Stuff I Like

Time for a Kanye West post: even though any one who might possibly stumble onto this blog is probably interested in my thoughts on art, I’m going to talk about sneakers and a watch instead. This is the first in what might become a series which will highlight random stuff I like. My eventual goal is to have everyone dress and think like I do. Or maybe like I did 6 months ago, so I can still seem progressive, but not in an Andre 3000 is wearing yeti pants and suspenders kind of way.

First up is Oliberté footwear. Fair trade shoes manufactured in Africa out of quality materials? Sounds like they’d make me feel socially responsible to wear them (Bo-ring). Social responsibility doesn’t usually mean fly kicks, or vice versa (looking at you, Nike). Thankfully, these look like something a stylish African would have worn to the ’68 olympics. I love vintage inspired sneakers, and bonus points are given for being made out of something that will last, and for looking genuinely authentic. I mean, if I showed these to you, it probably wouldn’t take many guesses for you to figure out which continent they came from. But you might have trouble guessing the decade. I bought myself a pair of the Rovia Black Sheep, which look just as great in person as they do in the pictures. They have a slender fit (which is perfect for me since I walk around on a pair of hockey sticks for feet), and are made from a really soft leather. My only complaint is that the bottoms don’t really seem to be soled. They come in a semi-unifinished cream colored foam rubber. Which is plenty comfy, but attracts dirt like a fucking magnet. Are there still cobblers in your neighborhood? If so, get them to attach on a hard rubber sole to the bottom of these things.

I can’t say exactly why, but for a long time I’ve wanted a wooden watch. There’s something appealingly antiquated about rocking wrist wear made of oak. “You like my watch? It came from the forest, yo.” Enter WeWood Watches. If you’re feeling nervous in this day and age about knocking down trees for something that doesn’t really need to be made of wood, don’t sweat it. WeWood plants a tree for every watch they make. Since I’m hoping a whole tree doesn’t go into making one of these things, the net result seems to be more trees. Although nature and I haven’t always gotten along (fuck you, summer camp), this is still probably a good thing. I got myself one of these just a couple of weeks ago, and already have had perfect strangers come up and ask me about it. If you want to stand out in a crowd, awesome. If you find strangers creepy, maybe it’s not for you. They’re surprisingly light weight and unsurprisingly not that waterproof.

So I had been a fan of Australian band The Paper Scissors for a while before I even knew they had done a cover of my favorite Hall and Oates song “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).” If you can’t understand out why that’s awesome, then we can’t be friends. Although you sadly won’t find that cover on their latest album, “In Loving Memory” which just came out, you will (to my surprise) find their latest on US iTunes. I’m not typically into quirky lead singers and gratuitous percussion (what the hell are they banging on?), but somehow they make it all work. Nothing here is immediately awesome as “We Don’t Walk” from their ’07 album “Less Talk, More Paper Scissors,” but every track here is strong and it rewards multiple listenings.

I’ll admit it. I bought this shirt without ever having picked up Moby Dick. Out of Print Clothing makes T shirts from fantastic old book covers, which appeals to the bibliophile in me (I make love to books, don’t judge me), and the designer and artist. These things look awesome and make me seem smarter than I am. And you know what, I ended up reading Moby Dick because I bought this shirt. Literacy by way of fashion. Not exactly the way my high school English teachers thought it would happen. I’m sure I could devote an entire blog post to my experience reading Moby Dick, but that would make everyone stop reading my blog forever. The short version: I enjoyed it. But it’s absurdly long and seems to be written entirely in Pirate. Clearly Melville knew of no such thing as editing, and I’m not sure why it’s considered an American classic. But it is visually evocative, and looks damn good on this shirt.

Looking for something smart to wear? Do you like free shipping? And free returns (I think, but I’ve never had to return anything because everything I’ve purchased from them has miraculously fit my skinny ass). Try clothing by ASOS.I bought those shoes over to your left for $35. While they’re not exactly made of the finest materials, and probably won’t last all that long, I get compliments almost every time I wear them out of the house. Plus, they were 35 dollars. If they fall to pieces tomorrow, it will have been worth it. I’ve also bought a jacket and a few slim fit button down shirts and all fit great at a fraction of the price of, well, anywhere else. Of course not everything on their site is worth your time. As a UK based company, you will find your occasional MC Hammer pants on there. As always, use discretion when shopping. If you’re contemplating a piece of clothing, and some small part of you thinks that Vanilla Ice might have ever worn, step away from the computer monitor.

Like many people who like good music (note: I also like bad music), I was a huge fan of Tom Vek’s 2005 album “We Have Sound.” Hailed by some, uncreatively, as the “British Beck,” probably because he was essentially a one man band who made incredible percussive based works in a garage. The album was (I believe) pretty influential in the UK, but Vek then went all Greta Garbo and disappeared for 6 years. Out of nowhere he came back, and this month released a new album, “Leisure Seizure,” which is (again, surprisingly) available now on US iTunes.

I love this shirt by Connecticut based artist Chris Piascik, who is definitely a candidate for a future blog post. I found this digging around on Society 6 (where I sell some prints that you should buy immediately). You can also grab a print version of it on black if wearing T-shirts is too low brow for you. He does fantastic work with typography. Plus, who doesn’t want a shirt with Biggie Smalls on it?

 

Lastly, I started this post by name dropping Kanye West, and I’ll finish it that way. If you’re ever watched the show Community on NBC, you’re familiar with Donald Glover as Troy, the former high school football player, diehard fan of fake movie “Kickpuncher,” and guy who once had “the weirdest boner ever.” A former writer for 30 Rock, he’s a funny dude, and you should definitely youtube his shit. Surprisingly enough, he’s a pretty damn good musician as well, sounding almost like Kanye West, if Kanye West were funny on purpose, instead of mostly by accident. He goes by his alter ego Childish Gambino (created on a Wu Tang name generator many years ago) when performing. Check out my favorite song of his below, then learn more about him at his site Iamdonald.com or download his songs for free at his Childish Gambino site. I had the opportunity to see him in concert a couple months ago which, while certainly not the coolest room of people I’ve ever been in, was certainly a damn good show.