Emerge Trends Weblog

A Few Thoughts on Coachella

Emerge Trends — 2008-04-29T15:58:03Z

After years and years of hearing about how great this annual festival in the desert is, EMERGE finally went out to Indio, California for this year's Coachella festival. We had a blast over all, saw some amazing performances, went to some killer afterparties, hung with great people, and didn't get much sleep. Here are some of our thoughts, fresh off the red eye flight home from LA:

1. Coachella is really white: It's probably not just the programming of the festival itself but also the cost of tickets and accommodation as well as the fact that it takes place in an extremely posh part of the country. Whatever the reason, the throngs of punters in every stage we visited were overwhelmingly young and caucasian. The same complaint could be leveled at indie rock as a whole presumably, but coming from NYC, EMERGE was struck by the conspicuous lack of people of color amongst both the audience and performers.

2. Girls, put on some clothes. In the age of amateur papparazzi, webcasts, youtube and relentless videography of everything, we were pretty surprised by the number of ladies who seemingly left home for the festival in nothing more than a bathing suit, some sneakers (sometimes motorcycle boots), and a backpack. Sure, drunk dudes love you, but your mothers would be appalled. Plus it gets chilly once the sun goes down. (see photos below for more...)

3. While all sorts of hipster publications, from The Fader to Anthem to Flaunt Magazine all threw parties at Coachella, some fared better than others. The Fader and Anthem's day parties got high marks- especially Anthem's utterly bonkers Fiesta De Las Fiestas, the Flaunt events at the Horizon Hotel were marred by noise complaints and an aggressive police presence, which effectively killed the party spirit. In a town of gated communities and tourist hotels, party people need more secluded locations to throw a rager.

Check out the Anthem Fiesta on Last Night's Party (some of this is NSFW!!!)

Posted by James Friedman

Tenori-On-Tour

Emerge Trends — 2008-04-11T15:09:18Z

Ok, so normally EMERGE isnt' really that interested in the gear-obsessions that drive people to sell organs for an iPhone or to discuss the relative merits of granular or analog-modeling synthesis. However, we are interested in technologies that take esoteric- dare I say nerdy- processes from outside dark rooms filled with cables and doodads and turn them into engaging performances. AND, as our devotion to Daft Punk's Alive tour last Summer indicated, we love a good electronic music performance that transcends the dude-behind-a-laptop paradigm.

Hence EMERGE's fascination with the Tenori-On-Tour, a live product demonstration tour showcasing a really interesting little gizmo from Yamaha that looks like this:

Basically, this is similar to the much more homespun Monome machine from a couple years ago, allowing users to customize a grid of pads to control their music software, and translate some of the normally unseen aspects of electronic music production into a visual language of blinking lights and patterns. To really find out what's going on here, EMERGE is going to check out the New York stop of the tour on April 16 and we encourage any curious folks to stop by the SAT in Montreal on April 11th or 1015 Fulsom in San Francisco on the 18th. The demos will include a presentation by Tenori-On inventor Toshio Iwai as well as performances by top-shelf button-pushers including Robert Lippok, Sutekh, Pole, Safety Scissors, I Am Robot And Proud, and Nathan Michel. Best of all, attendees can enter a raffle to win their own Tenori-On and rest assured that there will be many other music geeks and gadget freaks there to attend what is basically a glorified version of the infomercial...

Posted by James Friedman

Unlike

Emerge Trends — 2008-04-07T18:38:51Z

Apologies for the long silence. EMERGE was on holiday, catching a bit of late season snowboarding out in Colorado... We got lucky. Two feet of fresh powder and next to no crowds on the slopes. We don't mean to brag, but it's the best excuse we've ever had for not updating the site for a few days...

Berlin rooftops

EMERGE's favorite nightclub, Panoramabar

With the advent of user reviews, blogs and web resources like Superfuture the travel guidebook our parents used back in the days (Frommer's Europe On $10 A Day, we're looking at you) feels less than totally relevant. Sure, there are things like Time Out's The Other Side Of guides or Monocle's 2007 Top 50 but Unlike is something a bit different. Launching with Berlin, but promising more cities to come, Unlike presents search functions, specialized guides focused on art collections, vintage clothes hunting, and architecture, events listings and much more. So if your idea of tourism includes checking out the hottest young galleries, coolest shops and maybe a demonstration of a new type of synthesizer, Unlike is the guide for you. As they say themselves:

unlike.net looks at the most personal, treasured locations, events and urban themes, capturing the spirit of life’s journey: in the club, in the shop, in the restaurant, at the gallery.

unlike.net is the definitive city guide in motion, it’s where experiences are shared, styles are formed, and ideas accelerated. unlike.net offers a fresh perspective that reinvents the city guide for the 21st century.

Available whenever and wherever you need it. unlike.net is more than a simple guide, it?s where guests become locals.

Posted by James Friedman

The Storefront for Art and Archtecture

Emerge Trends — 2008-02-25T13:48:51Z

If you've ever found yourself on the corner of Center Street and Kenmare Street in downtown Manhattan, you've probably noticed an absurdly narrow storefront space with a really interesting design that allows much of the exterior walls to rotate open, exposing a really compact but impressive exhibition within. This is the Storefront for Art and Architecture and it's a seldom-celebrated cultural feather in the already crowded cap of EMERGE's fair city. Here is one reason why:

Whitehouse Redux

In collaboration with Surface Magazine and Control Group, the Storefront is holding a design contest to reimagine and redesign the White House. Three winners will be chosen and their design materials, including videos, images, designs, drawings etc will be showcased in a month-long exhibition come July 2008. The contest is to be judged by Beatriz Colomina, Architectural historian, New York; Stefano Boeri, Editor-in-chief, Abitare magazine, Milan; Liz Diller, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, New York; John Maeda, President Elect, Rhode Island School of Design; Geoff Manaugh, BLDGblog and Dwell magazine, San Francisco; Mark Wigley, Dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Columbia University; Laetitia Wolff, Editorial director, Surface magazine, New York. Winners will also receive cash prizes, a trip to NYC for the exhibition, accommodations at the appropriately named White House Hotel, and exposure in Surface.

Posted by James Friedman

Copyshop

Emerge Trends — 2008-02-12T16:14:29Z

EMERGE isn't entirely sure of what Copyshop is exactly, and their website isn't the most clear thing we've ever seen, but we're intrigued.

From what we can gather, Copyshop is a project of the Art Gallery of Knoxville and is designed to be franchised, leading to similar institutions anywhere there is an interest. Beyond that, EMERGE knows that Copyshop is a store that sells products that play around with ideas of intellectual property. According to their own boilerplate, Copyshop's "inventory includes modified originals, improved copies and political anti-brands- all products that discuss the existing notion of intellectual property rights as a prerequisite for development and economic growth." Fitting into that list of products are what they dub "Supercopies"- essentially these are knock-offs that are stamped with the word "supercopy," thus creating a new original. It's all a bit cerebral if you ask us, but the idea of creating a culture jamming pop up shop is sort of interesting. If you happen to be in Knoxville anytime soon, go check Copyshop out.

Posted by James Friedman

Neo Rave Is Not The Same As New Rave Ya Big Dummy!

Emerge Trends — 2008-02-04T19:16:41Z

This post was researched, written and photographed by friend-of-EMERGE Michelle Morton-Banks of Angalossy. We hope to have more posts from Michelle in the future as it's always nice to get a local's perspective on a cultural phenomenon like resurgence of rave culture both in fashion and lifestyle over the past couple years... Read it and rave on:

As I walked into London's most celebrated Neo-Rave party, Bang Face, I felt nostalgic to say the least. Sheepishly passing a huge queue of frustrated party people and waving a press card at the Electrowerkz door girl, reminded me that I’m in the now, not back in the day. But as I walked into the club everything looked the same as it did back then: a winding corridor made of jet-black breeze blocks, bodies chatting and bouncing up dirty concrete steps, a vast warehouse style nightclub – and best of all- a happy and friendly crowd, thrusting an amalgamation of rave toys into the air to the decadent sound of bass. There were blow up dolls, colorful acid house smileyface balloons, and the signature Bang Face logo molded into party masks (you can download artwork from their website). Each iteration of Bang Face is themed, and this party, the 51st in the series, was Whisky-A-Go-Go- disco inferno meets rave- meaning lots of the Bang Faces sported afros in an almost comical collision of dance music fashion styles.

I was attending Bang Face to get some cultural insights for a futures report Angalossy will be producing later this year “The Future of a Good Old Knees Up." Using existing research by Derek Woodgate’s team at Future Lab and some of our own, we hope to plan a sustainable and fun vision of what the Future holds for the entertainment industry – it was definitely a night were pleasure and business were mixed.

After my anthropological adventure I returned home with a cruel hangover, but what a great night I’d had: 808 State offered-up a sizable dose of nostalgia and Hellfish gave me the injection of Gabber I often crave. Aside the fun I’d had, I was left feeling miffed by my Neo-Rave experience. Saint Acid, or James as I’ve become to know the man responsible for the night, spoke of a phone call he received last year when the New York Times asked him to explain the difference between New Rave and Neo-Rave – they’re the same aren’t they? That started me thinking- what is Neo-Rave, apart from the obvious connotations?

Saint Acid explained that when rave returned, it was confused with a fashion fad. "Some people actually thought that when we started three years ago, it was us who started the whole movement up again," he explained. New Rave essentially describes a look - 14 to 24 year olds who read Super Super Magazine and listen to the Klaxons According to Dr. Stuart Bothwick of John Moores University “Neo Rave is less a rebirth of rave, and more a rebirth of indie-dance. In 1989/90, a rock/rave crossover [happened] in the form of bands such as Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, The Farm and Flowered Up was briefly popular on dance floors.” But as we well know, it was more of a cultural than a musical crossover. This musical crossover is quite new, B-Pitch’s Modeselektor, regulars at Bang Face, typify this trend. Their latest album Happy Birthday features Indie/dance infusions from Thom Yorke alongside a heady mash of electro, hip hop, grime and bass. Bothwick continues: “As the 1990s progressed, this scene declined whilst house, techno and later, jungle and garage increased in popularity. Come the early to mid 2000s, we saw a second generation of NME-friendly bands whose audience was younger than the now thirty-something plus clubbers of the 1990s, and who were rejecting the divide between rock and rave that had developed since [the birth of acid house].” Neo-Rave is more of a demand for a “melting pot of musical genres” as Saint Acid says, than a fad or trend in itself. Party revelers need more than nostalgic rave tracks from Shut Up and Dance et al, they require a whole mix of Indie, Industrial, Gabber, Techno, Electro, Jungle, Breakcore and so on, and by the turnouts at Bang Face – they seem to be getting the mix right.

If you are in London, Bang Face 52 is on February 8 at Electrowerkz

Posted by James Friedman

The Sound of Conversation

Emerge Trends — 2007-12-19T19:46:30Z

In all fairness, EMERGE has to admit that we've never actually attended an event organized by Pecha Kucha, but next chance we get, we'll be all up in there (like swimwear).

PK SF

First organized back in 2003 by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham in Tokyo, this high-speed lecture series (sort of) has since spread to over 80 cities worldwide, with recent events in New York drawing well over 700 attendees fired up to hear architects, designers and creatives of all stripes present about pretty much whatever they feel like. Pecha Kucha (Japanese for the sound of conversation) is formatted to allow each presenter twenty slides, each which can be displayed only for twenty seconds, which keeps things brief, to the point, and amps up the pithiness.

PK NYC

At this point, four years in, Pecha Kucha has picked up a lot of momentum and according to NYC co-organizer, former Tokion editor-in-chief, and bro-of-EMERGE, Ken Miller, they are looking to ramp things up for 2008. If you are interested, get in touch via their website. If you work with a brand that is looking to help this loose federation of visionary creatives stage bigger and better lightning-round lectures, please, whip out your checkbooks and underwrite the next Pecha Kucha in your town.

Posted by James Friedman

Planning For GOOD (Magazine)

Emerge Trends — 2007-12-07T20:03:55Z

Next Monday (7-9pm) December 10th, Good Magazine will be hosting an evening for Planning for Good at its pop-up store in Nolita.

There will be music by EMERGE's James ^&%$$ Friedman, short bursts of inspirational speaking from Graham Hill of Treehugger, Matisse Bustos Hawkes of Witness, Alisa Aydin of UNICEF, Andrew Friedman of Make the Road New York and Gareth Kay/Ed Cotton from Planning for Good.

There will also be drinking and socializing.

If you are a New York based account planner or interested in lending your time and brain to benefit good causes, this is a good opportunity for you to join both Planning for Good and Planning for Good New York.

These are Facebook groups, so you need to join Facebook to participate.

Space will be limited, so priority will be given to those who are already part of the network.

So get off your butt and join. Hope to see you Monday!

Special thanks to Nau

Posted by James Friedman

Right Now: INFLUX IDEAS CONFERENCE

Emerge Trends — 2007-10-19T16:32:40Z

Our colleagues over at influxinsights.com have organized a really amazing conference which is taking place right now. Take a gander or participate in an INFLUX IDEAS 2007 CONFERENCE- related chat here.

Posted by James Friedman

Right Now: INFLUX IDEAS CONFERENCE

Emerge Trends — 2007-10-19T16:32:43Z

Blogging About Bloggers

Emerge Trends — 2007-10-09T13:47:59Z

Shameless self-promotion alert:

EMERGE is proud to announce that we're cohosting the first ever edition of Likemind BK next Friday, October 19th at 8AM. This is a momentous occasion not only because it's a first for the Borough of Kings, but because we HATE getting up early.
Luckily, Likemind involves lots of coffee and our cohost Katherine from Node is a morning person.

If you like coffee, bloggers, ad people and/or Brooklyn we hope to see you next Friday at

Retreat at 147 Front Street in DUMBO.

Posted by James Friedman

Coney Island and the Suburbanization of NYC

Emerge Trends — 2007-09-14T17:13:15Z

New York Magazine recently reported that New Yorkers are living longer
then residents of most other states. Perhaps it's because you can now find a yoga class easier then a crack dealer these days (thanks Rudy Giuliani!). Gone is the seediness and grime (aka charm) of a city that drove thousands here in search of escape from Suburbia. We may not have a mall with football-field-sized parking lots, but we are a chain-store filled city as reported by the recent book The Suburbanization of New York: Is the World's Greatest City Becoming Just Another Town?

For many this is not the image one conjures up of New York; in cleaning
up the grime and the crime have we lost what gives us our character
and intrigue, in essence the brand New York?

Coney Island is one of the last remaining time capsules left in a city
that is always changing. Starbucks may have replaced coffee shops on
corners in Manhattan but Nathan's Famous has remained an institution
on the Boardwalk in Brooklyn. This is all about to change; after this past weekend, the crowds have dissipated and Coney Island is set to receive a facelift-new NYC style.

The land surrounding the famed Astroland carnival grounds was bought up in 2005 and is slated to become an apartment complex and Disney style resort. The news of this drove millions more to take the trip out to the boardwalk. The New York Times reported that last year alone 15 million visitors came, an increase in over 5 million in 3 years. Many have rediscovered the charm of the rickety old Cyclone rollercoaster and off kilter community feel of the annual Mermaid Parade. The facelift has been wildly regarded as not something desired for the community or public that desperately want some things to reflect a time when not every street corner looked the same. Thankfully, more powerful forces in the City are also unsure that the redevelopment plan put forth by Thor Realty Trust makes the most sense. According to a recent article in the Times, much rezoning will need to take place before any ground can be broken and various interested parties are gearing up for a fight. In the meantime, nothing is certain except that old cliche that the only thing constant is change.

All Images from Mermaid Parade 2007 by Amy Daroukakis

Written by Amy Daroukakis for EMERGE

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Swing Space

Emerge Trends — 2007-08-30T18:58:27Z

It's not a topic that gets nearly enough attention here in the land of the freemarket, but dwindling public resources for the arts are indeed a subject worth much attention beyond EMERGE's humble little blog. While many nations throughout Europe and beyond provide hefty subsidies for creative enterprises, the federal government in the US has been slashing and burning funding through the NEA and NEH for years. Thankfully, some state and local governments still recognize the value of a vibrant creative community. Take as an example, Manhattan's LMCC, who are currently looking for takers for their ambitious Swing Space program.

The long and the short of this program from the fine folks who brought this summer's ace In The Pocket series of concerts on Governor's Island (full disclosure: EMERGE's James F!@#$%^ Friedman played the closing session alongside Bhangra DJ Rekha last weekend) is that the LMCC- which was founded by David Rockefeller over thirty years ago- connects artists of just about any discipline with vacant real estate to house temporary studios, offices and performances, along with grants ranging from $300-$3000. Pretty amazing.

And that's really just the tip of the iceberg for this amazing arts organization that has a budget of roughly $5 million of grant money and a wide range of programs ranging from public dance performances to aid for displaced Gulf Coast creatives and an on-site lecture series held in generally unknown, overlooked or prohibited spaces in Lower Manhattan.

So all you artists in need, the application for the upcoming Swing Space grants is going online at the start of September and information sessions are being offered on the following dates:

Thursday, September 6, 7:30 pm
Swing Space Artist Studios, 120 Broadway, 29th Floor
Focus: Studio Space, Office Space, Rehearsal Space

Wednesday, September 12, 4 pm
LMCC, 125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Focus: Installation, Curated Exhibition, Self-produced Performance

RSVP is required to attend an info session:
Send an e-mail to bkerrick@lmcc.net or jgerrity@lmcc.net.

Posted by James Friedman

Popcorn Picnics

Emerge Trends — 2007-08-21T18:59:49Z

Maybe it's simply the warm weather, but there's something about outdoor movies that spells summertime for EMERGE. Picnic blankets replace stadium seating as parks, buildings, rooftops and even empty pools transform into the best ticket in town. Lots of folks may nostalgically associate outdoor films with the once-ubiquitous drive-in movie, but as a recent New York Times article indicates, this new glut of films under the stars is far from an American phenomenon- outdoor theatres can be spotted all over the country and in Europe.

Though there are films in Chicago, Paris, London, and Los Angeles that we know of, New York though may be one of the leading cities of this summer phenomenon. Last time we counted there were 12 outdoor movie events taking place in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn alone.

The Bryant Park film series still remains one of the most popular, people scampering to grab their piece of turf on the crowded lawn when the film begins end up doing awkward silhouetted jigs during the opening credits. The once “only in the know" Roof Top Films has grown tremendously this year to become on of the most popular ways to see films in Brooklyn, which has far too few legit theaters. RTF's selections eschew classics and blockbusters in favor of small independent films, documentaries and short films that are not as easily found in your neighborhood movie theater. Ten dollars not only buys you a ticket but an invite to an after party complete with open bar.

Museums have also found that movies have become a way to draw people in. MoMA's Doug Aitken exhibition Sleepwalkers kicked the season off this past Spring, showing for the most part on the museum's exterior walls. El Museo Del Barrio joins it as yet another arts institution to show more then just art with their film series. Unfortunately, ass we near the end of summer the outdoor movie series also conclude. So be sure to get your blanket, a date and a picnic snack and head to the movies before Labor Day. And if you live outside of the city and want to enjoy the outdoor movie phenomenon in your own yard, you can always get a backyard movie screen and start your own screenings.

Roof Top Films

By Amy Daroukakis for EMERGE

Nostalgia

Emerge Trends — 2007-07-25T18:14:29Z

EMERGE recently went to see the newest addition to the Chelsea Market, The Milk Bar. The once-typical Roneybrook Dairy storefront has been converted to a nostalgic space that conjures up images of Milk Bars of the past that reached the height of popularity in the late 1930’s. Milk Bars were once a space where people could meet over milkshakes and play pinball; this soon gave way to fast food spaces that replaced the simple space and menu.

The newest interpretation of a Milk Bar has a menu filled with both new and old time favorite treats, Milk and Cookies and Macaroni & cheese is just two of the many feel good options. The contrast of the vintage milk crates and modern fixtures creates a space that evokes memories of a childhood place one only imaged, or thought they always wanted. We're nostalgic for the Milkman who never brought us milk.

In doing so the Milk Bar symbolizes what Baudrillard refers to in SIMULACRA, "signs of culture and media that create the reality that we perceive". We live in a world where our memories of childhood are mixed up with our interpretations of what is the perfect childhood.

The media and in turn marketing has directly correlated with our desire and need to escape back into a past that is safe and secure. Although as Baudrillard quickly points out there is a distinct difference between what is reality and what is our perception thereof.

For the last couple years we have seen the success of products and services that capitalize on our need to reclaim a childhood that in truth very few of us have experienced. The success of Build a Bear, Dylan’s Candy Bar and the Hershey Experience Store was achieved not through allowance money but through adults looking for their favorite childhood candy and long lost replacement stuffed animal.

We have also never let go of our fascination with toys, Kidrobot just made it cooler to admit and display in our home and around the office. Besides the plastic characters, Tinker Toys are slowly making a comeback, as there is something about that old-fashioned feel of metal and wood in a world filled with plastic.

A fellow marketer recently spoke about the fact that men's barbershops are making a comeback due to the fact that men seem to love an old-fashioned shave. Witness the runaway success of Freeman's Barbershop on Manhattan's Lower East Side, which incorporates the straight razor into its logo. We may not of necessarily have seen our fathers doing this but we're nostalgic for the idea of it.

Very few of us had a mother who baked cookies and made cupcakes, yet there is a line for a "homemade " cupcake at Magnolia's that never ceases to end. The bakery is a NYC institution and has spawned several imitators around the city and elsewhere.
Along the same lines, Pinkberry may be garnering a lot of attention with its East Coast expansion, but it catches plenty of flack from blogs like Gawker, while people continue to celebrate the Summertime tradition of the old-timey ice cream truck, be it the music festival favorite Ice Cream Man or the neighborhood Mr Softee truck

The lesson here is that there is a market opportunity for products and services that capture a memory or experience for a generation who is craving comfort but who has not necessarily experienced it.

By Amy Daroukakis for EMERGE

Posted by James Friedman