New album cover art (above), new tune (below). Interesting.

photo by Kieran Day

I’m so fucking sick of this bloody weather, can this shit hurry up already!

Mauricio Vargas and Miles Quillen run The Blaaahg out of New York and Richmond, Virginia respectively. Sharing many of the same interests as Out With the In Crowd, we thought it might be fun to do some post-swapping, so that we could all get a feel for what’s good in NY and they, for London. So over the next month look out for some exclusive posts from our American friends. By means of an introduction to what The Blaaaahg is all about, here’s a little Q&A with Mauricio…

What prompted you to start the blaaahg?

It started as a logo idea first. I just liked how the typography looked in our logo. So me and my best friend Miles started it as a way to keep in touch and making a link between Richmond VA and NYC. That mixed with the realization of the affects blogs were making on the internet, and the opportunity they gave “the everyman”, it became a bit of a social experiment in the way culture works online.

What do you hope people get out of reading your blog?

Inspiration, a smile, a boner, a spark, a light switched on, a closed circuit. Anything really. If someone likes even one aspect, we’re glad to provide.

You mention the blaaahg is intended for ‘the like-minded individual’….what kind of audience do you feel you specifically cater for?

Being that its run by a couple of broski’s ( myself and Miles Quillen ) who grew up around skateboard culture and grew INTO the art/design culture, we cater to people like us. People who don’t take life too seriously, but all the same have a very specific appreciation that extends from classic art history aesthetics, to babes and straight up cool shit.

Just to verify the origin of your blog’s name… ‘blaaaahg’ is just a phonetic spelling of an American pronunciation of ‘blog’ right?!

Yessir. Wanted to keep it open ended.

How long have you lived in New York?

Though I miss my friends and the weather in hometown Richmond, VA , I’m closing in on 2 years in NY, and I must say its been a hell of a ride. It’s quickly become home.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a graphic artist / designer at an agency called All Day Everyday. We concentrate on digital strategy and execution, and how it integrates into the tangible world.

My partner in crime and blog tag teamer, Miles Quillen, is the creative director at a local, independent market in Richmond, as well as doing freelance design work for companies such as Need Supply Co. (www.needsupply.com), Dominion Skateboards (www.dominionskateboards.com) and RVA Magazine (www.rvamagazine.com).

When asked by the Guardian to name his favourite photo, photographer Jem Southam, famous for his large format landscape photography, rather unexpectedly chose this.  

Failry inconspicuous at first glance I’m sure you’d agree, but when you look closer and take a second to realise what is going on you start to see the brilliance of this photo.

Southam describes how he took in on a damp Cornish day in the late 1980s, whilst out walking with his brother. As they came around the corner of a very quiet, narrow lane these fellers were sat straight in front them. “It was an astonishing sight: just these three animals in a field and nothing else.”

All I can really say about this photo is what the fuck is a goat, lamb and pig doing just chilling out together in the corner of a field, like a right little gang, looking as though they’re plotting something?! Shit like this surely only happens in biblical paintings or children’s films where the animals talk!?

Such a great photo… OWTIC! Cheers Mr Tate for the tip.

A Restless Transplant

Nice project by the MAK Center for Art and Architecture in L.A. They’ve commissioned 23 contemporary artists to each produce a piece of art to be placed on various billboards around the city. Despite not being a massive fan of the many of the actual artworks involved I think it is a really great idea that uses this space we would more commonly associate with consumerist pap in a much more productive, inspiring way. It would be great to see this over here on the other side of the pond with some more British based artists.

The project, titled How many Billboards? Art in Stead, is running through the whole of March so if you happen to be rocking it in L.A at the moment make sure you look out for some of them.

For their third issue, fashion biannual LOVE magazine, decided to shoot some of the world’s hottest women totally naked. Brilliant. More pics after the jump. Via M O D E L S.

Lomo LC-A + Gold. Everyone’s favourite Russian-built retro compact camera… but in 24 karat gold.

Spanish Sahara is a teaser track released last week for Foals upcoming album Total Life Forever, and the accompanying video has some beautiful visuals in it.

The director Dave Ma has worked with Foals a couple of times before (Balloons & Olympic Airways) and although his work tends to employ a very cool polarising/filter look, there is something warm and relaxing about the videos that i really enjoy. More examples after the break.

Broken Bells is an unlikely collaboration between The Shins front man James Mercer and producer Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton. The Two come from opposite ends of the musical spectrum but have combined to great effect. The Album is available to hear through the bands myspace page and I’ve had it on loop all day. Littered with trademark Dangermouse beats, it oozes the intelligence you expect from his production and Mercer’s vocals play over the top brilliantly. Apparently Mercer moved into Burtons L.A. pad to make the album and the process was like a romance with the pair listening to records, going to the cinema and drinking in dive bars whilst talking about life – Pretty sweet to be a grown man and be able to make a living moving into your mate’s house, hanging out and making cool tunes. Sadly I missed the London gig at the ICA last night, although there’s bound to be a full tour soonish and hopefully they’ll pop up on this summer’s festival circuit. With a glowing review and a waping 9/10 from drowned in sound, Broken Bells look set to be big in this year’s game. Watch the video for the first single “The High Road” after the jump.

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Levi’s Vintage 1960’s T-shirt. via Selectism