Photo of Karen Elson, taken at Le Poisson Rouge by Chad Batka for the New York Times

I first heard Manchurian model Karen Elson sing in the back of a black Mercedes crossing back into Manhattan (post party) over the Brooklyn Bridge about eight years ago. Our friend Pascal, who was driving, had stuck a Doors CD (remember those?) into his car player and I heard this melodious earth tone from the back: “People are strange when you’re a stranger.”

I immediately turned to all our girlfriends —  stylists and models — jammed in the back. “Who is that?” I roared. “It’s Karen!” One of the girls answered. And Karen blushed and lowered her chin, as she was wont to do then, long before she married musician Jack White. “You should really sing!” I told her. “You have a great voice.” So, she sang us all the way back to the West Village, where ironically, just off a stint at South by Southwest,  she just debuted her latest work — written and composed with her husband — at Le Poisson Rouge.

The regular cast of characters showed up. Melissa Auf der Maur, the former Hole guitarist who helped to teach Karen guitar strings. Zaldy, the fashion designer who resembles a cross between a pirate and a rocker. Sarah Sophie Flicker, the girl about town who recruited Karen for her performance/circus cabaret, “The Citizens’ Band.”

But, honey, Karen ain’t no ordinary citizen. Mrs. Black has come to town! Her voice is sweet and despite how the New York Times describes it, the girl has been driven to rockers and to be a rock star herself as long as I’ve known her.  Check out her first single, “The Ghost Who Walks.”

“Tuk tuk-king” around Jaipur, a hidden away factory where exquisite printed clothes and housewares can be shipped anywhere around the globe . It was amazing to see the skill and time they put into making the smallest garment, we even got to try a bit of printing ourselves!

‘The Candyman’ who apparently reinvents himself daily — from a drag queen to the Queen herself!

Music to our ears. This couple performs love songs about their time together from when they first met until now.

Ryan McGinley’s Wall of nude kids… provocative or same old biz?

Ryan McGinley’s lastest exhibit “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” launched last week and hipsters in skinny jeans, fedoras, and printed tees streamed all along Grand Street. So many of them  converged that the NYC Fire Department was called in to close  the gallery down and disperse the crowd.

If, as McGinley so sagely says, his provocative nudes of teens and barely adults leads to nowhere, why does he continue to glorify the image? Perhaps because he knows that hundreds of his subjects and their friends will storm the doors of his gallery.

Whatever the case, it is more of the same, almost adults who walk the tightrope between innocent experimentation and no turning back, an example of the latter being Dash Snow, McGinley’s close friend who OD’d from drugs in a bathtub last summer.

McGinley does include a few amped up photos that are developed in a colorful way so that they resemble paintings. A couple are included in the slideshow below. (Ryan McGinley, “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere,”  at Team Gallery, 83 Grand Street, Until April 17th.)

Sometimes a guy (even a guy dog!) just needs to be a guy…..

Mostly gone are the days when a bloke could just walk into the corner barber shop for a quick trim and a shave. Especially in New York, the traditional corner shave shack served as a place to decompress before or after work with a newspaper surrounded only by other men.

Thanks to hair cutter Sam Buffa, William Tigertt and Taavo Somer — the latter two the owners of Freeman’s Sporting Club — guys can now enjoy a local barber stocked with top grooming products but without the fuss of women. A cut costs $40, a beard trim $15, and the “hangover cure,” a facial that includes a hot towel goes for $25. To get in, just pop in and add your name on the  list. The wait can take from fifteen minutes to a half an hour, but the atmosphere is easy.

The two locations — one on Rivington in LES and the other on Horatio Street in the West Village — keep it simple with earthy wood panels and vintage cutting chairs. Girls can buy gift cards for their boys that cover services and things like nifty Mason Pearson hairbrushes (also good for spanking!) and insanely luscious Malin + Goetz candles, in dark colors including black with scents like dark rum or cannabis. Check out the slideshow below, from a recent Saturday afternoon and the website: F.S.C. Barber.

Hipster deejay cranks out a whole bunch of vintage tunes, from Depeche Mode to New Order at Hudson fete

At the end of the day, or rather at the beginning of a night, a knowledgeable girl will trade in her fussy frock for a touchable tank and a fantastic pair of denim and know she’s wearing all that she needs.

Last evening, Hudson turned out a chic cocktail hour where writers and fashionistas shared a showroom turned alternate dance hall with several mannequins in Hudson’s new sleek tanks, soft tees, and incredibly-crafted jeans and cargos. The gals and guys swilled cocktails and tasted curried chicken skewers, then took home fab canvas Hudson weekend bags filled with the softest skinny indigo  jeans on the planet.

Hudson’s designer Ben Taverniti, a native Frenchman now living in LA, prefers the “Resurrection” jean to all. It is made from hundreds of pairs of vintage jeans sewn into a completely new and unique pair and retails for $995 a pop. “It takes me seven hours to complete one pant.” He tells me with a wide grin.  ”It’s Italian and Japanese denim, all mixed. I take samples, cut them and create a blanket.” Then the machine cutter does it’s work to create a new pair. (See image below.)

By adding tanks and shirts that fall anywhere from the belly button to the upper thigh, Taverniti utilizes the concept of architecture and layering. “I wanted to add haute couture and knowledge to this California lifestyle.”

From how the indigo skinnies feel on my arse right now, I’d say he’s right on target.

C’est COOL.

Resurrection jean, $995, constructed from myriad samples with exceptional detailing

‘The Art is Proof Press‘ is a collection of work founded by Mark Pavey which presents a small collection of designers and illustrators whose work is united through their common aims. They have recently opened a pop-up shop located just off Brick Lane which holds affordable art, screen prints, books, zine’s and more by some of their favourite independent creatives.

Human Zoo is a production put on by the make-up and prosthetics/costume/technical effects’ students at London College of Fashion. It is a modern dance and movement interpretation of varying stages throughout the human cycle. This particular photo was taken within the 4th scene (the “freak” scene). This part of the show represented the most dramatic and the most extreme types of people within the world showing them as distorted and exaggerated as possible. My friend Lauren made the tongued wig! Amazing!

London Fashion: This is my friend Marc, showing off his great style in front of our iconic Union Jack. Wearing American Apparel tee, low slung jeans from 172 and a Levi’s vintage jacket.

The ‘Tallest Man on Earth’, Bush Hall, West London.

Kristian Matsson is the voice of The Tallest Man on Earth, a little folk singer from the land of Sweden. He released his full length debut titled Shallow Grave in March 2008. He recently got signed to Dead Oceans from which he will be releasing his new LP The Wild Hunt coming out later this month. You can hear his best tracks on his MySpace page.

I went to a karaoke party on Friday night where you had to go dressed as the person you were singing (great idea!) I went as Neneh Cherry but was quite clearly outstaged by Lady Gaga herself…..He was pretty good!!

Koudlam, recently in New York…

You almost have to experience it to believe it.  Koudlam, the French musical composing cult figure, can open a lap top computer, compose sounds before an audience and in a mere ten minutes, hypnotizes them. He evokes something about the tones-otherworldly, ethereal raises the energy levels of those who stand — and often sway– before him, as we did at his secretive show at the Austrian Cultural Forum in midtown Manhattan.

Sure, I witnessed the guy, with his pal, the artist Cyprien, rile up a crowd at a Visionaire magazine party in Miami,  weather forces and a divine rooftop light show worked for him or not. But to see him open his equipment in a pitch dark room, on a desk, in a sterile room of a building that resembled a foreign consulate and STILL able to work the crowd into a trance, he’s a magic man.

The show at the Austrian Cultural Forum also featured videos shot by Koudlam , one in which some bloke appeared to be pleasuring himself to a film of a girl in a bikini. All in all, he turned on the fifty or so folks who showed up, mostly European. He pops up like this in shows all over Europe. For a sampling of how he managed the starkest environment, check out the video below. But first, compare it to his own website an recent film: koudlam.com