Upperhands.

The law as we know it.

2011-04-20T13:06:00.001-07:00

Venice Beach, 2011

2011-02-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

Pete Rock on the new albums coming out this year.

New Smif N Wesun album

DJ Premier vs Pete Rock album

Pete Rock with Jay Z and Kanye

Pete Rock with Nas...

Click here to listen. Enjoy.

Special thanks to: Scienz of Life, film, Blake Griffin bringing back the dunk contest, Dr Dre's master Kush, Egyptians using facebook, Michael Scarn "Threat Level Midnight". Peace

20 year anniversary of New York Giants' Super Bowl Championship of 1990

2011-01-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

Sunday, January 28th, 1990.
Tampa Bay, Florida.
The New York football Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills
at Tampa Stadium.
This Thursday marks the 20 year anniversary of their win.
Here are some flicks of the man who brought us to the promise land twice,
Bill Parcells.

Being carried by Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks.
Carl Banks now hosts a show on NY's WFAN Sports Radio,
Lawrence Taylor is currently on 6 years probation for
underage prostitution and reckless imprisonment of a minor.
Bill Parcels, well, he's just been ruining organizations in the NFL
ever since.

That's it, treat the quarterback like he's a crack rock.

The 1990 New York Giants finished the regular season
with a league best 14-2 record.
Many of those losses came at the hand of this beast wearing #56.
Unfortunately, in week 15, my favorite CBS football commentator
other than Jim Nantz, broke his foot in their game
against ... their Super Bowl opponents, the Buffalo Bills.
Thus forcing Jeff Hostetler to step up and win a Super Bowl.

He looks like a monster about to eat the cameraman. All sweaty and stuff. Iwe.
\

Love the frozen water.

Dear Sports Illustrated,
Your watermark is obscene.
Yours truly,
Bill Parcells eating the Sports Illustrated watermark.

Special Thanks to: Blake Griffin being more popular than Kobe. No. The whole NBA!, blueberry banana bread baked from scratch by beautiful women, brussel sprouts, beer battered anything, Jimmer Ferdette, Antonio Cromartie saying he's going to break Matt Hasselbeck's face ( I wonder what Cromartie's 9 kids with different women think?) and 75 degree January's.

Beat mixer 'Melaz Cosmo' brings the realest in art and music

2011-01-23T19:15:00.000-08:00

Melaz Cosmo not only brings some of the nicest beats this side of Silver Lake, but he also features graphic art and photography by some of the pros out there.

Enjoy: www.melazcosmo.tumblr.com

Newest mix I'm rocking my days and nights to:

Melaz Cosmo - Flight Plan

Special Thanks to: Women who look like men, Illa J, The New York Jets (we'll get em next year), The Angels: way to make the worst baseball move on picking up Vernon Wells for A-Rod money, Holiday Haze, hummingbirds are so cool, All I do is stay high and let my mind flow.

Isn't it Ironic... Don't ya think?

2011-01-09T21:34:00.000-08:00

I found this advertisement while rummaging through

some old National Geographic magazines.

This one was the back cover to an issue from 2002.

Sure BP, you won't be an oil company that will change the world.

Just America.

Thanks.

I altered the text a bit, but you get the point.

2010-11-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

ScubaKooba

Part 1. of the Fairfax series, 'Family' bookstore releases book on 7 inch records and some stories behind the art of making one.

2010-10-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

There's a small strip of concrete that has caught my attention.
Fairfax Avenue.
Part One of The Fairfax Series: Family Bookstore

Recently I got an invite to a book release at
the 'Family' bookstore on Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles.
With no preconceived notions on what type of bookstore it was,
Emily and I decided to brave the rain and check it out.

"Touchable Sound", is exactly that.
Imagine an in depth look into how album covers are created.
Rather than just one artist creating the work
then digitally printing it out on a conventional record cover,
artists and bands take the responsibility of pressing a creative
record cover into their own hands.

'Family' invited the authors, artists and contributors for the book,
"Touchable Sound",
to their store to tell us a more in depth story about the book and the records.

"Touchable Sound", 2010 Cover.

'Family' bookstore has all types of rare creative finds.
When you are entering their store, you see original artwork like this one below.

Prints from 'Family's' current photo exhibit,
"Victory Over Darkness" photos by D.V. Devincentis
On show through October 22nd.

Staircase style displays show some of 'Family's' rare books, zines, and music.

Window reflection outside 'Family'.

Window reflection outside 'Family' with Emily.

SoundScreen Design member Mike Treff, and three other contributors
led a powerpoint discussion on the making of the book.
They explained that this book takes the art of making 7 inch records
and the stories that follow, from across the country.

Brian Roettinger, Graphic Designer. One of the record designers and artists.
Check out his work here.

Britt Brown and a friend I don't know the name of, but was there that night.
Britt is also one of the record designers and artists.
Look further down this post to see the jacket he was wearing that night.

Justin Pearson, musician, record design and artist.

Here are some examples of the 7 inches.
Series of "Bored Fortress" records.

This album was made with silver ink.

Velcro to seal the record cover up.

I told you that jacket was the best.

That's not the shape of my heart.

2010-10-03T02:07:00.000-07:00

Special thanks to: Blue Dream, New York pizza, Dan Patrick, an earthquake-less summer, Nocturnal 2010, Kevin Sorbo, Jazz Liberatorz, Emily, SoFax, 25 cases of free 35mm film, there's more where that came from. See you soon.

2010-05-09T13:53:00.001-07:00

January 5th, 2010
Bavarian Inn
Holga Camera
Ronkonkoma, NY

April 10th, 2010
Ceres Boys Rooftop
Diana Camera
Downtown, Los Angeles

March 28th, 2010
Ill Gates Warehouse Party
Diana Camera
Downtown, Los Angeles

May 1st, 2010
Ceres Boys Rooftop
Downtown, Los Angeles

Just Another Day on the Row

2010-05-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday May 6th, 2009.
There was blood on the curb today.
Apparently these guys are in charge of cleaning it up.
Gun - shots I think.
Biohazards. Grey pales.
Downtown.

What posture and grace he has with the pale of blood.

I'm pretty sure they're twins.
I'm smelling a new CSI series.

Check out the opposite corner.
Another happy citizen.

Two Self Portraits

2010-04-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Emily

2010-04-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

Special Thanks to: broken lenses, breakdancers, Guru, Ill Gates, the Bwomp Crew , Sinning In LA.com, Fresh & Easy, Kenneth Walker Whiskey, F*** you Bayless, John Locke, Diana, Holga, and DFRNT.

Guru - R.I.P. April 19th, 2010

2010-04-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Guru,
I first saw you rock out before Rage Against The Machine in Long Island.
Traveled all the way to Philly to see you once,
even saw you in New York City.
Waited outside a record shop for two hours in the summer sun just to give you daps.
For whatever reasons, you are gone now. Not forgotten.
The first time I played Moment of Truth, or the last time I put a needle to the Guru groove,
you were an inspiration.
Thanks for the memories
Sincerely,
Upperhands

Guru and DJ Premier signed the poster below for me
at an in- store performance in
Long Island, NY
Circa 2003

Madlib Moment #2- Flight to Brazil

2010-04-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

Number 2 in the Medicine Show Series
Madlib - Flight to Brazil

A combination of Beat Konducta, Shades of Blue,
Medicine Show, and the Mamao : Jackson Conti albums,
Flight to Brazil is a 9 - track mix of
what I call, Brazil's reaction to American music in the
1950's, 60's and 70's.
Madlib uses his intricate sampling skills to blend
samples of old Brazilian music with
Brazilian airline advertisements,
and that patented Madlib style.
Brazilian style Jazz, funk, and soul,
this album will make you reminisce about a long lost love,
while keeping your ass shaking for days.
Please visit Stonesthrow.com for more info.

Actual album cover...
notice the beer bottles on the ground.
Killer!

Compact Disc has a two page illustration by contemporary artists:
by Jeff Jank, Currier and Ives.

Disc image

Side view of Madlib - Medicine Show Volumes One and Two

Please purchase at Stonesthrow.com!

Madlib Month!

2010-04-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome back everyone.
I've been away from my blog duties for a few months now,
but I'm back and better than ever.
The month of April on Upperhands is dedicated to the one and only:

Madlib

The first installment of Madlib month is his newest release:

Medicine Show No. 3 - Beat Konducta in Africa

A 37-track instrumental hip-hop album produced & mixed with
Madlib, featuring J. Rocc.
This album does not disappoint, it actually follows
right along with Madlib's previous productions...
Dope beats, dope samples, a taste of Africa and a mixing ability like no other.

Go cop it at Stonesthrow.com today!

New Work

2010-03-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles, CA 2009 - 10 Part One

2010-02-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

Some goodies from the vault.

2010-01-23T01:58:00.000-08:00

New Post Monday January 25, 2009

Must have # 3 & #4 : DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (Deluxe Editition), DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist - Product Placement

2010-01-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

Photo insert inside CD package
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (Deluxe Edition)

Artwork by Upperhands

DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist - Product Placement
Picture disc, Vinyl 12"
Discogs.com to check out detailed production notes

Released in 2005, the Deluxe Edition of Endtroducing was a real treat for fans and collectors.
The original Disc, Disc One, contains Endtroducing in it's full length.
Disc Two, entitled "Excessive Ephemera" contains demos, alternate takes, remixes and b-sides of tracks from Endtroducing.

DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist get together in one of their first released songs together,
"The Number Song (Cut Chemist Rmx)".
Before the days of Prroduct Placement (2001) and The Hard Sell (2007), in which Dj Shadow and Cut Chemist record
live one hour mixes together, the two DJs
got together for a sample heavy Number Song remix.

On the Deluxe Edition album, there is one remix that stands out amongst all the others,
"Stem (Cops and Robbers) Remix".
The slow harp sounds that mesh and blend into hard, almost drum and bass like drum patterns, played over samples from the film,
"Heat" (1995)
Shadow has created a roller coaster ride of emotion centered around
the on screen duel between a cop, Al Pacino,
and a bank robber, Robert Deniro.
If you are a fan of "Heat", you need to check out this track!

Product Placement is the one true album I heard that made me want
to research break beats and where they came from.
Shadow and Chemist bring us an all 45 record - mix album showcasing the illest
in breaks, funk, soul, hip hop, rock and parodies.

That's the end of DJ Shadow week.
I'm tired.
I'm going snowboarding all weekend.
Shred.

Special thanks to: Henry David Thoreau, One year anniversary of Kobe Bryant's 81 point game, Kobe Bryant being the youngest player to reach 25,000 points. Rex Ryan's pizza stained sweatshirt, the spirit of 18 - 1, about 3 feet of snow...

J - E - T - S --- JETS JETS JETS!!!!

Good Night Conan.

Peace.

DJ Shadow week rolls on. Dj Shadow must have: Camel Bobsled Race!

2010-01-19T21:15:00.000-08:00

"A song about life, death, love, hate, wealth, poverty, racism ...
Just a few things that have been runnin' through my head."

Artwork taken from CD book and 12 inch record layout,
DJ Shadow's, Preemptive Strike
Circa 1999

(Apologies for no artist name, will post soon!)

I stumbled onto this album a year after I had become
completely obsessed with Entroducing,
only to realize it's a compilation of early works that were used,
and some not used on Endtroducing.
Random cuts of Shadow drumming in the studio,
uncut versions of tracks from Endtroducing,
an extended version of "Organ Donor",
and a new track at the time - "High Noon".

Okay, so what the hell is a Camel Bobsled Race, and where do I sign up?
It's the title of the second disc.
I would compare it to a half hour of DJ Q-Bert mixing a bunch
of DJ Shadow's music from his early 'Mo Wax' days.
Circa 1991 - 1998.
Smooth, yet technical scratching and mixing by
Grandmaster Q - Bert,
puts the original Shadow tracks together in a whole new light.

Go to Discogs.com to grab the vinyl version or CD!

Special Thanks goes to: Warrants out for my arrest, rain in Southern California, watermarking issues, explosive diarrhea, Yearning to be lying next to someone 3000 miles away.

First Installment of the DJ Shadow Must Haves : The 4 - Track Era

2010-01-19T02:15:00.000-08:00

A collection of Shadow's work spanning from 1990 to 1992

focuses on Shadow’s first steps into full-fledged production.

Classics like Eric B and Rakim’s “Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em”
and Jungle Brothers’ “Jimbrowski”
are given the full cut-and-paste treatment,
all performed with turntables
and a multi-track cassette recorder; no samplers or computers are used.
Included in this volume are tracks from
the infamous “Reconstruction” tapes which led to Shadow’s first big breaks into the broader hip-hop scene ...
And then there’s the megamixes!

On a scale of 1 - 5 on Must Have
I give it a 5.

Notice how there are three different colored album covers.
These were mostly sold as artist prints on various websites
if you were lucky enough to snag
one when the album came out pre-sale.
The whole album bundle comes with 2 t - shirts sticking with the 4 -track theme.

Overall, the albums are amazingly mixed together for
for radio 106.1 KMEL FM serving San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose.
Bringing old break beats blended with your favorite underground hip hop acapellas.
It's a mash - up hip hop album before they ever did mash - ups really.
And if they were, they aren't nearly as smooth as this one.
Eat your heart out DJ Clue!

Sorry Vinyl friends,
this one's only available on CD or MP3.
Go to Discogs.com to purchase.

Week of DJ Shadow

2010-01-19T01:18:00.000-08:00

DJ Shadow
October 31, 2009
Los Angeles, CA
Photographs Courtesy of Upperhands

My first introduction to DJ Shadow was by mistake ... twice.

Year: 1998
Store: Mr. Cheapo's Used CD's / Records
I know really nothing about music at this time, other than the Beastie Boys,
and what white boy at the age of 13 didn't know about them?
The cover of Endtroducing is what sucked me in at first i think.
Some hip hop heads hanging out in a huge record store.
Listened to it numeorus times.
I just didn't get it.
My ears just couldn't grasp it's shear genius.
Yet.
I actually returned the CD to the same Used CD place i had bought it from in exchange for most likely some terrible album that I would be embarrassed admitting to now.
About a year later I was walking in the rain pondering things, listening to my walkman, when I realized that I made a tape recording of Endtroducing.
I decided to give it a second chance.
Beats made sense,
Lyrics were no longer important,
What Does Your Soul Look Like?
City bricks and windows covered in writing pass by
the crackle of vinyl records constantly flowing through my veins
Changeling
Pain is no longer felt
the tracks just flowed
like water in an ocean
like carving through snow down a mountain
like the slowing down of a heartbeat.
Organ Donor.
My ears have matured.
Midnight In A Perfect World.

The week of January 19 - 24th, 2010
Upperhands is dedicated to DJ Shadow

Special Thanks : "Bic" - ing roommate's lighters, the New York Jets and New York Islanders finally making me proud, Seeing that clip in the film "Scratch" where DJ Shadow is in a dark and dusty basement with thousands of records around him, SinninginLA.com , Knowing when to call it quits.

Warped Wall Of Death (Video)

2010-01-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

Now, for those of you who don't already know... it's 2010.
Where did the time go?
To start the new year on an ultimate note,
I thought I would bring you this little delight.

I have one question :
Why can't every hardcore show be like this?

Thank you : Frank151.com( the second illest free magazine ever),
Hardcore, Vans Warped Tour, my complete disdain for pop music.

Click link below to view video!

Warped Wall Of Death (Video) | Frank151

Fun With Light - Nocturnal Festival 2009

2009-09-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

Recently, Smash LeFunk and I traveled to the lamest place in Southern California :
San Bernardino.
Why in the hell were we there you ask?
Insomniac decided to throw a one day version of our beloved Electric Daisy Carnival.
4 old Army hangers were converted to 4 music tents.
Playing all styles ...
Dubstep, Drum and Bass, House, Hip Hop, Dance, Downtempo, Jungle.
The likes of Rusko, Skream, Roni Size, Pendulum,
Ferry Corsten and Glitch Mob, just to name a few,
graced us with their presence on one of the hottest days of the year.

If you know Smash LeFunk and I, you know that we "love" long - exposure light shots.
Here are some of my favorites from the day / night.

Please stay tuned for the entire Photo Essay of the Nocturnal Festival
By : Smash LeFunk and Upperhands
on the newest and illest Los Angeles Online Magazine ...

SinninginLA.com
Landing in your pants October 2009

Peace

Photographs courtesy of Upperhands

New Work, Biggie Smalls was the illest.

2009-09-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

Photographs and art courtesy of Upperhands

Pensive, yet still confused

2009-09-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

In coordination with my previous story,
I have included a photo taken on September 11th,
from Dash Snow's polaroid photo essay
@

www.tinyvices.com/dash_snow_1

Now, to the real story. Below.

For those of us who were "there" that day, you need to ask yourself if you really "were there".
It was my first week of college, an already awkward and experimental time in any man's life. I remember throwing up in my bathroom sink on the day I left for school. What a new and uncharted place to be going to for such a long time, away from any friends and family you have known since your birth.

Events happen in order of appearance:

-Week One College

Find the "smokers" on campus
Find the "white hip-hoppers" on campus
Have my first NYC club experience at Sound Factory ... wierd
Spend the night and early morning in New Jersey grinding my teeth, trying to sleep next to a big sweaty woman, who will not stop snoring. Can't sleep.
Coming into the Lincoln Tunnel, "wow, the World Trade Center looks beautiful, I've never really seen it like that".
Sleep.

Students are calling in absent to school because all the roads are shut down.
The subways in New York have been stopped.
Apparently a small plane hit one of The Twin Towers.
A television gets wheeled into our class ten minutes later.
Watched the first building crumble.
Ran out of school.
Look to my right.
Smoke.
A Thick black cloud going straight up in the air.
This wasn't on the tour i took before coming to this school.

Spend the day not knowing what in the fuck is going on anywhere in the world.
Friends at home are sitting in front of their televisions, with guns loaded and ready for anything to happen.
"This is war."
Friends of mine I had just met in college had family members that lived and worked right near this mess.
No contact, phones are cut off. I can't get in touch with anyone.

Finally around 7:00 P.M., things cooled down.
We gathered together like a bunch of naive college binge drinkers at a local bar.
Yes, a local bar.
Bars in New Rochelle, NY were rumored to be run by "special interest groups"
if you know what I mean, that allowed under-age drinking in their bar, with a simple college I.D.
My guess is that it's still happening now.
I may follow that up when I'm home in December.
Anyway, we were 18 and getting wasted in a bar on a Tuesday night.
Clips of the carnage kept playing on the old televisions in the bar.
Fuzzy and skipping every thirty seconds, I swear that some of them still had bunny ears.
It was a terrible place to be on such a night.
The D.J. turned the music off, and the lights down.
"A moment of silence for those who lost their lives".

My heart truly goes out to anyone who suffered that day.
In and around the
New York City area.

Dash Snow's photo exhibit from polaroid series
Photographs courtesy of Upperhands

Special Thanks to: NYPD, NYFD, American Imperialism in Afghanistan during the 1980's, WMD's, Code Green, Code Yellow, Code Orange, Code Red, My friends who lost family members on that day, Not being able to find an American flag hanging out of anyone's window today.

Late Great Lower East SIde Graf King passes, but we still have definitive proof he was here. Polaroids = Ultimate.

2009-09-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

It's 1997 and the Beastie Boys have just released Hello Nasty.
It's hot, it's the summer, and it's New York City.
I'm wet behind the ears.
" Last night was my first concert ... yeah ... Hello Nasty Tour at the Nassau Coliseum. I bought these killer Beastie Boys basketball shorts.
Had those shorts for about three months and never saw them again. Can only imagine who is wearing them right now. Probably some old dude in Idaho randomly got them at a thrift store. He is scratching his crotch drinking a beer wondering what the hell you have to do to get the name of "Beastie Boy"?

We're fresh off of the Long Island Railroad, pure from the influences of drugs or alcohol, skating around the quintessential skate spot anyone from Eastern LI knew about ; The Brooklyn Banks.
Welcome to my first real New York City moment.
The sound of the bricks at " The Banks" running under your skateboard wheels.
The faded graffiti from weeks earlier, when the Zoo York crew came around and tore the place up.
We cruised up and down Broadway, Lafayette, St. Marks, Mott St., just to name a few.
The Subway smells like rat.
The city is peaceful.
We know not what is to come in the next few years.
That pesky September 11th.
And like that, the reality of being from Long Island set in, and it was time to go home.
This was New York City in 1997.

If you ever took "the train" in any of New york City's five boroughs, you may have noticed a trend...
there's a bunch of people who like painting their name on the sides of buildings.
One of these guys was named "SACE" or "SACER".
Government name Dash Snow, we think?
Resident of the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Photographer, lover, graf artist, dark bathroom coke snorter, weapons expert, serial killer knowledge extraordinare. Not your usual cat to say the least.
This man got up everywhere in the city, and was truly the king of not giving a flying "f**k" what the spot was... it was getting hit up.
With precision craftsmanship.
From 1999 to 2008, I spent a lot of time in New York City. All boroughs, with the exception of one borough, Staten Island. No one goes there. For anything. Ever. Unless you want to drive by Method Man's house. Which I've done once, I think.
SACE was a household name to a young and clueless wannabe graffiti artist like myself. I would marvel in one thing about this man's work, and one thing only. The amount of times I found myself saying ..." How the hell did he get up there, to that spot, and bomb it so beautifully, so many damn times, in so many places around NYC?"
This man Dash Snow, was one of those people you read about two years after they're dead and gone. The heading of the article says something like, "graffiti artist, pays the price of drugs like so many other artists before him. "
But that's not who he was.
He was an art form.
Every time I looked out of a window of a bus, or took an accidental left onto Bowery, when I meant to be on First Street, and BOOOM. There is a huge "SACE" or "SACER" staring me in the grill.
I couldn't help but smile. And you should too.
Next time you are in the L.E.S. of NYC and you see a "SACE" or "SACER",
try to take a piece of that brick he wrote on home,
and understand that there is so much more to the man,
than a can of paint.

Please go see Dash Snow's, a.k.a. "SACE's" Polaroid Photography
in Photo Essay Format
@

www.tinyvices.com/dash_snow_1

or

Pick Up the Newest Issue of Vice Magazine
Which features photography from Dash himself,
and fellow Vice Magazine Photographer
Ryan McGinley.

Peace
Enjoy friends

-hell Gas Station

Dash Snow
Polaroid

EarSnot in a wheelchair - getting up--?
Dash Snow
Polaroid

This post is dedicated to four people.

SACE or SACER
Michael Kendrick, because I know you are feeling the loss of this man
Aubrey Snowden, because she sends me photos of graf she finds in NYC and I love her for that
Gaellen Smith, because I probably spelled his name wrong, and he is truly an inspiration for why I do any art... Ever.

Los Angeles Bridge Under-Belly

2009-09-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

Photos Courtesy of Upperhands
Special thanks to : Brad, Shamrock, creepy tunnels cop cars fly out of and graffiti artists who are bi- coastal.

From Stencil Series , June 2008

2009-09-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

"Will Kill for God" Part One

Acrylic on Paper
9 feet x 4 1/2 feet

SOCAL Fires '09

2009-08-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

Digital Book Part One

2009-08-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

Photography and art-work courtesy of Upperhands

Epicenter '09 - Top Nine things you would find at a music festival hosted by Tool

2009-08-26T19:06:00.001-07:00

Fire

Crack

Nice kicks

O.G. backpackers

Alice In Chains fans

Milf's

Dying on-line publications

This guy

Tool

Photographs by Upperhands

Special thanks to : KOA Camping grounds, V.I.P. Buffets, Ryan F., Amy D., Dooshbags from San Diego, Ma-te, Lambs breath, Wild turkey, Those people we tried to ditch for hours but just couldn't shake, press passes, foggy lenses.