Cool Hunting

The Mos Def Music Tee
by Julie Wolfson Actor and MC, the Mighty Mos Def has a long list of unique collaborations and projects including starring on Broadway in Suzan-Lori Parks play "Topdog/Underdog," playing a video store employee in Michel Gondry's "Be Kind Rewind" and hosting "Def Poetry" on HBO. Now Mos Def is one of the first artists to release his new album, "The Ecstatic," in a t-shirt format....

Papercuts: You Can Have What You Want
The third album for Papercuts, You Can Have What You Want, highlights a strongly maturing Jason Robert Quever, who's still a nostalgic songwriter but is bringing a new level of mastery to his trademark sound in good form. Looking back to the first impression of the SF band in 2004, the lo-fi aesthetic of Mockingbird was a hazy and modern take on the old....

Denon DP-200USB Turntable with Automatic MP3 Encoder
For those who want to convert their vinyl to digital but face the daunting prospect of spending hours organizing it, this system from Denon bests the competition by automatically assigning artist name, titles, etc. to imported tracks. Using a USB port, the turntable connects to any compatible drive and included software both analyzes the tracks and detects silences to automatically split them (or there's...

Two New Andy Warhol Books: The Record Covers and Warhol Live
Much is written of the late Andy Warhol. Too much, you might argue. And while the newest pair of titles cover some of the same well-trodden ground, they limit their focus to one specific aspect of the eclectic artist's career. "Warhol Live" and "Andy Warhol: The Record Covers, 1949-1987"&mdashboth published by Prestel&mdashexplore the Pop artist's relationship with the music and bands he loved and...