The Constorium of Greater Minds

a few things happened in two-thousand-and-seven. some new albums came out, some new films were released, there were also a few new books written. some old music was discovered, a few old movies were introduced and some classic stories were read. a new continent opened up and along with it a great new adventure. friends came and went, new friends came and some of them went too. a handful of things took place in two-thousand-and-seven, here’s a sampling of those things that connected with me.

new places

san francisco – first time in s.f. by the bay, possibly a contendor with nyc for favorite american city? only time will tell
tokyo – well, i basically live there and it’s pretty much a given that this city competes for best in the world in my rankings
hong kong – right up there with tokyo, maybe above it..?
sydney – okay, can i have multiple favorite cities; going to have to break them down by continent

top five books (that i read in 07)

the remains of the day – kazuo ishiguro
never let me go – kazuo ishiguro
the nick adams stories – hemingway
why i am not a christian – bertrand russell
the alchemist – paulo coelho

top five albums of 07

the 8 diagrams – the wu is back!
in rainbows – radio head releases new album on internet only and it just happens to blow EVERY other release of the year out of the picture
ray barbee meets the mattsons 2 – ray barbee makes music you need to chill out to
life tracks – discovered tom middleton’s new album at spiral records in aoyama
the mix up – the beasties get back to the instrumental steez that got me hooked

honorable mention
zeitgeist – the smashing pumpkin’s return might also be in the list for biggest let down of the year were it not for them being my ultimate favorite band of all time

top 5 singles on rotation in the year oh7

pass this on – the knife just killed it with this. whenever i hear stuff like this it renews my eroding faith in modern music
radio christiane – the virgins hailing from the LES scene with connections in all the right cool places
what’s a girl to do – another track that reaffirms my faith in music, bat for lashes put out an awesome track and equally cool video
the heart gently weeps – the wu plus the son of a beatle…and it works – enough said
punkrocker – iggy and the enigmatic teddy bears collaborate to create one catchy song

honorable mention
stop me – so it’s generic, the video is terrible and it’s by an f’en celebrity dj…that’s why it’s just an honorable mention – you know it’s catchy

best movies (not necessarily new in 07 but new to me)

breathless – jean-luc godard’s existential flick is my introduction into the french new wave
jules et jim – another great new wave film, this one by francois truffaut
the last king of scotland – forest whitaker is awesome in this
no direction home – bob dylan documentary, amazing

…i didn’t watch too many films in 2007

best new magazines (not necessarily new in 07 but new to me)

monocle magazine – new in 07 this magazine is pretty much everything i could want in a print publication
honeyee mag – hiroshi fujiwara turns is amazing blog into print, only in japan, though
philosophy zine – put out by harajuku’s legendary spot ‘neighborhood’ in collaboration with everyone from supreme to aaron the downtown don, this zine ended circulation in 07 and although it’s usually written in 80% japanese i’m sure it’s really awesome!

top blogs of the year

honeyee blog – thirty-eight contributors from the design/music/fashion/architecture – creative world and 90% of them are interesting. plus, who knew john mayer and eric clapton were so down with the international cool-guy scene!
the new york glob – after splitting from aNYthing and the GLOB over there, aaron took his blogging to a new home on the block. always filled with the best and wildest links and photos that give those living in the mid west a chance to live vicariously, the life of the king cool-guy himself
aNYthing glob – despite the fact that aaron isn’t running it anymore, this glob still keeps me coming back – the ghetto communicator posts are pure comedy
heron preston blog – this guy was the inspiration for the consortium to begin blogging. a young cat with similar tastes and inspiration, def. one to keep an eye on in the world of cool
publikhair – the uncouth postings of the diamond jew from GOODS and cap hill fame always keep me coming back for a glimpse into the seattle i love

top clothing brands of the year

nom de guerre – these guys + girl are doing awesome things
supreme – goes without saying, however that last neighborhood colab was pretty wack, watch out guys…
neighborhood – harajuku legend is pure cool
visvim – minimalist cool as only the japanese know how

top 5 retail spaces of the year

nom de guerre – the spot in a broadway basement used to be the home of a black panther meeting place, so that alone makes it cool…
F.I.L. – visvim’s tokyo flagship is stark minimalism at its best
neighborhood – this harajuku legend is just so damn cool
alife – the new tokyo spot just opened up and it stays true to the awesome design of the prior two n. american spots. not too sure about the phrase posted up outside though…
loveless – this aoyama joint is legendary for it’s gothic-cool design

best music shops

spiral records – this aoyama joint is the size of a large walk in closet but it packs more awesome music than most spaces ten times its size
bonjour records – the daikanyama institution reaffirms the fact that the japanese listen to infinitely cooler music than anyone on the planet – and it’s all in a language foreign to them!
tower records shibuya – okay, so a spot the size of a closet contains more awesome music than anything in the states…now imagine a retail space 8 stories tall…containing all the awesome music in the entire world

let downs of oh7 – because talking about it helps

not getting a place in downtown tokyo – while i love my spot in yokosuka i can see now that i was too eager to live on my own and that clouded my apartment hunting vision. now that i have a little time and experience under my belt i def. see that living with friends during the week would be fine and having that spot in daikanyama would have made me a legend…second tour, maybe..?
subscribing to XLR8R – this magazine used to be fresh, back when eyecue had a subscription. now it seems they send me an issue ever 2.3 months or some ish and every article is on some wack indie/electronic band
aNYthing – first they boot aaron, then they come out with quite possibly the worst t-shirt line of the winter season consisting of ish that looks like it came off the threadless website…honestly what the hell happened to the brand with so much potential just a year ago?