Weller in "Drunk in Prague" shocker!

Paul Weller has been questioned by police after he was found drunk in the street in the Czech capital Prague, according to the NME (well, it was actually The Sun newspaper, but I hate those slags so I'm not crediting them or linking to them). He'd been "drinking heavily with a young lady", which is startlingly apparent from the evidence.

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Yes, it's a non-story, but I had to post that picture of the ever-cool 'Modfather' plastered all over the pavement like an ordinary bloke. Superstars... they're just like us, y'know.

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Click the image for a close-up of Weller's nice grey slacks getting grubby, a gratuitous shot of his mate's knickers, and the two distinct splashes of dog piss on the wall they've decided to bed down next to.

Best Albums of 2008 - Part 1

Numbers 10-6 of my (cross-genre) best albums of 2008. I'll get to Part 2 in the New Year:

10. Johnson & Jonson (Blu & Mainframe) - Johnson & Jonson

Conscious, soulful, everyman lyrics from LA's Blu (who delivers the fitting follow up that Below The Heavens deserved... we'll give him a pass for the C.R.A.C. project) and music with warmth that compliments the rhymes, courtesy of new beatsmith Mainframe resulted in one of the years best Hip Hop albums.

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9. Portishead - Third

After a 10,000 year break from the sharp end of the music industry, I was slightly worried that a new album from Portishead wouldn't be anywhere near as relevant or interesting as their important duo of LP's from the 90's. Then I heard the mind melting 'Machine Gun' and my fears were put to rest.

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8. White Denim - Workout Holiday

The Austin, Texas garage/blues-rock trio rode the crest of the wave created by their lead EP 'Let's Talk About It' and toured their high energy show extensively. They must be shattered. Punky, soulful, always raucous, often psychedelic but always technically excellent, White Denim provided a spiky and progressive alternative to the White Stripes or the Black Keys.

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7. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

The lads from Bury struck gold in 2008, after years of digging, by winning the Mercury Music Prize ahead of my personal tip, Burial (who doesn't feature in this list on account of his Untrue album having been released in 2007). The Seldom Seen Kid is a soaring, beautiful album that can lift you up and carry you away. What more can I say...

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6. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago...

After the breakup of a band, relationship, and a bout of sickness, Justin 'Bon Iver' Vernon left Raleigh, North Carolina and moved back to Wisconsin, spending three months alone in his father's cabin in the woods. The result is this gentle, atmospheric, heartbreaking and heartwarming folk album. Recorded entirely in the log cabin, Vernon plays all instruments, sings all backing vocals and presses the record and stop button himself (as his footsteps across the floor at the end of the standout 'Re: Stacks' will attest). Perfect listening whether you are up or down.

Puma City - Shipping Container Store

I spotted this over at Arch Daily. NYC/Napoli-based architecture and design firm Lot-Ek have used 24 old shipping containers to create this movable Puma retail space spread over three floors. Checking in at 11,000 sq/ft, it features a bar & lounge area and two decks upon which to take a drink while pawing over your new kicks.

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You can find the store at the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009, where it is taken apart and transported to each location (Alicante, Boston, Stockholm).

9 - Trailer

From 'visionaries' (which seems to be the phrase du jour for anyone who is a bit mental) Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.

Visually incredible, but I find it difficult to get really excited about animation... we'll see.

Mikkey Halstead - Karma mp3 & video

Up & coming (pause) Chicago emcee Mikkey Halsted's latest single, produced by Kanye West's mentor and regular Common collaborator No I.D.

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Karma mp3

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mp3 pinched from eskay at Nah. Go visit him for the video to the track.

I Love You, Man - Trailer (Video)

Paul Rudd has quietly become the new king of these lighthearted comedies.

'Star Wars The Musical' to hit London

The NME are telling anyone who'll listen that a live-action show, fully co-signed by George Lucas, called 'Star Wars: A Musical Journey' will be hitting London next year. The London Philharmonic Orchestra will be on hand to play John Williams classic score throughout.

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At present, the 02 looks like the most likely venue, which means that the tickets will be expensive (although details of how much and where to get them have yet to be released).

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And if you were wondering... yes, this post was purely an excuse to put that picture up.

Sene and Blu are Patch Adams - ABC's (Video)

I know it's old, but it's an excellent track from Brookly'ns Sene and LA's Blu. I like this a lot.

The video... er, not so much.

The Mother of Invention - Trailer (Video)

This looks mildly amusing.

Epic Fail: Soulja Boy sells just 35k in first week

I'm delighted.

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XXL is reporting that the poster-boy for God-awful, shallow, artless, cookie-cutter, soul-free rap music will sell just 35,000 copies of his second album 'Souljaboytellem' in the all-important first week.

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Let's remember that when Kanye sold just shy of a million copies of 'Graduation' in Week 1, people were saying he'd failed. Let's hope the woeful sales of Soulja Boy are as much a reaction to his abysmal music as the death-knell of big first week sales.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Trailer

Daniel Merriweather - Change (Video)

Australian Daniel Merriweather's first single from his Mark Ronson-helmed debut album 'Love & War', out next year. Features labelmate and fellow Ronson buddy Wale.

Wow...

The above picture, that looks a bit like a giant pair of floating electric-powered lungs, or an angry brain, is actually a lightning storm in Chile. Click the image for a close up. It's worth it.

Then go Here and Here for more stunning 'photos of the year' courtesy of the Boston Globe.

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Spotted over at hypebeast

Scientists: "People Still Willing to Torture"

The BBC is reporting that a group of scientists from, you guessed it, the US have repeated the famous Milgram experiments, to assess a persons capacity to 'torture' another, by administering electric shocks (think Peter Venkman at the start of Ghostbusters).

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The results this time? Same as last time:

"What we found is validation of the same argument - if you put people in certain situations, they will act in surprising and maybe often even disturbing ways."

What. A .Shock. (No pun intended)

Anthony Hamilton - A Change Is Gonna Come (Live)

Everyone calls this "the Sam Cooke classic".

Well... Sam wrote it, but Otis Redding owned it.

Anthony gets a pass for even trying it, because he's one of the more soulful young dudes currently singing that neo-soul/R&B shenanigans.

Time 'Man of The Year': Barack Obama

It was never going to be X Factor's 'Dead Wife Bloke' was it?

Click image to go to Time.com

N.E.R.D. - Sooner or Later (Video)

Visuals for their new Credit Crunch-friendly single from 'Seeing Sounds'.

No words...

...other than they must have been slip-ons.

Bob and weave George.

Skills to pay the bills...

Synecdoche, New York - Trailer (Video)

Kaufman + Seymour-Hoffman should = GENIUS.

Sneaker Freaker - Best of 2008

The worlds premier Sneaker magazine, Melbourne-based 'Sneaker Freaker', have just put together a list of the years best releases.

Go to their website or pick up Sneaker Freaker #14 to see the gallery in full.

Kidrobot to open in Selfridges

Freshness are reporting that for one month, starting in January 20089, Selfridges will be hosting a Kidrobot store-gallery in their 'Wonder Room'.

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This is Kidrobot's first ever overseas project, and to mark this, Kidrobot and Selfridges are holding a release party for their 'Ye Olde English Dunny' Series, a 17-figure lineup of art toys designed by top UK artists such as ilovedust, Clutter, Triclops, Jon Burgerman and TADO.

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In addition, Kidrobot created an exclusive version of their highly anticipated Kidrobot 16, which will be available only at the Kidrobot x Selfridges store-gallery. Known as UK Punk, this insanely rare figure comes complete with a Union Jack paint job, a studded belt, and will drop in a limited edition run of 300 pieces.

NASA x Kanye x Santi x Lykke

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NASA featuring Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li - Gifted mp3

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Learn more about NASA, whose first album is out in February and features a diverse guest-list, from Ghostface Killah and M.I.A. to Tom Waits and Seu Jorge, by clicking HERE.

Terminator Salvation - Trailer (Video)

Wow.

I'm no sci-fi gimp, but I'll happily queue up on opening night for this with all the trekkies and dickheads.

Baby madness...

I really don't know what to say about this phenomenon.

Collectables, whether it be sought-after deadstock sneakers or limited-edition collaborative t-shirts, has always seemed fairly harmless to me (and, personally, I'd go as far as saying interesting, cool and addictive too!).

But this baby-focused nonsense is just weird. And gratuitous.

In fact, it's dictionary-definition 'fuckery'.

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The picture directly above is Marc Jacobs' limited edition Bugaboo buggy (only 15 made, starting bid of $2500 on ebay), and at the top is part of Henrik Vibskov's capsule collection for Quinny (which are bloody expensive anyway, without the marquee-name design).

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If you must, go to Fabric Mag for more images of this Vibskov mess, including a bloody poncho!

NOWHERE at Dover Street Market

Nigo (BAPE) and Jun Takahashi (Undercover) are recreating their Harajuku-based vintage streetwear store 'NOWHERE' in London's Dover Street Market. The space will be open for a limited time only, starting on 19th January, and will offer A Bathing Ape products as well as collaborative peices under the NOWHERE brand.

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Start queueing now!

J5 - Ducky Boy (Video)

From Disc 2 of THIS.

"Santa's fucking dead"

Go HERE to read Charlie Brookers' take on the "Rubbish Lapland" controversy of last week, from today's G2.

Evan Roth x Jay-Z - Brooklyn (Go Hard) Video

Renowned artist Evan Roth, of the Graffiti Research Lab (famed for their use of LED and laser technology in graffiti), contributes the above visuals to the recently released leaked Jay-Z & Santogold track.

The Wrestler - Trailer (Video)

This is being tipped HEAVILY for next years Oscars.

Worst. Song. EVER.

The second verse and chorus... unbelievable. Did they not listen back to this at any point?

Plus, the video is SO bad, that it's almost a work of art. Not even Larry David or Ricky Gervais could create something as hilariously cringe-worthy...

Joell Ortiz ft. Immortal Technique - Modern Day Slavery (Video)

Featuring a sample of Otis Redding's superior version of the Sam Cooke classic "A Change Is Gonna Come".

What Doesn't Kill You - Trailer (Video)

Another blue-collar crime drama from the streets of Boston. If it's half as good as 'Mystic River', 'The Departed' or 'Gone Baby Gone', it will be very good indeed.

Brooklyn (Go Hard) - Jay-Z feat. Santogold mp3

Produced by Kanye West. From the soundtrack to the Big biopic 'Notorious'.

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Brooklyn (Go Hard) mp3

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Courtesy of Nah Right

Sure Ad - Stunt City

I've got a mate called Matty whose woeful driving abilities would be well suited to this type of town...

Jazzanova x Ben Westbeech

Berlin-based jazz/beats collective Jazzanova hook up with Ben Westbeech (he of 'So Good Today' fame) on their new album 'Of All The Things', which is out now on Verve records.

Here is the fruit of that collaboration.

Q-Tip - Renaissance Rap (Video)

The hidden track (after 'Move') from Kamaal's new LP 'The Renaissance'.

The International - Trailer (Video)

How fitting is it that the main 'bad guy' in this film is a bank... this should do well in this climate.

KAWS x Kanye

Nobody quite knows whether this is the new standard cover art for '808's & Heartbreak' (out Monday, by the way) or if it's for the iTunes version only. Either way, the story is that NYC artist-turned Japanese cool-stuff peddler KAWS (he of OriginalFake fame) has taken his acrylic brush to Kanye's new CD and produced the above. I like it.

Coldplay - Lost+ feat. Jay-Z (Video)

From the new 8 track Prospekt's March EP, out November 24th.

Black Milk - Give The Drummer Sum (Video)

Video for the first single from the album 'Tronic' by Detroits' current no.1 MC/Producer Black Milk.

IHT visit Colette in Paris (Video)

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The International Herald Tribune give us a feel for the newly renovated Colette in this short video.

They touch on how streetwear is a growing element of the boutique department stores' business since the plush refit. And why not... £150 for a t-shirt sounds like good business.

I'll be visiting next weekend, straight from hopping off the Eurostar, but purely in a window-shopping capacity I imagine.

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Courtesy of High Snobiety.

Stupidly Cool...

I want this.

It costs $23,000.

Keep dreaming...

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The Radiomir Black-Seal Chronograph watch from Panerai.

THAT Lotus is up for sale...

Next week, Bonhams auction house will be selling James Bond's swimming Lotus from 'The Spy Who Loved Me'. This was the greatest thing I had ever seen in my life at the time (and remained so until I saw Eva Mendes, and then in turn, Steven Gerrard's 91st minute equaliser against West Ham in the FA Cup final of 2006 replaced her).

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From Bonhams website: "The white 1976 Lotus Esprit from the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, starring Roger Moore and Barbara Bach, will be sold by the international auctioneers on 1 December at its annual motoring Sale at Olympia, in West London. The car is expected to fetch £100,000-120,000."

New 'Buck' Magazine Launch

Buck, a new men's magazine, is published for the first time this month. Based out of my home town, the magazine concentrates solely on style, design and food, unlike some of its competitors who try to cover everything and end up offering the obvious rather than genuine insight.

The first issue is dedicated to London and it's excellent.

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For more details visit their website, buckstyle.com, where you can also sign up for a newsletter.

Fleet Foxes - Breaking, Entering, Playing (Video)

A 'take away show' by The Fleet Foxes, one of the acts of 2008.

"A friend’s friend let us into an abandoned wing of the Grand Palais. There were empty spaces, as if abandoned at short notice, unreasonably high ceilings. The perfect place for the Fleet Foxes."

Q-Tip's Top 3 Rappers of All Time (Video)

Slick Rick.
Rakim.
Biggie.

Not my Top 3, but nobody who knows what's what in Hip Hop is going to get too upset by that list.

Cadillac Records - Trailer (Video)

Reasons to be thankful for "Cadillac Records":

(1) Mrs Z as Etta James
(2) What... you need more than that?

Yes Man - Trailer (Video)

Based on the book by Danny Wallace, Jim Carrey no doubt hams it up as the man who can't say 'no'.

I've read good things about the script... we'll find out if it's any good just before Christmas.

Guns n' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" - Rolling Stone Review

Rolling Stone magazine have heard and reviewed the loooooong awaited (not by me, I hasten to add) new album from Guns n' Roses; Chinese Democracy. Not exactly my kind of thing, but I've posted this for two reasons:

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(1) Bookies were offering long odds that this album doesn't get released this year, and it looks like they are going to lose money, which is always worth celebrating, and...

(2) It got a good review. A really good review. Which is frankly, unbelievable considering Axl Rose is a complete dick.

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Go HERE to read it.

Jadakiss - Who Run This (Video)

From Rik Cordero & Three/21 Films, the video for the Jay-Z assisted track from Jadakiss's Def Jam debut album 'The Last Kiss'. Its a pretty standard rap video, but I like the track.

KAWS Exhibition @ Gering & Lopez Gallery

If, like me, you live 3000 miles away from the Gering & Lopez gallery in NYC, go here and here to see more images from the KAWS exhibition, currently on display there.

The giant red Chum character above is a highlight.

And thank god...

I like this.

For those with low-res monitors, the word 'new' is a stylised outline of the mainland US.

You can buy one HERE for 22 'bucks' (plus international shipping).

Jay-Z - History mp3

I love that picture. Unfortunately, this track doesn't feature Bill on the hook.

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The new song is called 'History', and it's said to be produced by Kanye West.

No prizes for guessing what it's about.

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History mp3

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Cat Fight... Toyota Advert (Video)

The part with the swinging light is genius...

The Moment (Video)

Apparently, this short computer animation is a student film.

Kanye West - Heartless (Video)

This was leaked a few days back with someobdy's tag across the middle of the screen. Kanye, who made it abundantly clear on his blog that he wasn't to blame for that leak has now leaked this ad-free version himself. It uses rotoscope technology, like that film Richard Linklater made a few years back about stoners, where real images are painted over. I think Keanu (spit) was in it. Anyway... enjoy...

Pharoahe Monch - Welcome To The Terrordome (Video)

Monch covers the classic Public Enemy record, updating some of the themes in the process. This has been around for a looooong time, but this video is brand new.

Powerful music...

"Sold out arena, all screamin' my name..."

The victory speech in full.

Angels and Demons - Teaser Trailer (Video)

Why does Tom call it the "Elluminardi"?

Razorlight - 60 Thompson mp3

^ Nice hat Johnny (*looks for sarcasm button on keyboard*).

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The album 'Slipway Fires' is out now. Here is a free mp3 of my current favourite track to encourage you to give your local record shop your local supermarket ten quid for it.

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60 Thompson mp3

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I love this...

She posted it herself. What a good sport.

The magic happens after the 2min 40secs point.

Fingers crossed...

Valkyrie - Final Trailer (Video)

Previously: Valkyrie - Trailer 2

Eating out - Okinawa style

The Naha Harbor Diner, found at the Banyan Town shopping centre in Okinawa.

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Click HERE for more pictures and info.

The Day The Earth Stood Still 2008 - Trailer (Video)

The remake of the 1951 classic is on it's way. Here's a brief trailer.

The presence of Jennifer Connelly makes up for the presence of Keanu. Just.

Go to Trailer Addict to see an extended 5 minute trailer.

Devin the Dude - F**k You (Live)

Devin performing the track he featured on from Dr Dre's now-classic album Chronic 2001.

Beatles "Can't Buy Me Love" Kubrick Set

Japanese toy company Medicom will be releasing this 1000% set in December. An intant collectors piece, no doubt. I'm pretty impressed by the likeness of each figure. Ringo's nose is absolutely brilliant.

Bang & Olufson Serenata Mobile Phone

The above is a picture of Kanye West, bragging all over his blog about having 'copped' the new B&O mobile phone. I can't blame him. If I had one, I'd be doing the same right now. But, they cost over a thousand quid for an unlocked one, so I'll have to admire it from afar.

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Go HERE to see the detail and stats of this perfectly-formed, beautiful, shiny little bastard.

Coldplay x Jay-Z - "Viva La Hova" mixtape

The latest in a long line of Jay-Z mash-up (I hate that term, let's call it a 'blend') albums.

This one takes various acapella verses from Hov and couples them with music created solely from records made by Coldplay. Go to vivalahova.com for more info, and to hear Jay's take on the project.

Click the image above for a close-up of Eugene Delacroix's painting from 1830 with Rocafella chains and Yankee fitteds photoshopped in. Excellent.

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Viva La Hova mixtape mp3

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"I'll have a pint of B&H please..."

This is ridiculous... liquid cigarettes. In a can.

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We have the Dutch company United Drinks & Beauty to thank for this. It seems that it is effectively an energy drink, and there is no nicotine in it.

So... by making the can look exactly like a pack of cancer sticks, they are marketing a drink on the "cool cache" of smoking.

Go HERE to read more, tut, and shake your head until your neck hurts.

Family Guy gets the KAWS treatment

Yes, this is a picture of Pharrell holding up a bicycle. No, I couldn't care less about P or the bike.

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Of more interest to me is the large canvas artwork that Pharrell is standing in front of, which shows the characters from the popular cartoon Family Guy sporting the trademark KAWS treatment. look closely and you'll see that even Brian has the 'X X' eyes...

Justice - "A Cross The Universe" DVD (Trailer)

Cold War Kids - Against Privacy (Live Video)

The opener from the "Loyalty to Loyalty" album.

Das EFX - They Want EFX (Video)

Classic track from 92.

Everybody had the stiggity-stutter style after this record dropped, and the gutter imagery was adopted by a lot of artists who lacked originality.

I love the way they flipped the James Brown sample too (although that said, Lord Finesse did it better a year or two before).

Warwick Avenue - Duffy feat. Wale mp3

Washington DC rapper (and recent signee to Mark Ronson's fledgling label, Allido Records) tags a verse onto Duffy's single from earlier this year, which I assume is now getting airplay in the US.

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Warwick Avenue (Wale Version) mp3

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Gran Torino - Trailer (Video)

He may be 142 years old, but Clint will still beat you to death with his bare hands.

"Vibe... Vibrations..."

Classic.

Marc Jacobs gets political

Marc Jacobs will be selling these at his Marc by Marc Jacobs stores worldwide in the lead-up to the US Presidential Election.

Let's hope he applies the same sentiment to his stance on body art.

BlackBerry Storm Smartphone

A first look at the latest in a long line of supposed 'iPhone Killers', set for a November/December 2008 release.

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A mate of mine (who works in the industry) showed me this phone over a month ago, and I wasn't so sure about it. The screen is nice and large, but it delicately pivots in its housing when you press it (in order to provide a level of 'feel' it's competitors cannot match). This not only feels strange, but also gives me the impression that it could easily be broken.

That said, it looks great which is half the battle.

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Go HERE for more info.

Just because...

Donny Hathaway - The Ghetto (Live).

Genius.

Man > Nature

Impressive, non?

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The 'viewpoint platform' on Mountain Isidor in Tyrol, Austria.

Go to Dezeen for more pictures and info.

Incendiary - Trailer (Video)

'808's & Heartbreak' Promo Shots

Some fashion-forward promo-pics for the new Kanye West album, '808's & Heartbreak', have hit the 'net over the weekend. You'll no doubt have noticed that they are as far away as possible from your typical Hip Hop cliches... no guns, no baggy jeans, no gold, no cap, no sportswear. He even goes as far as to wear a brooch in the shape of a broken heart!

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It sounds like the album will be equally as genre-defying... a labour of love with almost no rapping, 808 beats on EVERY TRACK and lots of Autotune-assisted singing (if rumours are to be believed, Kanye had to promise his label boss Jay-Z that he would put out another, more conventional album in April 09).

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Go to The Clones house to see more.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - Trailer (Video)

This film speaks to me on a 42,665 levels...

MGMT - The Youth (Video)

These crazy Brooklyn dudes did it again...

"In Loving Memory of the Boom Economy"

UK artist K-Guy dropped this piss-taking memorial in the City of London recently, in order for fat bankers to pay their respects.

Click the image for a close up.

Body of Lies Trailer - (Video)

Ridley Scott ropes in Leo Di Caprio along with his BFF Russell Crowe and our very own Mark Strong (who was excellent in the recent RocknRolla).

Russ does the fat/glasses/weird barnet thing. Leo does the crap-facial-hair-to-prove-I'm-a-man thing. Mr Scott does the blow-things-up-stylistically thing. All the hallmarks for success.

David Fincher's Nike ad

Inner Mongolia is wrong

How they talk about The Greatest even now...

Producer D. Dot talks about working with Biggie Smalls on his final album, and comments about BIG's 'Victory' record on Puff's first album.

These dudes are still in awe 11 years on...

Kanye's weird listening session

So.... Kanye held a listening session for his new album 808's & Heartbreak in Los Angeles. From those who were there, it was a strange affair.

Held at a house in the middle of nowhere with passwords for entry, guests were greeted by the above scene... naked models, some of whom appear to be wearing a sheeps arse over there face in some kind of homage to Eyes Wide Shut. They were backlit by an interchanging light, from red to green to white and back. Then the album played with little or no comment about the tracks, and everybody left.

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Go to Kanye's blog for more pics of this crazy shit.

Eminem - I'm Having a Relapse mp3

Look who's back...

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New music from Marshall. Silly voices, crazy flow... it's what we have come to expect from him.

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I'm Having a Relapse mp3

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