The Discerning Brute: fashion, food & etiquette for the ethically handsome man » music

April 77 Launches Online Store

joshuakatcher — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:30:46 +0000

Rejoice! It's finally here! Our favorite vegan Parisian, Brice Partouche, has launched April 77's online store, chock full of bad-boy clothes and accessories that embrace the real rebels out there. Their new campaign features Jethro Cave (model, musician, and Nick Cave's son) and Sophie Willing (model and actress) in photos and an upcoming video!

Hot Belts, Bartlett’s Rescue & The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger

joshuakatcher — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:22:32 +0000

• The Elvis & Kreese collection of recycled fire-hose tube accessories is now on sale at Bourgeois Boheme! • John Bartlett, renowned designer and animal activist, will be hosting an animal adoption event at his 7th Ave Store. The North Shore Animal League is bringing their mobile unit full of adoptable mutt-igrees as well as a couple of puppy mill rescues. I snapped the image above of Bartlett's rescue pup Tiny Tim the last time I swung by his studio. Look at that face! Saturday July 31st Noon - 5pm 143 7th Avenue South New York, NY 10014 • Get your tickets now, and get up to the gorgeous Woodstock, NY! The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (GOASTT) is the new project by Sean Lennon and his musical partner and girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl. Their first album “Acoustic Sessions” is due Oct. 26 and being released by Chimera Music. Listen to samples here. Opening for GOASTT will be an acoustic set from Undersea Poem, followed by Woodstock locals Jonathan Donahue (Mercury Rev) and Amy Helm (Levon Helm’s band and Ollabelle) performing as a duo called Love Is For The Birds. The concert will be held on an open lawn at the Sanctuary in Willow, NY, directions here.

Olympic Shame, Vancouver Goes Veg & Loomstate Sale

joshuakatcher — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:52:19 +0000

The organic cotton line Loomstate is having a sale on GILT GROUPE today (up to 70% off retail) You must have an invite to partake. And now you do! We have to admit though, we are little disappointed to see that Loomstate, one of our favorite lines, has started using lambswool. Boo! It always boggles our minds how "green" designers seem to ignore the fact that livestock production (yes, including sheep and lamb) is the single greatest cause of environmental devastation. Lambswool is a very profitable byproduct of the meat industry, yet there are so many amazing alternatives like banana silk, soy yarn, bamboo yarn, corn fiber yarn and more! It's just lazy (not to mention ecologically hazardous and cruel) to keep using animal fibers. Stick to Loomstate's organic cotton in this sale! Vancouver is offering veggie dogs and veg chili to athletes and fans thanks to Olympic sponsorship from Hain Foods. "We are dedicated to the spirit of the Games and providing A Healthy Way of Life; and are very proud to showcase healthy, sustainable living at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games through Hain Celestial Canada's natural and organic products. Having visited many concessions during my Olympic trip, it was with great pride that I watched the spectators make the healthy choice choosing our Terra Chips and Yves Veggie Cuisine veggie dogs while cheering on all the athletes!" It's too bad that Canada is known for it's brutal baby seal slaughter. Peta has made their own official Olympic logo and pin for the olympics. "Most people would agree that there is something terribly wrong with shooting and smashing in the skulls of baby seals, yet despite international outrage, the Canadian government allows sealers to beat and skin hundreds of thousands of these gentle creatures every year. So why is Canada killing seals? The seal slaughter exists because of the overall demand for fur." Vancouver Olympic Shame: Learn more.

WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK: Seitan Daube vs. Dan Black

joshuakatcher — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:42:27 +0000

by featured contributor Troy Farmer I remember when I was about, say, 16…sadly, that was 18 years ago (oof)…I was in a car driving somewhere with my mom in southern Virginia and I had My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless in the tape deck (yes, tape deck). Anyone who knows this album—and, mind you, everyone should know this album if there is anything good and decent in the world—knows it’s not exactly baby boomer music. It’s loud, fuzzy, music laden with tremolo-bent glide guitar that makes it sound like an army of guitar players are strumming thousands of strings over very, very buried vocals. So, yeah, not exactly Barry Manilow. My mother, naturally, inquired how on earth I could listen to such music—there was no rhyme or reason to it, no catchiness, no melody. I responded, in an odd moment of logical lucidity, that all of that melody and hook was there, it was just in a new package, wrapped up with new sounds that my generation could relate to—or at least those of us with grape Kool-Aid-dyed hair and a Dr. Seuss stocking cap (hott). Well, I’m sure I wasn’t exactly that eloquent, but you get the point. Dan Black sounds nothing like My Bloody Valentine, but he’s bringing the same game to the table—excellent song-writing, catchy hooks, and razor-sharp pop sensibilities, all wrapped up in a very now-sounding hybrid of electronics and traditional instrumentation. There are many artists out there who, while great in their element, would sound naked and rather pathetic once you strip away the blips, bleeps, vocoder, or guitar effect du jour because the song structure isn’t there. It’s like trying to get an American Idol winner to go off and write an album of original material. Sure they’ve got a great voice and popular culture on their side, but there’s no creative skill behind it, no original base for their success. But take away Dan Black’s bells and whistles and you’ve still got a great pop song. See? That’s what makes him and so many other talented artists with that knack so very worthy of our collective admiration. They can write music. Crazy, right, that talented song writing is the proverbial needle in the haystack of popular music these days? That said, a pretty face with nothing behind it is nothing new in the music world. But the oft-criticized current state of music is something that I think has actually leveled the playing field and made it easier for talent to rise up above showbiz marionettes with multimillion dollar backing. Yes there’s plenty of figuring out to be done before artists can be assured of making a living off their talent and their musical passion, but now the kid with a guitar, a drum machine, and any number of audio programs sitting in a bedroom in the middle of the country can pour her heart out in song and disseminate it to the very massive masses via the Web and essentially be just as visible as, say, Beyoncé. She won’t necessarily have Jay-Z on her arm or eat bars of gold for breakfast, but I can hear their music just as easily. In my mind, especially for the independent musician, things couldn’t be more grand in the world of music. So suck it, U2. But I digress. Point is, Dan Black’s music is built on that prized thing that is and has been missing from many acts: Musical substance. Everything on top of that structure—the drum machine beats, the quirky keyboard fuzz, the sampled nylon guitar hook—is all just there to keep our oh-so-short attention spans occupied and our ear attuned. And the effect is music I, for one, can’t stop listening to. Check out some of tracks on Black’s site - http://www.danblacksound.com/music/ My favorites there are “Wonder” and “Junk Food”. And you can hear an interpretation of his single, “Symphonies”, by Passion Pit, one of my favorite new bands and an early fan of Blacks’ - http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Dan_Black/track/Symphonies_Passion_Pit_Remix Though his debut album, Un (meaning ‘One’ in French and…you know…‘Un’ in English), has been out since the summer in Europe, it won’t be available here in the US until next month. But you can download the whole album in all it’s MP3 glory via iTunes now. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/un/id340160747 Now then, you’re probably hungry after all that reading. Daube, a southern French beef stew, obviously minus the beef, seems an appropriate paring for Dan Black both because he calls Paris home and because it, like him, builds its tastes on a fundamental base with staying power. Who can’t be won over with a hearty warm stew, especially in the dead of what promises to be a mournfully long winter. I’m not claiming this is 100% faithful to the tradition of Daube, but it makes for a nice parallel, don’t you think? So, first off, you need to decide whether you’re making fresh seitan or using packaged, which is obviously quicker, but not nearly as much fun. If you’re buying it, White Wave makes a nice one, but more and more we’re seeing local manufacturers get into the gluten game, so we leave the brand to you. But get 8-12 ounces, depending on how much of a ‘meaty’ taste you like in your stews, and skip this first part. If you’re making it, you’ll need the following:

• 1 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
• 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
• 4 3/4 Cup Vegetable Broth
• 2 Dashes of Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Clove Garlic, smashed and finely chopped
• 4 Springs Fresh Sage, sliced into tiny strips
• 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 Tsp Liquid Smoke
• 4 Cups Water
• Pepper to Taste

Heat a small pan on high with a dash of olive oil, once the oil is heated and begins to smoke a little, toss in the sage and allow it to singe on the edges, turning a dark green to brown, but not black. This will only take 30 seconds or so. Immediately move the sage to a paper towel and absorb the extra oil. Mix the wheat gluten and yeast in a large bowl, then mix 3/4 cups of broth along with the other liquid ingredients, garlic, sage, and paprika. Once everything begins to bond together, kneed the dough for 3 minutes and form into eight or so small medallions. In a large pot, heat the remaining 4 cups of broth and 4 cups of water and toss in the seitan medallions. Bring everything to a boil and then immediately turn the heat to low. Simmer for one hour then remove the seitan and let cool. Now, for the rest of the stew, you need:

• 4 Unpeeled Carrots, sliced into thick circles or half-circles
• 4 Stalks of Celery, sliced
• 16 Ounces of Frozen Peas
• 6 Shallots or 1 Large Sweet Onion, peeled and finely diced
• 3 Large Unpeeled Yukon Gold Potatoes, chopped into roughly 2”x2” cubes
• 6 Cloves of Garlic, smashed and finely diced
• 2 Cups of a Decent Red Wine (keep it French if you want to uphold the theme)
• 2 Tbsp Teriyaki Sauce
• 3 Tbsp Liquid Smoke
• 6 Ounces Canned Tomato Paste
• 3 Cups Vegetable Broth
• 3 Cups Water
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Sprig Fresh Rosemary, finely sliced
• 1 Spring Fresh Thyme, finely sliced
• 5 Fresh Sage Leaves, finely sliced
• Pepper to Taste

In a large pot, boil your potatoes in the broth and water covered, tilting the lid a bit to allow some of the steam to escape. Meanwhile in a large, heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet, sauté the shallots/onion and garlic in the olive oil on medium heat, stirring continually and allowing them to become slightly translucent. Allow them to brown on the edges, but if they darken too much lower the heat. Cook for seven minutes. While that sautés, chop your cooled seitan into roughly 2”x2” chunks. Add them to the skillet and sauté with the shallots and garlic, turning up the heat slightly. Cook covered for 10 minutes, uncovering and stirring halfway through. Meanwhile, as potatoes become more tender but still offer a little resistance (likely fifteen minutes in or so) add the sliced carrots. Now, back at the skillet, add one cup of your wine. Not a wine fan or want to go for a more ‘merican stew? Sub in half a bottle of a nice strong beer like a stout? Abhor alcohol altogether? Use an equal amount of broth. Now add in the teriyaki and 2 Tbsp. liquid smoke and cook off the liquid, allowing the glaze to absorb into the seitan mixture. This takes anywhere from five to ten minutes depending on your stove, elevation, or potential juxtaposition to temporal vortexes. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the carrots in the pot. Once they’re starting to become tender, likely five minutes post-pot-add, throw in your celery. Back at the skillet, once the liquid’s cooked off, add the other cup of your wine or broth or other half of your beer and pepper everything fairly generously. Again, cook the liquid off until you have a slightly syrupy mixture, probably another 10 or 15 minutes. Turn the heat on the skillet off. At this point, your pot vegetables should be pretty tender and the potato should start to break off a bit at the edges, thickening up the stew stock. Now add your seitan mixture, 1 Tbsp. liquid smoke, frozen peas, and tomato paste to the pot and stir everything together. Cook everything with the lid mostly covering the pot but again allowing some moisture to escape for 3o minutes. As you cook everything, keep an eye on the consistency. You should be good, but if things get too thick, you can add a little water or broth. Too liquidy? Throw in a little flour, though, if anything, this recipe veers toward too thick. Now you’ve got some lovely beef-free stew. Kick back and listen to some fine tunes, my friend. Just not U2.

Biomimicry, Celebrity Auction & A Veg Hanukkah

joshuakatcher — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:30:40 +0000

What Would Nature Do? Biomimicry is a fascinating emerging discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems.

Still looking for the perfect, wool-free peacoat? If we didn't wow you with our previous list, here's a few extras. The Armani cotton peacoat, and Helmut Lang cotton/acrylic pea coat are not cheap, but they're wool-free and will stay in your wardrobe for life. Classic styles like this are not going anywhere.

Instead of a shorter coat, Banana Republic's moleskin trench and French Connection's Moleskin car coat are great alternatives - and brushed moleskin is a warm, heavy, sturdy and soft cotton. No moles are hurt!

Have you ever wanted to do yoga with Russel Simmons or take five of your friends to a private dinner party prepared by Celeb Chef Tal Ronnen with actress Ginnifer Goodwin and Author Rory Freedman? What about lunch with Supermodel Tatjana Patitz or 2 VIP Tickets to the Ellen DeGeneres Show or two tickets and backstage passes to see 30 Seconds to Mars? Whether it's art, a health consultation, or meeting the stars, the Farm Sanctuary auction on Charity Buzz has some amazing stuff worth checking out. This could make a really great holiday gift and help out one of our favorite organizations!

It's almost Hanukkah! If you have no idea what to make your brisket-loving family, quit your kvetching and start smoking your marijuanica, compiling Jewish recipes and planning a traditional menu. From Sweet and Sour Cabbage Borscht, Carrot and Sweet Potato Tzimmes, and Potato Latkes with Tofu Sour Cream and Applesauce, to Roshinkes un Mandlin and Cranberry Apple Cinnamon Strudel - this is a real traditional feast.

The Rebel Savior: April 77′s Brice Partouche

joshuakatcher — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:02:45 +0000

Brice Partouce has a vision. The Parisian-Jewish-punk-rocker-record-label-proprietor-fashion-designer not only makes some of the most cool and sought-after threads, but he's also reshaping the industry landscape. Throngs of rockers and hipsters seek out his signature denim, each pair endowed with a loaded guitar pick-holster, allowing the bearer to play a power-chord at moment's notice. Drawing on his adolescence as a hardcore kid, and following the guidance of his conscience, Partouche has carved out a role for himself as both rebel and savior. In an age where the "rebel look" equates the irony of supporting some of the most mainstream and problematic industry practices, a real iconoclast emerges, and he's wearing a vegan biker jacket. Discerning Brute: What's it like being a fashion designer in Paris who has ethical convictions? How does the industry respond to your values? Brice Partouche: First, I don’t consider myself as a fashion designer. I use fashion industry to show my vision, and so my ethical convictions,but I also talk about music with APRIL77®collections, and more specifically about rock n’ roll and youth movements. I was vegetarian for 13 years and recently turned vegan. Not a lot of people knows that APRIL77 is a cruelty-free label because we always have communicated on the music side but never on the “animal liberation” idea. But I think people will find out next winter when they will notice that wool has been banned from our collections. The cruelty free ethic does not fit into the fashion industry right now. But I hope a change and I really think that APRIL77® could help for a change. We are the only fahion and trendy brand that is animal friendly. I’m not saying that others ethical brands doesn ‘t exist but I’m just pointing the fact that those brands are not into the “fashion/trendy” circuit but into the eco/ethical market.

DB: That's rare, and that's brave. Speaking of cruelty-free, what inspired the "Good Guys Don't Wear Leather" line, and what shoes and boots can we expect to see in the future? We need an amazing men's lace up boot! Do you have any other accessories planned? Driving gloves? Faux leather buckle suspenders maybe?

BP: The name comes from the Minor Threat song (which is a cover song) “Good Guys Don’t Wear White” because hardcore music made my mind and my vision. We launched this line with 2 shoes (derby/cowboys boots) last year but a real leather free shoe/accessories line will be launched next year. But it has to be perfect, and good leather alternative are hard to find and to develop...

DB: Your English is so much better than my French! You also run a record label. What came first, the clothing or the records, and give us a band we should check out that New York may not be aware of yet.

BP: The clothing line came first but music inspired the collections... It’s like the chicken and the egg. Top band: Semen Sundae. It’s my band and we are serious, 10 songs in 20 min.... Really I don’t listen to new bands... I'm kind of stuck in oldies punk/hxc/Black Metal/Hard Rock...

DB: Obviously, you don't use any fur or leather. Why do you think people are so obsessed with leather and fur - and will we ever be able to move beyond them?

BP: First, leather is just like denim. Leather lives, get older.. So yes leather is beautiful. Same for fur... The problem with consumers is that they stop thinking after noticing that something is beautiful. That’s pure hypocrisy. Same with food. Meat is tasty/ good.. "Ok that’s enough...I don ‘t want to know more..." If people would have to kill by their hand the animals they are wearing, well the story would be different. Leather/fur supplier are just like butchers. And people are hiding behind them...

DB: We love the look of your wool garments, but many of us don't wear wool because of how the animals are bred, raised and treated for this purpose. Do you have any plans to make similar garments in a cruelty-free option or to discontinue the use of wool?

BP: I turned vegan 6 months ago , just when I started to work on the winter collection. It was logical to me that I should banned wool from the collection. Some people tried to change my mind or asked me to wait before doing such an important change, but I couldn’t be in harmony with myself if, as a vegan, I was producing wool. In future collections, we are replacing wool by really thick and heavy cotton. Sometimes we mixed it up with some synthetic threads just for a hairy look. We are trying as much as we can to use only natural knitting fabrics.

DB: I was recently in Paris and had an amazing experience with food. What would a perfect weekend for a vegan in Paris look like? What is your favorite places to visit for fashion, food, and entertainment?

BP: Haha, eating vegan in Paris is like being satanist in Vatican... Almost all vegetarian/vegan restaurants are owned by sects...but a good place to eat is Le Potager Du Marais on rue Rambuteau in the 3rd. I will pass on the fashion/entertainment question...But, the best bar/pub is Stolly’s , awesome music and cool people.

DB: When will the online boutique be open for business? Where can people outside of Paris purchase your clothing?

BP: Soon a new website...

DB: What would the world be like if you were in charge?

BP: A vegan reich :-)

Check out some of our Fav April 77 Records Garments

DBTV: Tarkan Interview at NYC Fashion Week

TheDiscerningBrute — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:00:52 +0000

Tarkan might not yet be a household name in the United States, but with his forthcoming album - star studded with collaborations featuring some of the hottest US artists, it soon will be unforgettable. In Europe, Russia, and especially Turkey, the press has compared his effect to that of Elvis' on the US in the 1950s. Tarkan, famous for his spellbinding performances, is an award winning German-born, Turkish pop-singer known as the "prince of pop" by the media on the other side of the Atlantic. He has several multi-platinum selling records, with a total of over 15 million albums sold. Check out my interview with Tarkan at the Emilie Humanitary fundraiser at Fashion Week in NYC where we discuss his humanitarian, environmental, and animal causes in addition to music such as his fighting of a controversial dam in Turkey and his collaboration with PETA to help animals like strays in Turkey and those typically used in the fur industry. Tarkan was confronted by PETA in 2008 for wearing fur on the cover of his album. Once he learned of the plight of fur-bearing animals, he made an apology and has sworn it off. He also really enjoyed the Dr. Cow's vegan cheese I gave him, and I hope to get the opportunity to prepare him a full vegan meal soon!

EMPTY V: The Legendary John Norris

TheDiscerningBrute — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:14:23 +0000

John Norris might be one of the most recognizable faces to anyone who liked music during the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. John had one of the longest-running VJ careers on MTV, and has incredible perspective on where we stand concerning pop-culture. His environmentalism, veganism, and massive, glitter-crusted Rolodex of important musicians spanning a quarter-century make his perspectives worth considering. I sat down with John recently at the Jivamukti Cafe in NYC to talk about the state of mass media, music, and his personal politics. DBTV: John Norris from The Discerning Brute on Vimeo.