UnCultured

New York Venue Death by Audio Eulogized in 'Goodnight Brooklyn' Trailer

When underground Brooklyn music venue Death By Audio shuttered in November 2014, its demise signaled the end of an era for Williamsburg's music scene. The space had played an instrumental role in launching bands like A Place to Bury Strangers and Dirty on Purpose and left a hole that may never be filled. Fortunately, DBA cofounder Matthew Conboy had the good sense to film just about everything that happened between news of the warehouse space's closing and the night of its raucous last gasp of life. Rolling Stone has an exclusive look at the trailer for the documentary cut together from the footage.

Continue...

Inside the Brooklyn Home of Artist Mickalene Thomas

Vogue takes a tour of the home of artist Mickalene Thomas. Her art-filled townhouse is filled with priceless works from the likes of Matisse…and Thomas’s daughter Junya

Artists at Work: Luke Diiorio

"The eye has intelligence that goes further beyond our language. It's quick to the scene, so I respect that," 

Continue...

Kinfolk’s Latest Video Will Have You Re-Thinking Your #RelationshipGoals

If you’ve been keeping up with Kinfolk’s past seasonal video lookbooks, you’ll be up to speed on how things are developing with the team from Wythe Avenue. Since last season’s flick, the trio has lost a member, but things continue to heat up in Brooklyn. Kinfolk showcases its forthcoming selection of apparel and accessories, punctuated by contemporary garments manufactured in the USA from the finest materials. Shot by Raj Debah and starring Leila Spilman and Shakir Najib.

Kiesza - Hideaway

Saint Laurent Model by Day, Sunflower Bean Band Member by Night

Despite having just graduated from high school, model Julia Cumming already has two seasons as a Saint Laurent exclusive under her belt. As if that wasn’t already a success story on its own, her Brooklyn-based band, Sunflower Bean, is a beacon of hope for old-fashioned rock-’n’-roll. Music has always come naturally to Cumming (her parents met in a band and her father taught her how to play bass), which is likely why Hedi Slimane was prompted to tear her away from the stages of Brooklyn to walk in his Paris runway shows.

Continue reading...

J.Crew on Film: "Over and Over Again"

We went behind the scenes with Queens native and veteran graffiti artist Greg Lamarche, who added a bit of local color to the temporary storefront of our new location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

See more...

His 'n hers...

DIIV - "Like A Rolling Stone" VIDEO

Bruce Davidson - Brooklyn Gang (1959)

"In 1959 Davidson read about the teenage gangs of New York City. Connecting with a social worker to make initial contact with a gang called the Jokers, Davidson became a daily observer and photographer of this alienated youth culture. The Fifties are often considered passive and pale by our standards of urban reality, but Davidson’s photographs prove otherwise. In a recent New York Times article discussing this work, Davidson admitted he feared the erratic and often violent rules and routines of the Jokers. It is tempting to consider what this book might have been like had more of the detail of Brooklyn’s 1950s white gang culture, as revealed in that Times article, been used to reinforce this spare volume. But this book gets to the point quickly, on its own terms. 

The Dancehall Record Stores of NYC

Despite the transition from wax to digital, those passionate for the art of vinyl will always sniff out a record store in relinquished corners of the city. Here, Animal New York lends a hand via a glimpse into a few traders who specialize in selling dancehall – a leading genre of music which still plays a crucial role in cultural exports between Jamaica and New York. While only a diminutive amount of music nowadays see vinyl releases, dancehall and its offshoots have never stopped getting pressed, hence the livelihood of these record stores which stock both new and old dubplates. In this guide, the guys at Animal New York travel from Brooklyn, through Queens to Manhattan, and get a sneak view into the characteristic brick and mortars that stock both the hottest artists and nearly forgotten classics.

Liars Will Play the Temple of Dendur VIDEO

Everyone’s favorite LA-via-Berlin-via-Brooklyn-via-LA art punks will be brining their signature brand of dissonance and paranoia to the Metropolitan Museum of Art this May. Details on the site-specific performance are relatively scant, but we do know that the band will be taking to the Met’s Temple of Dendur, a reconstructed, 2000-year old Egyptian religious structure–which, for a band that often touches on life and mortality and its lyrics, and whose first release in its current incarnation was called Athiests, Reconsider, seems like an appropriate location.

Beach Fossils - Careless

Where I’m From -Documentary VIDEO

In this short documentary, Jay-Z‘s "Life+Times" takes an unprecedented behind the scenes look at the creation of Jay-z’s Barclays Center opening concerts. 

Essentials: Lamour Supreme

Driven by the child-like goal of having fun, Lamour Supreme pursues his art with an oddly competitive–but ultimately collaborative–desire to inspire and be inspired by fellow artists. Having illustrated comics (Zen the Intergalactic Ninja during the early 90s), sculpted and customized vinyl toys (several in collaboration with Mishka), designed streetwear and painted, this boy from Brooklyn has certainly proven himself a prolific designer and now influential voice on the NYC art scene.

Read more...

Its Habibi - New Band Intro

Habibi’s songs are heavily influenced by Motown girl groups of the 1960s, but I wouldn’t mistake their retro-centricity for nostalgia. The all-female all-business Brooklyn-based band would rather live in a time when music wasn’t defined by gender, surely—but their respect for the ladies who paved the way for their Wall-of-Sound sound is epic. Lead singer and founder Rahill Jamalifard borrows perhaps in equal parts from her Detroit-based adolescence, her Persian background, and her New York experience. She started Habibi last year and has taken the band, which consists of Caroline Partamian (guitar), Erin Campbell (bass) and Karen Isabel (drums) on several short and well-attended U.S. tours.

Read more...