to put it into more marketable terms, “grown up“. And while that’s all fine and good, we’re not simple, nor basic… never have been and probably never will be. And while I’ll concede to the fact that we’ve definitely grown up in the almost 5 years of existence, our aim was and still is to never grow old… something we hope is resonates with every Mishka fan. Simple & basic is for the Gap, Uniqlo and Banana Republic. We’ve always been about graphics, color, design and most importantly providing an alternative! And 2009 will  really be no different… well probably a whole bunch different, but you get the picture.  Just don’t oxford dress shirts, tan rain coats, plain V-necks and earth tones from us.

We’re pretty awful bloggers when it come to keeping track of our daily exploits, especially on the many trips we take each year. We’ll try our best to do a better job than we have done in the past on keeping you posted on our daily/nightly excursions and anything else of interest we may find along the way!

Off we go…

The Plastics - Copy

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - Sex on Wheels

Nina Hagen - New York, New York

Lene Lovich - New Toy

Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood

I’ve tried to write something witty to go along with this video and I just can’t! Just watch the damn clip.

I’m sure I’m not the only one out there for whom Deck was their favorite member of the Wu. I waited years for a solo album from Deck, fully expecting that whenever it would come it would be the greatest Wu-Tang solo album of all… I was pretty wrong on that account, but not completely dissapointed.

R.E.C. Room set the stage a year earlier and gave me hopes that this would be the album I was hoping for. Classic Deck flow and lyrics over one of the True Master’s best RZA impressions.  Sadly that there is the albums biggest problem… It’s chock full of 2nd rate RZA impersonations and too little of The RZA himself. The worst part is that of the two tracks The RZA does production on, one is great while the other is ehhh at best. Movas & Shakas, the opening track is so good that all The RZA imposter production just sounds that much worse having to follow it. But sadly The RZA’s other track on here, Friction is saddled with an awful chorus a throw-away beat and some bland flow between Deck and Masta Killa. With the exception of R.E.C. Room, 4th Disciple, Allah Mathmatics & True Master do their master shame with their bland 2nd rate attempts at trying to sound like The RZA. Deck even joins in on the production for 5 tracks which he fumbles pretty badly trying to be all things at once on the majority of them. The two he does get right, Hyperdermix & Word On the Street he REALLY gets right keeping them on some simple Boom Bap which allows him to do what he does best, weave the lyrics and flow into a head nodding web you can’t help but get caught in. And other than that the only other saving grace on this album is Trouble Man, a pretty good Pete Rock beat which in the midst of this album comes through with as close to a radio friendly single as you’ll get.

Who knows what the politics were like when Deck was trying to get this album out but it’s sad The RZA didn’t think highly enough to prioritize doing beats for it. This albums biggest saving grace is Deck himself with his lyrical prowess and ability to weave a story, so it’s frustrating to imagine what could have been had The RZA simply taken a more active role. And it isn’t just that Deck had to rely so heavily on The RZA’s proteges for beats, it’s the album’s artwork as well! While it may seem weird to judge an album on it’s artwork, the Wu have put out some truly memorable album art and logos so I feel given their track record up until this point it’s totally open for criticism. I’m not sure if Deck’s logo was designed by longtime Wu designer, Mathematics or not. But whoever did it should have held off until they had a better grasp of 3D rendering besides the basics. The cover is only memorable in how humorous it is, and not in a good way!

So in conclusion 5 good Inspectah Deck solo songs are still better than none. And judging from his albums following this one, I have a feeling those are the last good songs we’ll ever get.

Sale Details Are As Follow, Please Read!
For $350, the first 20 people in line Friday, Saturday, & Sunday* can fill up a Duffel Bag with as much of Anything you can fit inside of it with the zipper still closing comfortably. New Eras will be behind the counter and must be requested to prevent any damage stuffing them into a bag may cause them.
*While Supplies Last

If you are not one of the 20 people you can choose to shop with either of the two following options for the rest of the day…

1. $200 Duffel Bag Stuff*
$200 gets you a Duffel Bag which you can fill with the zipper closing comfortably with the following restrictions:
- Limit of 1 New Era, 1 Jacket and 1 pair of Denim per duffel.
- 1 per customer, per day!
- Value of entire Duffel cannot exceed $500 total based on sample sale prices.
*While Supplies Last

2. Per Individual Item
Expect savings up to 50% - 85% off current collections as well as an assortment of samples from Spring/Summer/Fall 08 Collections.
$15 T-Shirts, $25 Hoodies & Crewnecks, $25 New Eras, $40 Sweaters & Cardigans, $60 Jackets, $25 Bags, $45 Denim & $40 Shorts.

NEW ITEMS WILL BE BROUGHT OUT EACH & EVERY DAY!!! CASH ONLY!!!

But the savings don’t end with just us! As Yoko Devereux is having a sample sale of their own just a few doors down! $20 - $100 including printed t-shirts, jersey cardigans and polos as well as skinny twill pants. Plus 75% off all Fall/Winter 2007 sale items

And once your done shopping head over across the street to Trophy Bar for $2 beers and $4 Margaritas! And when you’re good and drunk and feeling a bit hungry just head on down the block to Moto for brunch or dinner!

350 Broadway
J/M/Z Trains to Marcy
G Train to Broadway
Fri / Sat, 12 - 8
Sun, 12 - 6

I’ll be spinning the same garage, punk and soul garbage that I always do, so come through!

So last night Amanda and I were watching CNN’s Larry King Live and the cover story was about the increase in brain tumors amongst cell phone users as of late. The segment was a debate entitled “Are Cellphones Dangerous?”

I think we have the culprit!

Check out this video: Microwave vs. Cell phone

Add to My Profile | More Videos

full size flier here

This weekend pops off proper tonight with the Bicycle Film Fest’s party entitled Bikes Rock! at Studio B

Then Tomorrow night is the Dear Velo art show!

…and Friday night is the beginning of the Film Festival!

Also on Friday is the Bootlegged Peel Sessions contest.

Sponsors Include [but are not limited to]:
RED BULL!
Profile Racing
Bootleg Sessions [FREE BLS 2 DVDS!]
Dave’s Quality Meat
Mishka
Affinity Cycles
Laek House
Superflot
Milwaukee Cycles
Continuum Cycles

Also DON’T FORGET to catch the World Premier of Bootleg Sessions 2 at the Afterparty Saturday!

For all you peeps who are in Toronto or will be in Toronto, come to Never Alone art show put on by Red Bull 381 Projects.The show runs from Jun 7th - June 20th featuring work by:
- HVW8
- Paul 107
- Dennis Chow
- Marco Cibola
- Tracy Maurice

MC Chris released a new album called MC Chris is Dead and to honor that accomplishment he threw a party at Passout Records in Brooklyn. It was an all day, outdoor drinking and eating while watching power-pop bands kind of a party and a third of the attendees were wearing zombie makeup, including Nicole (pictured above on the left) who modeled in the Kern Lookbook shoot we did.

MC Chris did a nice job performing songs and giving action figure gifts to the people in the audience. You can check out my full set of pics from the show on Flickr.

This guy with the devilock and zombie make up had a good time rockin’ to the nerdly sounds of MC Chris.

MC Chris web forum members traveled from all over North America to get to this show. Elysse, the girl in the cuddlemuffin shirt above, traveled all the way from Michigan in order to feel the magic. She made the Beetlejuice mask in art class and brought it to the show in order to give it to MC Chris. She told me that she was gluing the teeth on using toothpaste while she was on the plane. She put it on when a flight attendant asked her what it was. The guy sitting next to her woke up at that moment and screamed.

We’re back again with our second installment of MANIC. our opening party was terrific and this one will only blow it out of the water! Memorial Day and a Svedka Vodka Open Bar from 10:30 - 11:30pm, how awesome is that! Everyone grab your eyeliner!

As much as I’d like to say what a celebrity did, wore or supported never had any effect on me it just wouldn’t be true. Growing up, the Beastie Boys were my epitome of what cool was. Not only did they introduced me to streetwear such as X-Large & Bape but their (now defunct) Grand Royal record imprint put out and introduced me to so much great music in the 90s like Bis, Atari Teenage Riot & even Liquid Liquid. So needless to say I awlays liked to keep wih whatever the Beastie Boys were involved in.

BS 2000 was a side project between Adrock & drummer Amery “AWOL” Smith (Suicidal Tendencies, Uncle Slam, Beastie Boys, Leftover Crack). Without sounding at all like the Beastie Boys it still was very Beasties-esque. The sound is catchy, buoyont and stripped down with most of the album being made on antiquated keyboards, samplers and drum machines. It’s equal parts New Wave, Hardcore, Lounge & Space Age Pop. Perhaps had you asked the Beastie Boys to make an Esquival album, this might be what it would have sounded like.

Despite Adrock’s presence and the Grand Royal stamp I’m sure it’s very lo-fi nature and bad cover art didn’t exactly help garner it a wide fan base. But then again, I don’t think BS 2000 was ever looking for mass appeal. This album was very obviously made solely to appease it’s musicians creative impulses. Unlike with most side project bands, it’s blatant self indulgence just really works and isn’t at all a detracting factor.

BS 2000 put out two albums both of which are out of print. Simply Mortified (their second album) came out on CD in 2000 while their first self titled release was only available as a vinyl from the Grand Royal website back in 1997 and is pretty hard to track down. I know because I’ve been looking for one for a while now.

I don’t know how or why it took so long, but listening back to Simply Mortified I was hit with how similar in sound BS 2000 was to Le Tigre/Julie Ruin. Adrock started dating Kathleen Hanna (now his wife I believe) in around ‘97 which is right around the time she began working on her Julie Ruin solo album (following Bikini Kill’s break up) and he was starting BS 2000. It’s interesting to realize now just how much the two were influencing one another’s musical direction.

BS 2000 - Simply Mortified

WO m TH from TRACKUMA on Vimeo.

Great video from 100% Hardcore’s blog on Afromania.org. The competition went down in Osaka in what looks like a parking deck. I fucking love the way the Japanese have hooked their bikes up. Massive BMX Bars and long stems. Big ups to these kids for having a blast!

Reminds me of the bike-dancing scene from the blockbuster [heh] smash Quicksilver.

This weekend is the legendary Rumble Through The Bronx alleycat. Probably one of the most grueling races I’ve ever done. A lot of people think NYC is flat and easy terrain. That may be true in Manhattan, but in the Bronx, there are a lot of hills. Pair those hills with people who are generally confused by cyclists on the streets and a grueling 30 mile course and you’ve got one nasty race.

Last year, a friend of mine was involved in a 3-bike pileup wreck. He fucked his collar bone and we had to subway it back to Brooklyn so he could get medical attention. Rumble is no joke, as illustrated by the mind-blowing Ulgade artwork!

Pre-Register at 5borogenerals.com and spare yourself the hassle of registering the day of. They’ve also linked the course map as well since most people who live in NYC have never been to the Bronx as sad as that may sound

This is gonner be a good one. The first two bands are noisy Canadian groups and the second two are more along the lines of garage/powerpop. Cakeshop (Not “the” Cakeshop, just Cakeshop) is like a fort for friends and the thing is free so it doesn’t really matter. Show up for some rough and tumble action and sounds.

Lush - Ladykillers

Peter Gabriel - Shock the Monkey

George Michael - Too Funky

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - I Won’t Back Down

Genesis - Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

I love Countdown to Extinction, I’ll even go as far as aying that after decades of listening to Megadeth I truly think it’s their greatest album. Despite it’s obvious attempt to crossover, successfully doing so and subsequently then being labeled a “sell-out” album there was absolutely nothing awful  about Countdown to Extinction. It’s Megdeth’s Darkside of the Moon… Not the album you say is your favorite Floyd album if you want to raise some cool guy points, but in the larger scope of things is their greatest achievement. Asking a madman like Dave Mustaine to write a pop album is like asking Picasso to draw a Spider-Man comic, if you have an open mind it may just be the most amazing thing you’ll have ever seen/heard. Much like Metallica, Megadeth sacrificed some of their edge and bite in favor of melody and pop structure. But the difference between Megadeth and Metallica attempting to do the exact same thing is Dave Mustaine just doesn’t get how to… and I mean that in a good way. So you get something like Countdown to Extinction, an art damaged, concept driven attempt at radio-friendly Thrash Metal. In many ways it’s a lot like ESG, who thought they were just creating really awful Disco, but were in fact creating some of the best Post-Punk you’ll ever hear.

So what does any of this have anything to do with Youthanasia? Well in many ways Youthanasia is simply Countdown to Extinction part II. But the big difference this time is that Dave Mustaine is consciously trying to follow the same formula that made Countdown To Extinction so good and you just can’t do that! That’s not how the magic happens. The album starts off fucking amazing with Reckoning Day your typical “Holy fuck this album is going to blow my balls off” intro song to a metal album, much like Skin O’ My Teeth. It then goes to Symphony of Destr…err I mean Train of Consequences. And there you can start seeing my point. From then on in it just tries to recreate song for song some what was already perfectly done on Countdown To Extinction. So I’ve made clear what makes this album awful.. but what makes it so awesome? Well for one it’s Dave Mustaine and he is trying recerate a great album,  so some of these retreads are still quite enjoyable! AC/DC has basically has done the same album countless times with a majority of them being pretty fucking awesome so it can totally be done! And as I already mentioned, Reckoning Day is pretty fucking awesome! Train of Consequences is still good pop metal filler and A Tout Le Monde is well, um… amusing. Its all the songs around them that sink this album and make it hard to listen to. They’re all second rate versions of Countdown to Extinction songs that don’t offer a formula you can simply plug into and have it work well twice.

On an interesting side note: I remember seeing Megadeth on the old Jon Stewart Show when they were promoting Youthansia. In the audience that day were these two grizzled old metal heads who were so clearly wasted I have no clue how they got past securityand into the studio. At the end of Train of Consequences Megadeth started throwing out T-shirts into the crowd. These two dude started howling and begging Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman to toss them some tees. But they were all the way in the back and you can only throw a t-shirt so far! After they were out of tees to give away these two dudes got super pissed off and got up and started screaming “Fuck you Dave, you fucking alcohlolic! You deserved to be kicked out of Metallica you asshole!” This went on for a good 5 minutes until security could get up there and usher these dudes out of the studio kicking and screaming! Megadeth then went on to preform Symphony of Destruction and I think Hangar 18 after the taping was over. This was almost as good as seeing Dave Mustaine cry to Lars Ulrich about how he felt when he got kicked out of the band in the Some Kind of Monster (seriously the only reason to watch this movie).

About a year or two ago, popular author/nerd Jonathon Lethem and well-liked illustrator/comicker Farel Dalrymple teamed up to do a comic for Marvel called Omega the Unknown. Based on a series that reached ten issues before cancellation from 1977, Lethem and Dalrymple’s Omega is now on it’s seventh issue which features an amazing cover and some interior art by Gary Panter.

That is awesome to me. Three cheers for Marvel Comics for letting this happen. I probably don’t have to rattle off Gary’s resume but here goes anyway. He designed the sets and puppets for Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, did three Zappa album covers, was part of Art Spiegelman’s Raw Magazine, created many amazing comics and makes psychedelic music and light shows. A big expensive two volume book of his work was just published and he is fucking awesome.

I needed to find something to post so that Prolly’s dildo helicopter video didn’t stay at the top of the Bloglin all day, but The Captain beat me to it with Bass Mopster!

Saw this flyer down the street from our office. I really do feel sorry for this guy!

This Friday, May 23 at LOVE; 179 MacDougal St.
The Captain and Math Head on behalf of Trouble & Bass
Advanced Tickets available HERE

And then Friday May 30th - Goon & Koyote visit LOVE