LA, Austin, and New Orleans-based artist Corinne Loperfido specializes in whimsical, folk-pop drawings, poster art, and embroidery, hilarious and honest comics, and mixed media collages and concept pieces such as her beard photo series.

SPONSOR

We ran ourselves ragged driving from Baltimore to Portland in 48 hours flat, and by the time we were almost done with our West Coast tour in LA, we were exhausted, stinky, and broke. At moments like these, a little imported sheep’s milk cheese does wonders, which is why we b-lined it to The Cheese Store of Silverlake right after we downed our espresso shots at Intelligentsia right next door.

The impressive store features the best cheeses available Stateside (unfortunately USDA regulations prohibit the sale of raw milk cheeses aged less than 60 days, which pretty much eliminates some of the best French cheeses), mouth-watering charcuterie, and various sauces, tapenades, olives, and tasty little packages of culinary delight from lands far and wide. Of course, none of us could afford anything and we were there to take advantage of the free samples, but the place does offer custom baskets of goodies that fit most budgets even slightly more flexible than that of a touring doom metal band.

I’ve always been a huge Milton Avery fan, so the instant I stumbled across the work of Californian artist Chi Birmingham, I was head over heals. I really enjoy how every year Birmingham decides to take his distinctive style in a new direction, from various American landscapes to basements (as if, after all those wide open landscapes, he needed to feel a little more protected?), to various everyday rooms (not quite ready to venture back into the wide outdoors, but tired of the dank basement day in day out?). I’d certainly recommend popping by Birmingham’s blog as well, as the subject matter on there are a lot of fun doodles and cool figurative bits.

Punchy synths, Cure-ish keys, P-bass, dance rock grooves, handclaps, gang vocals, cowbells, tambourines, hip-hop beats and lyrics that reference mermaids in love with humans. It’s all in a day’s work for San Francisco band My First Earthquake. This is their debut video — for the single — Stay Cool In The Cool Way — and we have it to show exclusively. Fun, fun. And more.

Quiksilver’s Limited Collection, a premium extension of the main Quiksilver line featuring a collaboration with Disruptive Pattern Material and Hardy Blechman of Maharishi, debuted in Spring of 2007. The latest collection combines a sophisticated, minimalist aesthetic with nautical and military influences.

SPONSOR

In her photo series Welcome To Paradise, Rivkah Young stages scenes to capture what we perceive by the term Paradise: ‘In order to declare this, humans create special places, at theme parks, shopping malls and urban residential complexes. Visions of something different — a tropical rain forest or African Savannah — are also created at the zoo or at water parks. The look of an urban place becomes a scenery-like projection of our visions’.

LA-based renaissance man David Choe draws from toy culture and comics as much as he does from Japanese painting and conceptual high art. Choe has a massive body of work, which includes sculptures, installations, murals, paintings, photographs, and graphic novels. Legend has it that his first exhibition at an ice cream shop stayed up two years longer than originally planned because his pieces sold faster than the ice cream itself.

Improv Everywhere strikes again with a spontaneous musical in a Los Angeles mall. Wireless microphones hooked up to the mall’s PA system ensured the feeding masses didn’t slip into Cinnabon-induced comas until after the show was over. Note especially the angry dude in sunglasses at about 2:51 — apparently he thinks nothing can ever top Rent.

The Bay Area is home to many things that remind us of our lost childhood, our forgotten innocence, and deep seeded secrets and dreams. Berkeley-based artist, Kukula, is one of those such reminders. This week she is travelling to Los Angelese with one of her largest exhibitions to date. Dream Catcher will open this Friday, March 14th, at Thinkspace Gallery. Her blog states: ‘In the past, whenever I began working on a show, I tried to capture an emotion that was generated by some important experience in my life. I tried to document the feeling, not the event. This time I am attempting to catch emotional currents with no evident experiential origin. Whereas my past paintings represented the nightmare feeling of real life, here I want to depict the emotional utopia one tries to keep sheltered within’.

SPONSOR

Sarajo Frieden’s paintings, with happy colors and delicate line work, are so beautiful, I feel like just want to jump in there and swim through all the lines. For lucky ones in Los Angeles, her new show Another Green World, is opening at LittleBird Gallery on March 15th.

One of the best record stores I have visited in recent times is the centrally located music store, Dense in Berlin. Their selection is impeccable, their staff are very friendly, and they know their music. I have visited many music stores around the world — including Ameoba in LA, Tower in Tokyo, Kims in New York, and the recently dissolved Smallfish in London — and I have to say Dense is definitely up there. Their electronic section is very well sourced, they have great vinyl and they don’t stock any commercial music. If you ever find yourself in Berlin, make sure you head to this store for music you’ve probably never heard of. [read also about Berlin's Jewish Museum]