Ubiquity Records makes some sweet tees...

...not sweet teas, for all y'all southerners who got excited.

Ubiquity Records is a west coast record label that is home to some innovative jazz and hip hop artists like Sa-Ra Creative Partners, the Breakestra and Gilles Peterson. but in addition to dropping funky fresh beats on the masses, the also print up some pretty sweet music-related t-shirts.

Here is one of their designs from the latest collection:

product page can be reached by clicking on the shirt

I don't play drums (except for air drums, and that doesn't count), but I seem to have an affinity for drumming t-shirts. I really like the text on this one, and it comes in a more earth toned color palette as well. $23.99 is a bit steep, but it is one nice design...

And here is one of their classics, with text courtesy of the late, great maestro of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti:

Classics Collection can be reached by clicking on the shirt

This same shirt--or an identical rip-off--has been sold by pop culture homogenizer Urban Outfitters (and possible t-shirt plaguerizer) for a while, but it was on a brown tee. I like silver shirts, but I got one long sleeve and one short sleeve and I'm trying to cut back on my t-shirt addiction.

One last thing: Ubiquity is having a t-shirt grab bag sale. Basically, you tell them what size you are and they'll send you three shirts. More details are available here. Unfortunately, they don't have my size, or I'd be all over this.

I just broke two of my fashion rules...

1. I bought a black t-shirt.

I almost never wear black t-shirts or white t-shirts. I'm a semi-slob, so the white t-shirts are a bad idea since I'm more then likely to stain it in the first wear.

2. It is an LRG t-shirt

LRG gear has proliferated and infiltrated many of the places I find myself on a regular basis. Usually their clothes are way too expensive for me, but I made an exception (read: I got a deal) for this one.

Here is the design:

The LRG Live @ the Fillmore T-Shirt in Black

Product page @ Karmaloop can be reached by clicking the design

Not that bad, right?

If you sign up for Karmaloop's newsletter you get $10 off your first order, which is the only thing that made this shirt affordable.

You know, I never thought that I would care at all about clothes and fashion...

make believe, not war...

Here is a nice new t-shirt design from No Star Clothing:

product page can be reached by clicking on the shirt

I really like it, but at $24, it is a little outside my price range.

If they ever have a sale, I'm all over it.

the zombie food pyramid...

...or, influences made apparent.

Here is t-shirt design that was recently submitted to t-shirt competition web site Threadless:

click on the shirt to get to the product page

And here is a the graphic from a story in the satirical newspaper the Onion from 2002 entitled "Zombie Nutritionist Recommends All-Brain Diet":

the Onion's Zombie Food Pyramid

Inspiration?

Rip off?

You decide...

all shirts 10 bucks at Shirt Empire

Shirt Empire has all their shirts on sale for $10. Shipping is only $5.

Pretty cheap for some decent items. Almost all of their styles marry music and design, so they're the type of style I usually jump on.

This is the one I just bought:

product page can be reached by clicking on the shirt

What do you think?

which t-shirt should I buy?

I've mentioned it before, but I have a problem with t-shirts. I just got a package in the mail from Threadless today (one for me and another for she), and at least a couple days a week I will find a shirt online that I'll come a click away from purchasing. I've curtailed my habit a bit recently, and have decided to wait a bit after seeing a design a like before purchasing it. Some shirts I've initially wanted to buy faded from my mind, and others sold out before I could get home to find a credit card.

These two shirts caught my eye a few weeks back, and I still thinking about them. That's a sign. I decided to buy one of the two.

Which t-shirt should I buy?

Shirt #1 - Think Globally - the Imaginary Foundation

product page can be reached by clicking on the shirt

The first comes from a company call the Imaginary Foundation. They are a Swiss design group with an interesting (and decidedly psychedelic) take on technology, the arts and the environment. I have a series of their posters framed and hung up on my walls, but I've never bought a tee from them because many of them were all-over prints, of which I am not a great fan. This shirt was almost never considered since on the web site it is shown in white, which I refuse to wear since I am a certifiable slob.

The shirt features a quote from Sierra Club founder David Brower, and I find the illustration to be fantastic in a fairy tale kinda way.

Shirt #2 - Instruments A-Comin' - Dirty Coast

product page can be reached by clicking on the shirt

The second shirt comes from Dirty Coast, a shop out of New Orleans. As you can probably tell, I like music almost as much as I like t-shirts, so when you put the two together I have a hard time resisting. (Exception: extremely overpriced concert tees.) I really like the electric blue and green on this one, and according to the sales pitch,

This shirt is a celebration of the Tipitina’s Foundation nonprofit that helps year after year to raise funds for music instruments for our city’s youth.

I don't know if any money from the purchase of the shirt actually goes to the Foundation, though.

Those are the two I like. Comment with your choice, if you care.

20 % off t-shirts @ randomshirts.com

Use coupon code RELAUNCH and get 20 percent off your purchase. Randomshirts.com features fraternity-esque humor and slogan t-shirts, like this one I'm a bit partial to:

I'm not one of those people who have a problem with clowns, but I know some folks that have a serious phobia when it comes to face painting, rubber nose or oversized shoes.

This shirt is pretty good, too, in a post-feminist over-simplified biblical reference kind of way:

I'm pretty sure the deal specified "No Exchanges, No Refunds".

Sorry.

(And I didn't realize that these two shirts were the same color. Guess I'm feeling blue today...)

The song of the summer (and the accompanying merchandising tie-in)...

Ever since this video for Justice's D.A.N.C.E. dropped I've watched it at least once a day. Not only is the song freakin' awesome, the video itself is visually stimulating enough to keep your eyes on it.

I've made it my goal to play this song an obscene amount of times this summer, so it's fitting that my first real post is about it.

Justice - D.A.N.C.E.

When I first saw this video, I slowly picked my jaw up off of my desk and asked myself "Where can I get one of those awesome t-shirts?" I was thinking of the ones that actually changed their designs and were psychedelically cartoonish, but these limited edition tees by Colette (warning: weird French flash page) will fit the bill. And as far as overpriced, uber-trendy t-shirts go, $66.12 for two ain't that bad. Unfortunately, not even I can fit into an extra-small tee...

I like these two a bit better (and they have medium!)

Any of you that read this blog on the regular or even the semi-regular are gonna find real fast that I have a semi-serious addiction to t-shirts. There are worse things to be strung out on, I guess.