Monday, July 28, 2008

Saul Bass vs. Star Wars (Opening Credits)



Ran across this on another blog --LOVED it. so i thought i would share, especially since Saul Bass is one of the greatest designers of all time.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Fashion Police: Flint, MI Cracks Down on Those Who Wear Pants Sagging

The Following is an article from Newsweek Online about my hometown and one new (rediculous) law imposed. See below (special shout to my "flintstone" S. Chittle for the link)




Some people call it a fad. But for the city of Flint, Mich., that urban style known as 'sagging' is now a criminal offense.


By Jessica Bennett and Mary Chapman | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jul 18, 2008 | Updated: 9:16 a.m. ET Jul 18, 2008


It's 90 degrees in downtown Flint, Mich., and Jayson Miguel is shirtless, in a pair of gray sweatpants. He's hanging out, minding his own business—and breaking the law. It's not that he's loitering (he's on his way to meet a friend). It's his pants: they're hanging off his hips, below his butt to reveal a pair of gray boxer shorts. "I've been sagging since the fourth grade," the 28-year-old says. "I'll be sagging when I'm old and gray."

Young people call this unkempt look a fashion choice. But for David Dicks, Flint's new police chief, it's a national nuisance. Dicks has ordered his officers to start arresting "saggers," as some aficionados of this sartorial style call themselves, on sight, threatening them with jail time and hefty fines for a fad he calls "immoral self expression." He later told a local paper the style could give officers probable cause to search saggers.

It's a move other municipalities have tried before on a style that's been around for decades. But Dicks, who took over the department on an interim basis last month, has employed a particularly harsh approach—one that some critics are calling downright illegal. So far, Dicks has only issued warnings to saggers, but he's made it clear that anyone with pants below the butt—whether or not they've got boxers underneath—is violating the city's disorderly conduct code, punishable by 93 days to a year in jail and fines of up to $500. "Everybody's talking about it," says Tonio Watkins, 18, a local high-school student. "I don't like what they're doing. I've been dressing like this my whole life."

The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union doesn't like it, either—and has given Dicks an ultimatum: stop the policy or face a court battle. They say Dicks is taking the law into his own hands, and violating citizens' freedom of expression in the process. Sagging to show boxer shorts doesn't even violate the city's conduct policy, they say—which states a person must have "open exposure" of the "genitals, pubic area [or] buttocks" to be considered disorderly. "Under no stretch of the imagination does wearing saggy pants that reveal the top of one's boxer shorts violate the Flint disorderly conduct ordinance," says attorney Greg Gibbs, the president of the Flint chapter of the ACLU. "This man has basically taken his personal dislike of a style of dress and made it a violation of criminal law." Gibbs says the chapter will act after Monday if Dicks doesn't change the policy. The police chief declined an interview request from NEWSWEEK.

In the meantime, residents like Miguel—who, at 6-foot-3, wears a size 3XL in sweatpants—are just plain confused. Sagging has been around for decades. Why outlaw it now? "I think it's an opportunity to harass, to be honest," says Miguel. The ACLU worries about that, too: it's no secret sagging is a style long popular with men of color. Last week, a Flint police officer called into a local radio station to say that officers were already using the policy as a way to profile minorities. (Chief Dicks is himself African-American.)

Critics also say the Flint police department has bigger issues to worry about. A 2007 report by Congressional Quarterly ranked the city (population 120,000) the third most dangerous in America. It recently laid off 48 officers and closed the city jail because of budget constraints. With a climate like that, why allocate resources to a bunch of kids who have an aversion to belts? "Clearly there are more important things going on in Flint," says Todd Boyd, a cultural critic at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Antipop Consortium at Other Music



Antipop Consortium did an in-store at Other Music (NYC) about a month ago. As a part of the in-store they did an interview for Other Music's website. It's quite excellent so stop-look-and-listen.

"Call me biased, but APC are one of the best hip-hop groups around and they are on the move!" -Josh Madell

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

MIx.Eight.Zero.Apostrophe.S


I was feeling nostalgic and decided to do this mix. Selections include songs from the likes of Alphaville, Soho, Neneh Cherry, Nitzer Ebb, Yazoo (aka Yaz), Cabaret Voltaire and Ministry.

Get it here.

If you would like the tracklisting, please contact me at rontronik@rontronik.com

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Album Cover of the Month: Ice-T "Power"


This is a classic "throwback." Ice's second album release "Power" was released in 1988. Not only was it a great follow-up to his debut album "Rhyme Pays" and continuing to establish the west coast hip-hop/rap scene but it pushed the borders of album cover design. One of the most simplistic covers in the genre yet over the top in tone and attitude. I think you know what i mean...


NEW DJ MIX: 070408 Fire In The Sky


Hello again. Thought i would drop a new mix on you. Comes in 2 parts. Part 1 is an eclectic downtempo mix including tracks from Jamie Lidell, Killing Joke, Autechre, Gescom, Boards Of Canada, The Knife and Curve. Part 2 is a uptempo mix including tracks from Jeff Mills, In Flagranti, Underground Resistance, Kraftwerk, Ken Ishii, and an EXCLUSIVE NEW TRACK from Model 500.

Get Part 1 here and Part 2 here

If you would like the tracklisting, please contact me at rontronik@rontronik.com

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