Frank Fairfield

I’ve made nods to Frank Fairfield several times over the last couple years on this site, but wanted to take a moment to truly shed some light on this enamoring figure. In early 2008 I somehow stumbled upon a bizarre podcast called Pathways of the Gramophone. This radio show (now defunct) was a highly eclectic program that showcased old folk and world music. It was narrated and curated by one, Frank Fairfield. After some research I discovered Fairfield was a player in his own right. These days Frank is releasing records of original and traditional music and touring the world alongside such acts as Fleet Foxes. I had the chance to meet and see Frank play in LA last March and again last night at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Fairfield is on tour currently supporting Cass McCombs. Click here to view the schedule.

“Fairfield is worthy of your consideration, even if you’ve never heard or considered the old-time music. He plays with a rare integrity, offering up his life in a way that does exactly what folk music must do– it relates the world as the singer sees it, mixing sadness with sweetness, excitement with low-down and miserable depression. This has nothing to do with genre; hip-hop, jazz and rock all feel this way, too. Like the best of it all, Fairfield’s music seems inexorably real and entirely necessary.”
- Grayson Currin, Pitchfork

A mini-documentary on Fairfield by Austin Wilson

“Nine Pound Hammer”

More links to Fairfield
LA Weekly Biography
NPR interview
Fairfield’s Facebook Page
Pathways of the Gramophone (.zip file of a handful of episodes)
Daytrotter Sessions (1, 2)

Top image courtesy of artist

The Smile

Last fall, I spent a long morning at The Smile discussing art, design and surfing with my friend, Ed Fladung.
Here are a few images from that morning.

A previous feature I did on The Smile can be found over at Kinfolk and a previous profile on Ed, can be seen here.

Recents

An amalgam of shots from the past several months. (Subject, Location):

1. Seth Barkley, DFW Texas

2. Ben Edgerton of Contigo, Austin Texas

3. Rob Lowe in Riviera Club, Swiss Alps

4. My shoes, Mason Texas

5. The night-stand of Joe Tomcho, Brooklyn New York

6. Lunch, Brooklyn New York

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Photographer
Ryan McGinley 

Blogs
The 189 

Listening
J. Tillman – Cassette Tape Demos

Reading
The Tanners by Robert Walser

Watching
The Trip

Down By The River

Images from some time spent recently with friends near Mason, TX on the Llano River.

Breakfast

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.  …At Mom’s over the holidays in Texas.

New Years on Lake Cypress Springs

I had the pleasure to spend NYE on Lake Cypress Springs in East Texas w/ my dear friends, The Fusch family. We rung in the new year around the outdoor fireplace with the fireworks popping off in the distance over the water. Happy New Year, all.

Profile: Joe Tomcho

I met Joe on a film project that I was involved in last Spring. Since, we’ve become friends and even have some future collaborations in the works. Tomcho grew up in Ohio but has lived and worked as a filmmaker and photographer in Brooklyn, NY for the past 10 years.

1-2. Portraits I took of Tomcho in Williamsburg, Fall 2011
3. A 2007 photo by Tomcho
4. A recent video commision for Bowery Lane Bicycles

View more of Tomcho’s work here.

NYC, 2007

I found a couple old external hard drives under my bed at my mom’s house over the holidays. These shots were taken on a trip to NYC in the fall of 2007.

Recents

Some details of a book I shot for Leigh Patterson, Cantos by Ezra Pound.

Design
Caleb Everitt

Photograph
Jerome Lautre

Blog
Mackäpar

Listening
Arvo Pärt – Lamentate

Reading
Something For The Weekend by Jamie Oliver

Watching
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Happy Holidays

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season.
I’m home with my family in Texas with some mild weather, sleeping in and eating way too much food.
Enjoy the holidays!

Here are a few recent features or posts I’ve been involved with:

New York Magazine
A very teeny photo in the Dec 19th issue highlighting the new Williamsburg locale of my favorite barbers, Persons of Interest, Pg 88.

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Nice Magazine
Photos and an interview in issue 5 of South Africa’s Nice Magazine, Pg 17-21.

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Take Root
A guest photo post and profile from Julie Pointer, Click ‘previous’ for further images.

Winter Music

A playlist of songs to whet the beauty and solitude of the winter season. Winter embodies such a rare starkness. The days are shorter. The air is crisper. The light is somehow different. The earth’s palette darkens. Sparse boughs creak over the soft glow of our homes. These quiet notes flit and arc like a canopy of starlight. Harnessing us into the season.

(This playlist was originally created for Kinfolk Magazine. View that post here.)

Click here to download.

Tracklisting:

01 • M83 - When Will You Come Home

02 • Nils Frahm - Keep

03 • Broken Social Scene - Sweetest Kill

04 • Evenings - Babe

05 • Christina Vantzou - Homemade Mountains

06 • Small Sur - The Woods

07 • Cliff Martinez - I Drive

08 • Tim Hecker - No Drums

09 • A.A. Bondy - Skull & Bones

10 • Orcas - Until Then

11 • Goldmund - Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier

12 • Grouper - Alien Observer

13 • Deaf Center - Hunted Twice

14 • Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - By This River

15 • A Winged Victory For The Sullen - Requiem For A Cheap Piano

Previous seasonal mixes:
2011
Spring
Summer
Autumn

2010
Summer
Autumn
Winter

(Top photo unknown)

Dunderdon

Dunderdon is a clothing and accessories line based in Gothenburg, Sweden. With a balance of well thought-out design and an embrace for the outdoors, Dunderdon is surely a gem with only 2 US stores at the moment (NYC and Portland, OR). I had the pleasure to photograph Dunderdon and showroom manager Nicole Held recently for a feature on the Kinfolk journal. Here are some secondary shots from my visit to the SoHo showroom.

Recents

1. Freeman’s

2-3. My dear pal Paul Flanders

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Design
Naut

Photograph
Akos Major

Blog
Une Collecte

Listening
Mountain Man – Made the Harbor

Reading
Americana by Don DeLillo

Watching
Martha Marcy May Marlene

Kinfolk, Vol. 2

Today, the second volume of Kinfolk has been released. The project is taking on a life all its own and it is really something special. If you don’t know what it’s all about, please peruse their newly designed site here as well as the promo video above. Subscriptions, print orders as well as iPad versions are available. Enjoy!

Schoolhouse Electric Co.

Beginning in Portland, Oregon with their flagship retail showroom, Schoolhouse Electric Co. has harnessed a remarkable take on trademark period lighting, furniture and a myriad of accessories. While preserving classic designs, SEC’s collective of designers and craftsmen are indeed upping the ante for well-made products for the home and office.
Watch founder, Brian Faherty in this video on the history and vision of Schoolhouse Electric.

Above: Images from the opening of their NYC showroom.

Denim Retirement

For the past nearly 3 years, these APC New Standard jeans have served me quite well. There was only a day or two per week these weren’t on my body. After several crotch blow-outs and several repairs, the final blow-out has forced me to send them to retirement. Let me know if anyone has any brand suggestions for a new pair.

Pop Up Flea

Thirty plus new and vintage menswear brands and dealers set a high new bar as the Pop Up Flea took on grand heights this past weekend in NYC. Showing off their wares were the likes of Red Wing Heritage, Billykirk, Levi’s Vintage, Oak Street Bootmakers, Hickorees, and LL Bean Signature, amongst others. The large two-story space was packed to the gills with friendly merchants and their crafts. Seas of folks were in and out through the three day opening that all started with, “a line down the block before we even opened,” said Michael Williams of A Continuous Lean, who also co-ran the event. Read more about the Pop Up Flea here.

1-2. Overview of the space

4. Giant American flag between the levels

3. George Vlagos of Oak Street Bootmakers

5. Michael Williams (A Continuous Lean) & James Wilson (Secret Forts)

La Columbe Torrefaction

One of the great things about a city the size of New York is that there are many options. Options for every preference of material good in existence. The search for the “best of” is a long-standing quest for me in regard to food and drink options; namely, coffee. Having sampled a decent cupping of what the city has to offer, I’ve whittled my list down to a few strong contestants. The Philly-based La Columbe is ranking high in that mix. Being served from their sleek yet tiny outpost on Lafayette in SoHo as well as being featured in Saturdays, La Columbe has a newish shop in NoHo/East Village. The space is open, clean and the large windows let an expansive amount of light in on the beautiful sets of tables and benches lining the perimeter beneath the high ceilings. I spent a long afternoon recently in the space and am happy to report that the friendly staff and quietude paired nicely with the first-class drink offerings. Highly recommended.

Recents

1. Steve Marks of Persons of Interest (previously covered here for The Scout)
2. Emil & Sandy Corsillo of Hickorees/The Hill-side (previously covered here for The Scout)
3. Chuck Miller of Moonshine (previously covered here for The Scout)

Artist
Matt Wisniewski

Filmmaker/Designer
Sean Patrick

Photographer
Bharat Sikka

Blog
Crude Vessels

Publication
Wilder Quarterly

Listening
Nest – Body Pilot

Reading
Already It Is Dusk by Joe Fletcher

Watching
Melancholia

Peter Broderick

I recently met up with my friend and musician Peter Broderick, while visiting Berlin (where he currently lives). Broderick originally comes from Oregon and wields high ranks with his copious amount of releases, collaborations and appearances under his young belt. Donning violin, piano and guitar as his go-to figures; field recordings, small electronics and vocals also seep there sweet way into his music. His next full-length record is highly anticipated and due out in early 2012. Be on the lookout for that and in the meantime please enjoy the video above and peruse and purchase music via his homepage.

Guest: Julie Pointer

My dear friend, Julie Pointer (previously mentioned here and here) has been up to some great things and I am so pleased to share an update of her recent ongoings. Pointer’s background encompasses such trades as woodworking, interior design, and set styling (not to mention her keen prowess as a baker). Her project blog, Take Root, chronicles gatherings, their spaces and the hand-made accoutrements therein. In addition to hosting monthly pot luck dinners, Pointer also has a project called The Yard, which seeks to facilitate a space for pop-ups, music, and other events (an inspiration blog for The Yard). Other original and inspirational photography work can be viewed on her Wind-Trimmed blog.
(All images by Julie Pointer) 

Recents

My apologies for the lack of content. I’ve been traveling in rampant fashion and haven’t much down time nor a decent internet connection. All safe and sound now in the lovely throes of fall in NYC. Looking forward to the coming of snow, holidays and perfect winter light. For now, here are some outtakes from my travels.

1. Sint-Elisabethkerk’s attic in Gent, Belgium

2. Boat on riverbank in Düdingen, Switzerland

3. Kleines Cafe, Vienna

4. My dear friend, Rob Lowe, at Kleines

Photographers
Megan Cump
Conor O’Brien

Listening
Alexandre Desplat – The Tree of Life
Nils Frahm – Juno
Hammock – Asleep in the Downlights

Reading
The Magician King by Lev Grossman

Watching
Modern Family (Season 3)

Slovenia/Austria

1-4. Ljubljana, Slovenia

5-9. Vienna, Austria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italy

1. Near Genova

2-3. Genova, Italy (seriously the best pasta i’ve ever had)

4-5. Tuscany

6-8. Pisa

 

 

 

 

Switzerland

1. Luzern

2-4. Düdingen