Shopping London Cinch

Jeans and tee shirts. All that you need and nothing more. That seems to be the concept of the recently freshened-up Cinch store in London’s Soho. When you swing open the frosted glass door and step foot into the sparsely merchandised space you are enveloped into the world of Levi’s Vintage Clothing. The funny thing is, there isn’t much to “envelop” you at that store, which is why I liked it.

The whole place (which is small — about 500 sq feet) is painted this amazing dull green, a color that reminds me of that antique furniture robin’s egg blue that you see at flea markets. The floors are raw wood with bits of copper trim scattered about. Jeans are hung on pegs and organized by fit and corresponding model year (e.g. the 1966 501) along the main wall. The model year was labeled above each pair of jeans with a Sharpie and some masking tape, a really low tech solution for a no frills operation. As you walk further into the store there are some shelves with stacks of white tee shirts, again labeled (using masking tape) according to what year / style they are based on. Opposite those shelves there is a long metal rack with a few jackets jackets. (Okay, so there is slightly more than just jeans and tee shirts.) Down a few stairs into an even smaller lower level and there are two changing areas and wooden shelves with more jeans. That’s it.

Sometimes with a company as American as Levi’s, it is easy to play that up too much, to over prop it to make it feel like some place in Kentucky in the 1940s. Make it feel like a movie set. I suppose that’s the give-away for brands that don’t have the heritage that Levi’s does. Cinch doesn’t fall into that trap. It looks like it could fit in anywhere from Belgium to Japan to Kentucky. It has a simple non-denominational feel that just says, “we make jeans and tee shirts,Coach Messenger Bags, here they are.” It’s nice that Levi’s isn’t trying to over sell it, and as far as I am concerned they don’t need to. All I really want are some USA made historically accurate raw denim jeans. Pure and simple. All we need to do now, is move Cinch to New York.

It’s a Wrap Pop-Up Flea Part II

It has taken me this long to get back in the saddle and post a recap of the second Pop-Up Flea. It was really exciting to see everyone come through and to see people excited about picking up some new gear. A big thanks to my partner in the endeavor Mr. Randy Goldberg for all of his hard work.

I also want to thank all of the vendors for participating. Gitman Bros. Vintage, Hickoree’s Hard Goods, Billykirk, J.Crew, Jack Spade, Alexander West, Farinelli’s, Epaulet, Alexander Olch, Ohio Knitting Mills, Tanner Goods, Tellason, Michael Andrews Bespoke, C’H'C’M, Schott NYC, Sit and Read Furniture, No Mas, Digby & Iona and Amass.

Finally, appreciate all of the coverage for the event. Check out: Racked, Selectism, Cool Hunting, Uncrate,dr dre beats headphone, Design Obvserver, Put This On, Valet, All Plaid Out, Secret Forts (twice), What I Saw Today, New York Magazine and others (sorry if I missed people).

With the dust settled on another successful event, I will say that Mr. Goldberg and I are taking a serious look at a new city for Pop-Up Flea III in the coming spring. Can you guess?

Nike Diamond Turf II “Cool Grey” Available Now

adidas Forum Low Crazy Light Scarlet White

Live Video Ólöf Arnalds

photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

There couldn’t have been a more fitting guest on a rare snowy day in Seattle than Ólöf Arnalds. Just last week, while touring in support of Blonde Redhead, the Icelandic singer stopped by KEXP amid the snowfall and for the second time performed live in our studio. Mixing original songs “Madrid” and “Surrender” from her recent release, Innundir Skinni, with American classics like “That Lucky Old Sun” and Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me,” Arnalds was a charming as ever, playing solo on an acoustic guitar and a charango, made from the back of an armadillo. Check out the videos from her live session here:

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Thursday News Threads

• It’s been a tough run of weeks for musicians: Monday marked the passing of another legend, Richard Wright, who was a founding member and the keyboardist of Pink Floyd. Born in London in 1943, Wright was born the son of a biochemist, and he originally began his career studying architecture. The design and construction of buildings was quickly replaced by a different sort of art: Wright’s passion for music–which produced, by his teens, a proficiency in the trombone, saxophone, guitar, and piano–and, in particular, his interest in jazz, eventually led Wright to team up with Roger Waters and Nick Mason, who performed together in the six-member band Sigma 6. Though Wright soon dropped out of architecture school, he stuck with Waters and Mason, and the three paired with Syd Barrett and Bob Klose to form the five-member group that would become Pink Floyd. Some 40 years later, the five managed to create a rich and diverse legacy, which, just last month, was honored with the Polar Music Prize for the band’s “monumental contribution over the decades to the fusion of art and music in the development of popular culture.” Wright, who made his last appearances in front of an audience last year, will most certainly be missed.

• Cold War Kids, who will be at the Showbox at the Market on the 29th (and at Easy Street Records on that same day), have released their first video from the forthcoming LP Loyalty to Loyalty:

• Look, between now and November 4, it’s just going to get more political: Ted Leo, frustrated by the reception that protesters received in St. Paul a few weeks ago, has released a four-track EP addressing the matter. Proceeds will benefit Democracy Now! and Food Not Bombs.

• Speaking of politics, Matthew Gerken, Christen Kiefer and Jefferson Pitcher have created an album entitled Of Great and Mortal Men : 43 Songs for 43 U.S. Presidencies, which begins with George Washington (Washington Dreams of the Hippopotamus), concludes with George Walker Bush (Though the Night), and covers each of our nation’s leaders in between. (Even Millard Fillmore!) The three will be writing a song about the 44th president and releasing it in November — still too close to say who’ll be the muse.

James Monroe (The Last Cocked Hat) f. Marla Hansen (MP3)

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• Tour dates! A Place To Bury Strangers will be at El Corazon on September 26, Akimbo will be at King Cobra on September 27 (after performing live on KEXP this last Saturday!); People Under the Stairs will be there the next day; MSTRKRFT will be at the Showbox at the Market on October 2, Baroness will be at Studio Seven on October 3, Ron Sexsmith will be at the Triple Door on October 7, Gogol Bordello will be at the Showbox SoDo on October 9, Danielson will be at Vera Project on October 11, and Vivian Girls will be at Nectar Lounge on November 23. Looking further into next year, Bad Plus will be at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley for four nights beginning March 12.

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Thursday News Threads

• After 16 years repping hip-hop music and culture, Vibe magazine has ceased publication. Since its inception in 1993, the magazine has chronicled hip-hop and R&B culture and even published a few books along the way.

• Sometimes being a superfan can pay off: Death Cab For Cutie fan Ross Ching made his own video for the DCFC song “Little Bribes” and now Atlantic has hired him for a future video project.

• Wayne Coyne has recently revealed that Karen O and MGMT collaborated with The Flaming Lips on their upcoming album. Apparently the difficulties of recording the new album, entitled Embryonic, were so great that he forgot he collaborated with them.

• The fallout from these file sharing/digital downloading times has caused some major labels to rethink their strategy and take a few tips from successful independent labels. In fact, Sony has gone so far as to join forces with IODA, who provide distribution, marketing, and technology solutions for many independent labels. Whether Sony will be the changer or the changee in this new arrangement remains to be seen.

• Pirating: the new business model. Seems The Pirate Bay, whose founders were recently sentenced to serve a year in jail and pay $3.6 million in damages, will be sold for over twice as much to Global Gaming Factory X AB, who plan to turn the bit torrent monster to a perfectly legal lapdog. Napster, anyone? …anyone?

• Don’t look for EELS to tour their new album, Hombre Lobo, any time soon. Frontman E (Mark Oliver Everett) tells Spinner that he’d rather not “disrespect the audience by going out there and doing something that [his] heart’s not into.” At least, that’s “right now.” After three world tours in four years, he’s earned a rest… just not too long of a rest… okay, E?

• U2 kicked off their new tour, their first in three years apparently (has it been that long?), at Barcelona’s Camp Nou and paid tribute to Michael Jackson by dedicating their performance of “Angel Of Harlem” to him. Bono, who reportedly called Michael “an unspeakable talent,” dropped lyrics to “Man In The Mirror” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” into the song. And in seeming Jacko fashion (too soon for a joke?), the Irish icons are asking fans to wear masks, but this time with the express purpose bringing attention to the incarceration of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma, who’s been a political prisoner in her own country for 13 years. From photos submitted to the band’s website, The Edge will select the best to be featured in a gallery on U2.com.

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