Alphabet Pony
I can’t get enough of Alphabet Pony. Check out the latest two tracks, Clones and Atoms. Simply amazing.
NiT GriT
Danny Beall, aka NitGrit is From San Jose, Cali and makes some of the filthiest dubstep around. Still relatively unknown despite a barrage of huge tracks and stunning remixes of Prituri Se Planinata by Stellamara and DJ Shadow’s Building Steam With a Grain of Salt (below). He released his first album (self-titled) in Jan this year. Big things to come from this guy. Check him out on Soundcloud
♪ Katy B
This song has been stuck in my head for a while now. Katy B’s first release – Katy on a mission. Produced by Benga
And here is her latest offering, entitled Louder. Produced by Zinc.
♪ Broove
This song comes from Broove, an artist from Latvia with only a few pieces in his musical repertoire. Ellipse is by far his standout piece, combining drum and bass elements with classical piano to great effect.
♪ Lil Wayne – I am not Human EP
Photo via datzhott.com
Lil Wayne is in Jail. He found himself caged some time in March and is out in November. But that won’t stop his presence the billboards, his forthcoming album Carter IV is generating some serious hype in the hip hop community. To keep fans happy an EP entitled I am not Human is set to drop on his birthday, September 27th and should provide a taste for the ensuing LP.
The first single off the 45 spinner is called Right above it and featuring Drake:
Urbanears
Everyone loves music. It has become an integral part of life. You listen to music when you work, when you play, when you’re not doing anything. So it makes sense to make a solid investment in some sound candy for your ears.
Innovation in the headphone market is typically in the department of sound quality, and rightly so. There are of course noticeable exceptions, with companies like skull candy fusing style and function and pushing boundaries in standard design. But there are gaps. Big ones. Urbanears (one word) are the new kids on the block, addressing the need for innovation and redefining the concept of the headphone, bringing fresh design and innovative features to the masses.
Outlined below are some exciting points spearheading the urban ears philosophy for the phones:
- Material feel. The headphones are designed to feel more like a piece of clothing. The band and cord and are both constructed of fabric. The material tag demonstrates the brands attention to detail.
- Hands free. Integrated microphone to allow you to pause and talk. An amazing feature for Iphone aficionados. (Compatible also with Nokia / HTC / Blackberry)
- Colour. Available in 14 different sexy block shades. The palette is varied with every season, so there are always new colours to chose from.
- Fully folding. Big space saver.
- Zound plug. A socket that allows a friend to plug in and enjoy whatever you’re listening to. Why do all headphones not have this feature?
Although in this case the focus is on aesthetics, the comfort and form are secondary to the sound quality, which is the purpose of the product. The Plattan’s are loaded with 40mm handmade drivers providing a sound which is both rich and punchy, but does lack some of the big bass of more expensive models.
The Urbanear Plattan’s are relatively inexpensive, well packaged, clean, and available in a spectrum of crisp colours. Add to the mix a decent sound delivery and unique comfort and function features and it all adds up to an impressive product. These musical delights hail from Sweden (Stockholm specifically, in fact the models are named after districts in the city), and are now stocked across Europe. Coming soon to ears near you.
I’ve looked at the flagship DJ style Plattan headphones here, although they also do a basic model and some in-ears. Check them on urbanears
Footpatrol – Open
The store is finally open. And they’ve gone to town on the space. They have crafted wooden “shed”, giving the place a warm feel and unique look. The one off structure floats within the store and is constructed of recycled scaffold board and black steel. Looks amazing.
Images courtesy of footpatrol.co.uk.
Old Spice – Personal marketing to the extreme.
The recent batch of Old Spice commercials have really refreshed the brand’s image. Here’s the original from earlier in the year in case you missed it:
Following on from the huge success of the video and producing more equally entertaining ads featuring the awesome Isaiah Mustafa, Old Spice have gone further than any marketing campaign I’ve ever seen. Over the last couple of days, the Old Spice youtube channel has upload around 200 videos, personally replying to people who have commented on the original commericials. And these aren’t your standard thank you replies either, they are well scripted dialogues, shot in the same manner as the real commericals. It shows an incredible effort on behalf of Old Spice marketing team (and commitment from Isiah himself).
All of the responses can be seen on the Old Spice youtube channel. Click on RESPONSES on the right.
Footpatrol – The Rebirth.
It came to my attention earlier this year that Foot Patrol was planning a relaunch.
Much to my disappointment Foot Patrol closed its doors back in 2008. It was hidden away in St Annes court with no sign or really any indication that the shop was actually there. A touch of a button outside though, and the doors slid open. Inside was adorned with cages, each displaying rare trainers of some kind. This was a destination for the sneaker connoisseur who was after something a little different. High end collabs, discontinued models, regional exclusives, this is where you could cop them. It was in fact the location for the fabled london dunk release (all 200 pairs stocked one day unannounced). The pairs that do occasionally pop up on ebay typically fetch a cool thousand or so.
So, it’s reopening its doors, albeit in a new location (Berwick street, Soho) and like always, there is a catch. Its now owned by JD sports.However, all is not lost, JD, unbeknown to most are also owners of cult sneaker chain SIZE?. It is adding Footpatrol to its current footwear portfolio by placing it as the cherry on top. It will remain exclusive and potentially act as a test pond for new models that could eventually filter down to SIZE?.
Either way, I’m happy its back and will be paying a visit for the launch, which if the hype is right, is sometime this month.
The .CO era
Are there any .com domains left? I for one have spent countless hours trawling the providers looking for something that vaguely represents the brand I am trying to build . It seems that in order to secure something of relevance, your brand or service has to be either a unique combination of letters or an unlikely combination of words (googlewhack anyone?). This problem is somewhat alleviated with the presence of country level domains such as .co.uk (UK), .de (Germany) and recently .eu (Europe) but nothing quite matches the online presence of a .com domain.
Well, that may all be about to change thanks to a country more commonly associated with cartels than cyberspace. At the end of last year Colombia decided to deregulate their own country level extension, making .CO available for registration worldwide. Arcelandia S.A. and Neustar, Inc have joined forces to administer its introduction, which will take place in three key stages: Sunrise, Landrush and general release.
They wouldn’t be the first of course. Other countries have ventured down similar routes, a notable example being Syria who released the .sy extension, attracting a whole host of domains with “cutesy” names. It was never taken seriously. The Columbian conterpart, however, holds considerably more promise. .CO is immediately associated with the words COmpany, COrporate, COmmerse and has already caused quite a stir. The big names are in, with over half of the top 500 global brands already registered. Twitter has got in on the game by securing t.co, a super simple web address which signifies the importance and indeed the shift to shorter domain names. It is particularly apt that Twitter, a service that operates in a world defined by 140 characters is leading this front. Will facebook follow suit and register f.co?
Further media hype was generated when on July 10th an auction hosted by sedo.com and .COinternet saw e.co sell for a record $81’000. “The e.CO auction not only marks the very first .CO domain auction in the industry, but signifies a new era for Internet users as it opens so many new doors for just about anyone looking to expand their brand online” remarked Kathy Nielsen, director of sales at Sedo.com.
The Sunrise phase gave a chance for trademark holders to register the key domains and finished on June 10th. This was followed by Landrush, designed to give companies a chance to obtain the domains they really want (at an inflated price of course). The Landrush phase was supposed to come to an end today. However, due to the overwealming number of applications, it has now been extended till July 16th. If there are multiple registrations for a paricular domain, it will go to the highest bidder.
On the 20th July 2010, the .CO domain opens to general availability and will operate on a first come, first serve basis. This is the real chance for upcoming brands to register the name they’ve been dreaming of and give them the slice of internet pie they’ve been craving. As always though, some will also see this as another business opportunity. Queue cybersquatters buying up every decent domain and throwing them straight back on the market at hugely inflated prices. Still, at least it gives new businesses and entrepreneurs a chance at the domain they actually want, rather than the .com scraps. With the .co extension comes a sense of something different, a globally recognizable extension for the purpose of brand promotion and development. It has been predicted that in 5 years, it will become second to .com behind .net. My advice is act quick and get your name on the pre-order.
More information can be found at cointernet.co
Frankmusik
Frankmusik (real name Vincent Frank) is one of the new kids on the block, bringing a refreshing retro electropop sound to the music table. In 2008 he was listed in the BBC’s Sound of 2009 after creating buzz with his song “3 little words”.
The same year, he travelled round the UK as part of his Live and Lost Tour. The idea was that he could travel between gigs with only the help of his fans. He went from Loch Ness to Camden, for the launch of his single “Better Off as Two”. I was luckily enough to attend the event as a plus 1 for Amy, who had taken Frankmusik from Birmingham to Norwich. The Launch Party at Dingwalls was high energy and Vince was very dynamic on stage. He showed great confidence and seemed very at ease with the crowd as he guided them through the electro-ballads that had gained him such an avid fanbase. Main support was from Starsmith, who played a great live remix of Kings of Leons Sex on Fire.
In August this year, he released his debut album, Complete Me to critical acclaim. He has since seen the album make it to the number 13 spot in the album charts and three of his singles have made it into the UK top 40.
His latest tour sees him playing all over the country throughout November. His stop at the Plug in Sheffield was just as high octane as in Camden, but the support from Killa Kela added something extra to the occasion. As arguably one of the World’s most gifted beatboxers, he demonstrated skills well and above those first brought to the spotlight by Rahzel with “If your Mother Only Knew”. His performance of “Milkshake” by Kelis with beats, tune and lyrics blew the crowd away.
When Frankmusik took to the stage he delivered his electro sounds with soul and conviction and worked the crowd with regular and intimate interaction. Vince has some beat boxing ability of his own (he used to be called Mr Mouth), and he used this talent to good effect during a “technical issues” moment to keep the crowd interested. He demonstrated once again with an intense and energetic performance that Frankmusik means business.
Here is a selection of photos from the event:
