Illjazz from New York

Illjazz“llJazz is a monthly mix podcast serving up soulful sounds from the past and present. It’s all about rare grooves, party breaks, selective hip-hop tracks, and vintage electronic cuts.” Illjazz is Andrew from New York djing, he’s a really sociable guy and has a great taste in music. As long as it’s good and funky it’s perfect for him. And for me, too!

I especially enjoyed his sheep meadows mix of soulful house music. The setting is like this: “Each weekend afternoon, hundreds of rollerskaters come down and dance on skates to funk, disco, garage, house, etc. mostly older people who used to party back in the 70s and 80s NYC club scene – Paradise Garage, The Loft, etc. Lot’s of funky ass people!!” Enjoy some original New York house:
[audio:http://archive-b01.libsyn.com/bndseJR2bX2Ufml4mXhppJmkaXKZ/podcasts/illjazz/illJazz_Podcast_6.mp3]
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New York – Barcelona – Berlin

Old russian in BrooklynIt is been a week that I am back in Barcelona, still, I had to share some thoughts about my American experiences. I have talked to many people about the trip to NYC and it has been interesting to discuss the good and the bad sides of this vibrating place. Next saturday I am going to go back to Berlin, with “one crying and one laughing eye” to express it with a German saying. But first, here’s what’s left on my mind about New York.

It was too cold. I am sure to go back to New York some day, but it will definetely be in a less freezing moment. You cannot enjoy the hidden jewels of a city if the snooze drops like ice from your nose. When you, despite a thick woolen cap, cannot feel your ears.
We couldn’t walk around, we always needed a target. So probably we missed out many nice spots. The ones that were shown to me had a nice atmosphere of creativity and ideas, but also always of competition and ambition. Continue reading

New York No Signs

Quiet ZoneNew York, they say, is one of the most liberal cities in the United States. Still, a lot of stuff is not allowed, either because the city’s administration introduced laws and reglementation (e.g. no smoking inside public buildings, no dancing without a proper license, etc) or because a lot of places are privately owned and the propietor does not want people to behave inadequately. But while e.g. UK-adminstrations or even those in California always stress the cooperative element in rules and orders (“thank you for your cooperation”) or have at least an educational approach (“we have to do this because of this”), in NYC sometimes all those signs transmitted an unfriendly or even suspicious mood to me.
I have a little collection of “No”-signs here, just to stress my observations. And if you do not agree with that perception of New York City life, feel free to discuss it here. Continue reading

Welcome to Williamsburg

Screen movieI was told, Williamsburg is a little like East-Berlin, lots of old, abandoned industrial sites that have been turned into lofts and artists spaces, nice cafés, clubs, cool stores and overall young, artistic and open-minded people. Williamsburg is the part of Brooklyn which is right across the East River from Manhattan, so you are in Midtown with three metro stops and still enjoy the cozyness and slightly lower living costs of Brooklyn. On our way there we already encountered a good piece of subculture and streetstyle: Two guys, one of them not older than 12 years started dancing on the train. Continue reading

City of culture

People relaxing at MoMaWelcome back to the cool sides of Manhattan! Take this literally: It is so cold in New York that long walks and picnics in the sun are an illusion. You want to stay insinde as much as possible. So I did and experienced a lot of culture. Read about MoMa, galleries in SoHo and and a film festival in the Lower East Side and see all the pictures in Stylewalker@Flickr.
Continue reading

Tea Time in Brooklyn

Tea Lounge in BrooklynOne of the greatest places in whole New York to hang out, have tea and enjoy free W-Fi is the Tea Lounge in 837 Union Street in Brooklyn. You enter and feel comfortable immediately. It is generously spacious, has lots of sofas and cushions, hand written menus on chalkboards and many little lamps. People sit and work creatively with their laptops and get to know each other due to the open architecture, and talk life, politics and projects. Continue reading

Eat cheap and good in Chinatown

Chinatown Jobee RestaurantNew York is an expensive city. Really?!
Yesterday I found a great place to eat lunch: Jobee on 3 Howard Street, Chinatown. An all you can eat but not at all shabby buffet for 4$! We enjoyed the good food and the chinese hospitality. A real Stylewalker recommendation! The only I did not like was the sea weed, but that’s ok, I can live without it. We had even free tee on our tables and two big bowls of steaming rice.. Continue reading

New York, Zoo York

Tomorrow it is off to the big apple! Half past seven to Lisboa, arrival in New York half past three. Be prepared to enjoy recent impressions from the Village, Nolita, Dumbo, Williamsburg – all the fancy places people keep recommending whenever I tell them I’ll be there for two weeks. They told me even more, but I like to explore myself, strolling around and feel the cities vibe.
(I know, in the picture there are still the twin towers, anyway, I like the foto..)