Le Grand Cru (Clothing Review) (CLICK HERE TO READ)

I have an interview coming up with Le Grand Cru, but I thought it would be a good idea to catch the readers up on the line by doing a review.

Click above to read it and to purchase Le Grand Cru clothing items go here:

http://legrandcru.us/goods

Le Grand Cru Know How To Develop A Community Through Creativity

If you’ve read my site over the last year or so you know I like to keep up with the up and coming artists, locations, and fashion. To anyone who’s been paying attention Seattle is on the rise. The scene is starting to remind me of the Chicago scene a couple years ago. They have some of the best up and coming hip hop acts as well as some good new rock acts. Seattle also has a great up and coming line in Le Grand Cru.

I’ve had the chance to talk with one of the owners of the line as well as have a few pieces sent to me and I have to say Seattle’s starting to look even better. I’m particularly fond of the “Sure Burt” tee. The color choices are great and it has a really crisp look. In fact the color choices are some of the best I’ve seen in a while. It definitely helps bring the logo tee to life. I also had the chance to check out the R&R shirt which can be seen on Fresh Espresso (Seattle hip hoppers on the rise) in the upcoming Le Grand Cru look book. It’s definitely a stand out design for the brand.

A question of any line, especially today seeing more and more lines come out, is what is the brand doing differently than other brands that makes them unique? I think this line captures something that some brands fail to capture which is the ability to surpass genres. These designs could easily fit in the hip hop culture, the rock culture, or with someone just looking for a fresh tee. Designs like the “Sure Burt” give off a vintage vibe while maintaining a current day fashion sense. I like knowing I could wear pieces like the “Sure Burt” or the “Classic Logo” tee anywhere and it fits into any situation I might be in.

I always like to talk about price when comparing urban (and again I use that term loosely) clothing lines and with Le Grand Cru I find the prices are fair for the products. The shirts are all printed on American Apparel, they run from $25-28 dollars which is a great price, and all shirts are tagged with a Le Grand Cru clothing tag. It seems crazy to talk tags but when dealing with the urban clothing world the truth is you never know what you are going to get quality wise.
At this point their online store mostly focuses on shirts. I’ve seen some limited “Tour Debut” hoodies that looked really cool. This is a line I’d like to see evolve like The Hundreds and move into more hoodies, sneakers, and goodies. I’d love to see what colorways the brand would choose for sneakers.

The best piece of advice I can give to everyone is jump on board before Seattle is officially declared hype central. By this point of the review you should really just ask one question: “Where can I get my Le Grand Cru Tee?” The answer is right here:

http://legrandcru.us/goods

Standout Pieces:

“Sure Burt” Tee
“R & R” Tee
“Tour Debut” Tee

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Masked Clothing (Feature Article)(CLICK HERE TO READ)

I have an interview coming soon with Boris Mischief.

Until then click above to check out a feature article about Masked Clothing.

Superheroes May Not Exist In The Everyday World…But You Can Still Get Masked

Until the interview comes I decided to post a little something about his new line that just launched, Masked Clothing. Boris is hands down one of my favorite designers and his new line Masked Clothing lives up to the hype. If you are a fan of Modern Mischief or Glamosarus Clothing, which Boris also runs, this should fit well with the collection and in some respects even further shows his creative ability to always push the boundaries and come up with innovative Ideas.

Anyone who has been paying attention to the “urban” clothing world (and I use that term loosely because some lines associated with the tag may not be deemed urban) over the last couple of years has seen the boom in small team clothing companies. Stores like Karmaloop have exploded with new lines. In many cases you get a rehashing of the same thing until people are tired of seeing it (See: Glamour Kills, etc…).

Boris is more than comfortable stepping out of the so called norm for his designs and trying new things. Masked Clothing is itself a representation of this. The line might be deemed edgier in some respects to Boris’ previous lines. In part that’s what makes the line so interesting.

This line has a collector’s value to it and limited piece offerings which are always a nice addition to anyone’s wardrobe. I also tend to look at pricing when lines come out and I think the pricing on this particular line is fair. I’ve felt over the course of the clothing boom lines tend to gauge the consumer a little (see Johnny Cupcakes, who I like, around $35 for a Tee). You’ll find the pricing is fair on Masked Clothing items with a Tank or Tee costing around $22-$27.

If you’re looking for a new way to express yourself and everything seems to blend in. Head on over to MaskedClothing.com and get on board, this is something new, and has real potential to become a massive hit. Get interested and on board before everyone else so you can say you had it first.

Standout pieces:

-Masked Crimson Ghost Tee (Limited Item)
-Masked Logo Tee
-Crimson Necklace (Limited)
-1” Button Pack (Note: it has collectors value, various designs, and includes a large number of buttons for the price)

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Feature Article: Noise Rock...It's Getting Bigger. Should You Get On Board?

Hipster's Of The World Unite: I Found The 4-Track

With the current success of artists like Wavves in 2009 (who is no way the creator of the fuzzy guitar noise sound, instead a poster boy as of last year) a bunch of other artists are coming out of the woodwork with similar sounds. I'm still not 100% convinced of the whole noise pop/rock thing. A little blend of shoegaze with a whole lot unbearable. I get it...the good old four track recorded, fuzzed out guitars, and rough vocals. It's an art right? At times unbearable to listen to and almost assaulting to the ear and almost always completely different live. Listen to the Wavves album and then check youtube and you'll be quick to hear a big difference.

Wavves has been at times a controversial artists in 2009 from blowing up live to the actual fact he's grown as popular as he has. I'm not on the Wavves bandwagon just yet. I do enjoy the songs, but not in the noise format found on the album, more so in the live versions where some of the urgency is lost but more of the melancholy peaks through. I've read interviews with Wavves and I can appreciate where he is coming from and have enjoyed to an extent how he has explained the record. The California vibe it gives off is an interesting aspect. For his own good he better get ready to crank out another big hit or get lost in the shuffle of all those waiting to bleed out into a similar arena and saturate the market for the sound. As we have seen the atrocious pop/punk scene do over the years. From good pop/rock, with a little more rock than pop, to the sleek and unbearable pop/pop with a chance of Selena Gomez (a little joke at all the pop "punkish" bands incorporating the Disneyish image as of lately).

It's the rebellion of easy to use and own recording equipment in 2010 where most artists can make a sleek sounding record in their home studio. Instead you grab and dust off the old four track recorded crank the guitar up and let it go. Whatever it sounds like you mix as best as possible and bam you've got energy and enthusiasm, something many claim has been missing from the rock(ish) world for a while. It's exciting, energetic, and imperfect something that made the artists of yesteryear always exciting. Listening to albums from artists like The Misfits, My Bloody Valentine, The Sex Pistols, or countless other acts from twenty or thirty years ago the records might sound a little rough around the edges but that's all part of it.

With that most of these artsits jump on the phrase and notion: "Vinyl's cool again, right?" And release a myriad of vinyl EP's or singles before officially joining the big show with the debut album. In part this is ton to please fans of the sound and understanding we don't want to be part of 2010, although most of the vinyl releases are also shipped over to itunes...just in case you aren't a fan of vinyl you can still rock the fuzz on your iPOD. Just don't get caught by the scene "fuzz" (police) for not rocking that sweet fuzz sound the way it was meant to be heard ala vinyl.

With that I've done a little investigating into the underground of this type of music and possible acts you may actually want to hear. I've turned up a few gems in my search with a fairly promising sound. I've decided to name drop two in this particular feature. I've found both of these acts are doing something similar to an artists like Wavves but the music is at times better and to me on record/album they sound better. Live that may be a different story head to youtube and judge for yourself.

The first up is an artists called Beach Fossils that is slowly building. Beach Fossils music is not necessarily fuzzed out and the guitars on the tracks I've heard are a lot cleaner. His vocals on the other hand are not given the same treatment. The fade in and out and at times it's hard to make out what exactly Dustin Payseur is actually singing about, but the music itself as well as the technique used to record the vocals holds my ear for long enough to appreciate some aspect of the music. I'm interessted to hear the full length and then I'll make the final judgment.

Beach Fossils www.myspace.com/beachfossils



















The second act to find praise by way of Sound In The Signals is Woven Bones. Now this is what I'm talking about I can get on board with this band. The guitars are a little fuzzed out it's rough around the edges, but you can actually make out what the singers saying. This is what I think most of the artists in the so called "noise sound" have tried to achieve. I've listened to just about everything this group has to offer and I actually come out enjoying their music and looking forward to a debut album. In my opinion this is the one to check out.

Woven Bones: www.myspace.com/wovenbones




















Lastly and probably my favorite of all the lo-fi rockers out these days is Best Coast. Best Coast have a very rough sound on some of the earlier recordings but the recording style has progressed with each release and the last couple releases have really showcased the vocal talents the group has as well as the ability to right a good pop song. The lo-fi aspect to the music almost adds to what makes it sounds good. That's what any group should do work the aspect to where it adds to the music instead of forcing it and making the song sound like a jumbled mess.

Best Coast: www.myspace.com/bestycoasty




















So there you have it. I plan to write more Feature Articles in the coming months. The next one is almost polar opposite of this and will focus on the popularity of Electronic music as we move into 2010, the yin and the yang if you will. Thanks for reading it and if you don't agree with it good! I don't want everyone getting along like The Brady Bunch. If you're like me a mixed review of something always makes you want to check it out for yourself.

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