Friday 13 December 2013

Thank god its Friday

Struggling to find that Friday feeling, bit bored and want to listen to something a bit different.
Look or listen no further, The Meteors have landed. If this Psycho billy track dont get you in the mood for a friday piss up at home or down the pub nothing will.  Yes The Meteors are a Psycho billy band from the 80's, so think Stray Cats but with worse hair and better chord progressions.  I personally was not really into this sort of stuff although i did find King Kurt highly entertaining.  I say its not for me but after a few light ales mixed with a few stellas and a shot of voddie to boot i am sure i will be tearing up the dance floor and trying to puke in my hair.  Enjoy.

Friday 6 December 2013

Campag Velocet - .Aint No Funki Tangerine - Video.



First foreign film I watched when I was 10.

UK Hip Hop

I have always been a fan of hip hop, right back to the break dance, electro days where it kind of all started and also various UK rappers. Its been an unusual journey from the early days until now in terms of the music, the rappers, different styles etc.  What I am trying to say is that the genre is very very broad and not easy to pin down.  Public Enemy were a great band and took the world by storm with streetwise swagger and political, anti goverment reference, but it just got a bit too commercial.  In comes NWA from LA.  Not political as such but upset the boys in charge and the whole female and gay lesbian community in just one song.  Looking back it was very tongue in cheek and was not really ment to be taking too seriously.  They wrote songs about day to day life in LA Compton,  with a bit of exaggeration and character. Effl 4 Ziggan ( Niggaz 4 Life) was not made for the music industry it was made for the kids and they loved it, me being one of them.  The record companies went mad and signed up any one with baggy trousers and bad language.  This was a very bad time for hip hop, for me personally the music indusrty killed hip hop in the states right at that moment for me.
Not everyone else will have this view but i just how i felt at the time.

British hip hop has always been exciting.  I have always found them to be more articulate, less bullshit and even less likely to be swayed by the big record deals.  I was really into London Posse, Demon Boys, and Blade.  I have no time for American hip hop now, I am sure there is some good stuff out there but i just can not be bothered to look for it.  Its stagnant according to the charts, where as British hip hop just gets better.

Here is one of my many favs
Cheers



Wednesday 4 December 2013

Cult Films

Whats makes a film a cult film. Minimal script, no script at all, shaky cam, confusing plot, weird chicks etc To be honest I have no idea but there are people out there who do and there views differ quite a lot, so I am not goint to put my head on the block and say a Cult Film is this or that it really does not matter but they are out there and you should watch as many as you can becasue they are lots of fun. Here is one for free.
The Shock Corridor. Great plot, acting is a bit iffy but none the less, its bloody good.



Tuesday 3 December 2013

Denim Heaven at Rivet and Hide

I have always been fascinated by the quality of things and the ratio between cost and how much I will get out of the product.  This probably stems from coming from a modest background where food was always on the table but luxury items were scarce.  Things had to last.  Any holes, rips or tears in clothes or trainers were repaired by me or my Mother.  This of course would lead to some embarrassing moments for me among my peers, but when I look back it taught me a valuable lesson about  how things are made and the quality, detail and thought that has gone into the product.
I have had lots jeans, too many to mention but I always remember my first decent pair which were a dark blue regular fit of Aviatic jeans. I quickly moved on to Italian labels like Armani, Stone Island, Massimo Osti and Evisu  most designer denim in the early nineties was from Italy or Japan and the quality and detail made them well worth the money.  You could chuck them in the washing machine, hang them up to dry and then wear them without even having to ironing them which said to me they were decent quality denim.  Things have changed a lot since then, quality being one of them, sizing and also the country where there made.  I remember buying a pair of the Paul smith Red ear Japanese denim jeans when they first came out, real good quality Japanese denim, lasted for years so when they finally became unwearable after 10 years i decided to buy another pair.  Unfortunately by then Mr Smith decided to stop making the jeans in Japan and moved production to China. I was not happy and took them back to the shop and demanded my money back.  The shop owner told me that all designers are getting there stuff made in China now so there is not a lot you can do about it.  Of course he was wrong and no self respecting Denim geek would settle for this lame excuse.  So I turned to ebay for good quality denim and anything else that was not made in a third world country.  I understand economics and how it works for instance Marks and Spencers do some great clothing and the price tag to match and there clothes are made in very poor countries but the price reflect this and poor people need jobs too but when you are charging £250 for a jacket that's badly made, wont last 2 years and made in the same factory as the Marks and Spencers clothing something is very wrong there.  Oh but its the cut and it was designed in London darling .. Bollox.  I want every pound to count, I want my clothes to perform, I want them to last.

There are two reason why I decided to visit Rivet and hide: Sizing and rare Denim.
Born and bred in London but moving out of the smoke in 2000 made me even more excited about heading down to leafy Parsons Green. One of those hidden parts of London that, to some are just one more annoying tube stop from there destination.  I am one of those people,  I am actually from West London and it is a annoying tube stop but once you get off and have a look around its actually a very charming place.  The appointment was for 12:30 but turned up an hour earlier due to lots of traffic and then being completely clear.  The workshop was what seemed to be a loft conversion very nicely laid out with quality denim, clothing and leather goods.  Danny was very keen to show off his rare denim range (quite rightly so) and letting  me loose on the denim.  So after a quick brief to Danny about the type of fit and cut I was after I was jumping into the jeans.  The look, feel and cut of the denim was very impressive and was certainly having a denim heaven moment.

Opted for the Hiut Slim selvedge in the end due to the cut and the story behind them.  I am a sucker for clever marketing.  Managed to squeeze in a few questions for Danny.  So overall a good day and will most definitely will be paying Rivet an Hide another visit in the new year.

So Danny the jeans youre wearing look cool, where they from then ?
Pure Blue Japan.

What was your first pair of decent Selvedge jeans ?
Nudie jeans.

The whole online, workshop concept is a great idea but i guess the way forward 
would be to own a shop.  Any plans?
Having a shop would be great, no plans as yet but we will see.

Dawson are doing some interesting things and rumour has it they are bringing out a Jeans range.
Yes this is correct and we will be stocking them too.




Nearly There
This looks interesting

Chain stitch machine



Cool fades