Ever have a tv commercial stop you dead in your tracks? Here’s two beautiful, and awe-inspiring spots, from the new Levi’s Ad Campaign, directed by M. Blash & Cary Fukunaga, respectively.

Pete Yorn – “Back & Fourth” (released June 2009)

Dammit, this is such a good album.

Remember when “Life on a Train”, came out, a million years ago? And it was in that same time period (give or take) that Shelby Lynne put out “Your Lies”? And both songs were so layered, and became radio friendly but clearly and sonically they were so much different than anything else on the radio? I’ve been waiting for Pete Yorn to put out a similar effort to this, for years… “Back & Fourth” is as close to that, as it is to his best effort to date. Thought the mood is deliberately slower and darker than ‘musicforthemorningafter‘ the songs are decidedly unique and the production thrived under the watchful eye (and ears) of Rick Rubin and Bright Eyes producer Mike Mogis. A standout track for me is the soul-crushing “Social Development Dance”. Mandolins stand out in the background, and Yorn delivers a song and a sound that’s completely his own.

Give “Back & Fourth” a listen. It might be your soundtrack for the next few weeks, months, or years… or until Yorn releases another album. : ) -kk

(from the festival website)

Sort of…

Check it out…

Here -

www.kevinkoskiphoto.com

Thoughts, comments and generally constructive input gladly welcomed. : ) -kk

So our old buddy, Nike’s lord & savior, and frequent Wizards slayer – LeBron James was/is in town promoting a combination of shoes, community, his movie, yaddayaddayadda, in a big-top style circus downtown at Kastles Stadium. And while I can appreciate the man’s skills and  ability, and cenrtainly uncanny marketability, there’s really one thing that irks me here. Pictured above is the new version of his own personal basketball shoe, coming out October somethingsomething – anyways, this event here in DC is happening all over the world, in 7 cities, and apparently there’s supposed to be a specific shoe for each tour stop. Above, is supposed to be the “DC” version of the shoe… If you know anything about the man, he went to St. Vincents/St. Mary’s HS in Ohio, and their school colors were… you guessed it, green & gold. Not unlike the color scheme on the shoes above. Now, I get it – it’s all good. But can you at least humor us Nike/LeBron, and at least make a slightly more valiant effort  here than just slapping a “DC” in GREEN (What DC team used green lately?!) on the heel of the shoe and call it ours? Maybe a red? Maybe a 3-star-2-bar combo somewhere? Nothing? Hell, back some years ago when Gilbert Arenas used to play basketball on a court (and not an XBOX360) he released a shoe for almost every minor district and area in this entire city. But those days are long gone…

Alas –  yes, the shoes are a little bit classier than the previous released kicks with your moniker on them, and I’d gladly take a pair any day of the week, but it just seems a bit lazy on the part of your staff to throw us the leftovers. Then agan, maybe it’s our fault here in Washington, and maybe it’s us being lazy. We’ll just buy the shoes regardless of the fact that the guy who’s name is on them, took our hometown team out of the playoffs, just about every year the Wiz have been in lately.

Gil, I’m begging you – Shut this man down this year. If anyone can, it’s you, Agent Zero. Go Bulle…-er, ‘Wiz”. -kk

About 3 more full weeks of “summer” left. Make the most of them… -kk-

The Originals -

Finding more success in the late 1960’s becoming backup singers on all sorts of songs you’ve definitely heard before, the Originals consisted of bass singer Freddie Gorman, baritone Walter Gaines and tenors C.P. Spencer and Henry Dixon. Ty Hunter replaced Spencer when he left to go solo in the early 1970s. They had all previously sung in other Detroit groups.(Wiki) “The Bells” & “Baby I’m For Real” are two of the finest stand-alone motown songs in history. : ) -kk-

Sam Cooke’s “Portrait of a Legend” – If you do not own this album, you’re not a real fan of music. : )

Photo : Kevin A. Koski

Make-Up: Sidory Dan-Perry

Styling: Michael Lanni/Volanni

Model: Missy Purvis – Basic NY

Regina Spektor – “far”

Spektor’s new album (released on 23/6/09) is a triumph of sonic landscapes. Her voice has never sounded stronger, and the layout of the songs reads like a novel.  This venture into baroque pop is nothing new for the current New Yorker, but on this record it sounds more polished and positively produced – as in something you would get from a early Rufus Wainwright album. Bottom line is, Spektor has given us her all, and that includes radio friendly pop hits, off-the-wall oddities, and everything inbetween. -kk

Andrea Mann – “Photograph”

Maybe it’s fact that the soft, smokey, and cool jazz sound is such a departure from modern music, that it’s entertainingly refreshing. Or maybe I’m a little Michael Jackson’d-out from the overload of the latter part of this week. Or maybe it’s the simple familiarity of covers and standard songs. Whatever it is, Mann’s album (released 18-5-09) is a beautiful “Sunday morning” record that gets better with each listen. The atmospheric jazz that she and the band present is simply wonderful music, and even though the songs are covers, she creates them all with her own flair magic. Sorry kids, there’s no auto-tune here. And no cameos. And no high end video or sound production – It’s just really, really good music. -kk

Happy summer, people. Alright, maybe not until next week, formally, but welcome to summer in DC – sweltering hot one day, biblical deluge the next, and then, locusts in August. Good times!

As we enter into the summer season, it crossed my mind, that District Creatives.com is now officially 2 years old. In twenty four months, this site has seen just about everything – New restaurants open… and then close; Galleries open… and then close;  Artists rise to public prominence… and then leave; Presidents get sworn in, and others leaving office. And unique traffic to this website, in the range of 20-30,000 hits. Who these people are, I have no idea, but I thank you.

You know this blog isn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be when it began. I mean, for the most part, it was started in retaliation for unfair business practices by the area’s local “luxury lifestyle” publication, and my way of saying “hey, um… you’re making money hand-over-fist on your advertorials.. um.. you have to PAY your artists and designers too, don’t you?” But from that bitterness grew fondness – fondness for a city alive with more artists and culture and people that I never though I’d ever come in contact with. And more people concerned like I was, for the well being of the artist community here in the city. Running this blog put me in contact with great people like Jon Wye, Phillipa Hughes, Matt Sesow, Laura Tsaggaris, Victoria Vox, Val Proudkii, Danni Rosner, Yoko K, Jodi King, Michael Lanni, Chris Rief, Once Okay Twice, and US Royalty. And I wouldn’t have traded these meetings, conversations, shows, cocktails,  for anything in the world.

All that being said, districtcreatives.com is going to take a little bit of a left hand turn, if you will. I’ll still try to give updates on the blossoming community that’s is DC, and of course any and all suggestions are welcome, in terms of others that would like to get their name out there. But for now, don’t be surprised if you get a Nationals update here and there, or images of mine from clients I’ve taken on recently. I’m going to try and make this a more personal page, and be more about me and what matters and effects me on the day-to-day. To be honest, the amount of work I’ve been contracted for recently leaves just a little bit of time for this site, and so the research time that I used to have, is no longer available. Sooooooo… continue to support local art/artists and keep checking back. -kk

Postscript - Oh, and in the mean and inbetween time, this coming Saturday, you SHOULD MAKE TIME TO GO TO BusBoys&Poets.  Joy Ike is performing. (Sharing a show with Hiram Ring and local artist Rene Moffatt) Totally worth it. Great intimate setting, which will be perfect for Ike’s personal sonic landscapes.
http://www.joyike.com/audio.m3u/Warriors.mp3

I guess this is a good day for this… the rain is falling, but ending soon, and moreover the weekend is upons us. Follow you follow me… happy weekend everyone! More next week, including Joy Ike, Duke E. Jazz-fest, and more. -kk

Butterfly Boucher – ‘Scary Fragile‘ :  A good, “Tungstall-esque” romp thru 11 tracks. Not as emotionally powerful or invested at the singer’s debut release, but still heads and shoulders above her contemporaries. A good summer album, and soundtrack to a yet-to-be produced Zach Braff film.

Zero 7 – ‘The Garden‘ : (Boy, heavy on the Braff fav’s, huh? Sorry about that.) Zero 7’s new (to me) album contains a lot of what made them successful the first go-around; landscaping sonic movements, a wonderful integration of acoustic and electronic noise, and oh yea… Sia Fuller. The thing I really like about this album though, is the fact that it’s a lot of things at once. It’s a club album, and it’s a backyard summertime album / it’s got hit songs, and it’s got songs you want in the background. Similar to the debut album, it’s one you should have in the collection.

Fastball – ‘Little White Lies’ : My feeling is this – If you’re a one-hit-wonder, you’ve still proven that you can give the buying public a hit, and that is more that what 85-90% of every other band can do. Enter “The Way” rockers, Fastball, and their new album. For the most part, Fastball isn’t re-inventing the wheel here, but they’re making pop-rock music that I can stand, and get a little nineties rock nostalgic about.

And of course, my favorite album of the summer, (that almost no one pays attention to) is Phoenix’s ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix‘. Yea, I don’t know, just something about it. Give it a listen or something. I think you’ll like it.

-kk