La Musica Coolica #60 (STG)
Author: Jake
Don’t hate me for this one. I kind of consider Shiny Toy Guns as, kind of, the Jonas Brothers of electro-rock. It may seem like an oxymoron. But that is just my take. So I can totally understand if you just want to skip right past this one. However, I am really kind of digging their sound, and if you grew up listening to what I did, you might, also. I feel kind of bad coming off of a two week hiatus with these guys (especially since it is #60 [It would be nice to hit hard on the tens]). Just the same, here it is, and I’m standing behind it.
Oddly enough, the song that I’m sharing is actually a cover of one of my favorite new wave 80’s hits. It is new take of “Major Tom (Coming Home),” by Peter Schilling. Such a great song. And I feel like STG really does it justice. Check it out.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Author: Jake
With the impending warm weather, comes spring fashion. Yay! Flipping through the ads at the beginning of my magazines has made me especially excited for the warm weather. Among all of the uber-creative and super aesthetically appealing ads, there are always a handful of duds. To me, the Hilfiger ad above was the largest dud in the most recent issue of GQ. I “get” using a little bit of irony, to get attention. But, come on, dude. Is anyone really going to go water skiing with sunglasses, button-up long sleeve shirt and jacket, complete with a pocket square? These kind of ads remind me of those over-saturated family portraits shot on railroad tracks. In what universe does that composition naturally occur? I’m not hating, here. I’m just posing a question. Maybe I just need to be educated. Anyone?
Anyway, the Hilfiger water-ski ad still takes a back seat to Khaki Jogging. And of course, underwear pull-ups is still squarely in first place.
La Musica Coolica #59 (BT:WoT)
Author: Jake
I am no a metal expert. I have never really cared for GNR. I think that the opening riff to “Crazy Train” is one of the all time sickest riffs ever… no contests period. My wife and I danced down the aisle after being pronounced man and wife to “The Rhythm of Love.” I have never owned a Metallica t-shirt. One time I dated a girl who had a sister who had an ex-husband who had performed at The Whiskey once. Although I can name-drop many of the greats, I can only pick a few out of a listening line-up. I guess I could be called a dabbler at best.
The band I am thinking about has probably never even owned a cassette-recorder. I am sure that their demo tape was sent out digitally. I do know that they do have long hair, muscle tees and cutoff jean shorts. I also know that since my buddy Matt and I went on a 100+/- mile, 5 store, 2 burrito, and full afternoon search for the album after hearing the single, I was hooked. Behold… Black Tide… my current favorite metal fix. I typically enjoy them at about 5am on my way to work, or pretty much anytime I feel the need to get tough.
Sooo, the question now is what am I talking about? I am talking about what happens when you put together 4 teenagers, lots of hair, rock instruments, a lyric written using barely 35 different words, and record it all about for about 6 minutes… a song called “Warriors of Time.” That’s what.
Peter Breinholt is a guest contributor for La Musica Coolica, and Jake’s brother. All of Peter’s contributions can be found here | Peter’s personal blog can be found here.
Only New York
Author: Jake
I met some pretty cool guys, this weekend. They are the guys behind the brand Only New York, a local street wear brand. I am going to be doing a SoJones piece on them, and was able to do a quick shoot on Sunday afternoon. They are definitely cool guys. You should definitely check out their stuff. More on Shotbyjake.com
Final Feb. FW Post
Author: Jake
Last night was a Karen Sabag runway show at the Altman Building in Chelsea. The venue was awesome. The ceiling in their event space is made of paver brick, which I loved. I was able to shoot the backstage, as well as the runway show. No CF card malfunctions Wednesday night. But there was a problem with the lights. Which was a bummer, because in contrast to the iFashion show, Tuesday night, Sabag, was actually properly lit. Luckily, they resolved it, after a few minutes. I was freaking out digging for my flash, for a sec. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Catch more coverage from the Sabag show on shotbyjake.com.
Karaoke
Author: Jake
For the first time in my life, I did karaoke with Reagan and some of our friends, on Saturday night. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I was definitely the worst person in our group. But, that didn’t keep me from having fun watching everyone else. Yes, there was a kick line at one point.
^—Reagan doing up some Abba (I think).
^—-Richard and Jamie: duet of the Cure
^—–Col, melting faces with Yellow Ledbetter.
After our karaoke session, we had some Korean dumplings, then spent some time browsing one of the Koreatown supermarkets. They has some seriously tasty hard candy. No, it didn’t come in the cool fish cans, above (unfortunately). I liked the fish on the cans because they look so friendly.
Fashion Week is here!
Author: Jake
To kick it off, I attended a runway show last night at Hotel Rivington (not the tents). I better not mention the label, as not to preemptively draw any Google traffic (i.e. before I have edited 9000 photos and posted something on SoJones about it, hehe). Although, feel free to read the floor tiles in the photo, if you are curious. Hahaha. Despite the snowpolacalypse, there was a very good turnout.
After I covered all of the red carpet and runway stuff, I took off the flash and threw on the 30mm with the aperture dialed open, to get some behind the scenes-type of shots. For whatever reason, these always end up being my favorite. I guess because I love watching the whole process as much as I love being a part of it.
Anyway, expect plenty more of this type of stuff between now and the end of next week. Woot!
La Musica Coolica #58 (LG)
Author: Jake
Ok ok ok ok ok. I’m pretty sure that LMC will most likely lose and sort of cred that it may have had, after this post. But here goes anyway. Except for those who have spent the last 18 months in a bomb shelter, or have recently awoken from a long coma, there is no avoiding the hype that surrounds Lady Gaga. Reagan and I have had countless discussions about her. Reagan is obsessed. I am repulsed. We do both agree that she is a very talented individual. There is also no denying that she gives the kids what they want.
So, I guess for me it comes down to whether or not she has a soul. In my mind there is no better embodiment of the once abstract idea of a “sell-out.” There have been a few occasions when I have seriously been blown away by her vocal abilities (namely when she is messing around/ad-libbing on SNL, etc..). Despite her obvious depth of skill, she continues to write and publish pure crap. The problem is that, the crap is catchy crap.
I can honestly say that I don’t care for the majority of the music that she has released. There are a few tracks, however, that I am now for the first time publicly admitting, have gotten under my skin. The song that I’m sharing today is probably the one that I like the most. It is from “The Fame Monster.” The song is called “Telephone.” Beyonce is also featured on this track. It is the story of ever clubber kid’s standard weekend. Check it.
FYI, if you are really bored, check out all of the tribute videos there are for this song on YouTube. Reagan and I wasted a good hour and 1/2 being amazed by them.
NYC Ballet
Author: Jake
As part of our little B-day date, we went to the NYC Ballet. Apparently all of Reagan’s famous clients aren’t just on TV and stuff. She has some that are in the fine arts, as well. One of them happens to play in the orchestra for the NYC Ballet, and gave her some pretty amazing tix for her birthday. Here is a shot of Reagan after she got all dolled up for the show:
I mean, we were literally on the front row. I have never had such great seats at a show that wasn’t GA.
I actually felt kind of white trashy sneaking these shots inside of Lincoln Center, but I had to do it.
Brooklyn Flea
Author: Jake
Since we didn’t really get to do much fun stuff on Reagan’s birthday, I told her that we could do whatever she wanted on Saturday. She chose to go to the Brooklyn Flea Market. It was quite a site to behold. The market is traditionally held outside. But for the winter, they moved it into the old Williamsburg Bank building. It is like a gigantic hipster garage sale.
There were a couple of things that I thought were pretty cool. Almost all of the booths had some vinyl LPs for sale. I found the original “Breakin’” soundtrack on vinyl. In the end, I decided that $5 was more than I was willing to drop, for that beauty. I still thought it was a pretty cool find.
Sorry for all of the lengthwise shots. Here is one more of my favs.
