Billboard Hits & A Lost Souls Music Man

The first time I saw the self-proclaimed "provocative" American Apparel billboards I was slightly interested. My friend called them "voyeuristic" and I thought they were a critique on the air-brushed advertising we are so used to.
The years dragged on and it seemed there would be no end to the formerly-titillating American Apparel billboards and ads on the back of Vice. I grew weary of the über-hip pedophile-photographer-in-his-basement visions staring me in the face as I stopped at Sunset and Alvarado. I began reading more and more disparaging articles by people who were no longer shocked by the campaign and hoped for a change in their advertising design. But despite the public's bored attitude toward the ads, I still found myself face to face with shots of some razor-burned cooch as I walk by a pile of Vice magazines laying face-down.

But finally... finally American Apparel has graced me with something new. Not that I buy their shit, or will ever buy their shit. But living in LA, you have to put up with a great deal of billboards and now there is one-less annoying hip, underage chick in ironic sunglasses and see-through tights that I have to stare at on my way to work.

So, thank you. I like the Jewish guy... aka Woody Allen in a scene from Annie Hall (Thanks to Iain for pointing that out). I'm still not going to buy your shit though.

And here is a track from a local artist my boyfriend met in downtown LA. His name is Bird and he works at my favorite coffee joint, Lost Souls. Go in any afternoon and tell him how much you like his music.
Magic Girl has got a disco beat with funky experimental elements. It makes me think of grooving in my living room after getting back from a party, but not being quite ready to settle in.
Running Wild is a iron-pumping song that is reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem.
Check the music out and then go get some toddy coffee from Lost Souls, aka the best coffee shop in LA.

MP3 - Blackbird - Magic Girl
MP3 - Blackbird - Running Wild

Update:
Iain found this article about American Apparel that just makes me even more annoyed. Here is an excerpt from the article as well as the original link.

"Hugh Hefner also carried on sexual relationships with several of his Playboy Playmates — and in the early years he marked his territory via subtle visual clues in the magazine's pictorials, like his shaving brush and comb on the bathroom sink or his tie hanging in the background. Charney, whose love life usually includes several women at once, does the same thing. The messages being conveyed by American Apparel about sexuality are also about Dov Charney's sexuality. He sometimes photographs the models himself, and when they are pictured in bed it may be in his bed or on his couch. On occasion, he has put girlfriends in ads, and the photos seem to suggest that they were taken while getting it on: his bare chest and a pair of sky-blue gym shorts beneath a woman straddling him or his face partially visible on the pillow next to a happily disheveled young woman."

Link: Original Article

Hugh Hefner, Joe Francis and Dov Charney. Ew.