Nike 1984 Tier 0 Olympic Pack

by Josh Rubin

With the Beijing Olympic Games just around the corner, it's only fitting that Nike release a pack of sneakers celebrating various Chinese Olympic Athletes from the past. Featuring traditional Chinese colors with some Olympic accents, I especially like the Air Max 1 version.

Other silhouettes in the pack include the Blazer Low, Dunk Trainer High, Vintage Nylon Cortez, Court High Force and Wildwood90 Free Trail (images after the jump). This release will be especially hard for Westerners to get their hands on because Nike China will be given priority access. Maybe you'll see Chinese Olympic hero Liu Xiang in a pair sometime soon.

A few Tier 0 accounts outside the Far East, namely UNDFTD LA, will have a small allotment ready to drop tomorrow, 23 February 2008.

Zenith El Primero Zero-G Multi-Dimensional Tourbillon

by Watchismo

A new top-of-the-line Zenith is debuting at Baselworld 2008 in April. This limited edition all-black PVD coated El Primero Zenith Zero-G Multi-Dimensional Tourbillon will start around €350,000 ($500,000+).

Surface/Subsurface

by Doug Black

Post-industrial cities are crowded places, which means new development often comes in the wake of demolition. It's a process against contemporary sensibilities, as well as New York architectural firm Weiss/Manfredi, who have spent almost two decades reclaiming decrepit infrastructural sites in American cities. Known for their integration of architecture, art and landscape design, some of their most recent work is chronicled in their new monograph Surface/Subsurface.

The book covers the work of founders Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi since 2000, when Princeton Architectural Press released Site Specific. Their latest focuses on their most comprehensive works, particularly the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle (pictured above right), which opened last year. The project was an attempt to reclaim desirable waterfront, which was long relegated to the shipping industry. Their design features of a jagged Z-shape consisting of land bridges that span train tracks and a four-lane arterial road.

Surface/Subsurface also includes proposed redevelopment plans for Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens as part of New York City's bid to host the 2012 Olympics as well as a revitalization of Manhattan's side of the Brooklyn Bridge, both of which never came to fruition. It's lamentable that we may never be able to go swimming over lanes of traffic in the proposed pool suspended under the bridge (pictured left), but the book's dynamic mix of sketches, scale mock-ups and full-color technical renderings will have to suffice.

You can purchase Surface/Subsurface on the PA Press site or from Amazon.

Kitoko Dome Gallery: Vernissage

by Ami Kealoha

by Maria Argü̈ello

Artist and curator Francesco LoCastro is Miami's current leader of the pop surrealism movement with the opening of his new Miami Beach gallery, Kitoko Dome. Already a presence on the scene, during the latest Art Basel Miami Beach he curated one of the most popular shows, Gen Art's Vanguard exhibition "No One Belongs Here More than You." He's also been garnering increasing attention for his own distinctive work that often has a cartoon-like, comic book aspect. The new space will be a showcase for that same whimsical, lowbrow aesthetic, bringing a completely different brand of contemporary art to Miami.

Vernissage, the current exhibit, pairs a young, promising, local artist Carlene Muñ̃oz (pictured below left, click image for detail) and Tim Biskup (pictured above right, click image for detail), an established, L.A.-based artist. The idea is to continuously introduce local and national/international and mix the up and coming unknowns with the recognized artists.

At the moment Colin Christian, Kathie Olivas, Sas Christian and LEBO are all on display. (See images after the jump.)

Overall, the gallery exudes a comforting, clever, humorous vibe with bamboo stalks in the middle of the entrance that add to the tranquil, zen-like feel permeating the entire space. It's almost a refuge for the misfits of Miami's contemporary art world—less abstract, more cartoony.

Vernissage
Kitoko Dome
309 23rd Street
Miami Beach, FL 33139 map
tel. +1 954 825 6451

Three Recent Releases

by Josh Teixeira

Ida: Lover's Prayers
Trying to avoid obvious comparisons like Low and The Spinanes is tough, maybe only because I love all of these bands, but Ida's new record Lover's Prayers is easily one of the strongest of its ilk. Interweaving pianos, guitars and transcendent harmonies with a timeless, bittersweet Americana, the New York-based band delivers an album that is as starkly beautiful as it is achingly melancholy. The songs unfurl at a meticulous pace, stretching and building like a long ride alone. The production is absolutely gorgeous, with each intimate hush and each warm voice perfectly in its lush context, yet wonderfully distinct. A truly cohesive work with flourishes of bluegrass, country and folk well-peppering the mix, "For Shame of Doing Wrong," "Lover's Prayers" and "Willow Tree" are particularly strong and demand an immediate listen. Do so on Ida's MySpace page and by the album from iTunes or Polyvinyl Record Co.

Black Mountain: In The Future
On "In the Future," Black Mountain finally lives up to the hype. Fulfilling the space age promise of their debut, In the Future weaves their obvious influences into a cohesive pattern—as much Pink Floyd atmospherics as Sabbathian riffage. "Bright Lights" is a stand out here with haunting, droned-out male-female vocal melodies that build to a crushing face-melting jam. Tracks like the Neil Young-ish "Stay Free" add depth and complexity to a seriously well-constructed album. Far from sounding from the future, Black Mountain is simultaneously timeless and perfectly contemporary. Listen on MySpace and buy from Jagjaguwar or iTunes.

Able Baker Fox: Voices
Six years ago, Small Brown Bike and The Casket Lottery were two of the best bands in their genre, making earnest, melodic and complex post-hardcore with tons of heart. Call it emo if you have to, but none of these dudes wore eye make-up or wigs. Before both bands disbanded, they collaborated on a classic, if oft-overlooked split EP—a collaboration that sowed the seeds for Able Baker Fox. With members from each band, the familiar sounds are there, for sure, but Able Baker Fox adds some new flavors to the mix. Heavy grooves and layered, almost-stoner vocals add a fresh approach. Written with the members living in four different states and recorded over five days, Voices is a strong debut and a compelling progression for veterans of this sound. Listen to tracks on MySpace and buy it from Blue Collar Industries or iTunes.

Mast Brothers Chocolate

by Ami Kealoha

Walking by Williamburg's crafty flea market Artists & Fleas last weekend, I spied stacks of chocolate bars wrapped in patterned papers. Stepping inside, I met Rick and Michael Mast, the brother duo who recently started Mast Brothers Chocolate, their line of artisinal chocolates.

As former room mates, the pair spent many an hour dreaming up flavor combinations until they finally scraped up enough cash to start the business. With Rick's expertise culled from stints at Gramercy Tavern, Soho House and Jacques Torres, they started cooking up such pairings as dark chocolate with pecans roasted in maple sourced from Canada, which they dub "toe-curling." Other options include dark milk and hazelnut, as well as dark and pistachio—both are excellent. Specially sourcing all their ingredients, they use primarily single-origin Venezuelan and Ecuadorian cacao for rich, flavorful results. Purists can opt for plain single-origin bars and they also offer truffles.

The paper, it turns out, is pretty special too; it's all imported from Italy. Currently exclusive to Williamsburg, you can find the chocolate at Artists and Fleas (weekends only) and at Marlow and Sons or at Spuyten Duyvil Grocery.