Dear Olivia Munn,

I love you. Let’s make babies together, or at least pretend like we did so all of my friends will think I’m cool. What do you say? All we have to do is spend six minutes in a closet and come out with our hair all messed up and lipstick on my cheeks (one simple kiss will do it). We can tell people that we did it and you can say how awesome I was. My girlfriend will totally vouch for us and say that it’s true. You won’t even have to dress as sexy as you are in this awesome photoshoot, but you can make the “suck it” face if you want. It will be fun. Maybe we can enjoy a cup of hot tea and talk about our problems. Sounds good? Ok just gimme a call and I’ll see you soon.

Love,
Mes.

Have you ever had a beat stuck in your head and wanted to use it for a track but by the time you get to the studio you’ve lost the pattern and suck at life? In comes the Vocal Beater. Vocal Beater is an iPhone app ($2.99) that allows you to beatbox into the app and immediately and automatically turn it into a drum pattern. The file can be saved as midi and emailed to your studio computer and can be used directly in Ableton, an MPC and more. Check out the video and grab the app in the app store.

Google Chrome and Arcade Fire teamed up to create a fully HTML5 music video utilizing the language’s unique functions. All you have to do is input the address of your childhood home and then watch the video do it’s thug thizzle. Check it out here.

Check out this great new video from Cee-Lo for his latest radio un-friendly hit, Fuck You. Enjoy!

Last year, FX premiered their next great comedy, The League. The show followed one of our favorite shows, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, so we gave it a shot and it was hilarious. Check out the trailer for season 2 as they prepare for the premier episode on September 16 at 10:30pm. Enjoy!

The good homie Mic King hit me up this weekend after his birthday and let me know that we can give away a gift from him. Here are some words from the man himself:

Chum and I no longer work together but we did an amazing album and it’s my birthday so I’m giving it to you for free. Well not totally. It’s gonna cost you a tweet or facebook post. Get your copy of MiC K!NG & Chum WERE Cool-Aide now.

These were exciting times, I’d went up to Chum’s and played him some of the stuff I’d been working on for the Robots with Hearts project and I’d say like a year before I’d described the “Cool-Aide” idea to him. It was a skeleton vision where I imagined us making music people could relate to more. I’d always been big on other genres like Disco, Soul, etc and I wanted to incorporate those. I wanted to write in such a way that I split the difference between being overly dense and being relatable. I wanted to have fun but not have to sacrifice my ability to rap too much. I also wanted to sing a little bit and I wanted to have Blue Raspberry in the group. I wanted to do a record about being cool through adversity. Literal “Cool” “Aid” if you will. We’d kicked around the ideas for awhile but never really acted on it.

Available now at EastBay.com

Last week Gucci debuted the trailer for the TV spot advertising its new fragrance, Gucci Guilty, and revealed that the commercial is being directed by none other than Frank Miller, cinematicauteur of the comic book world. The commercial is very Frank Miller looking and stars Chris Evans and Evan Rachel Wood in a run down city with the signature black and white and pop color cinematography style. Check it out!

YouTube user FreddieW does it again with this hilarious parody of Kanye West‘s video/single, Power. This is definitely worth the watch so check it out and don’t be disappointed.

The homies over at ThugBoss have officially re-opened their online store where you can purchase their brand new line of fresh designed tees. Check them out this weekend while they are celebrating Texas’ Tax-Free Weekend and get a special discount on your purchases. Fresh!

ThugBoss Online Store

I love me some Rock Band! Being a failed retired musician, it’s nice to be able to pick up a plastic guitar or sit down at plastic drums and pretend like I’m rocking out to some awesome music without having to make any commitment. I’ve gotten embarrassingly good at the drums over the years and with the announcement that Rock Band 3 comes with a keyboard, I am looking forward to wasting my life away on this new challenge. The tracklist for RB3 looks so awesome and I can’t wait to rock my Fresher Than x Acrylick DeLorean shirt and rock out to The Power of Love! Check out the full list below.

• Amy Winehouse — Rehab
• Anthrax — Caught In A Mosh
• At the Drive-In — One Armed Scissor
• Avenged Sevenfold — Beast and the Harlot
• B-52′s — Rock Lobster
• Big Country — In a Big Country
• Bigger, Something Brighter
• Blondie — Heart of Glass
• Blood, Sweat, & Tears — Spinning Wheel
• Bob Marley & The Wailers — Get Up, Stand Up
• Chicago — 25 or 6 to 4
• David Bowie — Space Oddity
• Deep Purple — Smoke on the Water
• Def Leppard — Foolin’
• Devo — Whip It
• Dio — Rainbow in the Dark
• Dire Straits — Walk of Life
• Dover — King George
• Echo and the Bunnymen — Killing Moon
• Elton John — Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)
• Faith No More — Midlife Crisis
• Filter — Hey Man, Nice Shot
• Flaming Lips — Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1
• Foreigner — Cold as Ice
• Golden Earring — Radar Love
• HIM — Killing Loneliness
• Huey Lewis and the News — The Power of Love
• Hypernova — Viva La Resistance
• INXS — Need You Tonight
• Ida Maria — Oh My God
• James Brown — I Got You (I Feel Good)
• Jane’s Addiction — Been Caught Stealing
• Jimi Hendrix — Crosstown Traffic
• Joan Jett — I Love Rock and Roll
• John Lennon — Imagine
• Juanes — Me Enamora
• Lynyrd Skynyrd — Free Bird
• Maná — Oye Mi Amor
• Marilyn Manson — The Beautiful People
• Metric — Combat Baby
• Night Ranger — Sister Christian
• Ozzy Osbourne — Crazy Train
• Paramore — Misery Business
• Phish — Llama
• Phoenix — Lasso
• Poni Hoax — Antibodies
• Pretty Girls Make Graves — Something
• Primus — Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
• Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody
• Queens Of The Stone Age — No One Knows
• Rammstein — Du Hast
• Raveonettes — Last Dance
• Rilo Kiley — Portions of Foxes
• Riverboat Gamblers — Don’t Bury Me? I’m
• Roxette — The Look
• Rush — TBD
• Slipknot — Before I Forget
• Smash Mouth — Walkin’ on the Sun
• Spacehog — In the Meantime
• Steve Miller Band — Fly Like An Eagle
• Still Not Dead
• Stone Temple Pilots — Plush
• Swingin’ Utters — This Bastard’s Life
• T.Rex — 20th Century Boy
• Tears for Fears — Everybody Wants to Rule the World
• Tegan and Sara — The Con
• The Beach Boys — Good Vibrations (Live)
• The Bronx — False Alarm
• The Cure — Just Like Heaven
• The Doors — Break On Through
• The Muffs — Outer Space
• The Police — Don’t Stand So Close To Me
• The Ramones — I Wanna Be Sedated
• The Smiths — Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before
• The Sounds — Living in America
• The Vines — Get Free
• The White Stripes — The Hardest Button to Button
• The Who — I Can See For Miles
• Them Crooked Vultures — Dead End Friends
• Tokio Hotel — Humanoid
• Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — I Need To Know
• War — Low Rider
• Warren Zevon — Werewolves Of London
• Whitesnake — Here I Go Again
• Yes — Roundabout

Rime of The Seventh Letter was recently hired by Dolby Digital to paint a piece on video in Los Angeles. He chose to pay tribute to the late and great Jackson Pollock. The result is amazing. Check out the video above for the creative process. Here’s what Rime had to say about the project:

Painting this piece was quite fun but the finished product was not what I originally set out to do. I feel that the use use of softly applied spray painted lines contrasts too heavily against the layers of loosely thrown paint. I feel that I painted out too many interesting areas for the sake of producing a satisfactory piece on video. When a whole film crew is behind you pushing a camera across a track It can make you feel like you need to perform with confidence or land every line you throw down. There should be no chance of you crapping out on camera with an experiment gone wrong. Towards the end of this piece I fell back on familiar techniques to give the finished product a polished look.

Be sure to check out Rime’s blog for more photos and information on this project.

Wow I just got this sad email. R.I.P. to another legend.

(August 18, 2010 – Brooklyn, NY) After 16 years, Fat Beats has announced the closing of the legendary label’s two remaining retail locations in New York and Los Angeles. Fat Beats will celebrate the legacies of the stores, which are scheduled to close in early September (New York: September 4th, Los Angeles: September 18th) by throwing a series of blow-out sales and tribute parties open to the public during their last weeks. Fans can check www.FatBeats.com for updates.

Fat Beats’ longest running and most famed location is at 406 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. Since the 1994 opening of Fat Beats’ flagship retail location, hip-hop fans have traveled far and wide to visit the iconic store. With locations soon following in Los Angeles (7600 Melrose Ave.), Atlanta, Amsterdam, and Tokyo, the record stores were a place to experience hip-hop culture and its legacy, which became a global phenomenon. “The closing of Fat Beats is just like one of my friends passing away. They promoted vinyl at its highest degree for the culture of good music and that makes it more difficult to say goodbye,” says DJ Premier.

The announcement of the closings is a reflection of the woes that have been plaguing the industry for years. Global chain HMV closed their last US location in 2004. Tower Records shuttered in 2006. Last year saw the close of the last Virgin Megastore, and the story is no different in 2010. For Fat Beats, maintaining two stores well into 2010 is a testament to the stores’ importance to the music and to fans and consumers continuing to support independent hip-hop.

While news of the stores’ closing marks the end of an era, the future is not doom and gloom. Digital sales continue to increase industry-wide; for Fat Beats, currently operating a profitable and growing online retail store, this has provided a boon to business as fans continue to order mp3s, vinyl, and CDs from FatBeats.com. Although digital sales continue to grow, executives at Fat Beats understand the importance of independent retail stores and are planning to re-open a brick and mortar hip-hop lifestyle location sometime in the near future.

The future looks just as bright for Fat Beats Distribution and the label. Fat Beats Distribution, which has been renamed FB Distribution, continues to strike noteworthy distribution deals with independent and major labels worldwide and is now working with different genres of alternative music. Fat Beats Records will continue to release notable albums from their own impressive roster of artists including ILL BILL, TruMaster/KRS-One, Black Milk, Trinity, Sha Stimuli, Q-Unique, and more. Fat Beats owner and President Joe Abajian says, “This is the start of a new era for Fat Beats. We’re adapting to meet the needs of our demographic by revamping and improving our existing systems. While our website, which stocks everything available in our retail stores, continues to do very well, we’re still exploring our options for alternate retail locations in the future. We’re proud of our legacy and will continue to re-invent ourselves. For now, we’ll see you online at FatBeats.com”

I saw the trailer for Nowhere Boy while watching Scott Pilgrim this weekend and was kind of excited. I only hope the movie is good but I’m willing to go see it no matter. Check out the trailer for the upcoming film about John Lennon starring the kid from Kick-Ass. Awesome!

Opening the Venice Film Festival this year will be Darren Aronofsky’s new thriller, Black Swan. Natalie Portman stars as a ballerina competing for the spotlight with fellow dancer Mila Kunis. The big lazernet buzz around this trailer is the kiss shared on screen between the two actresses. As exciting as two hot girls going gay for a movie is, I’m also happy to share that Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte designed 40 different costumes for the movie’s dancers. Go Pasadena!

Next Sunday our sister site, FullyBaked, will be hosting an event along side Little Sweeties Cupcakes called Sweet Sundaes at Ray Ray’s – Eat to the Beat in Alhambra, CA. The girls will be making sweets including cupcakes, ice cream sandwiches and Ray Ray’s famous empanadas. They will have live DJs including FT friend DJ Joelskee. If you are in the area, make sure you head out and say hi to the girls and get fat off of delicious goodness.

August 22, 2010
Ray Ray’s – Eat To The Beat
1900 W. Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803

Last week we showed you FreddieW’s video, Flower Warfare, and this week he’s back with a live action version of the classic arcade game, Time Crisis. If this guy isn’t hired in Hollywood anytime soon, we may never get a good action movie again. Enjoy!

We’ve posted about ThugBoss here before but today we are proud to announce that the clothing brand is making some major moves in 2010. This weekend in Dallas, TX, ThugBoss will be premiering a limited number of all new designs and specialty items at Kixpo. This event will mark the beginning of their upcoming line and in the next few months they will be continuously dropping new releases and collabos.

ThugBoss has really put it down for the past few years and we’ve been fans of the brand since it started as a group of artists and designers. The t-shirt designs have really kept a ground floor approach to the over all theme – young people hustling to make their ends meet. It doesn’t necessarily mean hustling in the most literal sense, but lots of people our age are aware of the concept of working hard in an environment outside of a normal 9-5. Personally, I love this statement and what it stands for.

Check out this really great short film by Everynone called Words. This video really made me feel good and as I watched I found myself just smiling. Check it out, I think you will like it. Enjoy!