Rob Da Bank is one of our favorite eclectic tastemaker DJs: he’s as prized for his ability to pull a hit out of leftfield (he was one of the first to play Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks”) as he is to make unexpected connections. So it was with pleasant surprise that we discovered he had compiled for his BBC radio show “Rob Da Bank and Friends”…

When RZA and Method Man from Wu-Tang rocked those platinum vampire grills, it was cool: they were putting their own distinct stamp on a already freakish articulation of bling innovated by Southern hip-hop stars of the day. Wu-Tang’s fangs put a distinctive twist on a ghetto…

“Could there be anything worse?” queries a chopped-and-screwed vocal sample at the beginning of “Anything Worse,” a track from the new e.p. from My Troubled Mind SoCal beat murderer the Gaslamp Killer out next week; in fact, could there be anything better?

This weekend 31 July to Aug 2, turns Amsterdam into a 3 Day musical fiesta and welcomes many of our ‘friends and family’ to the canals and parks ! Yeah c’mon it’s not just for our obvious extra thoughtful smokey ‘hospitality’ but also cause it’s a music and culture lovin’ country ! To match that, there’s a thriving and exportable local scene and this 3 dayer looks set to show just that. What makes this weekend extra ‘gezellig’ is the diversity of the locations as well as the music …..

It would be easy to chalk it up to having to step up his game in light of being signed to vaunted indie label DFA. “Summer Song” was his first release on the label, and the man-machine stamp of post-punk dance mania is all over it.

Jose Parla is the man. He has steathly created hysteria over textural paintscapes on wood and canvas, with a foundation in grafitti but an eye to the future. His work gives a nod to forebearers like Futura and even Rammellzee’s Gothic Futurism, yet Parla has a firm grasp of his own complex layers…

Summer’s here! For extreme sports heads, that used to mean sneaking into abandoned pools to rip ‘em up, but in the aughts it’s all about the X Games when it comes to ollies and jumps and half pipes. Starting today (July 30) and going through August 3, the best of the best in skateboarding, bmx, motocross, rally racing and surfing will be defying gravity at Los Angeles’ Home Depot Center and Staples Center for the fifteenth edition of this landmark event.

The promise of the ‘chip hop’ movement can be seen in more and more of todays music heroes. It’s not the geek national anthem, but it’s actually the spiritual influence of bringing simplicity back to electronic influenced music. Ok, chip hop was always a bad name, and a pretty minor trend, but you can certainly see how playing with retro sounds…

No doubt you’re probably sitting there crouched over a keyboard, letting the stress pull your head toward you stomach, your arms twisted into barely useful claws.

Surf films have largely been male lore. I have memories of Friday packed-house screenings at the movie house on Main St. in Huntington, all dudes. Similar to early morning sessions, girls were in absentia (much to my chagrin). Now, women have taken their proper place in the trajectory of the sport.

You know it, you can never have too many board shorts especially if they’re as groovy as the new collection by Franks out of Australia just making their way into the UK and EU. Story goes that Frank (no tellin’ his age) has been rockin these since back in the day and that the Bondi Beach boys (and girls no doubt) queue up for them each fresh season. The extra bright ones have already been dropped in the laps of Moto from Soil & “PIMP” Sessions, the Jazzanova boys and GP Sportswide for tryouts and yeah of course i’ve got a pair otherwise i’d not be giving props.

It certainly isn’t the sportiest film on the horizon, and probably way geeky, especially considering the ’80s version which hasn’t aged well. However, as the news of this new sequel has trickled out, the evidence of something very cool is high.

No doubt Miles Davis would have been a skater had he been from this new generation. In fact, it would be easy to compare him to someone like Tommy Guererro or Lupe Fiasco, who have the birth of cool down, as well as skill-sets that mix skate and music.

our Sportswide don never really needs an excuse to wax on about his faves Arsenal, and his love of football and so here in all it’s uncensored glory is GP’s weekly: – I say bring Viera back to Arsenal ! ok, he might be almost over at 35 but the fans would love it and he’d def zip up the changing room and bring in some experience – and what, we’d get him for about 30 thousand a week – come on Arsene … wow – what about the off season transfer dealings this year – how good is it to have all that extra ammunition ….

While the untidy drawings and adjoining texts may seem the work of a snotty adolescent, if you haven’t discovered and read David Shrigley you are missing a healthy dose of absurdist, slightly disturbed and dead on cultural commentary seemingly absent in print since Matt Groenig.

A collective of super fly girls bring back a bit of Flo Jo flavor to streets of East London. The ladies of WAH Magazine are into their nails like they are into their BMX bikes.

You have to be very brave, to choose to cover a Kate Bush song. Kate Bush is an untouchable musical icons, so you got to get it right or don’t even bother. Well kudos to fellow British singer Mpho , who took a stab at “Running Up that Hill.”

The skate world is developing a major crush on Leticia Bufoni. This adorable sixteen year old Brazillian professional skater is dominating competitions and skate bowls in her new residence of Los Angeles.

La Roux is nestling into a special nook in music lovers’ hearts, hitting the music world with a definitive sound and cross-genre support. She is maintaining her hype with the release of her third single off her self-titled album, nominated for Britain’s Mercury Prize.

Growing up in the Midwest in the ‘80s, it’s safe to say that most of my friends and I at one time or another definitely wanted to be Prince. Sure, there may have been dalliances with the idea of being Billy Idol or one of the guys in Duran Duran (John Taylor, generally), but it really all came down to the man from Minnesota.