Singer Catey Shaw Made a Brooklyn Version of Katy Perry's "California Girls"

July 15, 2014, 9:30 am

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Remember Katy Perry's "California Girls" hit from a few years back? She told us all about Daisy Dukes, fooling around in a jeep overlooking the Pacific, and just how "fine, fresh, fierce" these sun-kissed chicks really are. But the song left us wondering: what about the females on the East Coast? Up-and-coming singer Catey Shaw has New York City women -- or, rather, Brooklyn chicks -- says she has us covered.

In her latest video, "Brooklyn Girls," Shaw celebrates the ladies who traipse around in clouds of cigarette smoke rather than Katy Perry's cotton candy fluff. To create the clip, she teamed up with Jon Jon Augustavo, the director behind Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' videos "Thrift Shop," "Can't Hold Us," and "Same Love."

The video features Shaw and her fellow Brooklynites vibing in septum piercings, hanging out with skaters and chilling at a backyard party and drinking the requisite PBR. "I immediately knew I wanted [the video] to be in Brooklyn and I wanted a lot of shots of where I actually lived," Shaw says. "It's the real Brooklyn! I entertained the idea of finding fashionistas, and making it kind of Sex and the City, but it didn't serve any kind of new meaning. I think people are thirsting for something more real that they can identify with."

The track appears on Shaw's forthcoming EP, The Brooklyn EP, set to drop September 9th. Of all this BK love, Shaw says "Ever since I moved [to Brooklyn], it allowed me to become the person and artist I always wanted to be. When I first moved there after dropping out of school, I finally felt like a real person."

Along with the EP, Shaw will also be releasing her own artwork to accompany each single. "Painting is really important to me," she says. "But the whole first year in music, I strayed away from it as I was learning more about songwriting and focusing more on my music. I work mainly through self-portraiture."

You can catch Shaw live at a release party July 17th at Williamsburg Baby's All Right.

Pre-order The Brooklyn EP and buy "Brooklyn Girls" HERE.

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Are We Really Living In Television's "Golden Age"?

July 15, 2014, 10:00 am

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Are we really living in the Golden Age of TV?

Well, counting the number of words regularly devoted to analyzing what was once famously called the boob tube, you'd have every reason to think so. From the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times to the Huffington Post and InStyle -- the stories about TV as the latest, greatest outpost of cultural relevance are routinely touted in publications both high and low, so much so that the hype has become a meme, believed by all and questioned by none. Unpacking Mad Men's multiple plot lines, discoursing on Don Draper's demons and the women, fashion and historical authenticity of TV's most written-about show has become the media's favorite parlor game and fodder for the Web's ravenous 24/7 appetite for eyeballs. It must be working; otherwise why would the Times be running, in addition to Mad Men, regular recaps of The Americans, Fargo, Game of Thrones, Orphan Black and Penny Dreadful? Even if we grant Mad Men, my personal favorite and the only one of the above I watch religiously, pantheon status, can we say the same of the others?

In an article featured on the filmmaker blog the Talkhouse, about the notion of TV as the "new cinema," director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas, Internal Affairs) acknowledges that the move away from the studio feature to cable TV was spearheaded by two extraordinary series: The Sopranos and The Wire. They succeeded thanks to low stakes and strong creators (David Chase and David Simon, respectively) who kept cable executives far away from the creative process. But once the kudos started coming, the suits got into the game. Figgis writes: "Breaking Bad and Mad Men both had very strong opening series but then, subsequently became 'product,' to my mind clearly the result of a typical studio mentality." Mad Men, he says, "quickly began to parody itself," and Breaking Bad's Walt White "should have died at the end of season one."

So what's the appeal of all the wannabes that followed the real Golden Age, which apparently has already passed? To me, the shows that are being incessantly recapped are nothing more than updated versions of one of TV's great staples: the soap opera. What better way to describe today's serials: ongoing narratives with endless cliffhangers and the front-and-center glorification of things that used to just take place between the lines. Of course, I'm talking about sex and nudity. Would anyone watch Game of Thrones without them?

Another reason for the endless stream of new must-watch TV is that it's so easy to consume compared to, say, reading a book or even watching a serious movie. The problem is not that so many people watch these shows; it's that the shows have become a substitute for Culture with a capital C that not only titillates but also uncomfortably probes and disturbs. I can enjoy watching Game of Thrones in anticipation of a nipple slip or dropping dress, but it's no substitute for a multilayered, deeply allusive and nuanced piece of filmmaking such as Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive. Jarmusch's nod to the vampire movie took seven years to fund. Lucky for him, the undead became all the rage and therefore bankable -- though he had to give up his traditional ownership position to get it done.

The fast-food nature of today's culture consumption feeds into our social-media sharing euphoria. We can like and retweet and post and favorite all day long, being active participants in the pop culture chatter. Armed with the power of the post, everyone's a critic with something supposedly valid to say. Or else why would they say it?

All this fits beautifully with Karl Taro Greenfeld's widely discussed New York Times article "Faking Cultural Literacy," where he writes: "It's never been so easy to pretend to know so much without actually knowing anything. We pick topical, relevant bits from Facebook, Twitter or emailed news alerts, and then regurgitate them. Instead of watching Mad Men or the Super Bowl or the Oscars or a presidential debate, you can simply scroll through someone else's live-tweeting of it, or read the recaps the next day. Our cultural canon is becoming determined by whatever gets the most clicks."

So even worse than watching these shows and pretending it's Culture is not watching them and talking about them as though you did.

As the world's first social media guru put it: Let he who is without sin among us cast the first stone.

Avan Lava's "Last Night" Is Your New Moody Dance Party Jam

July 15, 2014, 10:30 am

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New York electro-pop outfit Avan Lava puts on one hell of a show, accumulating over the years a cult-like following for their dramatic D.I.Y. spectacles full of glitz and glam. Their latest single, "Last Night," delivers every last drop of expected high-energy gloss and surges with club-ready synths. When frontman TC Hennes slips into his angelic falsetto, however, the track morphs into emotional power-pop that at the surface sounds blithely optimistic, but lyrically dives into a deeper, darker love story. We talked to Hennes about the new release and premiere the song, below.

Describe the creative process behind "Last Night."

"Last Night" began as a beat [bandmate] Le Chev was trying to write for the 2014 World Cup. He was going nuts on it for about a week, while I was just sitting there, laughing and hanging out. But then the melody just began to pop out at me and the song kind of wrote itself. It feels like a guilty pleasure -- it's exotic, sexy and fleeting. It reminds me of this time I had a gig in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and I went to this naked club called Hedonism 3. I was 19 at the time and was shocked-- it felt like everyone there was cheating on their significant other, but they were having the best time.

Your last single, "So F*kt Up," sounds much more aggressive than "Last Night"-- what caused this change?

"So F*kt Up" is about a dark, strange and unrequited love -- a love that I resented for a long time and for which, now, I am so grateful. "Last Night" is definitely more joyous and light, but if you look at the lyrics, you will see that it's about another twisted type of relationship, likely destined for failure -- it's about a love built on sand, literally.

You studied drama at NYU. How has this affected Avan Lava?

My drama education is very useful for our live show. Understanding what it means to tell a story and how to take an audience on a ride has been very useful. I'm also happy to have had proper vocal training for years. I feel like I know my voice more than any other part of my body.

Speaking of your live shows, how important are these to Avan Lava?

Our live show is what really sets us apart. We know our fans come to dance and lose themselves for a night, so we do everything we can to get them to that point. We've built a custom light show, choreographed big dance breaks, wear matching outfits that always change show-to-show. Even when we were playing 100 cap rooms, we were hiring dancers and shooting confetti canons into the crowd -- we want every show to be the best night of your life.

Listen to "Last Night," below.



Avan Lava will be playing a single release show in celebration of "Last Night" at Brooklyn's Rough Trade NYC on July 31.

Anne Hathaway & Kristen Stewart are Delights in Drag for Jenny Lewis'"Just One of the Guys" Video

July 15, 2014, 11:30 am

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Oh boy! Indie-Cal rocker Jenny Lewis rounded up a few of her famous friends as back up for her latest self-directed video "Just One of the Guys," the first single off her upcoming album Voyager out July 29th. Disguised as dudes in Adidas tracksuits, cropped haircuts topped with baseball caps and creepy mustaches (an aesthetic near and dear to us) Kristen Stewart, Anne Hathaway, reigning best-Paper-meet-n-greet-of-all-time Brie Larson and drummer Tennessee Thomas spoofed machismo mannerisms while Lewis croons on about expectations of aging women in a Lisa Frank-styled pantsuit and matching guitar -- which is really everything. Stewart serves up some pretty comedic classic dirtbag moves while Hathaway rocks a rat tail and attempts breakdancing. It's simply a delight.    

Why Is Butt Cleavage Still a Thing?

July 15, 2014, 12:30 pm

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(Photo via)

Earlier this summer, we went to Sasquatch Music Festival and were taken aback by a new-ish trend among the women of our generation: underbutt. Why has bottom cleavage replaced breast cleavage for the current generation of 'indie hot girls'?

In most cases, butt cleavage is aided and abetted by another, more longstanding trend: jorts. And, for that, we have to thank a few pop culture icons from the last five decades who've kept the denim cut-off trend alive for every new generation.

'70s
A conversation about modern-day jorts obviously begins with Daisy Duke. Southern -- but no belle -- Daisy's impossibly small pair of cutoff jorts were sex personified.

'80s
In the 80's, we were gifted another jorts icon by way of the early '60s: Baby, the nice Daddy's girl from Dirty Dancing. Sporting a pair of high-waisted skimmer jorts as she crawled across the dance floor toward Patrick Swayze's Johnny, her wardrobe choice was a defining moment in bridging the gap between her high-end world of summer vacations and college prep work with Johnny's working class roots. That scene reminds us of when Sandra Dee stepped out in her impossibly tight black leather pants and untamed mess of curls in Grease as a way to announce her sexiness, availability and, most importantly, cool vibes.

'90s
In the '90s our silver screens welcomed Christina Applegate as the trashy but lovable jorts-wearing Kelly Bundy in Married With Children. The young Bundy daughter exposed her shoulders and midriff, bounced between boyfriends, and barely graduated from high school. Her jorts became a stylistic representation of her wild -- and carefree -- behavior.

'00s
In the new millennium, we tipped our Von Dutch trucker hats to Miss Britney Jean Spears, who ushered in a new 'jorts era' by pairing her cut-offs with belly button rings, Ugg boots and those aformentioned baseball caps. It wasn't long before Britney was walking into gas station bathrooms shoeless, eating Cheetos by the pound and marrying wifebeater-wearing Kevin Federline. It was a slippery slope indeed.

2010s
The jorts icon of our current decade is none other than Ms. Party In the USA herself, Miley Cyrus, who, finally, brings us back to the butt. When not donning bear leotards and gyrating on married men, this former Disney star can be regularly spotted rocking '90s combat boots and crop tops, '70s oversized sunglasses and a pair of ass-flashing shorts. Her cut-offs, it seems, have come to symbolize her emancipation from... well, clothing, but also her wholesome Hannah Montana image.

And now everyone from Rihanna to that girl you ran into at Coachella that you used to babysit for have been jumping on the bottom-baring bandwagon. Are these girls taking a page from the pop stars and using butt cleavage as a way to declare their womanhood? (Which, depressingly, reminds us that our mothers burned their bras to announce their liberation and we're...showing our ass cheeks?) Or is it just a harmless fashion trend á la super low rise jeans or tube tops?

We can't speak for the thousands flocking to this fad but we're ready for the butt to be safely tucked away. And we have a hunch that any fashionplate worth her Miu Miu wedges would probably agree with us that cheek isn't chic. In an interview with New York Magazine the always impeccably dressed Chloë Sevigny (who also goes for denim shorts from time to time) commented on the jorts she witnessed last year at Coachella: "I kept calling them 'denim underwear,' because all the girls wear the denim underwear and it's, like, a little obscene! I don't want to say that, but you know, sometimes I think that they're just too short!"

Yes, sometimes shorts are just too... short.

San Francisco-based blog SINK SF emerged as a result of lunchtime and wine-dinner conversations between two San Francisco girlfriends. Frustrated by the one-dimensional portrayal of 20-something women in media, SINK SF hopes to create a space that recognizes young women as intellectual, light-hearted, and sexual beings. A true SINK -- "Single Income, No Kids" woman -- has a life as multifaceted, analytical and humorous as James Franco.

Brooklyn's Little Daylight is Ready To Hold Court With New Album Hello Memory

July 15, 2014, 2:30 pm

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The Brooklyn-based electro-pop trio Little Daylight first made headlines by remixing tracks from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Passion Pit before releasing their 2013 EP Tunnel Vision. Packed with infectious melodies and dreamy dance beats laced with darkness, including the single 'Overdose,' which has been remixed by Charlie XCX and Future Islands, it was only a taste of their talents. With their debut LP Hello Memory out now, Nikki Taylor and her basketball-loving bandmates Eric Zeiler and Matt Lewkowicz are finally settling into their own sound. Below they meet up with Tan Camera's Kimi Selfridge in Williamsburg to shoot hoops and talk to us about their new record. 

Little Daylight's Matt Lewkowicz, Nikki Taylor and Eric Zeiler. Photos by Kimi Selfridge | www.tancamera.com. 

How did you guys meet?

Matt: Eric and I went to high school together in northern New Jersey and Nikki was dating a friend of ours at the time so we met her through that. We've been working together for a while on different projects, but we've been together as Little Daylight for two years. 

Eric: Matt and I were in a band called 'Bassment' in high school. So it was a lot of bass. There was a song we played called "Inside the Pac-man Regime" and it was 12 minutes long. To give you an idea.

Did you guys also play basketball growing up?

Matt: We'd just hang at someone's house and play when we were younger. When we [moved] to Brooklyn, we had a basketball renaissance -- we wanted to get active and the basketball courts were so close to us so we thought we'd go out and give it a shot. Now we're addicted.

Eric: We're trying to get more of our friends involved. Taller people are starting to show up to the games, which is good.

Nikki, how are your skills?

Nikki: I do a lot of passing to the side...

Matt: Nikki is less concerned where the ball goes, but she has the funniest game face.

You first started as Little Daylight by remixing songs. How did that influence the development of your own sound?

Nikki: When we were just starting we were staying at a lake house upstate remixing and creating demos. We always knew we wanted to write and record our own songs and perform live so we all brought ideas for Little Daylight but remixing was a good way to get creative juices flowing.

Matt: It's been kind of insane. We didn't expect people to latch on so quickly to the remixes, and when they did, that translated into a personal momentum for us. Once the ball starts rolling like that you don't even look back and that's how Little Daylight really started. When we started it was more on the washed out, dream side of where we are now. I think the dreaminess is part of our sound, but there are also powerful rock sounds now, too.

And how did that translate into Hello Memory?

Eric: It goes in so many different ways. All three of us are writers so we'll write privately at home then bring something in to show the rest of the group. The level of collaboration we do isn't very common. We are always and constantly working together.

Nikki: I know so intimately the way these guys work and I feel putting those things together and allowing each person to bring their strengths is a rewarding process. We're all about workshopping. We workshop it...flip it around and reverse it.

Matt: 'Restart' on our EP Tunnel Vision, for example, is an accidentally reversed piece of another song we had written in the studio together around the computer. When Nikki's vocals were reversed they sounded like a different English phrase. Everyone looked at each other and was like "This is cool." Then we went down the rabbit hole with this little chunk of reversed vocals finding new melodies and chords.



Does your name come from George MacDonald's fairytale Little Daylight?

Matt: Yeah. We really liked that the character was beautiful only at night and ugly during the day. So there was a night time aspect to it plus we knew back then we didn't want to be stylized in one place. We like that old classic fairytales have a darker side to them and this is one of them. We just think it's fun putting out a lot of messages and have people unpack a story.

Like in the tale do you guys find that you're 'better' at night?

Nikki: Matt's a night person for sure. A lot of times we will get emails from Matt at 4 am saying "Hey guys, going crazy with this thing or created this thing." Meanwhile...I'm sleeping.

Matt: We operate a lot in the mornings too...

Nikki: We are all about waking up and getting coffee and getting to work, like a 9 to 5 day.

Eric: Hah. Yeah, we're a 9 to 5 band.

You're good at keeping up with your fans on social media -- have you always prioritized that? 

Matt: It was part of our band very early on. We even had a Twitter that fans created called Little Daylighters.

Eric: These people were also fans of Charli XCX and Marina and the Diamonds who we toured with. I'm sure all these kids will have music industry jobs one day. They are ahead of the curve by leaps and bounds. The biggest fans we have are actually intellectually interesting to us because we kind of look at them and see what are they going to do next.

Nikki: And they didn't even know each other, which is the crazy thing, but they became friends through us and met each other at one of our gigs. It was one girl's 18th birthday.

Matt: We found out they couldn't come to our show at this club because they were underage so we invited them to sound check and they came with their parents, hung out and took photos, which is something we probably would've done at their age.

What are some shows your parents took you to?

Eric: The first concert I ever went to was the Beach Boys with my parents. Then last year I went to see Fleetwood Mac with my dad, which was cool to see together.

Matt: I don't come from a musical family. I remember my mom noticed I was getting into music and was like, "You've been listening to a lot of music, Matt. If you want me to get tickets to something, let me know." I remember very early on before I thought I could get into concerts she was like "Let's figure this out because you clearly want to go to some shows" and that was very cool. At a really young age we would take trains into the city to see shows. I'm surprised our parents even let us do that.

What were some of your favorite venues in the city growing up?

Matt: The Knitting Factory when it was in TriBeCa because they had this free room. We were so young, like 16. I still can't believe they let us into that place. We'd hang in the bar and listen to music then go to a bodega to get a sandwich before we got on the train home.

Listen to Perfume Genius' Powerful New Single, "Queen"

July 15, 2014, 2:50 pm

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It's been a gloomy, rainy, generally crappy-weather day here in New York City today, but at least we've got Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas)' new single, "Queen," as our little ray of sunshine. The sprawling track is from Hadreas' upcoming album Too Bright, a follow up to 2012's Put Your Back N 2 It (which produced many amazing music videos), which is due out September 22nd. "No family is safe when I sashay," Hadreas sings, noting in a press release for Too Bright that "Queen" is about "gay panic" and the fear he senses his sexuality instills in people on the street. If this statement from Hadreas doesn't go down as one of the best artist press materials quotes of 2014, then we don't know what: "Sometimes I see faces of blank fear when I walk by...if these fucking people want to give me some power -- if they see me as some sea witch with penis tentacles that are always prodding and poking and seeking to convert the muggles -- well, here she comes."

Shout out to Paper beautiful person Luke Gilford, who photographed Hadreas for his album cover and promotional photos.

Joe Manganiello Teaches Conan Some Stripper Moves

July 16, 2014, 6:30 am

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Joe Manganiello went on Conan last night and showed him some hott stripper moves. [Uproxx]
 
Cameron Diaz and Jimmy Fallon race kayaks through a maze that includes Josh Gad throwing fish and TWO Elton John impersonators. [Uproxx]


Just gonna set this here and run away real quick. [Via Jeremy Scott -- but not that Jeremy Scott's -- Vine]

Someone made Games of Thrones sigll for every state and it's amazing  [Reddit]

'90s the rock. With a tiny fanny pack. That is all. [Reddit]

:/ [Mlkshk]


Scream into a pillow forever and punch the air because it's too much and too cute and ahhhhhhhh: Here's a video of a piglet named Pigalina meeting a patient, sleeping pit bull who is OK with her nuzzles and snorts. Oh god, help us. [Jezebel]

Happy Wednesday! [FYeahDementia]

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Gigi Hadid is Fashion's New Darling

July 16, 2014, 11:00 am

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(Gigi Hadid, second from left)

It's a busy summer for PAPER Beautiful Person Gigi Hadid: the reality TV star-turned-model appears in two big campaigns this season for Tom Ford and Guess. In the former, she glams it up with fellow celebspawn Patrick Schwarzenegger and Ella Richards (that'd be Keith's granddaughter) while in the latter, she looks very disco cowgirl chic.

Guess campaign shot by Ellen von Unwerth

Gigi is also a headlining "Rookie" in SI's 2014 Swimsuit Edition and a weeks ago, she appeared as the face for Tom Ford's Violet Orchid fragrance in a campaign that featured the model nude -- bits and pieces tastefully concealed -- and splayed out across a crinkly, purple-metallic backdrop.

Looks like you've got some competition, Kendall. (JK, JK, we're all for both their burgeoning modeling careers...)

Heads Up, Raf Simons Is Having an Online Menswear Pop-Up Shop

July 16, 2014, 11:30 am

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In January, fashion designer Raf Simons created his Autumn-Winter '14 menswear collection alongside L.A. contemporary artist Sterling Ruby -- a marriage of the minds that resulted from their nine years of friendship. The pieces featured Simons' signature tailored silhouettes, juxtaposed with Ruby's organic and at-times chaotic aesthetic. Splatter-printed button-ups, oversized patchwork jackets and a Pink Floyd soundtrack stirred the Paris crowd, evoking a punk, DIY edge that seemed to rebel against much of Simons' subdued reputation.

Now, this collaborative collection is available to purchase online, but for a limited time only. The pop-up shop -- called "In The Name Of" -- features a specially curated selection of pieces, offering one look each week that's available for only that week. After seven days have passed, the look will disappear forever, making way for another exclusive from the AW '14 presentation. The entire website will vanish on Sept. 1, adding to the allure of this Simons special.

This week, a crisp, black denim workwear shirt and narrow fit bleached jeans are being sold through Sunday. If you're into this, "I spent all day wrestling with blank canvases in my Brooklyn studio in order to channel my inner Jackson Pollock," look, you'd better act quickly.

Watch a promo for the pop-up directed by photographer and Simons collaborator, Willy Vanderperre, above.

The 10 Worst NYC Nightclubs In History

July 16, 2014, 2:10 pm

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Nightclubs are places for catharsis, bonding, and sheer joy--unless they're bad. When the elements don't click, they can be like an uninsured visit to the dentist. Here are the worst Manhattan clubs I've ever experienced, and I've been to a lot.

Club USA (218 W. 47th Street)
This was Peter Gatien's 1992-'95 retread of an old theater that suddenly became home to the last gasp of the club kid movement. The plexiglas slide that took you from the balcony to the main floor was a jazzy touch, and there were some other sexy motifs to mirror Times Square aesthetics, but overall, the result failed to enchant or enthrall. In fact, I stood there on the balcony with Gary Coleman one night, looking down and wondering how the nightlife died.

Nell's (246 W. 14th Street).
Reacting against the peak of the big spaces and the madness, Nell's opened in 1986 as a staid supper club presided over by former Rocky Horror costar Nell Campbell. It was snooty and boring, and at the time I wrote, "It's a scene all right, but less for those who are going places than for those who are already there and aren't about to budge." Not surprisingly, Patrick Bateman of Bret Easton Ellis's novel American Psycho went to Nell's a lot. Today, it's Up & Down, home to Duh Fridays.

Xenon (124 W 43 St.)
Open from 1978-1984 on the site of a legit theater turned porn palace, this was the place you went to if you couldn't get into the legendary disco Studio 54. As a result, the club had a second-class air of desperation about it, like a glitzy lost and found department for wannabes and rejects. Faced with the option of going there and being part of the dejection, I usually preferred to go home and watch TV. Today, it's the Stephen Sondheim Theater, where they've had a few bad shows, but it's still preferable to Xenon!

Magique (First Avenue and 61st Street).
Though we nicknamed this neon-laden disco Tragique, it wasn't quite as sad as that may have sounded. But the late '70s/early '80s club still had an also-ran feeling to it, with blah events and second-rate stars. The space later proved way more useful as a Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Le Baron (32 Mulberry Street)
I feel guilty putting this in since they're still operating, but I find the long, narrow bar cramped and the balcony a bit shaky. On any of the three levels, you might be thinking, "Where are the exits?" But the Chinese design motifs certainly work for Chinatown.

Stringfellows 
British businessman Peter Stringfellow opened this East 20s disco/supper club in 1986, not knowing enough about the NYC scene and what made it tick. He should have realized it was a bad idea to hire a doorman who would totally recognize me, but still not let me in because he couldn't find my name on the list (even though the publicist had doubly confirmed it in advance. Yes, I have Italian Alzheimer's -- I forget everything except a grudge.) Stringfellow at least tried to make up for this gaffe with constant apologies and charm, but his stab at fabulousness was clearly doomed. It later resurfaced as a strip joint.

Big Kahuna 
In the transitional year of 1987, on Broadway near Houston Street, there surfaced this Hawaiian surf-themed hangout partly designed for Wall Street brokers on their way home. Back then, I described the "conga line of yuppies" waiting to get in. I was not one of them.

Tool Box (1742-Second Avenue)
This obscure bar has been running uptown for years, though the one time I dropped by  (on a week night), you could hear the gay crickets chirping. The website promises "New York's best kept secret," and apparently that's no lie! But like I say, it's been a staple forever, so long may their tools flourish. Runner-up: Notspot Stairs.

Pravda
This SoHo club was only so bad because it was so good. You see, in the late '70s, Rudolf Pieper (who later did Danceteria) premiered it, causing a crush of fabulous people to descend on opening night and make quite a scene. Alas, it turned out to be closing night too. The cops shut the joint down and it never managed to reopen. The Moose Murders of nightlife, Pravda is legendary -- but mainly because it was a big disappointment that titillated our hopes and dashed our spirits.

Red Zone (W. 54 Street)
This was a cavernous place with shellacky walls and unctuous owners, desperately trying to cash in on the late '80s/'90s scene. But despite the presence of club kids and great DJs, it felt like more of a Dead Zone  (though I still went all the time, of course).

David Lynch Is Now Designing Women's Workout Clothes

July 16, 2014, 3:30 pm

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Photo of Lynch by David Crotty/PatrickMcMullan.com

David Lynch -- noted surrealist director, meditation enthusiast, coffee lover -- is  doing something else totally random: designing a line of workout clothes. Lynch has collaborated with Live The Process, a company that makes activewear on the basis of enlightenment -- because everyone knows that spiritual empowerment is enhanced with a sports bra that matches the rest of your outfit. His collection features pieces like a corset bra, leggings, a scoop bra, and high-waisted bike shorts, all in an exclusive Lynch floral print. Jokes aside, this line does go to a good cause: Portions of the proceeds will go to victims to abuse.

Fingers crossed his next project is his a line of sauces to put on Chinese chicken salad.

Saint Pepsi's Fiona Coyne Video Is For All the Forlorn Singles Among Us

July 16, 2014, 3:45 pm

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We first introduced you to Saint Pepsi's lighthearted single "Fiona Coyne" last week in our list of top ten underdog summer jams, and today the 21-year-old singer/producer released the video treatment, directed by Matt Walker. The video follows a lonely man and his unlikely disco ball friend as the two wander their neighborhood, witnessing an outrageous number of couples passionately making out on the street. It's comedic commentary on the heightened awareness you have while being single, and it seems as though happy couples surround you nonstop. The sadder our single guy becomes, the more deflated his disco ball gets, until he finally tracks down a beautiful brunette and kisses her beneath a glitter shower. Watch and enjoy, above.

Saint Pepsi will release a 7" featuring "Fiona Coyne" and "Fall Harder" via Carpark on August 12.

Watch a Cuckoo Video of a Girl Waking Up After Getting Her Wisdom Teeth Removed

July 17, 2014, 7:30 am

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Here's a clip of a girl waking up from getting her wisdom teeth removed and, while still feeling the effects of anesthesia, hitting on her hot doctor, talking about wanting to "fuck Ryan Gosling," "suck white dick" and "be a Kardashian" -- all while her horrified mother tries to shut her up. There's a 65% chance this is fake but here's really hoping it's not. You get 'em, girl! [via Gawker]

Last night Drake did an excellent job of hosting the ESPYs and one of the highlights was a skit in which he impersonated Filippino boxer Manny Pacquiao singing "Let It Go" from Frozen.

Sloshed Charlie Sheen greets a fan and shows off his dumb tattoos outside a Taco Bell drive-thru. [via Death + Taxes]


"Macklemichaelcera." [via Afternoon Snooze Button]

Here's a clip of a 30-something guy and his friend lip syncing a conversation between his 60-something mom and aunt. [via Tastefully Offensive]

Weird Al FINALLY made a "Royals" parody. [via College Humor]

Sounds interesting. [via Instagram]

Drake Becomes the God of the Internet After Last Night's ESPY Awards

July 17, 2014, 10:35 am

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In anticipation of his new web reign via a cable sports award show, Drake told reporters, "Our goal is obviously the night of the ESPYs to completely take over the Internet, for everything that we do to go viral and for people to enjoy days or weeks afterwards."

With the ESPYs premiering last night, we're officially on day one of total Drake domination. So far, all seem happy under their new supreme ruler but it's no secret that the Internet loves the sensitive rapper as much as they love to poke fun at him. Lost and befallen, the Internet needed a leader and Jesus Drake answered that call.

Take it away, Internet:

This is exactly how @Drake sees himself when he looks in the mirror... #ESPYs pic.twitter.com/ItWujXs75e

-- Elite Daily (@EliteDaily) July 17, 2014

Why Drake look like he bout to drop the hottest sermon of 2014? pic.twitter.com/QgAuPSSq2z #ESPYS2014

-- THE BAD GUY (@FisherDaGawd) July 17, 2014

Drake look like he bout to turn water into wine 😂 pic.twitter.com/VzokNFXnH8

-- lil boosie (@Iilboosie) July 17, 2014

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Daphne Guinness Has Always Had The Style of a Rock Star. It Turns Out She Also Has The Voice.

July 17, 2014, 12:10 pm

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"I think I was born in the wrong kind of family," says Daphne Guinness. The eccentric style icon counts the Guinness brewery family as well as the legendary Mitford sisters among her ancestors. "I should have been born in the circus. I can't imagine not dressing like me."

But it's not just her McQueen blazers, skunk-streaked hair and outrageously high heel-less platform shoes that's on her mind when I meet her at her downtown New York workspace on this early spring afternoon. Today she's going to play me some of the music she's been quietly making since 2011, when she set out to record a Bob Dylan song in honor of her brother, who had passed away. Three years later, she has written 13 original songs -- with the help of legendary producer Tony Visconti -- that she says represent 13 chapters of her life. As she starts to play songs with titles like "Optimist in Black" and "Marionettes," I'm struck by the dark charm and poetry of her lyrics (dare I say I detected some iambic pentameter?) and by the fact that, instead of the electropop or acoustic folk sounds that fill up today's charts, Guinness' songs have a raw classic rock vibe and her voice has the power and grit of Grace Slick. "My musical world ended in 1980," says Guinness. "For me it was always classical -- Bach, Mozart and Chopin -- or Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, the Stones, Jefferson Airplane. But the big, big thing for me was the Doors."

As you might deduce from her musical tastes, Guinness has no desire to be a pop star -- she would hate to be performing to a track out onstage alone. She loves to sing with a band in the dingiest dives possible -- the kind of place where people drink Natty Light and really feel the music.

But fear not, fashion-obsessed Guinness fans, her music career hasn't driven her to desert her striking sartorial tastes. The celebrated photographer Nick Knight, known for elevating fashion shoots to fine art, made Guinness' first video for the song "Fatal Flaw," a trippy black-and-white affair, last year. She will follow it up with a video for "Evening in Space" directed by her good friend David LaChapelle, who has suggested she make a disco album next. Luckily, she seems to be a bottomless font of inspiration. "I still can't stop writing," says Guinness. "It's slightly strange, because I know I'll get writer's block at some stage." And unlike many of her elaborate fashion looks, her approach to making music is fairly simple: "I just think if it rhymes and it suits the purpose of the song, do it."

Post Production by Jim Alexandrou at 1514 / Special thanks to Akmal Shaukat

Everything You Need To Know About Nicole Richie's Return To Reality TV

July 17, 2014, 1:25 pm

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It's hard to believe that it has been a full ten years since we communed around our television sets to witness Nicole Richie say things like this:

Although now we'll probably be tuning in from our laptops, our May cover girl is back with a new reality show on VH1. Derived from her AOL Web series of the same name, Candidly Nicole is inspired by Nicole Richie's honest and frequently hilarious twitter feed. And like The Simple Life -- Richie's first foray into reality TV stardom with her former bestie and current baffling pop star Paris Hilton -- "it's a tongue firmly planted in cheek, very fun type of show," she told The Associated Press. "I'm definitely the butt of the joke in this one, too, and that is a space I'm comfortable in."

But this time she's in full control as a producer on the show. We won't be seeing her husband, Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden, or their kids. But among other celebrity guests, Richie notes in her classic deadpan, that the show will feature "my dad... because he's desperate and a celebrity and cannot stay away from the camera."

Basically, Richie is taking on the ups and downs of modern life while leaving Tumblr .gifs in her wake. In tonight's premiere, our heroine attempts to online date and learn how to parallel park. Now this sounds completely uneventful but coming from the woman who once tweeted, "I would rather get a colonic in front of everyone, than parallel park in front of anyone," it should get interesting.

If The Simple Life nostalgia alone isn't enough of a reason to watch tonight's premiere, here's some of our favorite Nicole Richie-isms to remind you of why the reality TV star and House of Harlow designer is so crucial.

(image via tumblr)

Nicole gives us permission to wear our inner divas on our sleeves. Stylishly, of course.

(image via tumblr)

We feel you, girl.

(image via tumblr)

To be fair, you probably are.

(image via tumblr)

Nicole teaches us that flattering selfies with friends are sometimes hard, but always rewarding.

Elegant, dope, candidly Nicole.

Candidly Nicole debuts on VH1 tonight, July 17 at 10pm.

Perfume Genius' Video For New Single 'Queen' Is an Intense Ride

July 17, 2014, 2:15 pm

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With an exceptional talent for songwriting Seattle-based Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius, has made a name for himself by turning damaging experiences into beautiful, intimate tunes with his unwavering lyrical honesty and a self-produced lo-fi sound. From his debut LP Learning came "Mr. Peterson," a song about the forbidden student/teacher relationship and on his second album, Put Your Back N2 It, "Take Me Home" confronts self love with the exchange of sex for drugs. Although his latest effort "Queen," the first single off his recently announced third album Too Bright, heads into a louder, pop-ier sound, the sensitivity and candor of its message remains the same. Jumping into the world of corporate pigs, including business meetings with giant shrimp, and peppy cheerleader troupes in a a new clip directed by SSION, PG says this song addresses "gay panic" -- the feeling of realizing that simply your presence in a room is making everyone around you feel uncomfortable. Watch him rage at their antiquated perceptions above. 

Watch Michael Sam's Powerful ESPY Awards Speech

July 17, 2014, 2:20 pm

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Michael Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL, rightfully received the 2014 Arthur Ashe Courage Award last night at the ESPY's in Los Angeles, and his acceptance speech was nothing short of inspiring.

Sam fought back tears on-stage, discussing how the late American tennis player and civil rights activist inspired his journey as an athlete and LGBT advocate. "The way I see my responsibility at this moment in history is to stand up for everybody out there who wants nothing more than to be themselves openly," Sam said.

He spoke about meeting with a young gay woman who had been considering suicide over coming out to her family. "When we spoke, she told me that she would never consider hurting herself again, and that somehow my example would help her," he said, breaking down in tears. Watch the powerful speech above. 

Get Excited: Soon You Can Own a Barbie Karl Lagerfeld Doll

July 17, 2014, 3:00 pm

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Barbie, the world's most iconic doll, is teaming up with Karl Lagerfeld, one of the world's most iconic designers, to launch a limited edition "Barbie Lagerfeld" doll as part of Mattel's Barbie Collector series. In the past, Lagerfeld has dressed Barbie and Ken in signature black and white Chanel garb, but this doll will be a more androgynous take on Barbie, sporting Lagerfeld's own famous look, down to his fingerless gloves, grey, slicked back pony and dark sunglasses. Very progressive Mattel, we love this idea. Our only question: Will Barbie's tiny Diet Coke be sold separately? (Via WWD)