Our beloved Toilet Cobra is a true renaissance man: a photographer, a writer, a hipster and a pervert. But this Friday, January 28th, he’ll do what he does best – be an artist – and be the focus of our next show at 350 Broadway.

Nicholas Gazin is a twenty-seven year old Brooklyn-based furball who fancies himself a jack of all trades and does all sorts of creative activities in order to stave off boredom and starving. He serves Vice Magazine as their comics editor and has also been writing, photographing and illustrating in their service for a few years. He’s also our copywriter and one of our regular illustrators. He/I wrote this very thing you’re reading now! Trippy!!! His connection to the music scene has led to him creating shirts, posters and album artwork for his favorite bands. He recently started doing the art for Scion’s sponsored garage rock shows and designed the vinyl records and T-shirt for Jay Reatard’s Shatter Records Fan Club releases.

No Escape is Nicholas’s second solo art show and is about the same thing most art shows are about: alienation, the life of an artist, how it feels to live in a place. The title directly refers to the grim realities of being a “creative professional” or an “artist” and living in New York.  The pressure to produce consistently good work is draining. The high costs of living in New York, the violence and the filth make you want to move in with your parents and abandon your responsibilities. The world seems like it’s on the brink of apocalypse or at least devastating economic collapse. There are no other options and there’s no turning back at this point. The world sucks and there’s no escape.

Friday January 28th, 7-10pm
Мишка
350 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY
718-388-1725

J/M/Z to Marcy Ave
G to Broadway
L to Lorimer

You know, the longer I’m out here the more I find out about. I’m not sure when I first noticed people using hemp wicks, but a couple of weeks ago I got the rundown. A lot of folks believe that using a lighter to combust your medicine isn’t the best idea. Purportedly the butane alters the taste of the cannabis, and if you’re medicating yourself over the course of years you’d be inhaling a lot of butane. I’m not a great judge on taste when it comes to smoking, so I can’t really speak on whether or not it affects the flavor.

But, I am definitely more into the idea of inhaling combusted hemp and beeswax over butane. When it comes to stuff like this I prefer to roll with the opinions of people more informed than me. So, for now I’m not using a lighter except for igniting the wick. I use matches sometimes—but let the phosphor burn off of course—but I try to use the string as much as possible.

That title is a little misleading… there’s no actually meeting, DR basically just freestyles over Girl Unit’s “WUT,” on the latest segment of Pitchfork’s Selector series. The episode, set in a lovely South Williamsburg bodega is broken into two parts. The first a quick interview on beat selection and shout out to all the “filler producers.” On the second part the guys (Dapwell included) dig deep and draw some chuckles from the Night Slugs fam stomper from last year.

Like Curren$y and Gold Panda before it, another impromptu collaboration I’d love to see made real.

Destroyer – Kaputt (2011) [Merge] // Grade: A

Each new release from Destroyer brings a shift in style—and there are a lot of them, Dan Bejar has been dabbling under the Destroyer name since 1995. Bejar  makes the complicated seem effortless, meshing disparate styles, and embracing difficult structures with warmth. Bejar’s lyricism eschews hooks for poetry, his distinctive sing-talk style as freeform as his instrumentation. Hushed anticipation gives way to awe with Kaputt, the newest addition to the Destroyer catalog. This is the album where Dan Bejar’s trail of magic finally comes together, fully realized in a state of silky smooth dreaming.

“Chinatown” opens, its first guitar notes backed by the ripple of synthesizer and horns. When Bejar’s voice joins in a few bars later, the combination is a gleaming affair of lounge poetry set to elevator jazz. “You can’t walk away / I can’t walk away” repeats over building instrumental improvisation, a call to stay juxtaposed with a feeling of being already gone. The nine tracks listen like a continuous line drawing experiment, Bejar’s words tumbling quickly then pausing for the instrumentation to continue the flow. “Suicide Demo for Kara Walker” clocks in at over 8 minutes, Bejar crouched over piano, a spotlight illuminating his seated form, band in one corner of the parquet dancefloor as couples slow dance under smoky air in the other.

Kaputt is to Destroyer what Before Today was to Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti; years of tinkering culminate in an album that uses mood to unite experimentation. The waiting genius presents himself as palatable to the larger public.

UK’s Star Slinger have beengetting a lot of love lately. They were included on Beko’s AMDISCS Compilation as well as on Blood Diamond’s mixtape.  This new video from Panaframe ▲ for “Impressionable” features loads of powerful beats set to what looks like a Sears clothing commercial from the 80s.

A producer by trade, Star Slinger, aka Darren Williams has been making waves since first arriving last year with his debut album, Volume 1 and then some remixing for none other than Nicki Minaj. But he’s not taking any breaks as he just dropped a brand new EP, Rogue Cho Pa which is available free on his site. Go get it.

Drama. Gravitas. One. Word. Sentences. The difficult to qualify attribute of epic-ness is something that is often left out of the discussion of music. Not to say that every band needs it, but no one would deny that part of the appeal of a band like, say, M83, Zola Jesus or The Knife is that standing on the cliff’s edge “fuck yeah” feeling that comes along with it.

Esben & The Witch, UK rockers with serious presence, have made sure to leave no doubts about their grandeur. Even their name, which Wikipedia has kindly informed me is taken from a centuries old Danish fairytale, carries steely eyed weight.

Check out the video for their first  single “Marching Song.” That’s a badass video. Simple, certainly, but undeniably effective. The lead singer goes from immaculate cutie to full on Brando cheeks all in 4 minutes.

It really fits their music, which to me conveys the feeling of broadswords in battle, and shimmering forest-deities making blood pacts with bedraggled journeymen. Or whatever.

And just this week the group debuted the video for their most recent single “Warpath.” It’s an equally  impressive and haunting piece that’s a very cinematic compliment to the songs.

For three people, Esben & The Witch sure make a lot of big noise. The band signed to Matador late last year, and their debut LP Violet Cries comes out on January 31st. I’m looking forward to it and it’ll definitely be my go to album if I ever have to get psyched up to go slay a dragon.

Scout Work Pants ($101.00 $70.70)

Remember in To Kill a Mockingbird when the villain tries to stab the little girl, Scout, on Halloween but she’s saved by  the chickenwire in her costume as her brother’s arm is broken? And then Boo Radley comes and saves them and then disappears again, kind of like a ghost? Well these pants aren’t lined with chickenwire but they are lined with plaid.  How do you like that?

I want to reread that book right now.  I wish I had more time to read.  I often fantasize about a having a  time closet I can go into where time stops moving forward. A year ago I fantasized that I would have such a closet so I could do jackoff/nerd shit like play RPG videogames that take a fifty hours to complete. Now I fantasize that I had that closet so I could read books or maybe attend some figure drawing sessions. My grandfather once wrote a book called Time Is All We Have.  It’s not about time closets though, it’s about him battling alcoholism.

I’m not addicted to booze yet, that’ll probably take hold later, but I am addicted to work. How many good things will I do before I die? Will the whole of my creative efforts and ideas go into  books and private collections or into the trash?  Or will I everything I ever did just flicker out as the websites that host the things I made disappear one by one.

Our Holiday 2010 Scout pants are available in Green, Khaki and Black and all feature a plaid flannel cuff lining.

Мишка
350 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY
718-388-1725
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Мишка LA
1547 Echo Park Ave
Los Angeles, CA

Have you ever looked at your cat and wondered why it looks the way it does? If you’re normal, you’ve answered yes to the question mainly because you are a curious human being who wonders how god’s or whoever’s creatures came to be. More importantly, how your special furry little guy or girl came to be.

Thanks to Joumana Medlej of Cedar Seed, I present to you a beyond extensive chart which breaks down each and every house or street cat’s fur, eyes, nose, and anything else just shy of it’s eternal organs.

As someone who suffers from severe cat allergies it was simply fascinating reading about each and every type of cat that causes me such displeasure any time I cross paths with one. While my allergies do prevent me from owning one, I never hesitate to pet or be a chair for many of the cats in my life. This chart is a must read for any cat owner who has an itch for cat genetics or is simply into pussy.

There are three things I try to avoid bringing up at parties: politics, religion, and Nic Cage. All of those topics will invariably leave me embroiled in a bitter argument with the people around me. See, Nic Cage is my favorite actor. I don’t think he’s necessarily the best actor of all time, though I will vehemently defend the fact that he has turned in some of the best individual performances ever. But damned if I wouldn’t want to watch him over anyone else.

This is not an opinion shared by most people. There is actually a surprisingly large (and quite vocal) contingent of celluloid junkies who also worship at the Cage altar (our own Oh Mars, I believe, included). However a majority of folks will laugh when I sing his praises. Eventually, when I finally convince them I’m not kidding, they’ll become inexplicably angry.

Then I’ll end up having to sit there for, like, an hour while they get continuously more worked up as I counter their Ghost Rider with Wild At Heart, or The Wicker Man with Red Rock West. But as many amazing films as I bring up, I can never seem to actually bring anyone into the fold. Fighting the good fight on Cage’s behalf can be difficult. Partly this is because, though I certainly have seen more of it than your average joe, I’m not 100% familiar with his oeuvre.

So I suppose, to an extent, I am a bullshitter. After all, how can I truly defend the Cage man without truly knowing the Cage man. Which brings me to my main point: The 66 Days Of Cage. In what is perhaps the greatest undertaking of any kind in the history of human existence, a true distillation of the fruits of our labor as a species, I will be watching all 66 of Nicolas Cage’s films in chronological order. And I will have an awesome time doing it.

I’m leaving it all on the field for this one. No pussyfooting around. No “only starring roles” ludicrousness. I’m talking everything from his debut appearance as an extra in Robert Redford’s Brubaker, to his Oscar winning turn in Leaving Las Vegas, to the February release of Drive Angry 3D, and everything in between.

It’ll undoubtedly be tough at times. I might get tired, and I might get hungry. I might get really bad hair. But no matter the trials I may face, in 66 days I will have reached Nic Cage apotheosis. I’m getting my PhD in Cage. So follow me friends, as I will be giving you (at least) weekly updates on my journey. My thoughts, my reviews, my varying levels of insanity. It’s gonna be a hell of a thing.

All Posts: Intro, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10.

Did you know that years before the MLS came into fruition there was once a team right here in New York that became America’s lone connection to the soccer world? It was a team that had the backing of the mega rich Warner Brothers and a star studded line-up that would make the Yankees cry.

After winning the Soccer Bowl (which is just a flat out horrible name for any kind of championship) three times during their heyday the show came to an abrupt end forcing the team to play in a indoor league before eventually folding as a franchise.

Since then the rights of the team have gone through many hands as it’s latest owner up until very recently ran a youth soccer program with the remaining glitz and glamor down the street from my house (seriously). Oh how the mighty have fallen indeed. However, just like many things making a comeback from their retro days, soccer is no different.

Led by an array of American, British, and French visionaries, the Comos name and brand is looking to make it’s way back into professional soccer here in the states. While they already have fancy uniforms, an honorary president (Pele) and most recently a newly assigned Director of Soccer in Manchester United star Eric Cantona (above) it appears the old gang is getting back together.

There is only a few slight problems with this whole comeback thing. For starters, there is no stadium in the area to house a new team. If you recall the Jets failed to obtain permission build a new stadium on the West Side of Manhattan, the Islanders are still playing in a dainty arena which is oldest in the league only to MSG, while the city’s two baseball teams simply moved across the street.

Teams with actual history that wasn’t erased from people’s minds had just layers of problems when bidding, building, and opening new stadia’s in the city which is why New Jersey would be a better option. Oh what’s that? There’s already a team playing there you say?

Oh yes, let’s not forget that New York already has a professional soccer team and a pretty good one with the Red Bulls. Despite playing in Harrison, NJ the team has always had ties to this area because it’s an original MLS side starting out as the NY/NJ Metrostars.

As great as it would be to have another soccer team in New York to provide a local rivalry for the MLS, there are already attendance issues with the Red Bulls as they have trouble filling up their state-of-the-art 25,000 seat capacity stadium. I just so happen to be part of a supporters club for the team so believe me when I tell you that as a fan of the game there really is no place for another team in New York.

Another problem with bringing back the Cosmos is that they have NO PLAYERS. It’s kind of tricky to have a sports team with no actual athletes I would assume. Most of the teams coming into the MLS nowadays such as Portland and Vancouver this year with Montreal in 2012 is that they come from lower tier leagues where there are established teams, stadiums, oh and players.

Another fun fact is that the league has an exclusive contract with Adidas when it comes to licensing jerseys and other merchandise which might be a problem seeing how UMBRO is loving themselves this whole idea of a Cosmos revival.

There is still time for interest in the MLS to rise before the Cosmos are even granted permission to enter the league but by then either the Red Bulls will be the only team locals will care about and see no reason to jump ship to the revival of a team which is yet again bringing back the stars of yesterday to try again at what has clearly failed before or the company of Red Bull will fold altogether which is highly doubtful. It does give you wings after all.