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Published on 12/22/08
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Wild Style the Sampler, by Charlie Ahearn (Miss Rosen Editions/powerHouse Books, $35) It was in 1983 that uptown B-boy culture really began to infiltrate downtown nightlife, and Charlie Ahearn’s slice-of-life film Wild Style was a major force in that cultural tsunami. Now the “realist” of ’80s hip-hop flicks (sorry, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo!) is commemorated with Wild Style the Sampler, a coffee-table book laden with photos, some very cool graffiti and interviews with Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Caz and others.
Frekuensia Kolombiana: Tuning Into the Colombian Hip Hop Movement (Halcyon, 57 Pearl St at Water St, Dumbo, Brooklyn; $24.99) Since the Wild Style days, American hip-hop has, of course, become a worldwide force—heck, even Laplanders can ID a Kanye track in three notes or less. But there are still plenty of local, homegrown scenes that have managed to retain an identity utterly their own. Colombia has one of the strongest and most idiosyncratic scenes, intimately documented in this DVD and accompanying CD.
Le Disco (DJHistory.com, $13.99) Love disco, but bored to polyester tears by the likes of “Boogie Oogie Oogie” and “We Are Family?” The underground-dance-music clearinghouse DJHistory.com has compiled a just-released collection of late-’70s radio talk-show wrap-arounds and backing music for car chases on French cop shows, remixed by the disco-loving likes of Faze Action and the Idjut Boys.
Tenori-on (tenori-onusa.com, $1,200) High-end toy or real-deal production tool? Either way, the thing looks pretty cool. That’s probably because the Tenori-on, with its (supposedly) intuitive matrix of LED switches, was codesigned by Japanese artist Toshoi Iwai. Serious electronic-music artists like Pole swear by it, but even if your giftee can’t figure out how to use it, he or she will be the envy of their techno buddies.
Holiday gift guide 2008: On a budget
More than 200 ideas that don't look cheap.
