Brooklyn Flea Coming To Williamsburg, Hipster Orgy Will Ensue

I wonder how this would work; with the Brooklyn Brownstoner Flea coming to Williamsburg AND staying in Fort Greene, does that mean that the hipsters will stay in the burg and strollers will continue to crowd the FT?

I did purchase some cool cuff links made from typewriter keys from a wonderful father/daughter (or what appeared to be that) team. I also purchase a woodprint from a dude who is always there at the flea but I never managed to get around to really examining his stuff.

My better half was pushed around by a red-headed lady, a la the Red-Headed League, one of the wonderful stories from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his eccentric hero Sherlock Holmes. The flea needs more agitation, a little fight here and there would liven things up. I just can't really stand the amount of earth tones and navy, so I am more resolute to do the flea once or twice a year, because you definitely can find some cool stuff. I'm more partial to the outdoors version probably.

So it's been a while since I've taken the time to post, as the new job has been both stimulating, busy, great, and the whatnot. I figure since winter is taking a while to just end, I'll take a while to post again. I did miss Irish Haven this year for St. Patrick's Day unfortunately due to great conversation at another bar but I'm sure the corned beef was scarfed just fine.

A new fast Chinese food hybrid opened up on Willoughby which I will soon be calling upon for some interesting combinations; according to the pictures posted to the window, they sell waffles in addition to the regular menu. It's called Chang Heng on 54 Willoughby, and I hope it stays around for a while like other businesses; we need consistency on Willoughby considering the lack of volume on the street until City Point opens up in a year or two. It's also one of those places where the kids of the people who run the place have to hang around and that moves me, the dedication to supervision even during work hours.

I also just noticed one of the current Willoughby Windows art pieces was a monkey-looking cartoon pooping a rainbow.

I ran outside with my girl this past week and it was hard; I've never actually gone for a long run, long walks every week but jogging felt good. Certainly tough and I commend anyone who can pace themselves without a treadmill doing it for them and actually push to go as far as they need to.

The be @ Schermerhorn has a sick atrium and really nice lounge. If there's any way to transport the Belltel's lounge up somehow from the basement, in whatever alternate reality that could happen, that would be amazing. New posters went up regarding the retail space (or were they old and I just never really looked at them), not sure how they are carved out considering there's only one real additional entrance.

I now have plenty to work with from my old job in terms of choice of alcoholic beverages and maybe I'll put the old Waverly @ IFC Center cocktail menu to the test again to see if I can make it as good as I used to.

At our house growing up we used to have either swinging doorway garbage cans (or whatever you call them, similar to ones at McDonald's or other fast food chains or cafeterias) and one larger step-to-open-hatch one. Now we have 3 step-to-open-hatch ones, and it certainly contains any smells but you lose the fun or tossing stuff into the garbage quickly. I was never good at basketball but one can dream.

Does the aroma of coffee beans ever go stale?

Recent Netflixing: deep-sea documentaries are so awesome because the creatures are just straight up nightmares. Other than that, I tried to start a number of teen TV series to recreate more angst-riddled days when emo wasn't really classified as such, like Roswell. I'll try and stick it out but I was teetering on boredom. MI-5 has really picked up and it's a pretty solid show, lacking a bit of depth of character but it moves at a fast clip. Cyborg 2 so far with Angelina Jolie when she was like 19 is also surprisingly fast but really doesn't make any sense, although the first one is a complete masterpiece of tomfoolery and terrible BeBop/Rocksteady fashion (by the way, shame on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for making villains out of two storied music genres, although I'll of course take rocksteady ten out of ten just because of my aversion to certain types of jazz).

The Netflix recommendations for "Brooklyn, NY" are very intellectual and probably out of my league in terms of fun Friday night viewing. I can only imagine the Fleasters who hone in every weekend to Fort Greene or 1 Hanson Place are cramping Brooklyn's style of what really would be most appealing to Brooklynites.

Graceland Tattoo - Williamsburg is Getting Ca-rowded

You see Elvis on the right? That's actually a real lookalike staring through a cut out frame in the wall. No I only had one beer.

I was invited to a shindig at Graceland Tattoo, an Elvis haven (per one of the owner's favorite icons) in Greenpoint that also doubles as a serious hair salon. It's the kind of place that I could probably see myself hanging out in any day of the week. The hyper punk music streams loud and clear as people line up to get a $50 special; the artists and hairstylists were all booked very quickly for the day. I had a can of PBR as I mulled over in my head the funky decor, scissors and horseshoes cemented into the floor, and friendly owners who greeted everyone.

The Lorimer L stop, kind of a pseudo middle ground between what starts to become East Williamsburg and Greenpoint to the north, I feel has a lot of tat shops around and not only that, some of the best reviewed ones on Yelp. I think Graceland has the chops to hold its own even as the immediate area is still developing a bit. It comes from a great pedigree from both sides of the business (ties from East Side Ink and Mudhoney) and it fits right in with the neighborhood. There's something very casual and free about it; everything is simply and economically laid out and it's cozy; again, I feel it's a place I could just hang out and shoot the shit with the folks.

Another thing was a lady was getting her hair did and took a smoke break while her highlights settled in. She quipped, "Yeah everyone wants to get their hair done in the middle of a party right?" I know nothing about hair really; all I know is that mine is awesome and I never know what to do with it. Watching the process was fascinating and totes fun y'all. Check out this video below from those jesters at ABC 7 and also since they were playing the Buzzcocks Singles Going Steady I've provided a cut.

This Weekend There's SCRATCHbread: The Gathering and Sailor Jerry-mandering

A couple of things that I may be in attendance for, so much to do, so little time on a Sunday.

The friends at SCRATCHbread and their insanely delicious concoctions are not only at the Brooklyn Flea every weekend but they happen to throw their own events. I can't say where this next one is held so if you sign up for their SCRATCHbread newsletter you just may get the scoop on these assemblies (we have that right as 'Mericans). Also, if you're into the whole social play of grassroots funding for businesses, check out their 'Right to Deliciousness' campaign on KickStarter.com, a cool way of getting support for your cause, whatever it may be. Since Brooklyn is all about homegrown businesses (have you seen West Brooklyn lately?) maybe it will trend as well as Groupon has.

The other thing is Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum who helps sponsor Williamsburg jelly pool parties with some very good bands over the course of several Sundays this summer. I doubt newfangled hipsters would appreciate Cap'n Jazz, but hey, I'm not here to flick snob snot at anyone (they did not end up playing due to weather). For more on Sailor Jerry, go to their official site.

Cheers to the weekend!

Not Doing Anything This Weekend? Two Different Relief Efforts Over/Under The Radar

There are two (well there are more than two, but Blurt Online and McBrooklyn are quick to tell me) benefits going on this weekend with proceeds going toward Haiti disaster relief.

Star Studded: Brooklyn Vegan was able to put together a fantastic comedy/music lineup for tomorrow's event at 8pm at the Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 North Six St., buy tickets here). Guests include Zach Galifianakis, Britt Daniel (of Spoon), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), St. Vincent, Janeane Garofalo. Benefits go to an orphanage as well as Red Cross.


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Under the Radar: Lab 24/7 is doing up Kombit 4 Haiti in Bed-Sty (according to the post, 'kombit' is a Haitian creole term meaning "to come together for the good of the community") is having a suggested donation of 15 Washingtons for Doctors Without Borders. According to McBrooklyn there will be food and drink. It's at the same time as the BV show, so choose wisely, but know that in the end your moolah is helping people in need.


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Me So Hungry Blog Presents - Cookie Contest and Full Slate of Bands This Sunday Dec. 20th

Union Pool off the Lorimer L stop (I actually like the Graham stop just as much if not more) is where hipsters go to occasionally meet non-hipsters, drink 4 dollar beers, and throw down to either great soul music or bearded fellas playing the gee-tar. Our good man Jason over at foodie blog Me So Hungry is serving up some mighty fine holiday spirit this year with a combo of cookies baked by whoever feels like bringing cookies (he described it as a cookie pot luck, but I see it as a chance for cookie hipsters to fight tooth and tight jeans over whose is better) and a whole host of bands for Sunday evening. For free.

Music will have plenty of recognizable holiday tunes, done in the bands' own styles, which could range from indie rock to indie rock, depending on how you see it. Here's the flyer:

Hey, any excuse to chill at the depression I've felt called Kellogg's Diner is good enough for me.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band does Brooklyn Bowl right on Nov. 5th

Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a band that years ago, when we were all into bands with horn sections (I wasn't much of the swing revival but still a huge ska fan, suck it haters) I was introduced to heading over to Washington Park area of Albany for some fun around town (Music Shack, Last Vestige, etc.) by my friend Mr. Jupin at All Ears All Eyes All The Time.

What I'm all for in this case is the fact that this New Orleans band is not young, but has enjoyed so many years of being around without being a has-been like so many bands who are 10+ or even 5+ years in existence. They are celebrating their 25th anniversary of their first release, "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now", and there's a joyous feeling when you realize that 25 years is so long in any respect (George Carlin said something along the lines of, 'life's not short, it just is compared to how old things like mountains are').

They will be playing at Brooklyn Bowl their first release in it's entirety and people should probably stop doing whatever they are doing there and just listen up. Work up a sweat. Get those feet moving. They bring the funk, but most of all it's just a hardcore horn section. The baritone sax is made for bands like this, just absolutely filthy with the funk.

krts is back at Monkeytown with Ryan Uzi to blow your mind

My man krts is back in action (he's having a busy fall after a nice little break from being so festive) at Monkeytown on November 7th with an audio/visual catharsis that will inspire you and make you wanna get out there in the brisk air and clear your mind and move forth with your life and progress and have those ups and have those downs.

Seriously, you're going to want to make your reservations at the link below. Oh and the cheese plate is pretty good at MT. Oh and did I mention Charlie Pino and his bretheren in Gold Fiction will be there? Oh yes.

From the information booth at my Facebook wall:

After 3 sold-out Monkey Town events, Krts welcomes another emotional roller-coaster of live indie-hiphop/electronic music with live video projection story-telling from award winning filmmaker Ryan Uzi of Light Harvest Studio. Together they tell the story of "The 6th Floor Walk-up" - An intense ride of LIVE mind bending visuals with indie-hiphop styled melodic, romantic, heart breaking and fun LIVE instrumentation.

**WITH A SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY CHARLIE PINO OF the fun indie-rock/american garage band GOLDFICTION!
myspace.com/goldfictionband


This may be the first collective of Krts and Ryan Uzi but, they're not amatuers at grabbing the minds, ears, and hearts of their audience.

Krts's Monkey Town shows had the critics hyping it as "a blend of hip-hop electronica à la Radiohead and Sonic Youth" (Village Voice). Trip-hop legends Nightmares on Wax (Warp) called his latest track "Doran Penny Roller" an "indietronic meets Zapp" crowd-pleaser on their latest 2009 compilation album, “Wax On - Volume 2."

Krts has shared stages with The Beatnuts, Machinedrum, Melo-X, Daedelus, Eliot Lipp, Mux Mool, Mexicans with Guns and others.

Light Harvest is the live multimedia performance work of award winning filmmaker Ryan Uzi. He creates complex visual atmospherics on subjects ranging from politics to paganism, from seductions of New York City to secluded train rides aboard the Orient Express.

Ryan Uzi's cinematic approach to video mixing and projection design has been seen with some of the worlds best DJ's including Felix da Housecat and Mark Farina (Mushroom Jazz), as well as commissioned for live events with the Guggenheim Museum, Diesel, Prada, Adidas Y3, and Flavor Pill Magazine.


****YOU MUST RSVP @ monkeytownhq.com/reservations.html *****

KRTS OFFICIAL WEBSITE
krtsmusic.com
KRTS MYSPACE & VIDS:
myspace.com/krts


RYAN UZI OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
light-harvest.com

New Kitchen Conspirators all week on Food2 or Those Hipsters Are At It Again With Their Expensive Menu

Hi all! Last week was quite busy so I didn't get to shower you with wonderful tidbits. The friends at Food2 are doing up this week Kitchen Conspirators style, premiering a new episode every day covering their High Society party which was filmed a while back I imagine.

High Society? They'll be working off an old menu, older than "vintage" so I'm pretty excited. Considering the trend of speakeasies and going back even farther, Victorian charm here in New York over the past year and a half, it's very fitting and looks to be a pretty damn awesome menu and distinctly American which intrigues me for some reason.

This segment seems better produced than their first outing (or inning, since this whole thing is built up as pretty mysterious and exclusive). My good friend Mr. Simon has known them for a long time and says they are always up to much good, and that's a good sign. Hipsters with skills without the word "designer" in them are kind of not hipsters in my opinion; they are productive people.

Check out the first video where the gang sits with a MacBook and goes over their menu:



For more, go to Food2.com.

For more on hipsters and/or much of north Brooklyn, go here.

Williamsburg is getting pretty attractive from last times I went. Maybe it's not hipster anymore, but glamster?

Hip Williamsburg young professional looks like...Michael Phelps?

Our good man/reporter from Williamsburg Austin "Beehive" is bearing at least some resemblance to Michael Phelps + curly hair. Or is he? Phelps just defeated an actual adversary, it's good to see that the water sports world has something to challenge the man.


Also, speaking of Project Runway and it's return on August 20th to their new home at Lifetime of excruciating melodrama, our resident film critic, Chris Cabin (who will have a brand spankin new review very soon) bears the mark of one Chris March, fashion designer extraordinaire from the show's 4th season.

Oh and before we forget, our resident screenwriting mastah The Sasquatch Szyzska certainly has some similarities to one of our favorite directors, Christopher Nolan. He's not doing anything right now because he's filthy rich from The Dark Knight, but always newsworthy.


The recently wedded Pat Craig also gets a nod for most looking like Chris O'Donnell. For everyone who thinks he looks like Elijah Wood, obviously they haven't been thinking about Chris O'Donnell lately. Nobody has.

I look like every awesome and not awesome Asian actor so I won't bother you with those comparisons. However, my friend at Cinephile New York/All Ears All Eyes All The Time has been accosted as Jack Black. Sometimes Zack Galifianakis (but only because the beard hides the differences). Kind of reminds me of the time I mistook Ed Helms for Stephen Colbert at the IFC Center ("I love your work on Harvey Birdman"). I felt much better when as I was fumbling through an apology while interrupting his conversation with a lovely young woman, another woman was leaving and said to him, "it was so nice to meet you Mr. Colbert." I felt much better knowing I wasn't the only asshole.

What concert was that you say? Au Revoir Simone at Webster Hall in '07. I built it up in my head that it was going to be awesome. Guess what didn't happen? Awesomeness.

T-Sides Reviews: Akron/Family @ Union Pool 3.29.09

I'm a little late on this but a good friend Colie and her mista Josh came to visit and see Akron/Family at Union Pool about a week and a half ago. Our friends at T-Sides did up a lovely review of the show which you can totally read here: Akron/Family review.

It's got set list, pictures, video, and downloads for a rising band that has been described to me as funky-groovy and folk at the same time.

Ever wanted to do something not lame during dinner time? Check out Reflections @ Monkeytown with DJ Slouch and KRTS

I know I know, usually most days it's sometimes a bit odd to be strolling to an early event during dinner time (I guess I don't do Broadway shows that often) but you won't be disappointed nor will you get seats if you don't grab tickets to Reflections @ Monkeytown on May 2nd featuring local favorites DJ Slouch and KRTS. It's all from the folks at Powerstrip Circus. They'll be performing simultaneously, which means both your hemispheres should be sufficiently blown for the night. You could literally stomp on other people's parades later in the evening and still come out on top. It starts at 7:30, which gives me enough time to digest some fish and chips at Spike Hill at the Bedford L. To go along with the funky fresh sounds (or as KRTS put it, his most "emotional show" which has to involve a lot of moments of "UNGH! YEAH" aka some soul people), you got visuals that will trip you harder than a soccer slide tackle from VJ's Firefly and Sima.

RSVP to powerstripcircus@gmail.com or as Powerstrip Circus says, go to the Monkeytown website. So maybe that seared duck breast will pull me away from Spike Hill or the free pizza down the block...

Food2 presents: Cheese Doodle Day

One of my new favorite blogs is Food2 (that's Food to the power of 2, technically Food squared, but Food2 sounds better, I guess if they had Food squared Day, they could do like food that is square shaped, like lasagna, or brownies, or rice krispy treats, I think I'm onto something!!). I'm all for Eater and Slice and Chowhound and this is a new one thrown into the mix, poppy and bubbly and light. Unless you're talking about cooking lard. That's just heavy.

Anywho, I guess it's Cheese Doodle Day, which means the Levee in Williamsburg must be pretty happy about since they serve up free cheese balls and cheese doodles (puffy kind). We're having an argument at work about puffy vs. crunchy, I used to hate puffy (crunchy at least FELT lean to eat) but the best part about puffy is when you chomp it down it becomes this dense amoeba-ish thing before swallowing that has such a funky texture. Am I right or am I right?

For more on the article with a sick picture of people constructed entirely out of Cheese Doodles, go to the Food2 site.

Here is a shot of the Levee's Frito Pie with a cheese ball taken by my friends at The Cinephile New York, mmmm....

Body Movin' We Be Body Movin': Slouch and KRTS with others at Public Assembly Friday March 6th

Everyone's favorites, Slouch and KRTS are back in the mix with a full lineup at Public Assembly, which is respecting the old Galapagos name and filling the bills with some great beats. Should be a great show, starts at 10pm and it's only 10 bucks. Get to their websites for more info:
Slouch
KRTS

For the whole story, go to Powerstrip Circus article. Also see the flyer below.

Bushwick: A Neighborhood that I may someday travel to

While I'm a snob when it comes to dismissing hipsters (is that a hypocritical statement?) I always found going to Williamsburg over the last few years to be fairly invigorating and fun, many a good night. With shows at Europa as well, I've gotten to see a bit of Greenpoint as well, and it's definitely a cool little neighborhood. The G train now sits well with me as I can at least make it to Lorimer (Union Pool, Pete's Candy Shop), and GP in about 15-20 minutes which is nice.

I've never made it to Bushwick. For me it's a bit out of the way, but nevertheless, it's been "the new Williamsburg" ever since I could remember, so I've always been a bit skeptical. More hipsters isn't my idea of a good time, but for me it's always one of those things where I know that when I come out of an evening among them, I'm the normal one. I think. It's like Mad Men season 1, where Mr. Don "suit" Draper gets to hang with the cool but pretentious EV kids.

Brooklyn Paper has a nice, albeit a bit wide-eyed-wonder skip/hop through some notable social establishments in the Bushwick this week, and it's definitely worth checking out if you have a day/evening to spare. Check out the article here.


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Traditional, Gentle Country from Williamsburg

I was catching up with a lovely couple, Jimmy Sullivan (no not the dude from awful Avenged Sevenfold) and Mary Bragg, Jimmy a very congenial fellow, and Mary a bright, smiling star, the other night at the Yelp Inaugural Ball. It's rare that you find two hospitable Southerners in Williamsburg, but they've been making music together for years now and I was fortunate enough to chat with them about it and some recent gigs like their January 7th gig at The Bitter End and upcoming headliner at Living Room on February 12th.

More recently their collaborations turned into Mary's 2007 album, Sugar. You can find several tracks on Mary's MySpace page currently. Full of older, well worn Americana/country songs, Mary's voice has a real lift and air to it, a pristine quality that is at the forefront of a subdued, lean production. A wonderful cut, "Let Me", really has a nice build from a gentle spareness to a softly rumbling finish. There are changes of pace, like the whaling guitar and Jimmy's funkified, bopping basslines in a song like "Sweet Skin".


The state of pop country has always been thriving no doubt; it's efforts from people like Jimmy and Mary that help round out things with a less less over the top, excessiveness and a real focus on arranging effective songs.

You can check out Mary on the MySpace link above or her official site where you can purchase both her CDs. You can also download Sugar on Amazon here. For more on Living Room in the Lower East Side, go here.

Recent Netflixing (Not Really 'Cuz I Own This on VHS Beeyotch!) - Laws of Gravity

"Mucka ferguson."

I don't even think it's out on DVD yet, and considering the budget and the quality of stock it's not really necessary (did I catch a boom in a shot?). I revisited this Brooklyn gem, from then first-time director Nick Gomez and featuring wonderful early performances from Edie Falco, Peter Greene (who I haven't seen in a WHILE) and Arabella Field (her first feature performance I think).



Adam Trese, who plays Jonny (similar to DeNiro's Johnny in Mean Streets, but in a more cutesy, baby-faced, modern version) has continued acting as well, but is also a successful real estate agent as well at Halstead! From his lips came one of the most ingenious non-profanity laced insults I've heard, which is why I started this post with it.



Gomez has since gone on to a very successful career as a TV director with shows like Brotherhood and earlier hits like Homicide: Life on the Street, after started off with 3 features (Laws of Gravity, New Jersey Drive, Illtown).



Whenever I see Edie Falco, I really take myself back always to this film. It was one of the first films I ever bought, on VHS, right after Reservoir Dogs and a couple of John Woo movies. I had never heard of it but I was intrigued as it seemed like a modern day Mean Streets.

What surprises me about the film, considering it was made 16 years ago now, is not only is it documentary and realistic in feel, but it's down to earth. The drama is not forced, and the dialogue consists of lots of subtle shifts and hints that never are told, always shown. At the same time, it's a very straightforward movie: Jimmy (Greene) and Jonny (Trese) and their respective ladies Denise and Celia (Falco and Field) are Brooklynites where the men don't work but steal and hustle, and the women work late at jobs that can't afford much more than some beers and a bed. One of the great quotes, as character actor Paul Schulze's (24, Sopranos) Frankie asks about cable, Jimmy goes, "Nah we don't have cable, this is Brooklyn". Another great moment is when Jimmy relights an almost fully smoked cigarette bud to grab a couple extra drags. There's such a great street sense in this film; even though the tough guys have beefs sometimes, they have no problem either expressing it violently while still coming in constant contact with each other because it's a community here.

Sal (Saul Stein) is the local loan shark/muscle and Frankie is back from Florida under shady circumstances to sell guns and evade questions about being a rat. Jonny's temper gets the best of him EVERY time. In the middle of it all, Jimmy owes people here and there and isn't quite peaceful, but overall is the moderator of the whole sh-bang. The film does a great job in grabbing a sense of desperation, the sense that there are not a lot of resources for these characters to live on. Everything is driven by the characters' tempers, and the movie ebbs and flows on that, not on any coincidences or contrivances. The camera roams verite style and never veers or strays too far, giving everything a claustrophobic, intimate feel. The style is classic and showed cinematographer Jean de Segonzac's potential as a lenser for Law & Order and other TV series as recent as New York's Gossip Girl. The daily hustles that the men go through are both necessary for them to exist but stem totally from an antisocial mindset. And the performances are really top notch.

Greene actually makes for an interesting leading man; a heel in The Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction, and The Mask, among other films, he has a calming presence and when he rages, it's of a righteous quality. His soft spoken nature and sleepy eyes get you behind him as he moves and shakes through the little world they have going. Trese makes good use of all the blow ups and tantrums; his lazy mouthed stare belies the anger-at-any-moment nature of his character and is fun to watch.

Falco shows you that she's going to be a force in the material she works on later in her career; a natural sarcasm flows out of her and she's the voice of reason in all of this. Field's tragic character, getting stomped on by Jonny, yet coming back to him out of pure love but almost destructively confrontational, has an interesting vocal rhythm and it brings flavor to the role in a movie centered on the men.

Each scene tends to have its own situational banter and at the same time works toward the overall story. It's that kind of down to earth feel that makes this film a winner. There are no artsy shots; no time for that. The dialogue flys around (people talk at the same time, oh Altman) and it breathes and brims. Shot in 12 days for less than 40k, you couldn't ask for a better hour and a half.

The bar where they filmed at was the Ship's Mast Pub (link to NY Times article) on North 5th in Williamsburg, which was shut down not too long after they filmed; John Gallagher, the owner, plays Bobby the bartender in the film. The rest of the film was shot in Greenpoint; it's great to see the difference then and now, especially considering that Williamsburg has evolved into something completely different from the rest of Brooklyn and at the time was still like many now upscaling 'hoods like parts of Park Slope, etc. suffering from lots of crime and social unrest.

One note: Bill Sage has an extremely small part as a friend of a harrassed patron at the bar. Turns out he has gone on to a serious TV and film career with recent stints on the short lived Cashmere Mafia.

Laws of Gravity was nominated for 4 Independent Spirit Awards including Best First Feature, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Cinematography. Gomez won the Wolfgang Staudte Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1993 for this as well.

I love this movie; if you really want to see some great footage of a bygone Brooklyn, check this out.

Laws of Gravity on IMDb

Wrecords By Monkey - High Style Meets Low Carbon Footprint

Looking for something unique yet subtle and everyday fashionable? Brooklyn again, is where it's at with Wrecords By Monkey who have been featured on countless fashion and hip culture magazines. It was really cool to see their display at the Winter Craft Fair this year and I was about to nab the "Working Class Brooklyn" bracelet but didn't have enough cash on me. They have different collections and an insane amount of different designs that are really perfect for quick fashion upgrades for men and women.


From the site:

"WrecordsByMonkey is a Brooklyn-based design company that bridges the worlds of fashion, art and music. Using reclaimed vinyl records, they create handmade accessories with a low carbon footprint that can be incorporated into anyone’s individual style. Their niche product, the Wrecord bracelet, comes in designs from silly to sophisticated. WBM’s full line includes bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings and t-shirts, all inspired by the idea of relating to music lovers of every generation.

Founding partners Patrick Chirico and Brian Farrell started WrecordsByMonkey in 2004. Both have degrees from the Fashion Institute of Technology—Chirico in fashion design and Farrell in fine arts.

They started making the record bracelets one by one in the hallway of their dorm, hand drawing all of their unique graphics directly on the records. Since then, they’ve come up with a innovative manufacturing process and operate out of their studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where they have hand made over 60,000 record bracelets, and created thousands of designs.

They introduced their record bracelets at NYC markets, which is how they learned their niche product appeals to a wide range of demographics; all ages, cultures and styles. Currently, WrecordsByMonkey sells in over 20 states, in places ranging from art museums and design stores to independent boutiques and larger chains. They also sell in the gift shops of museums such as; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota Houston Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Kansas, The Chelsea Art Museum NYC, New York.
WBM has also done private label work for companies such as MTV and the GRAMMY Brand, creating custom record bracelets, graphic design and unique packaging and displays. They have received press in print, online and TV. Chirico and Farrell have also spoken at colleges about entrepreneurship and innovative materials, and they continue to be involved with charitable organizations and philanthropic ventures. WBM has donated to organizations including the Make A Wish Foundation, LIFEbeat, the S.T.O.K.E.D. Foundation, and Girls equality of Brooklyn."

Here's a photo from their Off The Train collection (photo from missomnimedia.com):

And also their Classic Patterns Bracelet Collection below:

To shop, browse, read about their collections, and see what kind of circles they run in, and of course, overall shenanigans, go to their official site: www.wrecordsbymonkey.com