mike vadino, the graphic design mind behind dfa records has customized a nookanooka as part of the juan maclean tour nooka is proud to be an official sponsor. here is the official copy from the ad that will run in the next issue of vice magazine:
The Juan Maclean Nooka Robot is the not-too-distant relative of Nooka’s official mascot, the NookaNooka.™ Born from the sci-fi influences and music of DFA Records’ The Juan Maclean, and Nooka’s decidedly different approach to design, our little robot friend has already taken a liking to this planet. In fact, he’ll be hitting the road this month and next with The Juan Maclean and making appearances at select shows.
we will have a website with all the tour dates up by the end of the week where you can also view a preview video of how the mike vadino nookanooka was made! you can buy the juan maclean release, the future will come on itunes.
nooka featured is available at fine stores and here. join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nookaNOW on twitter.
Nooka is an official sponsor of The Juan Maclean US Tour this Spring.
the lovely and talented kate simko gives a great interview to xlr8r dot com, one of my fave music magazines online and off. and for a few seconds you can see kate wearing a blue aluminum nooka during the footage of her set at sonotheque! timing wise, music from the atom smashers soundtrack out today- ghostly.com.
in the past week, i’ve read 2 good books and am well into a third and have listened to at least ten new music albums and discovered some fun new bands – i guess once i start stimulating my brain, it wants more more more! this is in addition to managing the numerous design projects i have going on while dealing with the stress of the economy…i am truly reaching a point where i am feeling a bit overwhelmed. but not to dwell on the stress part, i highly recommend the 2 books i completed: the white tiger by aravind adiga and outliers: the story of success by malcolm gladwell. the white tiger, an entertaining read in and of itself, will have even deeper resonance for anyone who is from or has visited india, and an extra layer for those who have also been to china in the past 5-10 years. i really couldn’t put it down. outliers is non-fiction but a very entertaining and eye-opening read.
so now onto music: first, on thursday i had a lovely lunch with reuben wu of ladytron [see foto from friday night's show] to discuss a possible collaboration. if you are in NYC, they are playing webster hall tonight [friday] and tomorrow night, 7pm. i will be going tonight. i asked him what he was listening to and he told me about neon indian [myspace page here.] i really like the neon indian and lok forward to see a proper release. after listening, i thought of deastro again. 2 weeks ago i got to catch part of the deastro show in nyc and also got a preview copy of his upcoming album, moondagger, which i think is excellent. you can buy ladytron’s latest, velociferohere.
i was really upset to find out that missingtoof, a music blog where i learn about the latest remix artists and new electronica bands is having server problems. posting this sadness on twitter got the attention of disko author [thank you!] and his post on remixes/covers of stacey q‘s two of hearts really cheered me up out of my stress funk! the brad walsh version really made me smile. i guess i shouldn’t poo-poo twitter so much huh?
last week via sam and missy of ghostly, i met justin who is the US director of promotions for mute records and he turned me on to some acts on his roster. one of those acts is the NYC based art rock trio liars. they straddle several genres on their self titled release and remind me of what i liked in bands like the beta band [though the liars sound nothing like them]. i’m going to give it my office/ipod/car/bicycle test which requires i listen to the music in all four environments in order to get a full taste of the work and this album is worthy of the test. i’m glad i got turned on to them as this album was actually released in 2007! liars on itunes here. other things i’m grooving on from mute is: fever rayfever ray which is basically the new the knife album and i love it [interview with karin of fever ray at my friend lapo's blog.]; i’m from barcelonawho killed harry houdini, a band actually from sweden [and who doesn't love swedish pop music?]; and the new can anthology, if you’re even the least bit curious about early innovators in pop/electronic music you must own this.
i can write more music stuff, but i think i’ve reached the limit for a single blog entry.
now the ever-present plug: nooka is available at fine stores and here. remember, you get a free copy of deastro’s keepers with every online watch order on this link while supplies last!
join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nooka_ on twitter.
this is a great track, it’s better than a reeses peanut butter cup having 3 great flavors that taste great together! there are parts of the video that remind me of the nooka extra-dimensional video which you can view here. it’s great to think that we could provide a little inspiration sometimes:) i can’t wait to hear what santogold’s next album will sound like…still listen to the debut over and over…
as can be expected, kanye has a great eye and the art direction of the video was most certainly his. great job!
thank you miho for sending me the link.
now the ever-present plug: nooka is available at fine stores and here. remember, you get a free copy of deastro’s keepers with every online watch order on this link while supplies last!
join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nooka_ on twitter.
michna michna michna: i can’t believe michna is still on tour, but nice to see the orange zub peaking out under his signature santa claus streetwear [foto by angela dawn photography] while playing tombone. you can still catch him playing, so look for shows the following dates and cities. Michna with Raw Paw live 3/27 Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub* 3/28 Tampa, FL @ The Honey Pot* 3/29 Jacksonville, FL @ Freebird Live* 3/30 Knoxville, TN @ World Grotto* 3/31 Nashville, TN @ Exit/In* 4/1 Tuscaloosa, AL @ Mellow Mushroom* 4/2 Birmingham, AL @ Zydeco* 4/3 Athens, GA @ Tasty World* 4/4 Brooklyn, NY (DJ Set) @ Brooklyn Museum 5/23 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick 6/18 Barcelona, Spain @ Sonar Festival *with Eliot Lipp
deastro deastro deastro: deastro plays his very first NYC date this weekend, tonight and tomorrow night at cake shop and will release his new album. moondagger soon. news on that here. remember, you get a free copy of deastro’s keepers when you buy a nooka on our e-store here.
nooka michna/adrian wears available at fine stores in your town and here. join nooka and love nooka on facebook and nooka_ on twitter.
i am back from a week in tokyo, and that means more blog entries!
towa tei was kind enough to send us a foto sporting his new black zirc night version via mutual friend miho hatori – thanks miho! i think it matches his style as one can see from the photo. this zirc is available at fine stores all over the world, or here on our own online store. you can get towa tei’s newest release from itunes here.
join “nooka” and “love nooka” on facebook and follow nooka_ on twitter.
rocko da don photographed at straights restaurant in atlanta on march 4th [or could br march 3rd]. thanks to cooknice for the sighting on another blog. nooka rocko is wearing availble in fine shops and here. join Nooka and Love Nooka on facebook.
can companies fall in love bringing a new dimension of B2B? i think so, as it is the case with nooka and ghostly records. well, ghostly records is celebrating their 10th anniversary and we are celebrating with them by giving a free copy of deastro’s keppers with every web order of a nooka watch on us.nooka.com/buy from march 1st while supplies last.
why deastro? because keepers is one of my FAVORITE albums of 2008 AND i want to share that joy with as many people as possible.
more on deastro: Deastro is the brainchild of Detroit-area wunderkind Randolph Chabot, who’s been recording music since he was 12. Deastro’s Keepers contains a whirlwind of styles, as Chabot hops from shy synth-pop to instrumental robot-rock, whisper-soft ballads to sky-high anthems and coats it all in a delirious fizz of production. It’s wildly positive, upbeat music tinged with an experimental spirit and a hint of melancholy. Deastro’s next full-length, Moondagger, will be out this May on Ghostly International.
buy a watch after march 1st here or buy keepers on itunes here.
also, slightly unrelated, but if you’re on facebook, join the “Love Nooka” group!
recognizing that creative people find inspiration from multiple sources, matthew waldman conducts mini interviews to hopefully gain insight into the creative processes of the artists he meets.
can you give me a short bio? “…Kate’s music occupies the space between techno and house with an international voice that sets it apart. The artist in question is something of a complete package, a classically trained pianist who found herself at Techno’s doorstep during Midwest rave’s heyday in the mid 90’s. A student in music technology at Northwestern, Kate later ventured out to continue her studies in Santiago, Chile and a start a successful project with Andres Bucci under the name Detalles, marking her entrance into the emerging new techno scene. Playing events such as Detroit’s Movement Festival, Decibel, and MUTEK have steadily built Kate’s reputation and her Chicago night Wake Up! has hosted everyone from John Tejada to Mikael Stavostrand, earning a “best regular club night” nod in the weekly publication New City. Kate is a music lifer, committed to the craft and impressing the more savvy critics one record at a time.”
i find most artists are very good at talking about their inspirations and moreover, influences. what was your motivation to continue with music and what continues to do so? Since I made a transition from playing classical piano pieces to making my own music, music turned into a quest to define my own sound. It motivates me the most when people enjoy my music. That, combined with a desire to express myself and grow as an artist, inspires me to keep going.
the digital revolution has reduced the real estate given to visuals for marketing a musical artist. how important is ‘design’ to your work as a musician? Design has always been important to me. I’ve always been involved in the creative direction of the design for the events I’ve organized and past CD / vinyl releases. Ideally, a musical release should be an aesthetic package complete with tasteful design.. not much you can do about that with digital releases, which is a negative of that medium, for sure.
what does ‘nooka’ mean to you? Nooka means sleek style outside of the box. The nooka way of marking time is creative and inspiring. I hadn’t worn a watch in years until I found Nooka recently.
what’s your next project? Right now I’m in Buenos Aires recording an album. As far as releases, Ghostly is putting out an ambient film soundtrack of mine in the next couple months, and Spectral Sound is set to release my next 12″ of dance music.
the nooka kate proudly wears is the blue aluminum zot available here.
last week, towa tei released the first single from his upcoming album on itunes, mind wall featuring the vocals of miho hatori. the video is really cute and i love the song.
i had brunch with miho on sunday in bed-stuy brooklyn to discuss each others’ projects and we always get into profound discussions on creative process, influences, and life – my respect for her deepens each time we meet. but please don’t think i’m pushing this because she’s a friend – because i don’t do that often. you simply must try and catch a live performance of her’s. the purity and natural depth of her singing is only hinted at in recorded form.
anyway, miho hatori and tei towa, a fun musical match. support the arts, buy the single on itunes!
if you’re looking for a nooka, they’re available here.
mtv’s carlos santos stopped by the nooka studio today and we hooked him up with some gear to spread the word. i learned that he does stand-up comedy in addition to his duties with voice-overs, narration and hosting/vj-ing for mtv. great guy and even cuter in person – though i think i got a good essence from my digi-snaps. i think he’s a rising star to keep an eye on.
if you follow my posts, you know i’m a fan of school of seven bells and tag them as a band to watch from ghostly records. here is an interview with them where the interviewer talks at length on the nooka watches they’re wearing, but unfortunately, doesn’t mention nooka once! :( oh well! we know what they’re talking about.
here are some fotos from the ghostly halloween party. pictured: the rapture dj as michael jackson, matthew dear/audion, winner of the costume contest, and a random lambchop character. you can buy your very own glow in the dark nooka zub here!
i am a huge fan of the rapture as well as matthew dear, so it was a fun night. the rapture is currently writing new material for an album to be released some time in 2009.
question? where will the nooka studio be on friday night for halloween? answer: Ghostly + Throne of Blood – Halloween 2008: The second annual bash, presented by Justine D. and Ghostly!
Featuring; AUDION – Live, THE RAPTURE DJ’s, DANIEL WANG – DJ + ZOMBI – S.Moore Live, JAMES F*CKING FRIEDMAN – DJ, DANCES WITH WHITE GIRLS – DJ, WORST FRIENDS- DJ
Costume Contest with Cash and Prizes provided by Metromix.com and Nooka!
October 31st, 2008 Studio B 259 Banker St. (Between Calyer & Meserole)
our contact in budapest sent us a scan of enikö hodosi wearing a white zub zot in the popkultúra magazine, wan 2. she is a member of a hungarian band known as neo. they are listed on myspace as new wave / electronica / pop which is misleading as i think it’s more pop / rock on some tracks and eurobeat for others. her solo stuff is definitely eurobeat if you search for her videos on youtube. eurobeat gets pushed further and further east every year, most certainly a victim of global warming! there haven’t been eurobeat sightings in north america since the last dead or alive and sique sique sputniks died in the cincinatti zoo in 1995.
she’s really cute and the white zub zot looks great on her. neo’s myspace page is here. watch shown can be purchased at fine shops in budapest, worldwide, and here. the nooka hungary site is here.
at the invitiation of lapo belmestieri, i was able to enjoy the roisin murphy concert in nyc last night! it was a great experience – i have never seen such an enthusiastic audience. her costume changes were spectacular, and she did 2 encores. after the show, i was able to personally give roisin a brand new retooled gold IP nooka zirc which she seemed to really love. thank you lapo!
here is a great photo sent to me by nooka germany of the pussy cat dolls. they are neither cats nor dolls, but rather a successful pop music act! i’m loving the louis vuitton wrap!
great friend of nooka, lapo belmestieri is producing the world premiere concert of roisin murphy [former lead vocalist of moloko and accomplished solo artist] on friday october 24th at the mansion. i’ll be there, will you?
pr updates from beautiful paris france. middle foto is a montage of images from a super dj event AUGUSTE nooka sponsored back in september. looks like it was a lot of fun! the list of performers is in the poster. look at all the nookas! more fotos here.
3nd foto [bottom] from a separate event, is of 3 cute french boys who are les primates rockerz! i’d love to tell you more about them, but all the info i have is this one foto. anyone know more about them? from what i can tell, they are break-dancers…
my friend lapo was kind enough to invite me to the friends and family only debbie’s hairy concert [scissor sisters play incognito in nyc to avoid the maddening crowds]. the night before they went on as queef latina which is even funnier.
the show was great: a roxy music cover, a song where baby daddy [scott] blew us all away with lead vocals and a new song “I remember the straight lines”? seems to be the big euro single for the next release. they played their classics as well as the new stuff. it was a very intimate affair full of love and pop energy.
i spoke a little with jake and derek at the after party to ask when the next album will be released, it it won’t be sooner than spring, but as they are perfectionists – it will be amazing.
brooklyn based stylist, samson j. cameron put a gold nooka on T.I. for a photoshoot and was kind enough to send our press office some jpegs. T.I. is very sexy – congrats on having the number one record in the usa!
as you may know from a previous posting, i met school of seven bells at a glam ghostly records party over the summer. well…their full length album release is now slated for october 28th and they will be touring between now and well after that date.
their sound is reminiscent of M83, miranda sex garden [though i may be the only person who bought their CDs], and enya [i know it's fun to hate on enya, but "orinoco flow" is an enigmatic pop classic]. SVIIB’s singers are twins so i can’t help but get images of the peanuts in my head [their classic koi no fugue is a karaoke standard in japan and taiwain to this day though americans know them from the 1960s mothra vs. godzilla movies]. i find SVIIB’s alpinisms to be especially transportative [is that a word? if not, i just made it. feel free to use] when riding my bicycle – it brings me totally into my head and i don’t notice my leg muscles at all – making for an effortless ride.
i hope this makes it interesting enough for you all to run out [or go to itunes] to buy the album when it comes out. update: available now on itunes!
they came to my studio last week to chat about the album, life, crazy people, fall allergies, as well as getting some snazzy nooka watches.
first, a huge hug out to todd owyoung, the i shoot shows photographer for always being so proactive sending me fotos of artists wearing nooka when he spots them. gice his site lots of hits, send him money and gifts, hire him to be your official photographer.
anyway, last week he sent great shots of lil wayne which i will post/add to the lil wayme postings, AND pics of GO!Team, a brighton uk [i like to refer to it as "hove"– makes it sound further away for me as we have a brighton here in nyc] based base that defies classification. i really like their music and their website which looks like i designed it my senior year in high school [their music sounds like what i listened to in high school as well, with a new twist of course]. that is not a dig, i was a good designer even back then.
to say i’m a big fan of miho hatori is an understatement. i have followed her career since the first cibo matto release, went to live shows, purchased remix projects and love her as a cartoon in the gorillaz – so it was with great pleasure to entertain miho in my studio yesterday. film director, phill van was kind enough to bring her by after she was intrigued when he showed her my web sites [phil is also someone to watch out for – he's gonna be big. i met phill at the last ghostly records party, so thanks missy and sam!]. we chatted about living between 2 cultures, music, the death of futurism, language as well as her upcoming projects. i got a preview of her new solo album, and it sounds AMAZING.
i was a bit shocked to hear that she never saw the urban vinyl versions of her gorillaz character before coming to my office! they’ve been out a while…i will get kidrobot on the case today.
i love spending holiday weekends in nyc – there’s no traffic on the street [making bike riding even more of a pleasure], and i can get tables at trendy restaurants without a wait. well, this labor day was no exception plus we had the most perfect summer weather everyday, not a cloud in the sky, warm and dry.
i started friday with my boyfriend at la esquina on the lower east side. i discovered last week that they have quesadilla de huitlecoche [corn smut in english]. huitlecoche is by far one of my favorite fungi and i’ve craved it since my first trip to mexico over 10 years ago. unfortunately, it is rarely on the menu in nyc, and when it is, usually from a can. it is fresh fresh at la equina and i’ve been there twice last week just to eat it!
saturday i had brunch in brooklyn with some designer/architect friends to discuss their product design ideas on their beautiful outdoor deck. i brought vietnamese sandwiches from atlantic avenue – DELISH. later, frank and i went to mr. blacks, a club that was once in the east village but is now in the flatiron district. it was a lot of fun, really reminded me of the days when nyc was fun to go out at night [then again, i was a go go boy when i was a club kid, but times have changed. a skinny hairy guy would never get work as a go go boy now]. the dj was good and the crowd diverse.
sunday i caught up with some friends and took my friend’s kids swimming. sunday afternoon was the highlight of the weekend at the ghostly records party high atop THOR [the hotel on rivington]. as usual, missy and sam threw a fantastic party [see fotos]. it was a super duper friendly crowd matched only by the tremendous amount of young talent in one space. the boys were gorgeous as were the girls. the party could only have been better if everyone were naked. it was an early party and i had an amazing meal after in tribeca with my friend lisa [duck ravioli a souce of butter and olives + seared foi gras].
went for a bike ride monday in central park and had another amazing dinner, this time at bottega. ran into my friend marco and hiroki on the way home on 7th avenue, talking for 30 minutes on a busy street corner – totally new york and the perfect end to a perfect long weekend.
photos: 1. missy and sam of ghostly, 2. the beautiful danny of ghostly, photographer derrick gómez and film maker phil van, 3. the penthouse suite at THOR, 4. sunset, 5. the adorable english film maker matt tucker, über talented photographer timothy saccenti, and tim’s girlfriend h.j [we chatted in japanese], 6. 2 of the 3 members of school of seven bells, a band i adore!, 7. me with the lovely jen of modular records [you know them, the presets and cut copy are on that label!], and 8. night view of manhattan….pretty huh?
i met other cool people but i can only blog about so much. i will add more in subsequent blogs. i love staycations.
i am writing this in stockholm, which as most of you know is the capital of sweden, a country in scandinavia. stockholm is very picturesque, a series of islands full of parks, hills, old buildings [you don't want to come here for modern architecture, as there's not much of any] and beautiful people! [they do have a lot of modern engineering like an extensive tunnel system that keeps traffic off the streets, something NYC LA and Tokyo should really look into for their congestion problems]
i came here to meet with my scandinavian distributor and research/assess the market a bit as i think nooka can do a better here. i was a bit shocked to see how poorly merchandised accessories are in general here, so it’s no fault of our distributor. i’m actually curious as to how other similar designers/companies do here now that i’ve seen the shoppes. it seems that sweden is better at exporting it’s high-design image than it is applying it internally:) also, i think our strategy in the US of placing nooka in fashion boutiques [as opposed to larger stores] needs to be translated better overseas. anyway, it’s a learning process and i’m just very pleased that this little project called nooka is taking me all over the word!
i was taken out one night by swedish rapper, adam tensta, and had a great time at SPY, stockholm’s most exclusive nightclub [we went to ambassa deur first, but it was full of the most pretentious lot of young people i've seen in a long time]. spy bar had 2 rooms, one with a house dj an the other pop/rock. adam is an amazing guy who will release his CD internationally in november. look up his name on youtube as there are many vids available. he’s very popular here in sweden so i’m interested to see how well he does, first in europe and then in the US. also, as you can see, he’s a fan of nooka, and the purple zub looks great on him.
i won’t bore you with all the details of what i’ve done, but the sun doesn’t set in the summer here, so it’s easy to stay out longer than i’m used to! i need to plan a trip here where i can take in more of the music scene, as many of my fave bands are swedish [the knife, the caesars, the shout out louds, etc.]. it’s also funny timing that 2 of my fave local NYC acts were/are playing live while here [not that i was invited or anything!], MGMT and the magnetic fields.
fotos: adam tensta with magnus [our distributor out of malmo] in the subway, me with magnus’s baby, downtown club area at 3:00am – so however you slice it, stockholm ROCKS!
for those of you still reading this: i also had a nice day catching up with my friend ake who is a sake sommalier/importer here, had a lovely dinner with the brothers of our current intern, and had smoked rheindeer ham with breakfast. the only food i wasn’t able to eat before leaving is isterband, a type of sausage eaten with lingonberries. if you need a cool hotel, the clarion skanstull where i stayed is very nice [shocking considering what the same chain gets you in other countries] with modern art everywhere and a trendy bar that was packed at 3:00 am on saturday night.
the coolest things seem to come out of philly! omoi, a shop on pine street in philly sold a bunch of nookas to erykah badu and she was definitely wearing hers in her live sets. it is truly validating when other artists find my work on their own and not through some complicated PR scheme. and i must say, erykah looks AMAZING wearing it. check out more fotos by todd owyoung here. he takes some of the best concert footage i’ve ever seen [and i'm not just writing that because of the nooka sighting].
this news broke on hypebeast a few days ago, so i apologize for the late post, but i’ll add my personal details. we gifted 15 glow-in-the-dark nookas for kanye west after he concluded his glow-in-the-dark-tour. i was lucky enough to have vip seating for the show in philly last month and would’ve given him one in person, but no one schooled me on how the back page pass works. i assumed that i could go back AFTER the concert, but we were stopped and told that backstage was closed. i was supposed to have gone backstage while the opening acts were performing, but i wanted to see rhianna etc….oh well. next time right? [by the time i got don on the fone, we were already stuck in the exit traffic from the parking lot]. i’m just happy that kanye was happy to receive the the most limited of our limited editions yet. note to rihanna: i love you but…please hire a new choreographer. i felt like i was watching a floor show in a suburban gay disco or a sprockets skit from snl.
some other blogs post the glow news here and here.
also: the blogs are reporting that they will not be available to the public. we will release a limited edition of the glow nooka for purchase in august. keep looking here or on nooka.com [or your fave design related blog].
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