The Retrospective

Photo Courtsey of Apple Inc

Typical of introductions to Apple’s new products, reaction to the unveiling of the iPad has been swift and polarized. The last few months have brought countless news stories, blog posts and general punditry, and when combined with Apple’s penchant for extreme secrecy, the wide and complicated range of emotions was almost inevitable. Apple is both extremely innovative and very cautious with its product launches. Watching the live blog updates was like reliving the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, and as with that historic event, I’ve found myself once again looking at an awesome device with a limited, almost crippled functionality.

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Tags: Technology · gadget1 Comment

You know that saying, “If at first you don’t succeed then, try, try again?” British rapper Example, who’s been on the grind these last five years making a name for himself, has done just that. Born in London as Elliot Gleave, he adopted the name “Example” as a sly nod to his own initials. Gleave enrolled in university to study film, but soon found that his real passion lay in music. First inspired to pick up the mic by Wu Tang Clan and Slick Rick, in 2006 Example began releasing his tracks independently, and while his first studio album garnered little commercial attention, it didn’t discourage him; in 2008 he signed to UK label Data Records and began developing a fresh new sound.

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Tags: London · MusicNo Comments.

Photo Credit: Alicia Adams

There must be something beautiful and dangerous happening inside the mind of Francis Farewell Starlite. Having experienced his live shows only through a few video clips here and there, I was ecstatic to hear that he would be gracing the stage at San Francisco’s Red Devil Lounge. Although I had no idea, YouTube was about to get blown out of the water: writing this piece was maybe almost as difficult as it must be for Francis and the Lights to duplicate through any form of digital media what I saw live at 2009’s close.

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Tags: Event · Music · San Francisco1 Comment

What started out in 2003 as a documentary by three young filmmakers from Southern California has evolved into much more than a film meant to raise awareness of the tragedies occurring in Central Africa. Non-profit organization Invisible Children has made it their mission to end the use of child soldiers in Uganda and to build schools for war-affected youth. Invisible Children has donated more than 600 scholarships to Ugandan youngsters while helping to restore their communities, providing clean water, proper sanitation, books, and countless other commodities that we often take for granted. The organization is unique in composition, made up of artists, humanitarians, activists, entrepreneurs, and anyone else who cares about the current human condition and wants to help. Now, it’s your turn to add yourself to the ranks for a good cause.

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Photos Courtesy of Hue Rhodes & Frank Publicity

I met Hue Rhodes, director of Saint John of Las Vegas, in the lobby of NYC’s Ace Hotel. Previously Rhodes had confessed to living in coffee shops throughout the city as a means of getting work done, and the Ace boasts a similarly relaxed environment for doing just that. When I approached, he was already set up with his laptop, iPhone and cup of joe, prepared to conduct business. Within moments of our introduction, he’d brought up his daughter and flashed me a photo. See, that’s the thing about Hue Rhodes: he is extremely down to earth and real, so real, in fact, that The Retrospective was able to contact him for our NYC rendezvous through Twitter. Read on as Rhodes waxes prophetic about social media’s effect on the movie biz, tells all about his film school experience, tips his hat to Dante and divulges his plans for 2010.

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Tags: FilmsNo Comments.

Photo Credit - Alessandro Simonetti

To call Jules Kim and her brand Bijules “edgy” would be doing her a disservice—and it might insult her, too. A difficult-to-pinpoint mixture of unsettling, unexpected, and all-out modern swank, Jules’ unique jewelry pieces are as resistant to pigeonholing as the woman who dreams them up. Perhaps partly due to this mystique, everyone from our friend Kareem Black to the fashion world’s editorial elite has been singing her praises, and while she was on a recent stop in San Francisco, I had a chance to catch up with her. We chatted about her hustle past and present and the brand philosophy that’s poised to change the status quo of the luxury jewelry market.

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Tags: Fashion · New York · RetroTalk3 Comments

Our man Theophilus London is at it again, starting 2010 off strong with the release off his new video for the single “Humdrum Town” which is one of our favorite tracks on This Charming Mixtape. We caught up with him last month in NYC during the Wired event and talked a bit about his new video that made its debut today on MTV2. Theophilus is a true performer and it definitely comes across at his live shows, and now, his music videos. We can’t wait to see what he has planned for the rest of the year!

Tags: Music · VideoNo Comments.

It’s been a jet set weekend for The Retrospective’s staff. While our Editor in Chief headed back to Spain, I spent the past 48 hours hopping from coast to coast. During my time in New York City, I caught up with Heron Preston, Larry Ossei-Mensah of My Global Hustle, Jesse Poe of DMDxd, Johanna Beyanbach of Undercurrent, blogger Matt Cohen and Yuji Fukushima of Blue in Green. In addition to getting a moment to reconnect with our East Coast team, I saw the lovely Mimi Tamaoki and had some facetime with The Brooklyn Circus. While at the Nike Sportswear release of the new DJ AM shoe, I also got some facetime with Hollywood Holt, whose new album will be dropping this spring. Last time we ran into Holt he was destroying San Francisco’s Vessel Lounge while on tour with Kid Cudi and Million Dollar Mano where the above photo was taken.

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Tags: The Retrospective · site news4 Comments

Audrey Kawasaki’s first solo exhibition in New York City has been a much anticipated event for many. If you’re into Manga, Art Nouveau, sexy & mysterious women or the ethereal, then her work is right up your alley. In this installation, Kawasaki articulates her heritage by creating hauntingly beautiful characters through a combination of strong line work and sparingly used color.

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Tags: Art · Event · New YorkNo Comments.

The first thing you see when you pop over to MOG.com is a hyperbolic statement: “MOG is where your music listening dreams come true. All of them. Weird.” However, when I started playing with MOG a few weeks ago they were saying, “Better than Pandora, Last.fm and iTunes. Combined,” right up front. I don’t know whether MOG changed up the promise in order to spice things up or to seem less arrogant, but they weren’t too far off the mark with that first–rather ballsy–claim.

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Tags: Music · Technology4 Comments