In the dark recesses of the late 90s and early 2000s, a tremor ran through the music industry as more material made its way to the web. Amidst the uncertainty, people questioned what would happen to the music and if creativity would die along this new avenue.

What could not be foreseen was the way the internet and the digitization of media would open the door to a more democratic way of making and experiencing music. Through its floodgates have come (sometimes questionably) talented stars such as Souljah Boy and venues such as MySpace and iTunes.

Fast-forward to 2008 and the ever-talented, ever-ingenious, self-acclaimed analog girl Erykah Badu, has also appropriated the digital world to her own ends. Looking for a remix to her latest non-album single, “Real Thang,” Badu has launched an internet-based remix contest open to any creative body with beats on the mind.

Proving the fast-pace of the web and the ability of its plethora of users to turn out a quick download, you can find a number of remixes to the track already up on the paean to self-promotion, YouTube. The remixes are diverse with sounds that range from dub with 80s Barrington Levy samples, to spacey electronic tracks to a mellowed out Madlib groove (remixers, breathe — Madlib produced the original track and cannot be a part of the contest). Don’t feel limited to “urban” types of sounds either — creativity is key so if you think you can make “Real Thang” rock, literally, go for it.

Sound good? Then plug in and get it poppin’.

For “Real Thang” vocals, grand- and runner-up prizes and more information on the contest, click here.

Deadline for entry: July 31.

Attempting to blur the lines between fashion, art and architecture, Mobile Art is jumping head first into the avant-garde. The brainchild of Chanel’s creative director Karl Lagerfeld and architect wunderkind Zaha Hadid, the concept of a traveling gallery is a means of subverting the traditional ways in which people visit galleries, transporting the art to the people, and not the other way around. The gallery, which inhabited Hong Kong from February to April, is now closing it’s Tokyo run. Soon, it will reopen in New York, then continuing through London, Moscow and Paris.

A physical synonym of ultra-modern, the gallery itself (pictured above) is a white, streamlined loop-shaped structure, with industrial undertones. Visitors exit from the starting point of their journey, replicating the cyclical, and oftentimes fickle, nature of fashion.

The exhibit is a showcase of individual installations, all the work of twenty handpicked international artists. And whilst the gallery itself is arguably the most striking piece on display, the inspiration of the Chanel quilted handbag stirred in the artists’ some strikingly conceptual pieces, most notably “At the Bottom” by Japanese artist Tabaimo, an elevated structure in which visitors peer down into a well filled with the floating dreams of Chanel customers.

Perfectly capturing the international aesthetic of the Chanel brand, Mobile Art will be touring the world’s major cities, starting off in futuristic Tokyo and culminating in the capital of Haute Couture, Paris.

More mobility here.

With the demise of the major record industry’s omnipotence and the simultaneous explosion of independent music labels, underground music has begun to see an unprecedented renaissance. Online guerilla marketing tactics have allowed dynamic DIY artists to pave their way towards a well-deserved takeover, creating fresh new ways to experiment with music production.

The Politik, a project of UK’s lovely chanteuse Bembe Seque and cohort Mark de Clive-Lowe, is just such a phenomenon of subtly rewriting the way albums traditionally get to be produced. A familiar name in the US future soul/broken beat scene, Mark de Clive-Lowe is the musician and producer behind hundreds of collaborations with the likes of Omar, Platinum Pied Pipers, DJ Spinna, Dego, or Kenny Dope.

The Politik’s self-entitled debut album featuring a stellar line-up of guest producers and MCs, such as Blu, Bahamadia, repLife, Waajeed (Bling47), Daz I-Kue (Bugz in the Attic), and Jason Yarde, has already received critical acclaims and will no doubt be written into future musical lexicons as one of the foundational records of the growing future soul movement.

And here is the revolutionary twist they put on their first baby: the album is up for grabs for anyone who feels up for the challenge to redress it. Yes, that’s right, ya’ll are invited to participate in The Politik Remix Album & Artwork Competition. The deadline to submit your work is April 14, 2008.

The competition has two parts, you can either choose to remix any number of the tracks on the album and/or remaster the artwork for the cover. The competition will be judged by an impressive crew of judges, such as The Politik (Bembe Segue + Mark de Clive-Lowe), Benji B (Deviation 1xtra), Phil Asher (restless soul) and Afronaught (coopr8/Bugz in the Attic), and the winning remixes will be compiled into the upcoming official remix album. Don’t sleep on it!

Listen to the original album and download the tracks and artwork to be remixed here and link’em on myspace.

The phenomena that Apple has created with the iPod continues to spread in its many forms, as it finds its way into the homes, studios, and pockets of technology freaks, and us simple ones looking for a way to have our music 24/7.
Anyone who has dropped their slick device down the stairs or in the street, knows a little protection can go a long way. Tinbot is bringing some artistic expression to the iPod case by combining fresh artists, a chic tin design, and a neoprene lining. Featuring artists like Jock, Mad, Sket One, Christopher Lee, and 7Sleepr, my favorite case is coming from the well-known Parra who is also a co-owner of the clothing line Rockwell.

Check out the site and grab one that tickles your iPod fancy before they sale out like the first generation of Tinbot cases. $30 a pop. For the artist who wants to do it themselves, they offer custom packages that will be available on their site soon.

Synth lovers behold! The Kaossilator has come, and can take your music to another realm with just the wave of a finger. If you know of the legendary Korg sound, and are familair with the KAOSS Pad, wait until you get a hold of this bad boy. Not only is it portable and battery run, but it’s easy for beginners to pick up on, and those who are already on the professional level can really sink their teeth into the endless possibilities. Just tap or slide your finder across the touch pad, and welcome 100 sound programs and effects, 31 complex scales, and 5o types of gate arpeggiation. One of the illest features this yellow box holds, is it’s capability to loop, record, and create a live musical masterpeice. You can first lay down a fresh dub bass line (up to 2 bars), then lay down some classical piano, trumpet, echoing drums with feedback, then throw in a Ryukyu scale over the top - all in minutes. Hello, one woman show… or a great addition to the band you already got rockin’ on the stage. This fits in your pocket, you can bring it anywhere and Turntable Lab has it at an affordable price here. Check out this demo:

The East Coast premiere of the new Appleseed anime movie — directed by stalwart butt-kicker John Woo no less — might be enough to get some folks down to Washington, D.C. for Japan! Culture + Hyperculture, but there’s plenty for the big, serious kids, too. Like tons of butoh master dance and the Japan National Theatre Ballet.

One unique event is the performance by OKI Dub Ainu Band, which takes an obscure traditional instrument, the tonkori, used by the Ainu people in Northern Japan in their folk tunes, and fuses it’s tones with reggae, dub, and African beats.

Oh, and there are robots, of course. When are there not robots? I love Japan.

Fighting games have been an integral part of the video gaming scene since the days of Bush Sr. Whether you were trying to perfect that ’sonic boom’, laying down Shang Tsung’s ‘Fatality’ or pleading with your older brother to finally let you play so you could kick some pixelated ass, one can’t deny that the genre has left an indelible mark on the sensibilities of a generation.

With that in mind, get your weight up, not your hate up, at this weekend’s New York Anime Festival, presented by New York-Tokyo at the Jacob Javits Center (655 W. 34th St.). Not only will dozens of the hottest games coming out of Japan be on display and available for play, but the event will also feature a massive fighting game tournament, pitting the best of the best against one another for dope prizes. And in addition to the GNG Tournament 2007, will be an undercard for the more casual player.

Among the titles separating the men from the boys (and of course, the women from the girls,) the main event will be Tekken 5, King of Fighters XI and Virtua Fighter 5, all sequels to classic franchises. Though the matter of whether Ryu was superior to Ken may remain forever unresolved, you can still expect a lot of shit-talking, dazzling visuals and 20-hit combos by the bowlful. Hadouken!

Though Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth may have launched a quasi-movement to avert “a crisis the likes of which we have never known,” this past summer’s Live Earth raised the bar slightly higher, depoliticizing the matter of climate change and extending it beyond the realms of partisanship, lobbyist allegiances, and assertive yet bogus science. Since the massive global performance, awareness of the environmental challenges ahead has been on the rise, and it seems that every player, big or small, in every sector of business has striven to prove itself “greener” than its competitors.

In the way of protecting our future in innovative ways, Dutch non-profit Enviu is helming a number of projects that go above and beyond driving hybrids and switching to halogen light bulbs. Perhaps of greatest interest to Club Kids of all ages is the “Sustainable Dance Club” or, “Eco-Disco”. According to Popular Mechanics, the average club consumes about 150 times more energy than a four-person family every year. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Fabric, how do you sleep at night? Oh, that’s right, you don’t.

As far as rectifying the profligate ways of the world’s party palaces, the “Sustainable Dance Club” prototype strives to be a self-sufficient system in terms of energy and water, thus reducing environmental strain. Now, efficient LED-lighting, air-recirculating turbines, and on-site water purification (as in, desalinating clubgoer’s sweat and making it delicious again) are all well and good, but the SDC’s coup de gras is indelibly its revolutionary dancefloor. When the selector has hit his/her stride and 10,000 watts are all up in your chest, the SDC’s springloaded dancefloor dips slightly, spinning a flywheel which captures the kinetic energy of your drunken, maniacal dance moves, turning those tantric two-steps into supplemental power for the club.

With the company receiving orders for SDC technology from a number of European venues, Enviu’s site claims that “Clubbing will become a totally new experience with a high feel-good factor.” It’s a stab in the dark, but I’m guessing they’re referring to a different “high feel-good factor” than the one I’ve always associated with club nights. Hmmm. Come on everybody, let’s Get Green!

Photo courtesy of Popular Mechanics

Casio G-SHOCK is out to expand, and for the first time in the brands history, offer the new CONCRE exclusive watch line worldwide this month. Introducing model’s made in collaboration with New York Artist like Eric Elms, Madsaki and Rostarr, these watches bring you back to the Casio’s in the 80’s with revamped street approach. This year is G-SHOCK’s 25th year of bringing some of the “toughest” and functional timepieces around. Any G-SHOCK fan knows how difficult it can be to get the exclusives in the US, but there will be limited quantities available at sneaker and streetwear boutiques, skate shops and other boutiques across the USA, UK, Europe and Asia. Get one while while you can!