Moby Dick: If you’re a weasley-looking, self-righteous vegan of limited musical ability and even more limited muscle mass who manages to bed Natalie Portman, please try to be a gentleman about it. [NYPost]

N’Stink: Ever wonder what all that stuff in Justin Timberlake’s hair smells like? It’s Givenchy. [Catwalk Queen]

“The Bubbles Tickle My Nose”: Behold! The chick drink of tomorrow![PSFK]

Who Knew?: In a city of queues and lines, perhaps the strangest is outside of Abercrombie & Fitch. [Racked]

Offensive Foul: Crocs, the ideal merchandising tie-in for the today’s uptempo, run-and-gun NBA. [Just-Style]

My Beautiful Launderette: Design is only a rinse cycle away. [Kitsune Noir]

“Does Tom Ford Hate The Straights?”: Sorry, Gawker, we were a bit distracted by these pics here. What were you saying? [Gawker]

“Marc Jacobs Plagiarized My Dad’s Scarf”: Just imagine how pissed he’ll be when the knockoffs start showing up on Canal Street. [The Local, Sweden]

A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood: Please join us on March 20th by wearing a sweater in honor of Mr. Rogers, won’t you? [AP]

Teenage Wasteland: Okay! Enough with the Cory Kennedy already. [Everyone, Everywhere]

Man of Letters: Original preppie king, Goldwater Conservative and trad icon William F. Buckley grabs a wing chair in that great club room in the sky. [Observer]

Theme Song: Remember Rock&Roll? Their new tribute to Milan Fashion week is called, “Coke Freaks and Fashion Whores.” Sounds right to us. [WWD]

“You’ll Never Go Wrong Dressing Plain and Dull”: This only works when running for national office. Otherwise, feel free to dress like a Somali elder. [Chicago Tribune]

The Keith Richards Workout: “For me, doing a Rolling Stones show for two hours a night, that’s enough f*in’ exercise, you know? Then I’ve got to go to bed with the old lady, bonka bonka. You know?” We know, Keef. We know. [Digital Spy]

Simple Statutes: Oh, sorry, did we forget to post Esquire’s New Laws of Casual Style? Here, let’s fix that. [Esquire]

Roger, Wilco, Out: StyleDash thinks Jeff Tweedy needs a style intervention due to his SNL appearance in a nudie suit. Similarly, we think Style Dash needs a music intervention due to their apparent ignorance of the Flying Burrito Brothers (video). [StyleDash]

Team Colors: An interview with sideline style leader and coach of the 5-and-11 49ers, Mike Nolan. [HuffPo]

Housing Futures: Figuring that all the collapsing real estate market needs is a fresh blazer, “Fashion Futurist Geoffrey Beane” (say whaa?) is teaming up with Century 21 (not the store) to redesign their iconic gold jacket. [Business Wire]

For Absolute Beginners: Buying into Mod style. [ModCulture via Retro to Go]

Best Men: Engineered Garments brings home the inaugural GQ/CFDA Best New Menswear Designers in America award (oh, and $50,000). [Men.Style]

Leading Lights: Luring men toward a new shaving cream is much like luring mosquitos to a high-voltage death. [NYTimes]

Historical Threads: Classic American style parsed. [A Continuous Lean]

It’s Not Easy Being Green: Kermit the Frog gets his slimy, webbed hands on Terry Richardson—or is that the other way around? [Skidknee]

Negative Reaction: Kenneth Cole falls $3.1 million into debt. Where be your cheeky billboards now? [DNRNews]

Cardigan Cabal: The international press is conspiring to make the Cardigan today’s, “dead sexy chick magnet.” Almost Orwellian, ain’t it?

Restoration Hardware: John Varvatos’ conversion of CBGB’s is taking for-frigging-ever. [Racked]

Lil’ Bit More: Crunk poet and Renaissance man Lil’ John not only has his own celeb clothing line on the way, but is currently vintnering up a storm at Little Jonathan Winery. All class that one. [Pro Hip Hop]

Collateral Damage: The new Bond film is an absolute blood fest, destroying one innocent Tom Ford suit after another. [VogueUK]

Co-Ed Naked Design: Matthew McConcaughey and his old lady create new clothes to shed while walking on sunny pacific beaches. [Gawker]

Monogram

Top Banana: Monogram, Banana Republic’s high-end branch line, will open its first stand-alone store on Bleecker Street next month. [DNRNews]

The Candy Man: Like so many celebrities, Willy Wonka has a fashion line. [LA Times]

Cut to Fit: A blogger’s first foray into Hong-Kong bespoke sends him into revery. [Men’s Flair]

The Source: A long hard look at the fabrics that separate the name brands from the knockoffs. [IHT]

Hats Off: The dizzying heights and heartbreaking lows of the newsboy cap. [Magnificent Bastard]

New York Noise: T charts the dress codes of your favorite local bands… and Vampire Weekend. Taste the backlash. [T Online]

Spice World: Unsatisfied with her successful campaign against feminine style and grace, Victoria Beckham attacks men’s clothing. [DNRNews]

LeBron Shoots: King James takes his career—and Tom Brady’s girl—in his hands by posing next to Gisele “Game Killer” Bundchen on the cover of Vogue. [NYMag]

Land War: Join the fight as Diesel and Tommy Hilfiger battle for control of Manhattan in a Fifth Avenue cage match to the death. [Antara and DNRNews]

Girls Dressing Boys: Liz Claiborne and Donna Karen International are teaming up on a new DKNY line. Neither Donna or Liz will be involved as they are retired and dead - respectively of course. [Reuters]

Fashion Capital: The fashion industry is already chasing after New York’s awesomely non-disgraced new Governor. [DNRNews]

Spank Rock: An Irish “Sperm for Tickets” scheme gets way out of hand. Sorry about that. [NME via Radar]

Paris, je t’aime: Next time you’re strolling by the Seine, pop into the stunning April 77 store. [Refinery 29]

Stepping Light: Rough day? Sit back and enjoy Common Projects’ relaxing spring collection. [Common Projects]

Mr. Mom: First, she was a woman. Then, he was a man. Now, he’s pregnant and we’re dizzy. [HuffPo]

Tom Boy?: In related news, Tom Ford also plans to poop out a kid. [NYMag]

Trend Setters:Working hard to keep up to date on urbane tomboys, alternadads and all those other mythical creatures of lifestyle lore? A short peek at Radar will keep you ahead of the curve. [Radar Online]

Three Pointer: After years of sitting on the bench, Michael Jordan finally shows some game by employing Tex Winter’s famous “Triangle Offense” in Miami. [NYPost]

Chic Picks: Free music from everyone’s favorite fashion oracles. [Refinery29]

Who Wears Short Shorts?: Styledash don’t want to see none of your inner thighs. [Styledash]

Go Greyhound: Like every other used and abused streetwalker who’s seen too many hard New York nights, Fashion Week may be shuffling over to the Port Authority. [NYMag]

Go Back to Jersey: What’s wrong with Joey Pants? Try everything. [Magnificent Bastard]

Duty Free: Paul Smith takes off at Heathrow, unlike some. [Vogue UK]

Rabbit, Run: Furry chic makes its unsettling debut at Tokyo Fashion Week. [Boing Boing]

“Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red”: Nike goes all Neo-plasticist on us with the Piet Mondrian Dunk Lows. [NikeSB.org]

Goose Steps: The Cut hashes out this whole Adidas-Puma-Third-Reich thing. [NYMag]

Repeat Performance: Daniel Craig, star of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and some other stuff, wins GQ’s best-dressed award for the second year straight. [Vogue UK]

Signing Out: Portfolio’s fashion blogger Lauren Goldstein Crowe waves a “Peace the Fork Out” to the rest of the linkable world. [Portfolio]

Pig-malion: The classiest classy guy in the world of high class wants to play Henry Higgins to Ashley “The Governator” Dupré’s Eliza Doolittle, though we suspect she’s already had her elocution lessons if you know what we mean. No? Us either. [NY Daily News]

Big Top: David Coleman snuggles up to our favorite dandy fabulist and his long, thick hat. [NYTimes]

Bathing Beauty: Get out your water wings and take a dive with Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin. [Men’s Vogue]

Rock-A-Fellas: It’s shaping up to be a banner week for ex-label mates and eternal hustlers Damon Dash and Jay-Z. [NME]

On The Trail: Will this campaign season ever end? [Guardian UK]

Ol’ Blighty: Meanwhile the sceptred isle has its own sartorial issues. [Daily Mail UK]

Style Points: This seasonal scorecard of surviving menswear designers is probably the best digest of critiques we’ve seen all year… except our own, of course. [NYTimes]

Shock Teese: Our favorite burlesque star, Frau Dita Von Teese, once - surprise, surprise - filmed some kinky girl-on-girl porn, some of it hot, some of (particularly the bit with the shoes) not so much. Not to worry, we still file her under “classy broad.” [Fleshbot, soooo NSFW]

Budget Kawakubo: H+M will borrow the outré edge of Comme des Garçons for a limited line this November. [Vogue UK]

Spelunking: Share your mancave with the world. [CNN iReport]

Guy Liner: Pete Wentz creates a make-up line for men, you know, because buying women’s make up is kinda gay. [Styledash]

Deal Alert: Get your Hicky’s. [Racked]

Our Hero: Graydon Carter must know that Kristen Bell, all 5’1” of her, is never far from our hearts. [Vanity Fair]

Music From Big Pink: We grew up listening to The Band. Now a generation of musicians are growing up dressing like them. [WeAreTheMarket]

Fit for a King: His Royal Highness The Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of blah, blah, blah unveils his new collection of posh men’s accessories. [Men.Style]

Lifetime Contract: “Project Runway” jumps from the cosy, omnisexual stable of Bravo to the gilded henhouse of The Lifetime channel - meaning you’ll have to lie twice as hard about watching it. [NYMag]

Game Design: In utterly predicable news, iPod addict Karl Lagerfeld lends his voice to Grand Theft Auto IV. [WWD]

Frat Brothers: Like any other bored jock in the City, the Manning boys have nothing better to do with their time than hang out at Brother Jimmy’s and play Buck Hunter. Losers. [NYPost]

For Whom The Bell Tolls: Kristen Bell twice in one week? What? You got a problem with that? [FHM]

Den and Geller: Kempt fave Robert Geller opens at Odin’s satellite store. [Men.Style]

Can I Turn it Up for You?: Always classy that Dov Charney. [AnimalNY]

Pay it Forward: Got an extra, unused suit? Pass it on. [EarthTimes]

Get Ready to D.A.N.C.E.: Justice’s new clothing line is just as hip and French as you might expect. [Stereogum]

Deal Alert: Yoko Devereaux springwear starting tomorrow. [Racked]

COS Play: Monocle takes a hard look at H+M’s new branch line and the takes the temperature of European retail. [Monocle]

Rock and Roll Will Never Die: Except when it does. Hey, maybe you kids should have been out there protesting, say, three years ago. [Gothamist]

Where’s Waris?: You ask. We’ve already delivered. [A Continuous Lean]

The Man Who Would Be King: P Diddy’s fashion week documentary about his quest for LOVE! INSPIRATION! and REBELLION! and style’s CROWN! was so MIND-CRUSHINGLY AWESOME! that we couldn’t watch more than 12 seconds of it. [NYMag]

Freak Folk: Always on the hunt for a deep, sensitive mate, Natalie Portman is reportedly nuzzling up to Cripple Crow crooner Devandra Banhart. Yeah, we don’t know how we feel about this one either. We mean, he is wearing a woman’s jacket. [Egotastic]

Napoleon Complex: Lil’, wee plutocrat Nic Sarkozy is kicking up a press dust storm in his fierce heels. [Shoeblogs]

What Would Moz Do?: Dress like Morrissey and you’re set for life. [Style Salvage]

Spit and Polish: The geopolitics of the shoeshine. [NYT via On The Fly]

Throwing Sparks: Sharp dockside looks from Philip Sparks. [Philipsparks via Notcouture]

Blinded by the White: N.B. to African-American society partygoers - some photogs may require you use nametags. [Radar]

Environmental Hang Up: Going green starts at your dry cleaner. [Fox23]

Out of Africa: A brief history of the safari jacket. [Mercury News]

New Journalism: The Wall Street Journal is set to launch a new luxury magazine to compete with the Times’ glossy insert, T. Yes, yes - you’re right - they’re calling it WSJ. [Editor and Publisher]

Luxury Hacks: Next time you’re in Moscow, flag down a Maybach. [Autopark]

Home, Jeeves: In other auto news, The Chauffeur magazine has named its “Car of the Year.” The Chauffeur magazine? We should really get our guy a subscription for his birthday. [Autoblog]

Through Thick and Thin: Personally, we’ve always preferred Christina Ricci in her more well-rounded, Buffalo66 days. Not that we’ve got a problem with the carb-free model here. [BlackBook]

Some Like it Very, Very Hot: Just like Paris Hilton, Marilyn Monroe filmed a sex tape before she became a tragic victim of her own fame. Unlike Hilton, Monroe’s oral exam may never make it to your desktop. [NYPost]

Labor Party: A charming, lil’ British-TV presenter is set to star in a reality show based in a faux London sweatshop. This is a good thing, right? [Female First UK]

“Tired of Being Sexy” Hot, hipster mess CSS loses its bassist to fashion—which is apparently the modern equivalent of boozing yourself to death in a pool. [CMJ]

Chat Stew: The dapper king of our TiVo, Joel McHale, sits down to discuss his J. Lindberg jackets, Air Jordans and, wouldn’t you know it, Tyra. [Sign on San Diego]

Slim Jims: Men’s Vogue collects the best slim-cut suits of the season so we don’t have to. [Men’s Vogue]

American Public: Sticky, icky Dov Charney lets the Wall Street Journal into his factory, his office and his infamous bedroom where he takes cloyingly erotic photos of the once-respected broadsheet in a Lycra catsuit. [Radar]

Funny Money: In these penny-pinching times, who couldn’t use a little more levity in their wallet? [Refinery29]

The Family Business: Father-and-son art aficionados bond over checks and English cuts. [NYMag]

Brooklyn Boys: Racked takes the F over to Boerum Hill’s new And Then Some. [Racked]

Drip Dry: Forget the cleaners. A new Japanese suit is designed for cleaning in the shower. Loofa anyone? [Theindian]

The Great Rock and Roll Swindle: Legendary venue goes from club to store, back to club and then right back to store again. Protestors still desperately searching for lives. [Vanityfair.com]

Sky King: Per usual, Prince William makes us commoners look like chumps. [Daily Mail]

Hail Married: Eli Manning wraps up his improbable championship season by beating both brother Peyton and arch-rival Tom Brady to the alter. [UPI]

Hump Day: You totally owe us for these Alessandra Ambrosio shots. [Hollywood Tuna]

NY-LON Suits: Paul Smith’s London bespoke team takes a field trip to Soho (sorry, our Soho). [WWD]

Sidelined:And thus ends an epic season for the NHL’s Dennis Rodman. [NYTimes]

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: The Lookbook captures a sculptural dresser. [NYMag]

Miley Who?: You might have noticed that we’re not covering a certain controversial photoshoot by a certain 15-year-old teen-pop star in a certain general-interest magazine. Really, we’ve got better things to do with our time. [Maxim]

Saddle Up: If you’re excited about Country-and-Western singer Tim McGraw’s new fragrance, you might be a redneck. [She Knows Best]

Surf and Turf: Put on your bib - these Nikes are best with melted butter. [Trash Bag Aesthetics]

Scarlett Johansson Engaged: [Hands over ears] Nah nah nah—We can’t hear you—nah nah nah. [Radar]

Dirty Sanchez: Blue-eyed, honey-blond men’s fashion reporter Amanda Brooks digs the ‘stache. [ Men’s Vogue]

Zips or Laces?: Why choose? [Refiney29]

Not So Fast: Okay, so maybe Hedi Silmane isn’t teaming up with Diesel - but you can’t blame us for being excited. [WWD, 2nd item]

At Home With The Style Guy: This is how Glenn O’Brien rolls. [NYTimes]

Power Hour: Seems ACL has a “Woman of the Hour” to complement our “Man of the Hour”—personally, we think Chan Marshall goes with anything. [A Continuous Lean]

Stripes on Demand: Inside the bespoke team visit to Paul Smith’s Soho store. [NYMag]

Babystrangles: In this video, hipster model Irina Lazareanu chokes and stomps walking heroin depot (and sometime singer) Pete Doherty to death with her high heels, fulfilling several of our darkest, unspoken fantasies. [NYMag]

Hard-Core Cuts: The changing hairstyles of noted dandies Black Flag documented once and for all. [WFMU]

Above the Knee: More timely advice on men’s shorts. [NYMag]

Sit, Stay, Good Dog: Taking off on the Japanese waif-boy trend, Korean girls are treating their beaus like pets. As long as we get a tummy rub and a biscuit, we’re kinda okay with this. [Geekologie]

Father Knows Best?: The worst TV dads of all time collected just in time for father’s day. You can always say to yourself, “Well, at least Pops was no Eric Camden.” [Art of Manliness]

Flip Flopper: Blue-eyed, honey-blond men’s fashion blogger Amanda Brooks can play with our thongs anytime. [Men’s Vogue]

Pure Oscar Gold: There’s something about Fridays and Charilze Theron that just works. [Egotastic]

Bush Warrior: A Scottish pilot get’s top-brass approval for his handlebar mustache. Good to see there’s some progress in Afghanistan. [BBC]

Kick Up Some Dirt: Seeking a leather alternative to sneakers in these hot times? These boots are perfect for navigating the sand storms of Manhattan. [The Moment]

We Can’t Fix You: Aww, poor self-deifying mope rocker Chris Martin didn’t like the questions Radio 4 asked him. Bono never had to put up with this. [BBC]

Sweet Leaf: Hicky Freeman reopens, stoner iconography intact. [NYMag]

Fighting Over the Flow: Some sucka is suing the Jigga claiming he thieved his style. This may be the worst idea ever. [New Kerala]

Same Ol’, Same Ol’: Another day, another photospread of Gisele Bundchen looking so impossibly hot. It’s almost boring at this point. Wait. This one’s got video? Nevermind then. [GQ]

Under Lock and Key: Fashionable alternatives to that old carabiner you picked up durning your “crunchy granola” phase freshman year. [A Continuous Lean]

Dude Looks Like a Lady: Liv Tyler seems to be embarrassed about the wardrobe of her biological father, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Some ladies have got no taste. [Contact Music]

Bat Suit: Christian Bale will be rocking Armani in the Dark Knight movie. We always figured Bruce Wayne was more partial to English cuts, but okay. [Brandish]

Call Me: Speaking of Armani and movies, seems Giorgio and Richard Gere made each other’s careers. [The Moment]

Silk Shortage: The dressing gown is dead. The end is nigh! [A Suitable Wardrobe]

Bam! Whack! Pow!: Is there any doubt that Ali Larter is the strongest hero of the Heroes? [Hollywood Tuna]

Shorts and Records?: Well we’re sold. [The Pipeline]

Armani Calls Italians “Slovenly”: Good thing he’s never run into any Americans. [NYMag]

Cutting-Room Floor: A dandy little vid takes us inside a storied Brooklyn tailor’s workspace. [Men.Style]

Crocodile Rock: Or is it an alligator? Whichever, Hint gets in good with Lacoste’s chairman. [Hint]

Nice Weave: Speaking of Lacoste, here’s some tips on polo shirt shopping. Just keep your collar down. [Off The Cuff]

Like a Prune: Wrinkles are not always to be ironed out. [Style Salvage]

Diddy of the Board: Sean Combs says he takes his style inspiration from Frank Sinatra. This breaks our heart a little. [New Kerala]

Could We Love Carla Bruni Any More?: We didn’t think so. Then we read these lyrics. [Radar]

Hot Rods: That emblem on your car’s hood may indicate more than your choice in brands. [Jalopnik]

Turning Japanese: Hedi Slimane is the natural muse of Vogue Homme Japan much as Sean Avery is the natural muse of Men’s Vogue US. [WWD]

Victoria Beckham’s Menswear Line Canceled: Whew. That was a close one. [Female First UK]

Totally Swede: A review of Stockholm Fashion Week. [The Pipeline]

A Solid Grip: Eva Mendez’s hands are always in the wrong place at the right time. [Use My Computer]

The Answer: Guess is targeting the high-end market. Stay tuned. [DNRNews]

The Bum’s Rush: Marc Jacobs was kicked out of an art gallery for looking unacceptably grungy. Oh the shame. [NYPost]

Cinéma Vérité: Josh Brolin gets into a drunken bar fight while filming Oliver Stone’s George W. Bush biopic. If he lost after one punch, he’s really in character. [AC]

Will Chick Pillow Fights Sell Real Estate?: We just made our down payment. [Observer]

Cutting-Edge Prep: That Comme des Garcons Brooks Brothers line is looking pretty damn sharp. [High Snobiety]

A Handle For Your Beer Can: Is as logical and obvious as an eraser on a pencil. [Uncrate]

The world of songwriters can get pretty craggy, especially around the hazy, irony-crusted period known as the seventies. There are mystic troubadors, the emoters and all manner of guitar-addled gurus, but the best of the crop have always been the cynics. From Costello to Zevon, they were the ones who saw the decade from a fashionable remove, always staying one step ahead of critics and, for the most part, the listening public.

Randy Newman, the grand old curmudgeon of the cynics, has taken a break from his film work to put out his first album in nearly a decade. Of course, it’s fairly standard late-career business—impeccably professional but lacking some of his earlier bite—but that shouldn’t stop you from taking another stroll through Newman’s gallery of sycophants, sloths, and generally bad people. For newcomers, we’d recommend a different starting point, but if you already know the man, it’s nice to see him get comfortable.

After a half-dozen pay-what-you-like internet releases, it hardly qualifies as news anymore. But when the album comes from two 70s vets, each with a long, legendary track record, it gets a little closer to newsworthiness.

The duo is David Byrne (occasional MOTH) and Brian Eno (an ambient pioneer and, most recently, the producer of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida), and the new album, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, is a career highlight for each.

More importantly, the album has been put up Radiohead-style as an offering to the internet and the nascent New Record Industry. Unlike the others, this one’s offered as an embedded stream and we’ve posted it below, meaning it won’t be taking up space on your hard drive, but you can click through any time you want to hear it.

Stream the album and read our take on it»

Terrence Howard, occasional MOTH and reliably excellent actor, is venturing onto the treacherous ground of actor-singers. Howard opened up to the Times, describing his career path as a struggling singer-songwriter. He lists his influences as Don McLean, Jim Croce, and Barry Manilow: a triptych of soft-rock sensitive types. But if what we’re seeing so far is any indication, he may need a more robust icon by the time the album hits stores.

The actor-musician crossover is rarely a good idea—except in the case of Ms. Deschanel, of course—and we have our doubts. Apparently Vulture shares them, since they’re preemptively calling the album “something special.” Only, not in a good way.

One way or another, he’s about to get more seething internet ink than he’ll know what to do with.

After the jump, get a peek at Howard’s live show»

Mods vs. Rockers Has John Varvatos’s strong “pro-rocker” stance invited a mod backlash? We’d buy it. If so, you’ll need these pictures to paste onto your GX scooter…[We Are the Market]

Movin’ Up in the World like Elevators: Our favorite rapper/actor/MOTH talks about his clothing line. We expect it to be better than his movies, but slightly worse than his music. [Esquire]

Crime Pays: A European government is offering up cash and amnesty for anyone who can put their hands on a few famous, stolen paintings. Like we’ve always said, it’s a good time to be an art thief. [Luxist]

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go: Sam Shipley (of Shipley & Halmos) releases a solo album. Does this mean Halmos is Garfunkel? [Men.Style]

Although we love a good Blackberry now and then, our heart belongs to the iPhone for one simple reason: the programs.

We got an extra boost today, when our favorite tech-savvy producer weighed in. The last time we checked in he was putting out an album with his old Talking Heads chum David Byrne, but this time around he’s taking the experimental route. He’s put together a music program called Bloom for the iPhone that creates music based on the user’s touch. (Those are the high-tech controls on the left; each bubble plays its own sound.) It’s an example of Eno’s pet project of generative music, but all you really need to know is that it’s a musical toy that could only exist on a touchscreen phone, and it’ll only set you back four dollars.

Just the thing to keep you occupied until Google gets its act together.

MTV just launched the web-video branch of its empire, with its whole archive available to stream and embed for bored office workers and link-happy bloggers everywhere. They’re still ironing out the kinks—meaning half the videos will simply refuse to load—and it has the same problems MTV has always had (too mainstream, too much R&B, nothing by the Buzzcocks) but it’s worth spending a few minutes digging the archives.

At least, if you have a set of headphones handy…

A few of the highlights, according to Kempt»

Speaking of headphones, they’re rapidly becoming the accessory du jour. (Better luck next year, ties.) And we wouldn’t feel right leaving you without an option or two. These Nixon models come via acquire, color-coded to match your hair.

Being a famous musician must be great. Your work is intensely personal and fulfilling, you’re surrounded by adoring women, and you get to do pretty much whatever you want all day, every day, for as long as you want. In other words, it’s the complete opposite of being a magazine intern.

Which makes Ryan Adams’ most recent career move particularly puzzling.

The folksy troubadour—and self-proclaimed Huey Lewis of alt-country—has taken up an intern post at BlackBook in what is presumably either a tribute to Sean Avery or part of an extended research process for his upcoming concept album about the downtrodden media underclass. (We’re hoping it’s the second one.) Either way, we don’t see him going the distance.

On the bright side, we guess this means they don’t drug test?

All the Smiling Faces: Subway lover Patrick Moberg summarizes the nation’s forty-four presidents. Now that we look at it, a lot of them had pretty sweet mustaches. [Patrick Moberg]

Warren Peace: You can never have too many Warren Beatty appreciations. [AskMen]

We Be Villain: A talk with the new Bond villain. [Anthem]

How the Other Half Lives: Interior design expands into music, creating the playlist industry. Some day, this may be considered an actual job. [NYTimes]

The music industry is looking pretty Paleolithic these days, and it may be up to artists to save themselves. And not everybody’s Radiohead.

Wilco’s been pretty savvy so far, though, and they’ve got some ideas that should be useful to bands and industry folks alike. From the beginning, they’ve cultivated a healthy web presence, posting bootlegs on their website and rewarding fans with the occasional download-only EP.

Now, they’re trying their hand at new technology. They’ve resurrected the seldom-heard 2003 More Like the Moon EP as a PlayApp, a program that bundles all the songs, a mini-player, and a few liner notes and pictures in one manageable package. They also appeased design-minded fans with a scattering of agrarian-themed posters. If only Axl were this generous…

Download the PlayApp and see a few more posters here»

Country music has had a rough time for the past twenty years or so, but once upon a time it was still raw, exciting, and entirely pure. Musicians came together at outdoor music parks, playing for whoever drove by. Regional sounds from Nashville, Tennessee; Bakersfield, California; and Lubbock, Texas mixed together to create a uniquely American sound that changed from state to state.

Some of it got recorded, but the vast majority of the acts were lost forever, aside from a few memories and a few old photographs.

Leon Kagarise recorded more than 4000 hours of it, but he also took more than a few pictures, and he’s put the snaps together into a photo-primer on the style of the time, called Pure Country. Anyone who’s ever looked up to Johnny Cash or George Jones could learn a thing or two from it. These were the original rock stars.

Our pick of the pictures»

Year-end lists are rarely as definitive as they claim, but they’re pretty good at calling winners and losers for the year. And while our post-Talking Heads pals didn’t do as well as we hoped in hipster bible Pitchfork’s Top 50 of the Year, we can’t dispute their #1 pick.

This year, it went to the Bruegel-loving harmonizers Fleet Foxes, a well-timed throwback to David Crosby’s California. Of course, it’s not 1966 anymore and they’re representing Seattle, not Southen California, which makes the mood a bit more pastoral and a lot less poppy. And unlike most other songwriters making their way through the blogosphere, the Foxes’ Robin Pecknold has serious music theory chops, so there are a few key changes mixed into the usual folkiness and the harmonies can get downright baroque.

Of course, all that nature means a lot of flannel and a lot of beard. So they should fit right in when they pass through Portland…

See the Foxes in action»

We’ve had a love/hate relationship with the radio for about ten years now, but it’s still one of the best ways to tap into the musical zeitgeist. If only the FM dial were a little less crappy…

The internet’s teaming with great audio channels—including stations broadcast too far away for you to tune in—but so far it’s been hard to tune in without going through tinny computer speakers. But where there’s a market, there’s someone looking to tap into it, so CES has been full of companies jousting for what’s been called “iRadio.”

Our favorite, so far is Sonoro’s entry, a discreet plastic brick that lets you search by title, genre or location. It should be coming out stateside around April, but we’ll believe it when we see it.

Until then…there’s always the occasional mp3 blog.

Modern gadgetry is moving in lots of different directions at once, but one thing that’s pretty clear is that the world is going to have fewer wires in it. Tenqa is a west coast company trying to bring Bluetooth wireless tech to home stereos, but they’re having to do it without any corporate partnerships, which makes things significantly more interesting.

The tale of Tenqa»

Radiohead have taken a crowd-friendly approach since In Rainbows hit filesharing networks in March, but while they made big news with the pay-what-you-want release and opening a few songs up to remixers, their video ambitions very nearly slipped under our radar.

Apparently the band partnered with aniBoom for a large-scale, crowd-sourced music video contest. The plan was to name a single grand prize winner and give them a hard-won $10,000 for their troubles, but the outpouring was strong enough that the band ended up bumping the number of winners up to four.

See the grand prize winners»

Now that Guitar Hero and Rock Band have catapulted music into the video game sphere, everyone’s getting in on the game…and the results are getting pretty ugly.

Microsoft Songsmith, for instance, is meant to make songwriting accessible to everyone with a computer and a non-metallic ear, but it’s turned into a near-endless supply of 90s soft-rock shmaltz. And, unfortunately for Mr. Gates, it’s far better as comedy than music.

The result is a long string of previously beloved songs—“Creep,” “Roxanne,” and “Beat It,” for a start—digitally chewed up and spat out until almost unrecognizable. But a good music video always helps…

Let the YouTubing begin»

via Hey Okay

As the Beatles can tell you, having nice stuff is never as impressive as knowing how to use it.

Dita Von Teese is following in the illustrious footsteps of Zooey Deschanel and Scarlett Johansson, and recording her own album, ominously titled “Manson, Pasties and Milky Skin.”

Of course, Ms. Von Teese came up through the burlesque circuit, so we imagine she knows her way around a tune…and can inspire any number of Brill Building types if her inspiration runs dry. We doubt she’ll have any trouble putting it together.

But with a title like that, we’re mostly looking forward to the videos.

Vinyl obsessives tend to be pretty retro-minded, but going back to our lumberjack ancestors may be pushing it. Then again, maybe not.

Audiowood (via NotCot) specializes in turntables made from raw slices of wood. You don’t see much bark outside of ski lodges, but given that you probably had to dig up most of your records from inclement conditions, it’s only fitting that your player get a little rustic.

So far they’re all one-of-a-kind…but let us know if you see them in any DJ booths.

See more Audiowoods»

For all the attention to mod style, it’s easy to forget about the equally important revolution that went on a little later and a little farther north. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Northern Soul.

Centered mostly on the 70s, the Northern Soul movement saw the thornier northern mods taking to dancehalls with the same Ben Sherman gear and center-vent suits as their London brethren, but an energy all their own. PSFK just put up a long post on Northern Soul, and by our lights, it’s about time the whole movement got another look.

More on Northern Soul»

Branding firms are still figuring out how to make a web video people will actually want to see, but the formula isn’t so complicated. Just find something worth watching and figure out some way to fit your product in—preferably something other than an opening title card.

Ito Partners gets it right with this series of Vimeo spots for Morgans Hotel Group. Ito lined up a series of relatively unknown acts to play sets in Morgans Hotel rooms, giving viewers an impromptu concert and a look at the soothing surroundings at the same time. And, in case you were wondering, the acoustics at the Royalton are surprisingly good.

See the New York video»

Count on A.P.C. to make even the band t-shirt seem like the result of a struggle.

They just put out a series of clever t-shirts for the bands Housse de Racket, Koko Von Napoo and The Teenagers, but what’s usually a quirky opportunity for brands to stretch their design legs has become downright cranky.

Instead of basking in the rock star’s reflected glow, A.P.C.’s Jean Touitou has apparently taken this opportunity to explain exactly what’s wrong with kids today. In the release, he writes, “It all started in the nineties, when a Clash clad in Prada was sometimes encountered, and now baby clashes are all posing for Prada. Poseurs have taken the place of heroes. I do hate rock ‘n’ roll.”

Them’s fightin’ words…

Our response, along with the other two tees»

Save Faris: Anna Faris is consistently more interesting than her movies…with the possible exception of Scary Movie 4. [NYMag]

All You Want to Do Is Talk Talk: Steve Monaghan loves Talk Talk, as all true 80s aficionados must. [Selectism]

Hard Times: To put the recession in real, visceral terms: Julian Schnabel has had to sell one of his Picassos. It’s frightening stuff. [Luxist]

For Shame: We’re starting to get worried about Gary Coleman. [Vulture]

The reissue game is one of the few tricks the music industry has left, so it’s only natural that the Beatles would eventually get the treatment. Their complete catalog is being remastered and repackaged to be sold alongside The Beatles: Rock Band starting on September 9th. Naturally, the packaging is immaculate…but we can’t help but worry about what’s inside.

The case against remastering»

We’re used to buying complete packages, and the iPhone certainly looked like one. Lately though, it seems more and more like what we bought was just an empty box waiting to be filled up with awesome. And they’re finally getting around to it.

Exhibit A: the Coachella app that keeps you up to date with all the showtimes and lets you plot your own course through the madness of the festival. If only there were some kind of social network…

Exhibit B: The best work we’ve seen from Trent Reznor since those videos that terrified your parents. We’re talking about the Nine Inch Nails iPhone app, which brings together just about everything you could want.

Let us count the ways»

For the decade or so before rock took off, jazz musicians were the epitome of subculture cool. (Not coincidentally, it was also the heyday of the porkpie hat.) Everyone knows Miles (even if we prefer his later phase), but AskMen’s recent roundup reminded us that his piano man was no slouch either.

The pianist in question is Bill Evans, the subject of a fair amount of recent obsession. The slicked-back hair and buttoned-up polo are both documents of the era, but our favorite part of this particular picture is the shades, which have since popped up on Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen more than a few times. With summer coming up, picking up a similar pair might not be a bad idea.

Piano lessons are optional.

Refinery29 just posted an item entitled The 12 Most Stylish Album Covers of All Time, and we have to call them out on a few slip-ups.

Exhibit A is Thriller. Anyone sporting Jacko’s get up these days would be closer to the American Idol outtake reel than a spot on MTV. But “P.Y.T” is amazing, so we’ll let it go. Adam Ant is a bit harder to swallow. Guyliner and face paint may be taking off among the tweens, but we doubt it’s anything Refinery wants to endorse.

And as far as sins of omission go…whatever happened to Roxy Music?

As new media gurus will line up to tell you, there’s a sea change going on and some industries will weather it better than others. The big surprise: public radio’s actually looking pretty good.

Jersey City’s WFMU—known to some as Yo La Tengo’s favorite radio station—just launched a project called the Free Music Archive, imagined as a curated source for the best free music on the internet. Of course, anyone with a server and a few industry connections can start stockpiling files, but when it’s a station that’s spent the past 50 years digging up some of the most interesting obscuro cuts on record, they have a lot more going for them than just technology.

We admit it. We’re impressed»

The deep end of the hi-fi pool can be hard to manage, but it’s worth a dip or two—especially if you’ve ever wanted to hear every last backup singer in Pretzel Logic.

The Gizmodo kids have spent all week detailing the particulars of the stereo kingdom—including an economic breakdown of six-figure speakers that should come in handy for anyone considering a stereo that costs more than their car—but our favorite post is this gem taking you inside the ear of a bonafide audiophile, with the help of a $350,000 stereo setup.

The real surprise is exactly which music gets play on such a system. Naturally, the Buzzcocks don’t do terribly well, but the 70s seem to have been a pretty fertile decade for audiophile fodder. Gizmodo’s particular trip down the rabbit hole featured an Eno-assisted David Bowie (“Heroes”), a post-Eno Roxy Music (“Avalon”) and a remarkably lush sidetrip into the world of French techno (Air’s Talkie Walkie).

All rich, nuanced sonic landscapes…but was a little Daft Punk too much to ask for? We’d say journalistic integrity demands nothing less.

Boxing Helena: Helena Christensen has not lost the knack. [Refinery29]

Dirty Linens: Jack Spade puts forth the first linen tote back. [Selectism]

The Saga Continues: The hipster grafter tale becomes more elaborate and uncomfortable. [New York Observer]

It’s About the Music: When hippies get their hands on classical music, incredible things can happen. [NYMag]

John Varvatos has been drawing on music-industry cool for long enough, it was only a matter of time before he made the connection official. But we were hoping it wouldn’t be quite so much like a reality show.

It’s called Free the Noise, and to be fair, it’s closer to the more credible custom known as the Battle of the Bands. Aspiring bands upload clips of their act onto the website, finalists are chosen to face off at JV’s Bowery location (former home of CBGBs, if you recall), and the winner walks away with a development deal from Island records and a series of spots in Varvatos’ Star USA ads.

Sounds like a good deal, but a record deal isn’t what it used to be. And doesn’t the whole thing seem a bit rockist?

Not that there’s anything wrong with that»

The Pixies reunion is finally bearing fruit…at least in reissue form.

Their four and a half albums are being brought together for a compilation titled Minotaur with new packaging, artwork, and a bonus live set circa 1991. The real surprise is that they’re skipping the usually obligatory remastering, so the sound will be every bit as crisp (or murky) as it always was. Naturally, there’s a set of Limited and Deluxe editions tagging along, but as far as we’re concerned, a new set of platters is all you need.

Who knows, they might even find a reason to tour.

Old tech is usually left to the limbo of the semi-vintage market—VHS tapes for a quarter, anyone?—but the nice thing about limbo is that there’s usually a way out.

Case in point: Best Buy may be getting back into the vinyl game. The vinyl resurgence isn’t news, but no one expected it to get this far into the mainstream. Of course, that’s what happens when the only positive parts of the music industry’s balance sheet are digital downloads and 33s. Best Buy has to justify shelf space just like anyone else, and they certainly can’t fill it with mp3s.

Does this mean they’ll be stocking turntables too?

It looks like John Varvatos will be getting a bit more rock cred in the form of his very own radio show, kicking off this evening with a live show from the New York Dolls’ record release party in his Bowery shop.

Of course, we’ll have to wait to see what his picks are like, but indications so far are that the show will focus on Detroit bands and fellow travelers, which makes us pretty damn excited. From Smokey Robinson to Juan Atkins, the city’s done more for American music than anywhere else we could name—we’re looking at you, Memphis—so it’s nice to have someone on the airwaves spreading the gospel. Even if we get the feeling he’ll be sticking to the earlier end of the spectrum.

Kanye West’s wisdom is vast and diverse enough that it was only a matter of time before it made it into book form.

Thank You and You’re Welcome was handed out to fans on Mr. West’s Glow in the Dark tour, and has been circulating for a while now. But it’s just now making it to bookstores, replete with the same wisdom that got him where he is today. Anyone out there with an insatiable desire to be Kanye just got a new favorite book, and Kanye can add “Dr. Phil-esque Life Coach” to his list of hyphenates.

No word yet on how much of it is all caps.