Fans of Dave’s Quality Meat aka DQM rejoice, as the sneaker and clothing boutique has officially launched their online store to serve all that do not reside anywhere near the LES store. The store is still in their launch phase so there may be items in misplaced areas, but all-in-all, it looks great. The sneaker selection is limited, very limited, currently but maybe we’ll see some more additions down the road as the site gets broken a bit more. Head on over to www.dqmnewyork.com/shop.

Image: Freshness

The official video for Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” which features Alicia Keys. This is one of the few songs that I actually like off of the Blueprint 3. Every time I hear the chorus line with Alicia Keys, it gives me goose bumps. The video was directed by Hype Williams.

Coca-Cola, as reported by Business Wire, has unveiled a new 90-calorie mini Coca-Cola can. “The Coca-Cola mini can innovation reinforces the Company’s support for healthy, active lifestyles”, a statement made by Sandy Douglas, President of Coca-Cola North America. Ranked as the most fittest city in the country, DC was selected along with NYC to be the first markets to try the 7.5-fluid ounce beverage. Being from the DC area, I will be one of the first consumers to have this!

“The package introduction comes in the wake of a recent global commitment from Coca-Cola to put calories front-of-package on nearly all its products. Coca-Cola also recently announced a new partnership with the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, which advocates a common-sense approach to helping reduce obesity by 2015. A core objective of the group is to remind consumers that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is about balancing the calories consumed in a sensible diet with calories expended through physical activity” (Business Week).

I think Coca-Cola’s new product concept is great as it will reduce the amount of high fructose corn syrup delivered in an aluminum can.  I am also in favor of 90 calories over 140 calories (in a 12 oz. coke can).

Photo/Source: Business Week

Going down this Saturday and Sunday in New York is the Hellz and Claw Money sample sale. Happening between 12pm – 7pm on both days and both cash and credit cards will be accepted at this sale.

This is taking place in the LES, at the Reed Annex, 151 Orchard Street between Rivington St & Stanton St. Ahhhhh New York how I miss you sooooo much. Check the flyer above for full details.

New York premiered the long awaited “The September Issue” at the Museum of Modern Art. The R.J. Cutler documentary follows Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, as she prepares for the 2008 fall fashion issue. The film received positive reviews, with designer Peter Som stating: “You can’t make this stuff up. I loved it.”

Sienna Miller and Anna Wintour

Chanel Iman

Lorenzo Martone and Marc Jacobs

Raquel Zimmermann

Phillip Lim

To see more pictures, go to Style.com
To view the trailer, go here

Starting August 20th and running to August 30th, Zach Hyman’s latest photographic series called “Decent Exposures” will be available for viewing at the Chair and The Maiden in New York. This past June, Zach planned a variety of shoots in public places, the twist? The female models were all nude. They would pose for 30 seconds and he would photograph them with his Hasselblad 500 film camera. The shoots took place on a subway, chinatown, Times Square and a variety of other places.

Source: New York Post

Back in April I was sent a preview copy of The Juan MacLean’s latest offering called, The Future Will Come. The album, I’ll be honest, blew me the fuck away. I had gone in with zero listening expectations and came out a huge fan, even going out and picking up his first effort Less Than Human.

For those following The Juan MacLean, you know that for this second album The Juan MacLean has undergone some changes in the band and the over all sound. John MacLean enlisted friend and LCD Sound System band member, Nancy Whang to join The Juan MacLean full-time. She agreed and the rest they say is history. By now you’ve probably read or heard about John MacLean’s past drug use, his former dance-punk band Six Finger Satellite, but what you may not have heard about is the process and makings of this latest album, the current tour, inspirations and who he would “marry, fuck or kill”.

KB:…So let’s talk about how this tour is going so far, You guys started in late March early April.

JM: Ya, we went over to Europe and the UK for a little more than 3 weeks in the end of March to early April. We came home for about 5 days and then left for this tour with The Field. It’s been really good, it’s a good combination, cus those guys are much more ambient. It just makes for a really interesting night where things get, start off sorta slower in rep, but as the night goes on it gets really good.

KB: Have you found that there’s been a difference between the European and North American audience in terms of reception of your songs?

JM: I think in Europe and in the UK they much more respond to the electronic elements of everything and they seem to understand, especially from their radio standpoint, they see what we’re doing as a reference to very poppy kinda synth pop music and they can place the references very easily. Whereas in the United States I think it’s a little…they don’t get it as quickly in that way or if so it’s not perceived as much a mainstream thing which it is over there surprisingly.

KB: Hmm…that’s actually kinda interesting but like you said not too surprising.

KB: Your last album, Less Than Human, came out in 2005, when did you start coming up with ideas for The Future Will Come? Was it at all during Less Than Human or was there a break?

JM: No, the big thing was that after Less Than Human came out I started playing with a live band and when I made that album no idea that I would ever have a live band. It was only after I had made the album that I started thinking I would do it going forward. So it was kinda done retroactively, figuring out a way a live band could play those songs and then we went on tour for like a year and half. Then I immediately got back into DJing again and so I was just gone for like 3 years and was not in the mindset of making music at all.

Eventually it just occurred to me that I had better start thinking about making another album or else it would have been a really long time before a new one came out. So it was a pretty deliberate process, probably a year a half ago I just said alright I’m gonna start writing a new album and just did it.

KB: …not to mention you had done a shit load of remixes as well.

JM: Ya, remixing as well. That was all I was doing, DJing and when I was home I’d be doing remixes and it just soaked up so much of my time that it got my head out of the game of like playing live or making music again.

KB: This latest album definitely has a different feel than the previous album in that it has a lot more vocals and is a bit more pop. Was that something that you had intentionally conceptualized before going in?

JM: Yeah for sure. The biggest difference between the two is there’s so much more live playing on this album and the vocals as well. Both of those things came from my experiences of going on tour with a live band and a singer. Realizing that when you’re playing a live show how important vocals were in the presentation and just wanting to go in that direction much more.

In terms of making the album, it’s just much more interesting to have vocal oriented things as oppose to just instrumentals which can get boring over the course of an entire album, so before I made any of the music I knew two things 1. I would use my live band to record the album, which is why it sounded so much more live and 2. It would be very vocal oriented and that’s when I approached Nancy (Whang) and said “look instead of being a guest vocalist on this why don’t you just be a full-time member and then we just kinda went from there.

KB: So was she (Nancy) someone that you always had in mind?

JM: Yeah. It would always be her. I never considered anyone else.

KB: What about her voice made you realize that she definitely is the one?

JM: Well it’s kinda funny, she started singing with me and LCD Sound System, it wasn’t like she was a singer that had done anything before or like an accomplished singer, it wasn’t her career path or something. She was just a friend of ours and James Murphy and I were like yeah do you just want to sing on this track, my second 12-inch. She came down to the studio and did it and it just worked out really well and from that point in time I just thought she had this really quality. First of all not being a diva-style singer, which there is always (that) dominant female vocals in that genre. Also she just had this real knack for sounding both happy and sad, at the same time like being able to ride that emotional line, which is really a difficult thing to do and she just has this really endearing quality in her voice.

KB: You talked a bit about recording with a live band, what was that whole process like for this album?

JM: Well, generally I had written the songs at my home studio and came up with rough outlines for songs and loops. Then took the band to this pretty remote studio in Woodstock, New York out in the woods. Basically it’s a house with a studio built into it. So we all went out for a couple weeks and then it was basically a process of taking the songs I had written and then playing them live and recording it live in that studio. Then I took all that stuff home to my home studio and edited it all back down, sorta like making your own samples basically, and shaped it back into song formats again. Nancy and I went back to that same studio for a week just she and I recorded vocals. The final stage, I always mix at our DFA studios in New York with James Murphy.

KB: So how was that writing process because the songs do have that call-and-response vibe? Did you write together?

JM: Yeah we would actually make it a point to do this. We would be sitting on the couch next to each other with a notebook and pass it back and forth and write lines back and forth with each other. Even for songs where there was only one of us that sang we would help each other out as well with pieces. We intentionally went away to the studio alone, I actually engineered the session, which is quite difficult to do when you’re recording your own vocals, but yeah it was all done intentionally to set this mood of writing back and forth.

KB: With the success of Less Than Human, did you ever feel that pressure while creating this album?

JM: I think the sophomore album is always the litmus test. It’s where so many people fail, especially being on a label like DFA where there’s a lot of critical attention paid to it, it (DFA) gets written about a lot and there’s a pretty high standard, so there’s a little terrifying to start making a new record. That was part of getting out of the city and going to Woodstock, let’s just go where you don’t have to think about of this stuff and get away to do what we do.

KB: Changing topics, recently heard you guys teamed up with Nooka Watches and you guys created a mascot?

[laughter]

JM: Yeah I actually have one of their watches on right now. With our friend Mike, the graphic designer for all our DFA stuff and Pat Mahoney from LCD Sound System, whom is an old friend of mine going back, but he’s actually a toy designer and so they built this little robot out from scratch. It’s actually really cool.

KB: Does the robot represent anything to the band or is it purely for entertainment?

JM: Not really, it’s just something cool. Visually it makes sense, when you see it you would be like “oh yeah that would be a Juan MacLean type thing” and I really am into the watches.

KB: Yeah it does seem like quite a unique partnership.

JM: Yeah definitely. A lot of us at DFA have this kind of thing with like clothing designers or graphic artists or visual artists. We have a lot of friends in all those different worlds so we’re always looking to do different things.

KB: Will the robot have a role in the live aspect of the show?

JM: None more than sitting out in club. It sits there and lights up and everything.

KB: Talk about the live show aspect, what fans can expect to hear or see when they come to The Juan MacLean show?

JM: It’s pretty live for one thing. It’s definitely a reaction to see electronic shows where it’s just someone on a laptop or a few devices. DFA has a pretty high standard of live acts, like with Hercules and Love Affair, Hot Chip, LCD Sound System. I feel like we’re the most dance of all those things, so it’s attempt to play live dance music basically. The only thing that’s sequenced is the baseline and we all play around that.

KB: In making this album, what were the influences? Everyone knows that there’s the connection with Human League, but for example the first track “The Simple Life” sounds like Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”.

JM: Yeah that’s actually what it was. It’s kind of funny, whenever I first write up a song I usually give it the name that I was ripping off and that was originally called “I Feel Love”, Georgio Moroder was on the production for that song so he’s a big influence. Others include New Order, Grace Jones, Kraftwerk as they usually are. I had also just gotten back into listening to ‘90s piano house; there are a lot of house elements as well.

KB: What kind of experience or emotions do you want fans to take away from listening the album from start to finish?

JM: Well, we tried to make it so there was a narrative arch to it, on loosely this relationship between the two people and I still sequence albums in terms of vinyl. So we made it so that the other side of side 1 kinda ends on a positive uplifting note with the song “Tonight” and the other side of side 2 ends on a positive note with “Happy House”. Each side is meant to tell a story of a relationship between two people which more often than not is going wrong on this record.

[laughter]

But we definitely wanted to have more transcendent moments especially with those two songs.

KB: Was that intentional? Making things go wrong as you said.

JM: Well what was intentional was that Nancy and I decided that we were going to write very honestly and sincerely about our personal lives basically. Doing duets, it naturally became this thing that we went to instantly which was like this back and forth telling the two sides of relationships gone wrong. I think a lot of it came out of how our lives had been for the past 5 – 6 years and us playing in live bands and touring. That lifestyle doesn’t lend itself to relationships really. It felt like a document of the past 5 years for the both of us.

KB: Okay so one last thing before we end this interview. Not sure if you’ve ever played this game or heard of it. It’s called “Marry, Fuck, Kill”

[laughter]

Basically I’m going to show you three pictures and you have to pick whether you marry, fuck or kill that person. To make things interesting, because this is the first stop in Canada, we’re playing an all Canadian edition.

[laughter]

JM: Jesus I love her (pointing to picture of Elisha Cuthbert), she’s on 24. I’m not sure who she is (pointing to Emmanuelle Chriqui).

KB:…yeah and the final girl is Scarlett Johansson.

JM: JESUS, what is that picture.

[laughter]

JM: Wait do I have to assign one tag to each girl? Oh man.

KB: Base it purely on looks.

JM: hmm…Marry Scarlett Johansson, Fuck Elisha Cuthbert and Kill Emmanuelle Chriqui….but this Scarlett Johansson picture, where is this from do you know?

KB: I actually have no clue. I just downloaded off of the internet before I came here, but you are welcome to keep that picture if you want.

[laughter]

JM: Thanks!

The Juan MacLean “One Day”

Running from June 4 – July 5 at Rental is an the exhibit Richard Kern: 1980 – 1999, which is a retrospective of the artists’ photographic and video work. Richard Kern has always been known for his provocative work and his nine published books of some great photography, but he’s also directed music videos for bands such as Sonic Youth and Marilyn Manson. If you’re in the New York area this is an exhibit that you definitely should catch.

For more info hit up Rental at www.rental-gallery.com.

This week’s Throwback Thursday is coming straight outta Brownsville, Brooklyn. Yep, I’m talkin’ about M.O.P. short for Mash Out Posse and features members Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame. For the youngin’s out there M.O.P. has been in the game for a minute now with their first album, To The Death, debuting in 1994. I, personally, first heard of them back in 95/96 and it was through everyone’s hip-hop bible at the time, The Source. I was really getting my feet wet again with NYC hip-hop as Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers and Biggie’s Ready To Die really had me wanting more from the East Coast. So I took a chance and imported two albums to Canada, that was like $40 each CD at the time, those two albums were: Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt (which no one had heard of at the time) and M.O.P.’s Firing Squad. It was love the first time I heard both albums, but the M.O.P. album it was the gritty rhymes and the scratchy hard vocals that had me intrigued.With joints like “Stick To Ya Gunz”, “New Jack City” and”World Famous” to name a few. The complete album was a smash and featured production work from DJ Premier on quite a few of the tracks.

So for this Throwback Thursday we dedicate this to M.O.P.’s second album Firing Squad.

World Famous

Stick To Ya Gunz

Firing Squad

New Jack City

Downtown Swinga ‘96

This weeks’ Throwback Thursday is dedicated to Rage Against The Machine. The band consisted of Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk and their style could be classified as punk, alt rock, rap, heavy metal and everything under the sun. They were really that versatile and borrowed from multiple genres to create their sound. But in addition to the sound, their lyrics also made a huge impact on a generation of listeners with a revolutionary political message. I don’t even need to mention the copious amount of hit records these dudes created, one of which was “Guerilla Radio” (video below). The group eventually broke up in 2000, but came back together in I think 2007 or so. I was actually lucky enough to catch one of these reunion performances in 2007 at Rock The Bells in New York where they co-headlined with Wu-Tang Clan.

New York perfumery, Bond No. 9, has announced that they are launching a recycling initiative, this makes them officially the first beauty company to embark this task. Many talk about about it, but Bond No. 9 is putting its plans in motion. Owner Laurice Rahme, has announced that she will open her Bond No. 9 New York boutiques and Saks Fifth Avenue doors to anyone wishing to recycle their empty perfume bottles, this also includes accepting bottles from competitors as well. Definitely a great initiative and step in fighting to get our planet greener. Head on over to Bond No. 9’s website for more information.

Justin Timberlake is set to launch his own brand of Tequila, called 901. The spirit will officially be available in May exclusively in these cities: New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and St. Louis.

A spokesperson for Timberlake explained to People Magazine that drink was so named because “901 is that time of night when your evening is ending, but your night is just beginning”.

In addition to this 901 also happens to be the area code for Memphis, which is Justin Timberlakes’ hometown. This is the third business venture that he’s branching out in as he also has his own clothing line, William Rast, and his music label, Tennman.

Bond No.9 recently released their “Brooklyn” fragrance which is their latest unisex scent. The above bottle is the final product, but hold up. Bond No.9 is actually holding a bottle design competition for this new fragrance, the competition runs from March 1st to March 31st, 2009.

Competition Rules:

• Create your design to fit within the outline of the Bond No. 9 superstar flacon and to include our circular “token” logo. (downloadable at www.bondno9.com.)
• Any style, figurative or abstract, is fine with us.
• Inspiration can come from anywhere in Brooklyn—DUMBO, Park Slope, Flatbush, Canarsie, Midwood, Bay Ridge, et al.—or from the very idea of Brooklyn.
• Any medium is okay: oil, acrylic, watercolor, house paint, pastel, crayon, Magic Marker, makeup—even a ballpoint pen or pencil will do.
• Completed designs should be submitted to contactus@bondno9.com or Bond No. 9, 9 Bond Street, New York, NY 10012 by March 31, 2009.

Two winners will be selected from this competition. The prize?  Having your design go into production with your name displayed on the bottles, along with receiving a bottle of Brooklyn per month for a year.

Here’s a new up and comer and to be quite frank I’m not sure why I even listened to Alexandra Hopes songs, but I did and I’m glad I did. Her style is defined as “alternative, rock, minimalist gothic folk”, but all I know is her voice is wonderfully beautiful. I had a chance to preview her whole album and think its great, something I could definitely sit down and get into.

So who is Alexandra Hope? She was born in Minnesota, spent some time in Paris and now from what I can tell resides in New York. Her debut album, Invisible Sunday, contains 9 tracks and was recorded in just 3 days! Who I would compare her to? I’d have to say Liz Phair and PJ Harvey, both of whom I loved back in the day. Available for download and listening is her first single “Whatever You Want” and “Invisible Sunday”.

To download right-click and save as. For Mac users hit “Control+click”.

Alexandra Hope “Whatever You Want”

Alexandra Hope “Invisible Sunday”

For more info visit her MySpace page at www.myspace.com/alexandrahopemusic.

Here’s the latest remix from The Golden Filter. The first remix that we posted from them was of Cut Copy’s “Far Away” track and I have to say that remix is by far one of my favorites of that particular song. Well this time they’ve remixed Peter Bjorn & John’s song “Lay It Down”. Check it out below and give it a download, the beginning is a bit slow but it does pick up a bit, so wait for the vocals to kick in.

For those out in New York that attended their show, let us know how it was. My cousin was suppose to be there but fell victim to the flu.

To download right-click and save as. For Mac users hit “Control+click”.

Peter Bjorn & John “Lay It Down” (The Golden Filter Remix)

For more info hit up their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thegoldenfilter.

Killahbeez favorite New York, and just plain favorite for that matter, perfumery Bond No.9 is back at it again and this time they’re getting ready to rep Brooklyn with its very own scent. The scent is dedicated to the whole lifestyle and grind that is embedded within Brooklyn, “This is where the artists and musicians choose to move. It’s home to graffiti-ists, gaffers, and key grips, to web designers and aspiring editors. This is where fashion stylists live.”

This is a unisex scent with more of a masculine feel and attitude. For its base notes it contains cedarwood, leather and guaiacwood (tea-rose-esque aroma), then the mid-notes hit you with cypress-wood, geranium leaves and juniper berries. Finally the top notes that complete the scent are grapefruit and cardamon.

As always the bottle design comes off fresh, as Bond No.9 has decorated directly onto the transparent glass surface with an edgy, urban, graf font styling and done in an array of vivid colors. The fragrance is expected to officially hit authorized retailers starting March of this year. Hit up www.bondno9.com for more info.

Scents that I love and wear are Wall Street, New Haarlem and Eau de New York.

New Yorkers, this show is a must catch today at Santos House Party. Thunderheist is not to be taken lightly, as this duo kills it every time and expel so much energy that you’ll be yelling for another Red Bull to keep you going. Don’t believe me? Well then read my concert review on Thunderheist here and see what you could be possibly missing. Oh and their track “Jerk It” (video below) was in the film The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei, so congrats on them for getting that.

Doors open at 7pm, tickets are $10 advanced and $12 at the door.

Starting on Wednesday January 7th in New York and Los Angeles, Supreme will be holding their warehouse sale where items will be marked down, up to 80% off, pretty ridiculous. Wishing I was in either city right about now. They’ll have the usual items for sale: fitteds, jackets, sweaters, sneakers amongst other items. As with all warehouse sales this is cash only.

Okay fine readers of Killahbeez, I had my man Ruel from Urbane Prestige Promotions holler at me to give all our readers an exclusive offer. On Monday December 29th, two of Killahbeez’s friends, Sean La-La and Keys N Krates will be playing on the same bill as ?uestlove from The Roots. The event is sure to be packed but we are giving you the edge. All you have to do is email urbaneprestige@gmail.com with the subject line “RSVP to ?uestlove” and within the email be sure to include your name and names of your peoples you rolling with. By doing this you’ll automatically get $5.00 off of cover at the door.

For more information of the events hit this page here.

Also check out our interview with Keys N Krates here.

First off, for those that saw this the first time around, YES, this is a repeat post, BUT we lost a week’s worth of data / posts when our servers went down. Anyways this track is so dope I had to get it back up on the site and my friends I ain’t saying this cus this man is my friend and a Killahbeez family member, the track is ridiculous. For those that have wondered what the hell happened to AJK and his humor on this site and why he hasn’t posted for a minute, well here’s the back story. He moved away to New York in the summer to experience life and to get re-inspired, what the city gave him was a very personal 4 track EP. Think of it as his soundtrack / walking guide of New York fucking city. The first track dropping is called “Tangent”, this track mimics New York life down to a tee, think of it this way, you leave your apartment/condo/house with a plan to hit the streets and get some things done then you run into some peoples you know and your plans are taken on a “Tangent”, the 2minute and 49 second mark defines this the best when the track takes you off into another direction while keeping the same melodic undertones. Artwork for his album was done by Alice Cho, www.alicecho.net. To hear more of AJK’s tracks or to simply hit the man up check out his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/aleemjk or hit him on his Facebook group here.

Download AJK “Tangent”