Brad Downey (born 1980 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American artist. He uses film, sculpture, painting and drawing to reflect on concepts about the establishment Vs the audience. Currently living in Berlin, many of Downey's pieces are focused around the street and it's various obstacles. With his subtle manipulation of objects, street signs and markings we often taken take for granted in the public sphere, Downey attempts to highlight awareness of these social controls, and hopes the public, will gain a greater understanding of his own urban and social situation. 'An Honest Thief' is an installation exhibition that will be taking place from January 29th to February 8th, 2009 at infamous street artist D*faces Stolen Space Gallery in Shoreditch, London. Downey will also be signing copies of his book from 1pm-3pm on Saturday the 31st. Click the 'Read Full Post' link for photos, links and full exhibit and book info.

Brad Downey - Official Website
Stolen Space Gallery - Brad Downey Exhibit Info
Adventures Of Darius & Downey Book - Amazon

Born Dalton Sinclair Bishop in 1938 in Barbados 'Jackie Opel' was a Bajan soul singer, composer, arranger and instrumentalist. Although Opels' Career was tragically cut short at the young age of 32 he was the composer of 700 known songs, an innovator in musical styles & an arranger who helped create the early ska sound. He frequently played and also toured with Jamaican Reggae/Ska Legends Alton Ellis & The Skatalites. Unlike many of the Jamaican singers and musicians of the time he never came to England which some feel has meant his genius has never been widely acknowledged outside of his homeland or in the historical context of Jamaican music. This track is a cover of Jackie Wilson's 'Higher and Higher' and featured on a collection of songs entitled ‘The Memorable Jackie Opel’, which unfortunately is out of print. An incredible voice who, like many, deserves the titles of 'genius 'and 'soul legend' despite his obscurity. For more info about Jackie Opel please read this great article linked below. I have also included a link to where to buy Jackie Opel recordings.

With the explosion of sneaker culture over the last few years, it seems that companies are releasing so called 'limited' and collabo kicks so regularly it is impossible to keep up. The 'Limited Edition' sneaker has in many ways become so common that the original statement has almost become a paradox in itself. It has also often occurred to me how many of these 'limited' releases are made with exactly the same build quality and often also with similar materials to general release shoes. The only difference comes in the form of the inflated price tags and unnecessary secondary branding. Click the link for pictures and more info.

With every tom, dick and harry collaborating with the manufacturers you also find many of these shoes to be completely devoid of any subtlety, attention to detail or design integrity...as pretty much anything goes these days. This has lead me to look more closely at some of the GR (general release) kicks which may be overlooked by collectors due to their 'common' nature. A nice example are this pair of Adidas ZX500's. A classic design combined with a refined Sand / Legacy / Violet colour palette and stitched accents. Nothing too controversial but in my opinion simplicity should always prevail.

Available here in the UK at the following stores:

Main Source - ZX500
End Clothing - ZX500

In my honest opinion Bill Withers is one of (if not) the greatest, song writers of all time as well as one of my favourite artists of all time. The thing I love most about Withers is I can relate to so much of what he is saying in his records, more so than almost any artist I have ever come across. Even artists closer to home or closer to my own age can't seem to speak to me like Bill can. His ability to capture and translate raw human emotion and put it on record is unbelievable. No ego, no gimmicks, no computers, no MTV, no cameras, no smoke, no mirrors. The man has got so much soul that if you look up soul in the dictionary I reckon you should just find a picture of Bill's face instead.

As well as his back catalogue of timeless classics I would recommend checking out some of his lesser known recordings. This tune entitled 'Ruby Lee' is taken from his 3rd studio album, Justments from 1974. This along with the song 'Can We Pretend' which features Jose Felliciano on Guitar are two of my favourite songs from the album. Be sure to also check out his live album 'Live At Carnegie Hall' too, one of the best live albums I have ever heard. Click the link to find out more about the Genius.

Although still popular this peer to peer (P2P) file sharing application is not quite as well known as some others big name applications such as Limewire, Kazaa & Bit Torrent. Although it is possible to share all sorts of file types using this application it's principle focus is on music. Created in 2006 by a former Napster programmer, Soulseek was originally a source for sharing underground electronic music or music created by the users themselves. To this day it remains a source for avant garde and underground independent music, offering users access to an ever changing archive of often obscure and lesser known tunes unavailable on many other file sharing applications/servers. Click the 'Read Full Post' for more info and free download links.

Over the years it has grown to encompass a multitude of genres and as a peer to peer (P2P) file sharing program, the accessible content is determined by the users of the Soulseek client, and what files they choose to share. The network has historically had a diverse mix of music, including underground and independent artists, unreleased music such as demos and mixtapes, bootlegs, live tracks, and live DJ sets. In addition, unlike many other file sharing applications, which have become littered with rogue files, viruses and malicious code, Soulseek only lists files shared by registered users and also allows users full access to other users shared folders , giving users a better insight into the source thus minimising the risk of infection. From my experience it is a great tool, and is a good source for finding new, unreleased, rare and slightly more obscure material.

For iPhone owners using jailbroken iPhones, there is also a new soul seek client for iPhone in development called 'Mew Seek' (formerly iSlsk). Visit the developers site for more info >>> www.errrick.com.ar. And remember kiddies, distribution/sharing of copyrighted material is illegal, so use wisely and always support the artists. Click the following link to download Soulseek for PC free. Please note: this program may require a little patience but is well worth it, also think about setting up port forwarding (info: http://portforward.com/default.htm) if you experience slow searches and download speeds.

Soulseek - Download