Sasha Frere-Jones
Staff Writer, The New Yorker
1. Right to sit. "Women on the subway who drop the full-on "Excuse me" and make a dude doing The Spread Legs get civilized and free up some bench. When men do it to other men, there is possible static. A friend once got cold-clocked for asserting his right to have thighs. (They aren't very big or assertive thighs.)"
2. Fire and rain. "I like it when natural forces go wild. Steam is hot. Rain and wind are loud and proud. (I regret any death and injury caused by these forces, and do not make light of anyone's suffering.) I like my city a little ragged. Some tumult makes us stop and talk to each other: The social resurfaces. More than a decade ago, Giuliani busted his champagne bottle on the Money Train (not a real train) and any time it gets stuck in the mud and the city gets to walk its walk (not the real walking), I rejoice."
3. Luc Sante's "Kill All Your Darlings". "Like me, Luc was young in this city when it was broken and spidered. This collection of essays is a parade for the dirt and impurity of the early '80s. It is also a big fat reminder to writers and readers. Web, print, whatever: Stuff your qualifiers. There is no excuse for bad prose. Sante couldn't write an infelicitous sentence, not even for $10 a word."
4. Priestbird, "In Your Time." "Priestbird used to be Tarantula A.D. I couldn't have cared less about Tarantula A.D. Now they are a Black Sabbath folk band with a doubleneck guitar and a cello. Pretty and spooky and ridiculous and shredding."
5. Lil Wayne. "Believe the hype and then multiply it by ten. You are going to feel dumb if you realize in five years that you were too cool to enjoy the dataflow."
6. Datpiff.com. "Mixtapes are free. Don't let anyone make you buy one."
7. "Vie Française" by Jean Dubois. "Bildungsroman of a man who comes of age during May 1968. The novel doesn't place its chips too clearly on any one number. To Dubois, the upheaveal of May '68 was powerful, but Gallic smugness was just as durable. Many beautiful sentences are pressed into the service of a satisfyingly tangential story that is much reporting as it is heartspeak."
8. Souen. "Old-school New York vegetarian spot that serves cheap, tasty, healthy food to a combination of new yogettes and old city freaks who carry their lives in Strand bags."
9. Today's 1 train. "A young Asian man using a cassette player for his personal listening. A woman reading a novel, her white hair dotted with patches of purple and blue, which matched her patent-pleather East European sneakers. A beautiful young woman with purple tights, a pink umbrella, and big Diane Keaton glasses, reading a subway map very slowly and looking entirely at peace."
Sasha Frere-Jones writes about music for The New Yorker.
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Chris Benz
DesignerJuly 17, 2008
Greek rosé wine.
"I was ready for summer '08 to be all about Domaine Ott rosé, like last summer, but my friends and I discovered a new Greek variation while in Athens, Veriki Gran Rosé, that is a terrific compliment to hot summer nights and rivals any of its French counterparts!"
Vintage Italian grocery store sunglasses.
"I've been buying up all the inexpensive vintage sunglasses I can find, especially those with the Made in Italy stamp, but clearly dime-store knockoffs from the '50s, '60s, and '70s." -
Jason Hammel
Musician, Mates of StateMay 27, 2008
1. The HBO series, Rome. "It's smart. It's sexy. It's sad. It's hopeful. We watch an episode every night. We were not the first civilization, and we will not be the last."
2. Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan. "This is everything you want to know about our industrial food system. I hope you like corn. I'm continually in the process of changing my eating habits." -
John Whitledge
Designer, TrovataMay 22, 2008
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Skye Parrott & Katherine Krause
Co-founders, DossierMay 7, 2008
1. Pamela Love Jewelry. "Our friend Pam makes the most beautiful, well-crafted jewelry. Skye likes the gold eagle talon cuffs. Katherine likes the bird skull necklace."
2. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (Katherine). "This book made me move to California a couple of years ago..." -
The Dodos
MusiciansApril 22, 2008
1. Tiger Balm. Logan Kroeber (drummer): "Tiger Balm is a Chinese Herbal Internal Pain Reliever. When I'm playing drums on tour, after awhile my body, especially my arms, hurt like hell. This stuff makes me feel real good...
2. Cracker Barrel.: Meric Long (singer, guitarist): "No matter where you go around the right side of the country, you'll find one of these restaurants...
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Erin Fetherston
April 10, 2008
1. My GHD hair straightening iron. "It's hot pink! I love it when an everyday appliance becomes part of my décor."
2. Chinoiserie. "I'm totally into this at the moment. I want to cover the walls of my new New York apartment with it! De Gournay has the most beautiful versions…"
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Isabel Marant
DesignerMarch 31, 2008
1. My own soundtrack. "I'm obsessed with the music from my last runway show in Paris, which was a combination of Sol Peppy and Patrick Watson."
2. Art Books. "I love the extremely beautiful book on photographer-artist Jan Saudek published by Taschen. The images are always inspiring..."
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Scott Schuman, aka: The Sartorialist
March 24, 2008
1. Aspesi. "I keep buying stuff in Milan from Aspesi, this really great store. I love it. Like little nylon jackets that mix techno fabrics and cashmere."
2. My first cover of Vogue Paris. "They're doing a model supplement for April, so I shot a lot of the top models, like for their personal style. It came out really good so I got the cover...
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Michael Pitt
ActorMarch 12, 2008
1. Extra-curricular activities.. "I've been working on a screenplay lately, but I don't want to talk too much about it—I'm a little superstitious. And I'm also doing my own music...I play guitar. I'm into listening to African and Arabic musicians lately, but I can't pronounce any of their names."
2. Patti Smith. "My girlfriend [Jamie] and I went to London to see her perform with Phillip Glass for an Allen Ginsberg tribute. It was really amazing just to hear her talk—her poems are incredible. She had seen Last Days and liked it... -
Coco Rocha
ModelMarch 3, 2008
1. Nesting. "I'm actually designing my new apartment in Manhattan close to Gramercy Park, and I'm working with an interior designer named Raphael de Cardenas...[model] Jessica Stam used him. She just got some great pictures of her place, and I have never seen anything like it! It's amazing...!
2. Favorite Shows.. "I love walking in Gaultier and Dior, it's so fun...and I'm excited for Galliano because we get to do a little performing. It's the last one out of all of them, and we do hundreds of shows, so at the end you finally get to do something that feels a little out of the blue...I love it."
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Fleet Ilya's leather bags go from practical to provocative.
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Pipeline
Doggie Bag: Fashion Trash, Botox Clutch, Horyn Returns
Michael Bastian, Cynthia Rowley, and Bono design high-concept trash cans for, what we assume must be...
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I know, I might be totally nuts thinking these are cool, but aren't they kind of a little cool? A teeny bit?
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My Style: It Girl of Tomorrow: Louise Ebel
The 20-year-old chameleon gives Parisian style a rocker twist.
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A far-flung slice of Brooklyn finds its groove.
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Music
With this lovely modern classical piece that emphasizes the human voice, Muhly makes electroacoustic music of exquisite beauty. His music connects with the listener in a way that much current classical fails—it's emotional and cerebral at the same time.