Thursday, July 17, 2008

Converse Connectivity: 100th Anniversary Celebration

If you're like us, you've seen that crazy-awesome commercial featuring Pharrell, Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, and Santogold, and wondered, "What the heck is this?". We asked our selves that in the best way possible, since the 30 second clip left that song in our head. Turns out that song is called "My Drive Thru" and produced by none other than Pharrell's team, N.E.R.D.


Past icons connecting with the present: Sid Vicious, M.I.A., Joan Jett, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, James Dean, Dwayne Wade, Common, Hunter S. Thompson, and Billie Joe Armstrong.

The commerical is Converse's new "Connectivity Campaign", celebration its 100th Anniversary in the footwear game. Let's face it, Converse sneakers have been seen on almost every rock star, pop star, athlete, sleeze, groupie, preppy, nerd, goth, hipster, your grandfather and your mother for more than a century. Why is it that, when it comes down to it, Converse are the most loved and versatile shoe out there? And as we see it, everyone's icons have been pictured in a pair of Chuck All Stars. Though our icons are so different with their music and their game, one thing remains the medium, the Shoe. Who would have thought a pair a sneakers would be so damn iconic?

-MF

Project Runway Season 5 Returns!


Last night, millions of fashion crazed Americans watched sixteen eager designers race to make the best and most original creation, out of grocery items. Yes, grocery items. Looks like Project Runway brought back the Gristedes Grocery Store challenge from Season 1, in which designers would pick out any materials under the price of $75, in thirty minutes. We love it because the challenge is well, challenging and shows us immediately who's in for the long haul.
While some made the most out of their table cloths and mops, some flopped with their grocery bags and shower curtains. And although the show is relatively new, well, it premiered last night, we can already see the potential in many designers this early in the competition.
An Atomic favorite was Kelli, from Ohio and FIDM Alum, who concocted a pleated A-line skirt made from sea foam vacuum bags. After she bleached and dyed them for a modern print, and utilized numerous of materials from the grocery store, she won the first challenge, clearly showing that she "made it work" (excuse me for the Tim-ism)!
We're excited to see what the rest of the contestants bring to the runway next week and we're sure this is will be a season that does not disappoint!


Auf Wiedersehen,
-MF

Monday, July 14, 2008

ATOMIC PRESENTS: The Official ME GUSTA Interview!

Let's face it, if you have not even browsed ME GUSTA's MySpace profile, you're pretty much out the loop. After discovering the extremely talented local super-team a few months back, us ladies of ATOMIC have been quite intrigued; We're simply astounded that this kind of raw, but polished, talent could come out of our own city. All that San Jose has seen are numerous hardcore bands that headline The Cave and San Jose Skate, of all places. Not that we are hating on your game, but not everyone is into that.
So you can definitely say that ME GUSTA is a breath of fresh air to the local music scene and to all you of cats that enjoy home made beats created by geniuses. In the short while they have been together, they have already had an impression on us, even though we have never seen them live. We interviewed ¡Me Gusta! for the first time last week, and we were blown away by their responses and willingness to do this interview. We hope all of you enjoy it as much as we did.
* AZ = ATOMIC ZINE
* MG = ME GUSTA



AZ: So, ME GUSTA, what are your real names?
MG: Sean Paul Richards & Dominic Lopez

AZ: Where did the name of the group come from, and how long have you guys been doing your thing?
MG: Our name basically originated from me(Sean) wanting to do something with a clever and catchy name...Thought about it for a while and just realized that no one had used the name ME GUSTA before. We started doing our thing musically and decided to use the name for our group.

As for length of time, we've been doing this together since March 25, 2008. Dominic has been up on making music for quite a few years, but this collaborative effort is a relatively new project.



AZ: Where are you two from (city, state, or universe)?
MG:We're from San Jose, California.


AZ: How and what led you guys to start making your own music? How serious is MG to each one of you, individually?
MG:What led us to start making music together was basically just creative vibes that flowed between us. We're best friends and dealing with music we go back and forth, picking and deciding what each piece should sound like. Dominic and I do this for the love of creating music, and we don't really do it for any other reason than to make everyone happy when they listen. That alone is reason enough to continue producing tracks.

As for how serious this is to each of us individually I can't really answer, but we've both dedicated a lot of time and effort to both creating tracks as well as spreading the word about what we're doing. It's not about which one of us is more serious...It's just the fact that both of us are doing our best to create music for the world to hear. Me Gusta is a collaborative effort that I, personally, feel we have both dedicated ourselves to in the fullest. There are a lot of other things we're dealing with (school, friends, etc), but we always make our music a huge priority.


AZ: So who does what ? Is there something in particular that just one of you does to add your own flavor to your beats , or is it a pretty even partnership?

MG: When we make the music, Domo usually gets on the track and picks some samples out. We go through these samples, chop them up, and create seperate loops out of them. We then get down and choose different drum noises (kick, snare, hat, etc) and add them in. We then create seperate loops of these and see how things are. We take turns tweaking things and take listens over and over until we're satisfied with what we're working on.



AZ: Equipment; where did you get it all from, and what do you use? Do you have any other help or is it just you two?
MG:We're currently using both Garageband & Ableton software on an Apple MacBook computer. We're more comfortable on Garageband, but we're slowly moving into Ableton as it is a relatively simple program to understand. It should come into play a lot more as we move further towards live sets and such.
As for help, we don't really get any help with production, but have recieved a lot of support and tips from our boys Lazer Sword (San Francisco) & our Montreal buddy, Hovatron. If you get a chance you should definitely look up each of their myspaces and leave them some love.


AZ: Aside from the single tracks you have posted on your official MySpace and the Remixtape, are they any other beats you have made but declined to put up? If so, why?

MG: We've worked on a lot of stuff during this progressive period of the last few months. Most of these tracks have been released to the public via our MySpace or free download. However, there are a handful of tracks we've produced that have yet to be put up due to either the fact that we're waiting for the right time to release them, we've produced them for an artist and don't want others to steal the beat, or just haven't completed the tracks. Other than that, we want our fans to listen up and have some good times with our music.


AZ: Tell us about the new Remixtape. We think it's really awesome that you guys let it be available for download, and all of the tracks in our opinion are genius. What inspired you to remix versions of some of our favorite songs?
MG: REMIXTAPE Vol. 1 is the first of many free mixtapes that we'll be handing out to the public via free download. We produce a lot of remixes because we enjoy working with acapellas and producing around them. Plus these remixes give us a lot of opportunities to re-imagine tracks that we feel are bomb in one way and would sound chill in another way. We do a lot of production, and when we come across an acapella that matches up with one of our beats we get down and try to make a track as best as we know how. We're just inspired in general to make what we consider bangers and we're glad that y'all as well as all of our fans out there are diggin' the tracks so much.



AZ: What inspires you, period? What are some of your favorite artists right now, and always?

MG: We're inspired but anything & everything. Anything we've been through in life & everything we've yet to experience. We try not to limit ourselves to anything. As for our favorite artists, we try not to pick favorites. We're usually checking out everything and listening to whatever we find.


AZ: We're sure you get this a lot, but, when do you think you guys will start doing live sets? Is that even something you'd like to do?

MG: First of all, yes...we get that question all the time. We'd LOVE to get live, but at the moment we really don't have the equipment or overall knowledge to create the live experience we're looking to create. In my opinion, when we do get live we want it to be as great as we can make it, so we're thus taking our time with it. I honestly have no idea when we will finally get live, but we'll hopefully be able to purchase the equipment, gain the knowledge necessary to create live sets, and master everything sometime within the next 6 months.


AZ: Where do you guys want to be in 1 year with your music? 5 years?

MG:In 1 year's time we hope to further our production skills, have a lot of material out for our fans to listen to, and be better known among not only our own area but across the world. Every group hopes for big things, and we're definitely looking to reach as many fans as we can. That's the bottom line: making music for people to get down to.
5 years ahead? We'll see about that...


AZ: So what can we expect from Me Gusta in the near, and distant future? Any specific goals? Any upcoming projects that you're excited to drop?
MG: In the near future you can expect to hear some collaborations with talented emcees as well as more original material to get y'all dancing. You can also expect to hear REMIXTAPE Vol. 2 for sure.

As for the future, we have goals of eventually coming out with our first all ME GUSTA EP, creating more music, working with more talented folks, and of course, getting live.
Be sure to stay posted to our myspace at myspace.com/megusta408 for anything/everything ME GUSTA.
Much Love,
ME GUSTA OUT!


_________________________________________________________________________
Thanks again boys. Be Sure to check out their MySpace profile (links above), as well as their iMeem profile for a collection of MG's greatest and be sure to download REMIXTAPE Vol. 1, here. Downloads are iTunes and Windows Media compatible.

-MF

Thursday, July 10, 2008

American Apparel's Viva Radio x Johnny Makeup

In case you haven't met him, Johnny Makeup is the heir to the American Apparel franchise, singer/style icon/and friend to the stars (and now to our personal friends), and now has his own radio show via American Apparel, Viva Radio, which we LOVE. Onward!

He's teamed up with his daddy to create a limited edition Johnny Makeup x Viva Radio poly-cotton short sleeve crew to commemorate his success with the radio show, and for everything else he's been up to lately, it has been quite a lot.
People may say his V.I.P. Party Boy days are over and question his importance and association with Gravy Train (another Atomic favorite), but we've always had mad love for him and all that he does. In a way he's an icon to us, he has staying power and we hope to see more from him soon.



Be sure to check out the logo Viva Radio tee available at the one and only American Apparel.
Also be sure to check out the Viva Radio page, playing everything from disco-house to electronic, DJ mixes to indie!

-MF

Black Satin All Over Again

If I can recall, it was within one week that Chanel's Black Satin nail polish was sold out completely from Chanel online, it's retailers, and sold for up to $100 on eBay. For a nail polish, you know that one coming from the always innovative Chanel would become trendy in that amount time.

So we give you Chanel's Robertson-a four color palette of bright, summery colors to be released in limited edition AND quantity this summer (at one point), and that point is now. So if you have a measly, yet expensive, $25 to spend on a single bottle of luxurious nail polish, we suggest you make your move right this second, right here.



LA Sunset (matte yellow), Melrose (bright matte pink), Rodeo Drive (electric matte purple), and LA Sunset (bright matte orange-red)


In my only honest opinion, I would not be caught wearing yellow or any shade of matte grey in ANY season on my nails, due to making you look like you've either got a case of the Jaundice or look like a walking corpse!

-MF

Fred Flare: Crazy Cool or Just Plain Crazy? You Decide!

In the past, the good folks at Fred Flare have provided the public with AMAZING products at affordable prices. Yet recently, a trend has developed regarding new shipments posted to the FF website: For ever five excellent, new items on the front page, there are at least two questionable finds to make a some-what balanced selection to choose from. See for yourself if you agree!

First we have the educational; The Instant French 2-CD Set.

A great buy for any non-skeptics who wish to learn the language of love in less than two months! Emily's Grade: A.

Next, we have the strange-but-adorable; The MeWOW Cat Sunglasses.

With a handy strap that keeps your sunnies close at all times, Fred Flare has the right idea with this awesome, deadstocked product. Emily's Grade: A+.

Finally, we have the just plain weird; The Gold Retainer Necklace.

Not only is the creep-factor of this item extremely high, but at the INSANE price of $300, I wouldn't doubt the removal of this necklace from the website by early next week. Unless you wanted retribution for an excrutiatingly painful retainer experience in your teens, what would drive someone to purchase this? I guess that's just one of those questions that will never be answered. Emily's Grade: D-.

Well, that's it for this blog. I love Fred Flare dearly but, like all companies, sometimes their judgement is questionable... although it might say something about me that I would totally buy these for my significant other:


- Emily Rose

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

For a Girl Who Doesn't Like Red...

...I find myself drooling over Christian Louboutin's newest styles via Bergdorf Goodman.






























There is something so incredibly sexy about red pumps, and even if you wear all black, the color pops and makes a great accessory. I've never seen Spanish lace utilized for detail like on the Passementarie Pump, and I love it. Though the last two selections are obviously not red, they are some classics that I'm sincerely infatuated with. Can you guess why? ;)


-MF

Seeing Stars With Colette

French boutique and powerhouse, Colette, have teamed up with some of our favorite brands this year, including Married to the Mob, Gap, and Hello Kitty/Dear Daniel. Fortunately for us, Colette did some brainstorming early this year to give us dope collaborations with Oakley and Onitsuka Tiger by Asics this summer. Being a fan of Tigers, I found out about the collaboration a few weeks back and discovered the blue star theme was also to be put to use on sunglasses by Oakley. The Tigers by Colette are high tops, which are uncommon to the brand, and the sunglasses are Wayfarer-esque against clear plastic frames. I'm totally digging this and hope to cop the high tops soon. Until the release date, keep checking back for updates on release dates and where-to-buys on Colette.Fr.

















-MF

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Darkhorse: Late, But Back With a Vengeance



Since March, I've been wondering where the hell Darkhorse was at with their Spring/Summer 2008 collection. There were no updates on their site nor on their carrier's. This is when I thought Darkhorse, along with Tens, were temporarily out of the street wear game for the warm seasons ahead. Looks like Wendy from Nitrolicious found that they are now out of their hiatus with that nitty gritty, tongue-in-cheek, overtly sexual inside jokes of a t-shirt collection a la Spring/Summer '08, which we love. No one does it better than Darkhorse when it comes to that sort of thing, and i'm definitely loving the collection for both men and women.
Grace Jones worship is back, as well as a reference to Daft Punk and homage to fashion's most sought-after designers, John Galliano of Dior, Alexander McQueen for Givenchy/McQ and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel. You know i'm going to cop this, after picking up that Uncle Karl tee at UO a few weeks back. Be on the lookout at Cultist, Overkill and any other DH retailer for the collection to drop any day now.



-Michaela Fox

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Chanel Autumn/Winter '08-'09

I sincerely believe that no one at the Chanel house can do wrong, and Karl Lagerfeld has shown us this since '83. Looks like this season's looks are based heavily upon futuristic themes, as well as a feminine medieval-armor type look, and I'm loving it. Colors from Chanel this season include: titanium, dark grey, silver, (yes many grey and metal hues), pink, and going back to the original colors that make Chanel, black and white.
Slim fitting tweed suits are also back, as well as slim fitted dresses cinched at the waist. We're looking at a more voluminous ensemble on top and bottom, and accentuating the waist. A tube top look with signature white trousers was even seen, something very different, but simplistic and chic for the autumn season, which looked like it was a left over piece from the Cruise collection.
Props used were frames around the model's faces (genius), and rosettes in the couture collection.



Final Grade: A+

(How can Chanel score any lower?)

-Michaela Fox

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Killing It: MTV's Weekly Artists, Par Deux

From an artist's standpoint, getting bigger and being in the public eye can be exciting and thrilling; being able to see your music influence people and played everywhere. I have no doubt in my mind that this is an exhilarating process. But what about the fans? I'm talking about the fans that have known you since you were virtually unheard of, and still stayed by your side when the hipsters labeled you this and said you were copying someone else's game. Those fans, just like us, or at least very similar. Which brings up my current beef with MTV, seeing one artist being exploited weekly.
I've been upset about this for a while, since it began. When it comes down to it, it's the artists' decision whether to collaborate with MTV. Therefore, they technically aren't doing anything against their will here. It just plainly disgusts me that coincidentally, many of Atomic's favorite artists have been featured within the series:
-Chromeo
-M.I.A.
-Aesop Rock
-Gnarls Barkley
-Rilo Kiley
-(this week) Santogold


Santogold vs. Santosilver

It slightly takes away from their originality and appeal, in my opinion, and I'd like to know all of yours.

-Michaela Fox

Get Boutique Styles From Kitson Without Traveling!

Love the uniqueness of shopping at a boutique, but hate how locations are scarce and their online store has a quarter of what they sell on-site? Then the Kitson LA Online Store is for you!
Even though Kitson LA is considered a celebrity hotspot for all that is trendy, it's also, plainly put, a bona fide boutique without the title. The best thing about Kitson LA Online, is it's online deals and the numerous brands they carry. From Alexander McQueen to Primp, Betsey Johnson to Junkfood, you can find everything you need (even cosmetics and candles) in the store. Be sure to check out Kitson Online's seasonal sales and online-only promotions through out the year!
Han Cholo "LA" ring, Agent Provacateur perfume, and Balenciaga "Green Edition" sunglasses, all available at ShopKitson.com


-Michaela Fox