When I first heard about this Wugazi mash-up I was skeptical. I’ve been a huge fan of Fugazi since I was 12 years old and, while I’m nowhere close to a Wu-Tang aficionado, I consider myself an admirer. More specifically I’m a lover of Ghostface Killah and ODB. So when I first saw this Wugazi project popping up, it made me nervous.  Nervous because I’m a bit obsessive when it comes to things like tidiness. Not in the sense of cleanliness, but more in the sense of leaving an untainted legacy. Basically, I wondered if this would add to the artists’ story or be an unfortunate anecdote to their otherwise fruitful contributions to our collective musical culture. In other words, would it be memorable because its a great and respectful re-imagining of their work, or because its clever and… funny?

Then I thought to myself, “Who gives a shit?” And cranked the volume.  I encourage you to do the same.

Wugazi • 13 Chambers by WUGAZI

And for the record, props to Cecil Otter and Swiss Andy for the care they took in putting this together. After many, many listens, their skill and effort is undeniable.

From the Wugazi site – “Wugazi is a labor of love by Cecil Otter & Swiss Andy. A year’s worth of cutting up every imaginable Fugazi record and trying out every Wu-Tang acapella they could get their hands on, resulted in Wugazi: 13 Chambers (a must listen for anyone who even looked at a skateboard in the 90’s).”

It is Saturday in San Francisco and that can mean only one thing. Its time for me to open the windows, make some breakfast and catch up with my favorite internet radio show Chances With Wolves. The show is described by East Village Radio as “repping hard for haunting beauty, magic, and the weird.” I assert that to be true and it always puts a smile on my face. Perfect weekend music.

The fellas behind Chances With Wolves were profiled in a video by Coolhunting awhile back. Watch the video below.

“Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio is a documentary film on the late architect Samuel Mockbee and the radical educational design/build program known as the Rural Studio.”

I’m really looking forward to seeing this one.

Via one of my favorite blogs: MAKR

I love these photos chronicling the history of the New York City subway. There is something about the way a city gets used, like any other space gets used, that is really fascinating to me. People getting their hustle on, handling their business, making it work.

“This past year I went back to drawing animals. The process for these pictures is pretty simple: I find an old photo of an animal that somehow has some intrigue, and I use a China marker to freehand a version of that animal onto very smooth paper. Then I think of what that animal might be thinking — if that animal had an antagonistic relationship with humans and was vying with those humans for the favor of a Catholic God.” – Dave Eggers

I love it. See more here.

The Creator’s Project by Intel and Vice has a pretty interesting piece on Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Enjoy!

I always loved this title sequence from Michael Haneke’s 2007 remake (of his own movie) Funny Games. Wait for it… wait for it….

I also love the poster that Akiko Stehrenberger designed for it (see below). You can read an interview with her here, to learn about her process.

As for the film itself, its not for everybody, but I certainly enjoyed it.

I’m really enjoying the playful style and laid back approach of Ty Williams’ art. Dig that sea-faring vibe! Via the Makr blog – one of my favorites.

Original TMF contributor and amazing photographer Ian Whitmore is working on a new photography project entitled Onomasticon.

Inspired by an ongoing photography project that addresses the prevailing sense of non-place in contemporary American urban and suburban landscape, onomasticon presents a new vocabulary for these ubiquitous, yet abstract spaces.

This series is comprised of 26 artists books. Each book will pair a single word—corresponding to a letter of the alphabet—with various imagery. This new vocabulary will be composed of words both obscure and familiar; they share poignantly relevant definitions to describe the images they accompany.

While the books’ focus will be the photographic images, they will also explore any number of media, including drawing, graphics, screen printing, etc.

These individual books become documents; experimenting with and exploring both visual literacy and written language.

He’s set up a Kickstarter entry to help fund the project. You can also watch a video of Ian talking about his project there. Good luck Ian! Looks like a great idea.

Interesting to see the process behind Hecox’s work, not what I expected.

Nothing like a little vintage Biggie to get you inspired for the rest of the week. Onward!

Site Inspire is a well-designed website that showcases other well-designed websites. I like this site, the design sensibilities of the sites that they showcase appeal to me. Its also nice that you can browse based on style and theme and other criteria.

I’ve been a fan of Frank Chimero for some time now, but I hadn’t seen his full-blown website! Its full of amazing design/illustration work (duh) but he’s also got some great insights and ideas that I found especially inspiring.

Our boy Ian Whitmore was recently included in Fraction Magazine’s Issue 14. Outstanding stuff, as always.

I love New York City. All the people, coming and going, everyone on their grind. Everyone on their hustle. Peter Funch is a photographer taking an interesting look at the similarities that exist within the crowds of people who walk the streets day in, day out. As far as I can tell he shoots multiple photos in one location and then compiles the similarities into one composite image. I love this stuff.

Everybody is stoked on these Spoon posters by Casey Burns. Include me in that group. I love the colors, the hand-rendered type and the menacing undertones. I think Casey brings a fresh take on the gig-poster scene.

Caleb Owen Everitt has a nice name and is good at making the graphic designs. I quite like his giant barrage of work format for his portfolio site.

I’m digging this series of leftovers by Triboro Design. I always thinking about the various design scraps that accumulate on any project. What to do with these remnants? Something… maybe this?

Professional Skateboarder / Artist Ed Templeton has a huge show up in Belgium right now. It looks like an impressive amount of work. Hear him talk in awkward ways about the show.

A nice little video of Barry McGee talking about art and stuff.