Graf legend Haze for Stussy tee's with reflective ink and camo shorts he designed for them too...

Plenty o tee's for your warm weather steelo...

Some excellent books for reading on a lazy springtime Sunday afternoon...

All kinds of mixtapes from some of your favorite DJs and some truly awesome compilations across several genres...watches from G Shock, Nooka & Timex in all kinds of cool colors...

Headphones & Camera's like these in our store window sell all day long...we love tourists!

TTL ANNEX
120 E 7th St.

Sun 12-6
Mon-Friday 1-9
Sat 12-8

-Neil Nice

(click box)

this month my guest was...

SHIT ROBOT

Mr. Robot aka Marcus Lambkin has been putting out some of my favorite 12"s on DFA (which is no small feat), but I had no idea that he was also a resident at NYC's most notorious after hours (Save The Robots) from my youth. He asked if it was cool if he dropped a 'mellow set' and I'm glad I agreed cause it was killer. I asked him all kinds of stupid old school ny and even some James Murphy questions. The show is only up for 10 more days so tune in quick.

Also make sure you check out Gina Turner's new Scion Radio 17 show called BELOW THE BASSLINE which just started this month.

If you'll be in MIAMI holler at us...

This week was the opening night of U Street Music Hall aka UHall, aka was almost called Daryl Hall. I was in there for the soft opening [pause] on tuesday and have to say, I am thoroughly impressed! This is what DC has needed in a big way. Good drinks, a robust Martin system, and no bullshit. I live a neighborhood up from U Street and it seems whenever I'm walking down there, I somehow bump into my man Tittsworth, part owner of UHall, whether I'm waiting for the bus, getting beer from Eleven Market, or hollering at The Greek Spot. It was only fitting that I ask him a few questions about the new venue.

Now I'm an audiophile for club sound systems, and what I heard last night was amazing. Who did the system, and what's it comprised of?
 
It's a system that will physically compel you to dance. I'm talking a system with bass that will kick you up and down a wooden dance floor-- at least we put cork under the panels to help cushion the blow. The 100 pound live mixing board slid off a wooden surface the first time we really cranked it. DJ Craze is calling the Fabric of the US. Shout out to ITI who killed it on the system roll out!!

Rumor has it there's going to be some upcoming Trouble & Bass nights?

Yup, a regular party they're doing, including but not limited to a doowop night with Luca and Cosmo Baker! The first T&B night is April 15th. Also we have a Plant night, Unruly, Flashing Lights, talking to Franki Chan for IHC, Craze for Slow Roaster, Egg Foo for TTL, etc.

I understand Craze was down there the other night while you guys were testing the system. I was in 7-11 getting a Jumex and could feel the floors vibrating. Who else do you have or want to have come through?

You can expect top notch A list acts and up and coming talent coming through with touring names on weekdays. Fridays and Saturdays are reserved for DC + fam. I like the idea of highlighting the talent in our backyard and keeping it community.

Favorite place to eat on U Street?

Florida Avenue grill. After I put the finishing touches on my pho dog, that might change though.

Hmmm - I'll see that though I'm more of a Jumbo Slice dude [after 3am of course]. You should really try the slices across the street at Italian Pizza Kitchen.

Top 5 tracks at the moment:

1. Zombies for Money - The whole damn new EP, fuck it, I celebrate they whole discog!!
2. Steve Starks - Git Em, DC repre-fucking-sent
3. Drop the Lime - Devils Eyes [Diplo Way Too Long Mad Mix], Bama Diplo production game gettin ICE COLD!!!
4. Tinie Tempah - Pass Out [Sbtrkt Remix] where Busta will be in a year if we intervene NOW
5. Hot Chip - Take it In, Just plain good songwriting.

http://www.ustreetmusichall.com/
http://twitter.com/uhalldc

I grew up at the end of the tube line outside London in a town called Chesham,
- I would go into Soho on the weekend with my friends, we would all save up
to by the first electro & hip hop imports coming from the US - We'd each buy a
couple of 12"s and make mix tapes etc. this was 83-84 I was seriously into
collecting records since about 10 years old - all my resources went on vinyl!
Around 86 I was also checking the club scene through magazines like I-D
which I bought religiously, so by the time I could get entry into a club I was
already well primed! I started dj'ing and putting on my own parties as soon as
I started design school - we took the Student Union funds and put on underground
Chicago House nights before the whole Acid House scene had happened.
Back then you could only hear House on a couple of pirate radio shows -
I don't think the rest of the kids at the parties knew what the fuck they we're
listening too! But a few years later the whole country was going crazy…. I
basically went out every night of the week for about 3 years from 1988-1991
- Went to Spectrum /Boy's Own etc. went to Ibiza with all the London djs etc.
- went to Amnesia, heard Alfredo, bought the T-shirt… and it was fucking amazing!
if I think back to those years I go all misty eyed!

Who are some of your influences, both past and present?

Listening to Malcolm McClaren's album 'Duck Rock' blew my mind when I was 13 -
I wanted to do the same sort of thing - mix up loads of different styles etc.
It was produced by Trevor Horn - The Art Of Noise was another Trevor Horn
project which grabbed me from the start – I remember seeing the cutand paste
video for it around the same time as a whole slew of cut & paste style tracks like
Double Dee and Steinski / Maggotron / Coldcut etc. were surfacing - so I would have
to say the whole 80's history of cut-and paste / sampling is my influence…
I was hooked from day one -sampling is still the best fun ever, I've just bought an
SP1200 and I'm going back to basics learning how to use it like the old school masters.
Every drum machine or sampler has a unique identity and the discipline of learning
how to use the old kit so it's second nature helps you play it like an instrument….
I want to become an SP virtuoso!

Your blog features a diverse genre selection of re-edits and remixes.
What do you look for in a song before you decide to sit down in the studio and tweak it?

With the mash-ups I often just collect acapella's from the web and then play them in
Ableton whilst simultaneously playing through i-tunes - sooner or later you get lucky
with two things that fit together and then you are away!…. Most of the edits
/reworks are instinctive - I will know straight away and usually work through
an edit pretty quick - I'll be digging through a 2nd hand shop with my portable turntable
and be like - Bingo! - this needs a bit of re-mastering /slowing down/ chopping and it's
gonna work. It's always instant with me if I like a track - I've been digging for so long
I must've refined the process. I can skip through a new album and know in a minute if
it's got something I like.

A Mountain of One gained a quick following among Turntable lab Staff and
customers. How did the project come to be?

I got the call from Mo Morris saying he was packing up a band in Berlin and
wanted to come back to the UK to do an album with me…. I said yes straight
away, Mo and I have basically the same record collections… and we had
cranked up many hazy late nights after DJing together - sitting up spinning
tunes and scheming on how to make our own project…. we we're on the
same page from day one… Mo said something like "I've got two people I want
to work with - you or (Dj)Harvey"…. I was flattered. Mo had already worked
with vocalist/ pianist Zeben Jameson and as soon as we=were introduced
I knew it was going to be a good project - Zeb was a rare find: a super-talented
singer songwriter, but more importantly he was humble enough to listen to a pair
of DJ's tell him how to do things! It was an amazing time writing that first album
- loads of magic in the air… summer evenings writing with an acoustic guitar in
the garden etc. I hope you can hear it in the music that we all put our heart
and souls into it.

Design and music seem to be closely related. How do you think they are
intertwined and do you draw inspiration from one to the other or vice versa?

I've always been into them both - it's helped me make a living: doing design
work for people in the music industry and learning from my clients about how
to do music myself and run a label. Music is much more powerful with imagery
to back it up - even if it's just a logo - it adds to the magic and captures your
imagination…. New Order were more exotic and exciting 'cos of those sleeves
…M.I.A. is better with all the dayglo/afro graphics and clothes…
I've always been excited by the whole packagez: the sleeve,
the video, the sunglasses the bass player was wearing…..
It's all part of what makes you go
- I LOVE THAT!

What's this project with Stussy coming up?

Adam from Stussy got in touch last year and we have been carefully
creating some Leo Zero x Stussy t-shirts : there's a mix of totems / skulls
/ crowns / animal headed Gods all cut and paste together with a nod to the
classic Stussy of the 80's and a bit of Psychedelia thrown in.I'm really
pleased with theoutcome and can't wait to see them screened on a shirt
for real - I've been a Stussy fan since seeing the first hand lettered adverts
in I-D and it's a real honour to be involved on an artist collaboration with them.

Any advice for new producers, DJs, or artists in 2010?

Go and buy an old bit of kit that was used on a record you love and learn it
inside out so you don't have to think too hard when making music on it
-then you can 'play' it. Ableton is amazing but sounds worse than Logic,
Logic is hard to use but is precise - so maybe use the right tool for the job
and be prepared to swap between things. Fxpansion GURU is the most
in-depth tool you could wish for for beat making, it's a bitch to learn but worth it
-save yourself the effort with software that you out-grow and learn how to
use the tricky stuff from the start… no pain no gain!

We also have a few copies of his remix show reel to give away at the LA store if you swing by.

-NN

This is unbelievable, cant believe I didnt know about this...

"some people be leanin back, cheatin 'n shit"
"put that shit behind your back, boom... get that shit in"

4 days of SXSW in 6 minutes. :)

[from the Washington Post]
"Animal Planet, the Silver Spring-based cable network that says it's the destination for animal lovers, announced Monday it has purchased a new TV series in which it will introduce Mike Tyson, the heavyweight pugilist and avid pigeon fan, to the competitive world of pigeon racing.
.....
Animal Planet says "Taking on Tyson" will introduce Tyson to an "intensely competitive and bizarrely fascinating" sport at which he hopes to become "crowned champion all over again." ("Taking on Tyson" will start filming this spring in New York City and will debut on Animal Planet in early 2011.) Animal Planet says the show "peels back new layers of the remarkable persona and deep humanity of Mike Tyson," and Animal Planet's general manager Marjorie Kaplan says that "Tyson's passion for his pigeons takes my breath away."

Boy Genius + UEFA Champions League trophy

"I believe a big club must have the ambition to win with style ... You know, there is a famous saying, that the only way to deal with your life is to transform it into art, every minute of your life. Football is an art, like dancing is an art – but only when it's well done does it become an art. If you see me painting, that is not an art. If you see my wife painting, that is art."

incredible piece on the usually elusive Arsene

shop now

Here is a picture of a man with cabbage on his head.

-NN