TFC BOOTLEG

A MOVEABLE FEAST

2009-11-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

Maybe this should have gone at the start, rather than now, a month later but Hemingway's A Moveable Feast was my literary companion for this trip, and was rather apt..

"Missing meals makes you very hungry. But it also sharpens all of your perceptions, and I found that many of the people I wrote about had very strong appetites and a great taste and desire for food, and most of them were looking forward to having a drink."
Yayer Hem.

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

2009-11-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

You couldn't go two minutes without hearing Jay-Z blasted out of cars and houses. The New York anthem. Funny then that I spent my last day in NYC with Dame Dash at his new offices and gallery - DD172 - in Tribeca...

First up was a trip to The KDU studios in Brooklyn to catch up with my man Dave Gensler. Inspiring chats, as always.

Then it was a car service over to Tribeca to talk to Dame about the new chapter of Damon Dash. After a massive public beatdown, he's looking forward and the mogul who co-built the biggest urban empire in the world was a great host showing me around and meeting his team. Affable, funny, inspiring, open to talk about his business, referencing the past but pushing forward with hip hop and music in general, fashion, publishing, TV and film, fashion, art... Taking notes. Three hours well spent.

Dame photoshoot on the terrace.

Designer Chris Bevans from Rocawear / Nike / KDU / C Bevans.

The DD172 gallery on the ground floor.

After pounds and some hugs, on last hole-in-the-wall stop in Chinatown...

The Shanghai Soup Dumplings were suitably excellent. New York - And I'm out.

KFC RIP!

2009-11-04T14:30:00.000-08:00

Dante DFC knows all about the journey of fried chicken that started in Asia and then was flipped by American culture. And trust me, fried chicken in Malaysia is incredible. Home town Ayam Goreng. And then there's Korea, a huge fried chicken food & bar culture which has seen a cult-like boom in the last couple of years in NYC. Here's a NY Mag write up. Love food trends. Double fried with a thin, delicate, crispy batter, the pieces are then lightly dipped in a sweet and spicy Korean hot sauce and served with a kimchee coleslaw and sweetened bun. I hit one of the few Manhattan outlets (there's a ton more in Queens) Bon Chon Chicken in Tribeca. They also only cook to order (with signs saying at least a 20 minute wait because of this) with free range chickens in 100% olive oil. A suitable close for TFC Bootleg...

Never too late to start walking it off... Central Park West to The Dakota (where John Lennon lived and died, and where Yoko Oko still resides) and Strawberry Fields and through the Park to the east side.

Food porn time. We needed to shot close ups, ingredients and glamour shots for the upcoming DFC pilot we're working on. Met our director Kalim and Dante at a studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for a relaxed few hours of food styling and cooking and scripting... On the menu - DFC Cashew & Apricot Hot Wings with a Parmesan Sour Cream Chill Sauce.

Late night dinner with the ninja Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic, the creative director of The KDU, Kalim and homegirls Kat and Cat. We went to Sea, a Thai spot in Williamsburg that looked like something out of Bad Boys / Bad Boys 2 (even though it was featured in Garden State) before hitting new bar The Woods and the old favourite Union Pool (with back yard taco truck), where we somehow stayed til 4am... we lost the photobooth photos for proof and lost my mind in Jamesons.

BREAKFAST TAMALES IN HARLEM

2009-11-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

I had late night club tamales in LA, but this - coffee and tamales from this awesome woman selling the freshest street tamales at 8am is it. Soooothing, warm corn masa steamed in a corn husk wrapped around chicken with green peppers, tomatoes and habanero chilies... $1.25.

OH, POUTINE

2009-11-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

The Greyhound bus from NYC to Montreal is an experience. Driving through some strange unpronounceable small towns up through the NY State and 8 hours later, French Canada. Met the young bloods Phil AD and Seb Diamond aka Mofomatronix, part of the Turbo Crunk crew aka Montreal's club and afterhours ambassadors. The Canada family. They started throwing parties before they were even allowed into the clubs and now, at the ripe old age of 20-years-old, they run the city. The first Montreal meal was at a beautiful brasserie called Le Buvette in Mile End, the artist district of the city. We laid down $20 each and for that - a platter of oysters, horse meat tartar with a celeriac and pomegranate slaw, salt cod fitters, cold cuts, cheese, pan fried cod with citrus pickled fennel and mango, frites, salad and beer... bliss.

Party down. Halloween in Montreal...

3.30pm brunch at the Dusty's diner. And it was here that I discovered Quebec style home made baked beans. A revelation... a dark, sweet (probably some maple syrup in there), smokey, dense pot of beans.

The lost weekend in Montreal. Big thanks to the young dudes for everything! Before jumping the overnight bus back to NYC we did it. The Cobra supper. The legend that is the Montreal dinner of poutine (smothered chips with cheese curd and gravy) and a hefty smoked meat sandwich.

Yes. Merci.

STRAIGHT FROM THE SHAOLIN SLUMS

2009-11-02T08:14:00.001-08:00

I took the Staten Island Ferry straight to the Shaolin Slums to find RZA and Meth. All I found was a pretty wrong hot dog from "Gourmet Dogs", The Reuben which was covered in pastrami and mustard and cheese, then grilled.

Manhattan from the banks of Staten Isle.

Next stop Coney Island. The train pulled in at dusk, which was perfect for the desolate, eerie, ghost town vibes of Coney Island beach front. It's an amazing place and sedate and strangely inspiring. The hand painted signage is amazing - ESPO is all over the place and the 1920's Cyclone wooden roller coaster is a touch. Shoot The Freaks is jokes and of course the hot dog of hot dogs, Nathan's Famous... 90-year-old Polish Americana.

A Nathan's Chili Dog with sauerkraut. Mo' Dogs, Mo' Problems.

Next stop back to Soho where Kat and I gatecrashed an agency Halloween party where there was a chocolate fountain and Samantha Ronson was DJing. Amazing. I heard Samantha Ronson got $20,000 for her set.

Home to Harlem.

THE GUACO LOCO

2009-11-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

The Guaco Loco is a fine NYC eating memory. Perfect hangover food from the San Loco US'd Mexican joint which serves up the infamous Guaco Loco (a hard shell catfish taco and salad wrapped in a soft corn tortilla smeared with guacamole) and the Taco Loco (the same goes but with a luscious spoff of refried beans as the buffer instead of the guacamole... with a stewed pork filling).

That sorted, off to the MOMA which has a pretty impressive permanent collection of classics from the likes of Basquiat, Raymond Pettibon, Warhol, Sarah Lucas, Dan Flavin, Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Jasper Johns, Picasso, Francis Bacon, Jackson Pollock...

MOMOFUKU & DEITCH PROJECTS

2009-11-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day...
1. It stopped raining.
2. Enter the cult of the Momofuku restaurant empire, founded by one of NYC's bad boy chefs David Chang. Asian Sensations. There's a lot of debate about this guy being over-rated but I'm a fan. We hit the Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village and it was great. His melting, braised belly pork rolls cut with sleek pickled cucumber to start.

3. House specialty of the Momofuku Ramen with shredded pork and more sublime, butter like belly pork, Japanese fishcakes, nori, spring onions and a perfect poached egg bobbing in the ramen.

4. Momofuku homie Dave Hall, LDN - NYC transplant!

5. Deitch Projects in Soho. Checked the Tauba Auerbach, HERE AND NOW/AND NOWHERE show and her epic crumpled pictures.

6. Asia Dog! Tuesday night pop up grill at Brooklyn's Trophy Bar with the crew in tow. Met the Asia Dog founders Mel and Steve and grabbed a Kimchee Hot Dog and the Mel & Steve Special with Asian Sesame Coleslaw...

7. Dam Funk at the Fader party at Brooklyn Bowl. My NYC crew were out in force... Dante and DJ Jaclyn included. Amazing night. To the good peoples!

HARLEM DAYS

2009-11-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

DFC is Harlem set, my second NYC base. The world famous Apollo Theatre. Billie Holiday, James Brown, Micheal Jackson, Bill Cosby, Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy... Vivian Girls?

World famous White Castle! 79c burger sliders! Steamed mini meat! Kinda gross, kinda amazing.

World famous soul food mecca, Sylvia's in Harlem.

Chicken, corn bread, collard greens and mac & cheese. Classic.

Oh yes I did.

BROOKLYN URBAN ROOFTOP FARMS

2009-11-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

Mad hemp Sunday activities... in a good way of course. Spending the morning in Greenpoint, my gracious Brooklyn friend and host Kat Popiel took me to an urban rooftop farm with amazing views of the East River and Manhattan. Next stop, Pho stop in Williamsburg.

A walk over the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan and it was a trek through the East Village and up to the Flatiron district and Madison Square Park. There was a small food fair featuring a couple of very well reviewed NYC restaurants, the Malaysian dipped Fatty Crab and the Texan BBQ of Country Hill. Tourist trail food moments.

NYC CMJ DAY 4

2009-11-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

The London elusive Vietnamese sandwich (bahn mi) is everywhere in NYC. A staple of snack attacks. The slightly lacklustre bahn mi effort in LA was set right with a visit to NYC's famed Baoguette founded by Vietnamese chef and restaurateur Michael "Bao" Hyunh. Set off with a little more Sriracha, the sweet and spicy homemade BBQ pork nestled in with the pate, terrine, pickled daikon, carrots and coriander. Still looking for that inch thick pate... but it was a good pick me up on the wettest of windy days and fodder for the Fader and Levis party at the boujie mid town party spot, the Ace Hotel.

Midnight Juggernauts were meh, missed the debut of Chauffeur (Mark Ronson, Theophilus London and Sam Sparro's new group) but Florence did it again with an acoustic set. The night ended as it should with late night steak and oysters.

CMJ crew of Nadja and Seb Diamond.

NYC CMJ DAY 3

2009-10-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Better days. CMJ Day 3 meant my NYC tour, which of course includes Washington Square Park - from my suburban London, 15-year-old Larry Clark Kids obsession - and the start of my NYC food hunt, starting with the best hotdog... or more like the best Korean BBQ hotdog pilled high with kimchee, bulgogi (BBQ Korean shortribs) and sesame seeds at New York HotDog & Coffee down Bleecker Street.

Next stop Chinatown to satisfy a mass craving for NYC's Shanghai Soup Dumplings... New Yeah! is supp. to be one of the spots, so I dined solo with the steamy buns. $4.50 for 8. Totally absurd girls lunch conversation from the table next to me was gratis. A crazed girlfriend telling her mate that she loved going through her bf's emails and phone and shut every one of his platonic girl friends out of his life. And that she had a penchant for throwing stuff at him. Psycho. And she was butterz. Homeboy better sort his shit out.

Awesome old Chinese dudes in the park playing chess and mahjong. No sign of the RZA.

Brooklyn Bridge.

Ground Zero Memorial by Jeff Koons - Balloon Flower (Red).

And finally some intimate CMJ Music Festival action seeing The xx at the boujie Tribeca Grand hotel. Living it up lke Ja Rule. The crowds were heaving, it was pissing it down, but Tribeca Grand whiskey sodas and The xx were great. Big ups to my traveling man Guru and my CMJ partner in crime, Seb Diamond from Montreal / Many Brain / Turbocrunk crizzz.

NYC CMJ DAY 2

2009-10-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Fail. Made it to half a party. Stepped into the Manimal Recs showcase at the Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn, one beer, too tired, home to sleep. Will be back...

NYC CMJ DAY 1

2009-10-22T12:28:00.001-07:00

No photos, my camera needs a break. But first day of CMJ and I'm pretty impressed with the Wednesday 12hr marathon that we did...

Start - Za Za & Warpaint @ Terrorbird party
2. M for Montreal party
3. James Pants @ Miserable Beast / Stones Throw party
4. Warpaint @ Fader party
5. IAMSOUND party
6. Max Fish
7. Betty Black @ Bowery Electric
Finish - Just Blaze @ 105 Rivington

Thursday?

LAST DAY IN LA

2009-10-21T08:42:00.001-07:00

And we're out. Last day in LA, better make it a good one. After a lunch meeting at Umami Burger with producer Susan Applegate and director Syd Garon (who did the seminal Q-Bert mind freak Wave Twisters) - watch out for our N.A.S.A video with Lorna Lavelle and Calma! - it was a quick drop into Wacko books (picked up a nice Bukowski illustrated by Robert Crumb zine - I am in LA after all) before Erin rolled by and we chiiilled down at Santa Monica Pier.

LuckyMe.

Jokes.

It was then onto the suitably incredible last dinner of Los Angeles at the legendary Boat House in Alhambra. A Cajun boiled seafood spot where it's no plate, no cutlery, just long table and pounds and pounds of sparkling fresh seafood, steamed in the bag with the house hot sauce, garlic and butter. Boiling Crab? Whatever. It's crustacean carnage, and as Devin put it... an experience. Started with a dozen beautifully plump oysters, onto the mains of bags of clams, shrimp and crawfish with sweet potato fries and a pitcher of Bud Light. What else could be so American? Monday Margaritas at the fabled Cha Cha Lounge? And we're blissed-out. Thank you to the whole LA family.

Crustacean carnage.

Jim Jamz. Watch out for this dude on IMDB.

Pirates fo life.

LA - NYC. The in-house club on Virgin America.

ALBACORE & THE DO-OVER

2009-10-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

In dizzying haste caused by the pleasure of eating one of the most mind melting pieces of sushi ever, there are no pictures. I even went back and ordered another plate. A simple Albacore Nigri (topped with some fresh crushed ginger) at Yoshi in West Hollywood. It was perfect. I won't even bother explaining. Other Yoshi delights included the half shell oysters with flying fish roe and the dragon roll (a California roll of crab and shrimp tempura layered with spicy tuna). Earlier in the evening Benji B was in town to play the Do-Over party, an awesome Sunday day extravaganza - a party only rolling in the summer, started a few years ago by Jamie Stones Throw and his partner Chris. It was rammed and sangria-fueled fun times. Sundays in LA.

THROWING DOWN HAMMERS

2009-10-21T07:55:00.001-07:00

Frisbee Golf is a real. Only in California is there a game called Frisbee Golf / Disk Golf. It's like golf except you have to throw a frisbee down the course to get it into a hole / basket. It's for stoney bros. There are tees, pars, a putter frisbee and a driver frisbee, strokes like the hammer. Check out the PDGA. YouTube this. What better way to spend a sunny Saturday with a cool box on wheels full of ice cold Tecate beers, blunts and funny CA peoples wandering around a park / forest trying to score holes? Nada ting.

The crack commando team of sportsmen.

At the tee.

Finding the hole.

The driver stuck in the trees.

Tools.

Exhausted after a strenuous day of perfecting hammers we go see Rainbow Arabia and Nosaj Thing play USC, with Teebs and Ras G and Daddy Kev. Late night chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy to finish the set. MMmm.

HOLLYWOOD

2009-10-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Good days in Los Angeles go like this.

1. Wake up. It's 94 degrees. Again.
2. A bit of writing and work in the morning.
3. It's 94 degrees. Just sayin.
4. A trip to Beachwood Canyon and a hike through the other side of Griffith Park on a mission to trek it up to the Hollywood Sign. Maybe sticker the Hollywood Sign and have photo op.
5. A drive through the Hollywood Hills to get to the INCREDIBLE walk up through the cliffs.
6. About to enter trespass land to the Sign, get thwarted by (it is LA) a huge fashion shoot going on and a lot of park rangers.
7. Walk back down, not too bummed out, cute girls exercising is always a bonus.

8. Go for eats at Jitlada, one of the best Thai spots in LA, in Thai Town. Have a crispy, citrus catfish salad with lime and mango followed by mussels the size of a sea gull's beak and the unctuous glory that is softshell crab. Order ice cold Thai beer.

9. Shower.
10. The opening night private screening of Where The Wild Things Are at the Vista in Echo Park. A gorgeous old theatre with Where The Wild Things Are puffy stickers and Max crowns as it's MFG's birthday. Lots of friends are out.
11. Enjoy Where The Wild Things Are. A lot.

12. Go to the Avalon in Hollywood where Mr Oizo is playing and in town working with two of my homegirls on his new film - which is about an animatronic tire that rolls around the desert, is telekinetic and blows people's heads up.

94 DEGREES, SAM SPIEGEL & THE KOGI KREW

2009-10-19T10:34:00.001-07:00

We're back! LA is 94degrees and, hell yes we're lovin' it. Ten minute drive from Echo Park and we're at the Griffith Park Observatory overlooking Los Angeles.

Driving back through the city we head over to Hollywood to drop in to the Squeak E Clean / NASA studio house and kick it with our good friend Sam Spiegel. Looking forward to working with Sam on his awesome doc & video project. More of which later. We chat, Erin and Sam geek out over analogue gear and basslines, Sam plays some exclusz and we all rad out.

LA homes are conducive to chillin'. Devin and Stacey's beautiful new house in Silver Lake confirms this. AC blasting, Swishers be smoking. And next for dinner? The cult of Los Angeles that is the Korean Kogi BBQ Taco Truck. Korean BBQ Tacos. It has its fair share of haters. Of course, it's kinda hipster fusion street food, it's got a massive Twitter following - the only way to know exactly where the trucks will stop - and it's arguably the most popular Taco truck in the whole of LA. Haterade is flowing. But the food? Amazing. Korean BBQ Short Rib tacos and chili BBQ pork tacos topped with a fresh, peppery light Korean salad and spiced out kimchee, all wrapped on a soft corn tortilla. And the Kogi Dog? A Hot Dog spiced with kimchee and all the trimmings? I've been waiting on this for a longass time. The cheese and kimchee quesadilla, not so. Food coma.

SCALLOP & SHRIMP BURRITOS

2009-10-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

Senor Fish is a LA institution serving LA's own Pacific delicacy, Fish Tacos. But at Senor Fish, the fish tacos are only the start. Legendary scallop tacos. Legendary shrimp tacos. Put them together and we're laughing. Scallop and shrimp burrito with beans and pico de gallo served with big ass jalapenos, a chili and ginger and a smoked chipolte hot sauce. Baha baby.

Lunch with Bobby Evans and Nate from Stones Throw / Miserable Beast / Innovative Leisure means with a promo pick up at the Stones Throw offices in Highland Park.

IT RAINS IN MALIBU

2009-10-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

LA has its first rain in six months. What to do in LA when it rains? Brunch in Hollywood at Kitchen 24. Hooking up with Kalim and the crew we have a lazy spread of their Garden Eggs Benedict (with a paprika Hollandaise, looks weird, tastes pretty good), a Mediterranean Tofu Scramble (vegan scrambled eggs, sounds weird, tastes pretty good) and veg chili cheese fries...

Onwards to Malibu, road trip with Christina. In the rain.

Swinging back to Downtown LA to see our friend Nate Stones Throw play drums with his band We Break Cameras in a proper dive bar, Bar 107. I'm told it's a Derby Dolls bar... pretty apt seeing our homies Sam Spiegel and Devin Foley have a track on the new Drew Barrymore Derby Dolls movie Whip It. I also now understand the game, yo.

TacoZone to finish. Standard. Closing up the menu I get the Buche (stomach) and Carne Asada (the classic beef)... the Buche is not to bad but the texture might throw people.. it's not tripe though. But the classic beef, Carne Asada? Amazing. And all at $1.25 each. Taco truck culture in LA is ALL good. Kogi Korean BBQ Taco Truck is next.

MONDAY ON THE SUNSET STRIP

2009-10-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

...Doesn't start at some gregarious Philippe Starck-designed, boutique hotel on the Strip. (Hotel equivalent of the Entourage opening credits.) But it does end there. The day starts with the other LA living large. Inspiring people. Much like Ooga Booga - the Family Bookstore on Fairfax, opposite Supreme, next to Huf and TurntableLab - is somewhere I've been wanting to pop by for a long time. We've done a few features together for Dazed and how circles cross, Sammy and David who run Family are good friends with my good friends. So a casual drop in to the gorgeously done up bookstore/gallery/music space turns into a two hour chat with Family dudes and Brother Reade about art, music and the fact that both David and Jimmy were up for a part in the new Mike Mills movie (more of which later). Some kids just stole parts of the signage so it only reads "AMIL" now. That pissed them off.

Where's next? Little Tokyo. For Cali-styled Sushi. Which like much of LA is tweaked to satisfy exuberance, but still dining with that background culture... Sushi in Little Tokyo was an experience, and starting with seared albacore nigri pepped with just a touch of ginger and spring onions was sublime. Rainbow Rolls though, these are Los Angeles. We want it all, considered / educated excess... So imagine super fresh California Rolls with crabmeat and cucumber, but topped with strips of sashimi - tuna, salmon, avocado, shrimp, yellowtail and eel, formed then sliced like your usual California Rolls. SO good. And having to walk through a movie shoot on the way to eat dinner? Darrrlin.

Jamie LA!

So a call from Marnie's favourite director Kalim Armstrong means a jet to the Sunset Strip and the aforementioned hotel... the swing in the hotel lobby was a touch.

BBQS & BOTTEGA LOUIE

2009-10-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning was not so pretty. Who new that margaritas tasted so good? And with BBQ Maui Short Ribs and asparagus on the side? The far side of tequila. That was the Saturday night BadBeatLA BBQ. Suffice to say Sunday started slow... but we're in the entertainment business... so we kept entertained.

Was good to meet B+ again, him DJ an amazing outdoor dusk set at Verdugo (there was a drum heavy funk w/ MPC band before him) that made me feel like it was 1998, shit was mad dusty and Music Man Miles was there fronting The Breakestra. There was even a vegan Vietnamese food stall. After a few, very chilled hours suppin, we jumped into the car for The Do-Over in Hollywood, the infamous all day Sunday Summer jam... which was, as the hype precedes, crazily busy. So much so that even with this (circles face) we standing in line. And who waits in line? Suckas. Not starving artists who have a tip off that Bottega Louie is a mere ten minutes away. There's always next week for The Do-Over.
But Bottegaz?

Bottega Louie is all white marble, a huge, grand Art Deco-type LA Italian dining room which looks super boujie and very LA. And the food? The best Caesar salad I've ever had. A 'Trenne' pasta dish, the sauce melting with slow braised prime rib eye and Tuscan black kale lightly coating baked penne. Eggplant Parmesan with mozzarella and a super fresh and punchy Pomodoro tomato sauce, a salad of clean cut roasted golden beets (why don't we have these in London?) and creamy, royal goats cheese, wafer thin yet potent slices of Serrano Jambon... Huh. We even got a free Happy Birthday Semi Freddo with brandied fruit, chocolate and almonds cos Karla's birthday is in like, a week? $25 a head. Crazy. Whisky night cap at 7th Grand made me feel grown up. Who loves Los Angeles?

SILVER LAKE VIEWS

2009-10-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

From Jason Them Jeans' deck overlooking the Silver Lake Reservoir. Jason and his bro Stewie, and Jimmy and I drank beers and watched a baseball game (was long) then discussed the finer points of cricket.

CALI STATE MEDICAL WEED

2009-10-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

Supposedly there's more medical weed stores in California than Starbucks. This one's called Sugar. Copious amounts of TCP.

THE GLITCH MOB

2009-10-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

edIT's house in the hills is also the studio for LA's finest samurais. The Glitch Mob. Ooah (Josh), Boreta (Justin) and edIT (Ed) should be hitting the UK in Feb. On a related note I just did a little piece of Ooah's side project PANTyRAiD (with NYC's MartyParty) and The xx for URB's CMJ mag. NYC next week.

ASIAN SENSATIONS

2009-10-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

LA is full of them. Two of my favourites are author / curator Joy and genius / producer Jason aka Nosaj Thing. Looking forward with both of my favourite peoples. Jason just played with Fever Ray in LA and is about to embark on an EU tour. Go see him destroy it and buy his amazing record Drift. We all drove to Korea Town and, of course, had to eat amazing noodles. Home made (I love home made, freshly pulled noodles, it's a like fresh pasta vs. dried) firey kimchi noodles with a side of extra kimchi and pickles too boot. Jason is Korean and doesn't like kimchi. Weirdo.

Joy is sad because she didn't eat.

MIRANDA JULY

2009-10-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Silver Lake and interviewed one of my favourite directors / authors / artists, Miranda July. Big ups for J for hooking it up. An amazingly inspirational person. Watch out for the feats soon.

B.R.

2009-10-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

I can't even start to go into how rad Brother Reade are - music, friends, Los Angeles. You need them. Their new material is on another level, futures braaaa. Jim Jamz and Bobby Evans smashed the Echo before Har Mar smashed the bar. One of the best LA nights thus far. Their manager Geoff and I ended with a TacoZone dinner which went a bit hardcore. I didn't eat til 6pm the next day. I took pictures but they don't do this Last (Mexican) Supper justice.

2am Post Show TacoZone snack
1 x Taco Cabeza (cheek)
1 x Taco Lengua (tongue)
1 x Taco Chorizo (spiced crumbled pork)
1 x Burrito Al Pastor w/ rice and beans (marinated & roasted pork)
blurgh.

Los Angeles gal dem

Los Angeles dude dem

LOS FELIZ

2009-10-07T18:28:00.001-07:00

Moving up to the Franklin Hills and Los Feliz, crashing with Ed edIT from the almighty Glitch Mob. After eating an entire slice of $7 Pumpkin Pie and feeling pretty damn sketchy (thanks Dieu) I was in dire need of vegetables. So we went Cali health kick with Ed's infamous Shabu Shabu with bak choi, baby spinach and some of the best egg noodles. edIT's Slay the Crowd Shabu Shabu sauce was the 10/10, blended with Chinese BBQ sauce, Japanese Sukiyaki sauce, peanut sauce and algave nectar (Ed lives mad healthy when he's not destroying arenas or making backing beat medleys for Travis Barker).

On the same macrobiotic (might be lying) tip, Erin and Chrissy took me to one of their favourite Silver Lake spots called Local, which specialises in locally sourced, organic US meals... like ya mama usedta makea... with a Silver Lake Twist. So I graced my temple of a body (lie) with a vegan dinner of Tempeh (fermented soybean) Sloppy Joe with soy mozzarella. We shared the amazing array of sides including charred brussel sprouts with pine nuts, roast gold beetroot with Swiss chard and roasted spaghetti squash. Felt goooooood.

LA folklore Cinespace Tuesdays with the bros Them Jeans, Dan Oh and Pase Rock followed... See blurry Pase pics below, t'was his birthday. Alex, you would have loved it...

MANIMAL FESTIVAL & JOSHUA TREE

2009-10-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

After a summer of Manimal Vinyl love in London - Warpaint, Hecuba and VoicesVoices wore their repeat status badges loud (lovers check my upcoming feature on the label in next month's Dazed) it was only necessary that we road trip it to Joshua Tree for the Manimal Festival after the wedding. As in right after. Hungover as hell. Driving through the desert at night is a vibesy experience, but not as epic as in the morning. We got to Pioneertown (Manimal Fest was held in a sandy, old Western movie set, amazing) pretty late, but luckily just in time to catch a $2 beer and see Warpaint who didn't disappoint. Psych-y, haunting, inspiring stuff from the girls. Damn, Emily Warpaint can sing. Moonrats played a loose jams set after to close the night. We were going to adventure it and sleep in Erin's awesome beat up 80s BMW but ended up crashing in the Moonrats' desert lodge.

In the early morn.

Pioneertown breakfast of corn beef hash (made into cute lil patties) and eggs over medium. So many choices in America. The diner is right opposite the Star Struck Dance Studio if you're ever in town. Recommended protein intake for the trek into Joshua Tree....

Our road trip fodder of Fela Kuti, Beethoven, Ludacris, Young Dro and Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos - which kinda scared me at first with their neon red glow.

ADVIL...

2009-10-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

...Works. Post wedding... All I can say. What doesn't work is a massivo breakfast at Papa Bears with pancakes, two beakers of syrup, a well of butter, two sausage patties, bacon, eggs, two pints of OJ and coffee. I didn't even make a dent.

Passing in and out of consciousness on the ride back to LA I was making my apologies before In N Out drifted into sight. People LOVE In N Out Burger in LA. It's nice and super simple... unless you rock out with your cock out and go Animal style. Which I did. With Spread.

WEDDING TIME

2009-10-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

Excess hangover cures 101. A pitcher of coffee and a breakfast burrito that looks like small baby.

That done it's all about Devin and Stacey's wedding. I've known Devin aka Desert Eagles aka Desert Ego since we met in Mexico about 7 years ago, a proper friend and it was a true pleasure to be out here for his wedding to Stacey. It was a beautiful So Cal wedding, in the high desert. Here's to the family.

View from the hotel. Ballin.

Brother Reade & RJ Shaughnessy. Ballin.

Blowing bubbles under the love tree. *Out of shot. Gold socks with the purple shoes. My Lakers colours. Ballin.

Mariachis. Ballin.

Brad Drink Moloko and Jimmy BR with wifeys. Ballin.

Famlay. Ballin.

My man Paul Chang. Ballin.

Stacey & Devin. Mad Ballin.

B-Ballin.

Them Jeans and Bobby Evans DJing. The police came thru. After the party it's the afterparty.

CACTUS PEAR SALSA & OOGA BOOGA

2009-10-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

I can see why Dante gets shirty about the produce in the LDN if you want some Mexican ingredients. Costcutter? This breakfast was made in homage to the big man. We went to local store and got back made a hot cactus pear salsa to go with our eggs, scrambled with roasted tomatillos, two different chillis and smoked chipoltes, wrapped in fresh corn tortillas from the local tortillaria. For sides we made breakfast collards with garlic and onions and a kinda loose hash browns with habarnero and garlic. Lazy, late morning breakfasts in the sun. Echo Park rules, man.

After breakfast I felt like sleeping, but we did it LA steez with a shop day down Melrose and hit APC for denim (blue) and Marc Jacobs for denim (black) before swinging to China Town to check out Ooga Booga, an awesome art / fashion / zine / music store which I've been wanting to check out forever. Even picked up a Sumi Ink Club / David Scott Stone 7" and another one of my firsts... a Vietnamese Sandwich, which for some reason aren't slanged in the UK. Another random food/snack obsession, it was good... a super fresh French / Viet baguette stuffed random meats, with pickled carrots & daikon, lettuce and coriander. Though I'm gonna have to pick this tale up again in NYC... where was the Vietnamese pate?

After a Thai dinner with Brother Reade and Them Jeans it was onwards to Eagle Rock and Highland Park to meet up with AMBER with homegirls Karla and Christina for pre-wedding draaanks.... with whiskey and a wine called Menage A Trois. Big in the Napa, yo. Next stop... was an early morning, hungover wake up call and a road trip down to San Diego.

RICK ROSS. THE WEST COAST BO$$

2009-10-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today was all about flo$$in with our good friend Rick Ross who runs the institution that is Delicious Vinyl along with his brother Mike Ross. This also happened to be the day that our friend Bobby Evans handed in his new mixtape for Delicious Vinyl entitled Zooom. It should be dropping before the end of the yr. You better watch out because it's rope-a-dope.

The Delicious offices are on Sunset Blv. Rick showed us his new party / gallery space downstairs, whilst we chatted futures and checked out the DV vaults and his gold & platinum recs. Who knew Juice went Gold? We ballin. And Frank N Dank were in the building. That one's for Alex.

After the DV experience it was only right to hit two more Hollywood legends. So Amoeba Records - I even bought music (that one's for Tom, granted it was an original Major Force CD from 89) - and Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles! That one's for the PP!!! Dudes. Fried chicken smothered in gravy served with waffles and maple syrup, eggs, grits and a biscuit. I conquered all but the grits. They were hardcore. The patriotic handy wipes were a touch.

We then rolled by Space 1520 to see the Where The Wild Things Are exhibition. Which was epic. The stills are amazing. Hopefully we'll catch the Los Angeles premiere next week. That would be super mega epic.

So evening time rolled in through beautiful LA. Sippin' scotch with Jimmy Jamz we followed the night into Hollywood as Jimmy was guesting at a dubstep party. That was weird. US MCs trying to sound like London DnB dudes from 94. Though Jimmy jumped up and killed it like a deviled mongoose, the rest of the night killed me... pah.

Salvation came with our pre-bed taco jump off at TacoZone. The real TacoZone. A double platter of Mexican chorizo (an awesome crumbled spiced pork) and lengua (tongue) tacos. Love this place.

LA. CA. ALL DAY.

2009-10-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

Eating out America sounds weird. America Exotica. Whatevs. For the next month I'm eating my way around LA, SF and NYC and catching up with a ton of amazing friends that I haven't seen in a long time. And see a really good mate get married to his girl. Dev1!!! Congrats!!! And drink and smoke and sun and chill and have me time. This, no melodrama, is the blog blog. With short shorts.

So I'm writing out of my friend Erin's (Bad Beat / Brother Reade) place in Echo Park. Just woke up after the first night of LA vay-cay. I just said no to jetlag, cured, no doubt by the most amazing homemade breakfast burrito (beans, eggs, onions, garlic, tomato, salsa, hot sauce) and coffee.

So last night was the way to do it. Erin picked me up from LAX and we drove straight to the beach (tourist steez on Venice Beach) with a beer. Basically 2 hours (going back in time) after leaving London I was on the beach in the early 90s with Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes. Ain't no thang. People were still slanging mixtapes. It was amazing. We then headed to Fairfax to Little Ethiopia (amazing, right?) for some proper food (however good Virgin are - 11hr flight but i felt like a million dollars - their food game is rubbish). We had whole cooked trout with lime and a potent Ethiopian hot sauce, Ethiopian collard greens (!) and an awesome lentil curry.

We kicked it back home for a shower and a coffee before Erin's girl picked us up and we headed to a party in The Hills. I was in a total daze, but it was fun meeting people that i've interviewed but never met, like Day19 and Cali Dewitt. We made plans to go see Moonrats and Warpaint at Manimal Festival at the weekend in Joshua Tree then headed out for TACOS!

First night. First taco truck. It was Taco Zone, supp. the spot to get late night eats. But impostors were lurking - but I had nothing to compare to - added to the fact that I'd been fantasising about this moment longer than forever. So my carnitas and suadero tacos blew my mind. With the chipotle salsa and corriander relish? What! Ole El Paso can suck it.

Loaded up on pork and beef and little golden medallions of corn we drove over to the Cha Cha Lounge in Silverlake to see another good friend who I haven't seen in time - Jimmy / Jamz (Brother Reade / Bad Beat). This dude is one of my favourite rapper's rapper and an epic New York trip we had a couple of years ago led him to his wife, Eleanor. Who is amazing. Congrats guys! So Cha Cha Lounge was doing for me. But then. Boom. A dude comes in and starts selling late night tamales straight out. It's game over. My first tamale washed down with a Tecate. Checklist is done. LA is looking good so far.