Ice Cream Fall/Winter 2010 Lookbook

As promised earlier on in the week here are the images from the Ice Cream fall/winter 2010 lookbook, one that is quite a contrast in style from the new Billionaire Boys Club designs. Over the past 10 seasons Ice Cream has been known to be the more playful, forthcoming and experimental line in terms of colour and graphic designs, as well as creating products which fit under the description of casual/streetwear. This new 11th season line is no different, with your usual relaxed fits accompanied by bright stand-out colours and well designed graphics.

Hoodie's, crewnecks, flannel shirts, t-shirts, IC denim, flat peak caps and the great IC trainers are once again the order of the day in this wonderful line. Surprisingly, the new IC trainers turn out to be one of the highlights of the line, with the simple models and bright colours. The Converse styled trainers also have the cool feature of the Ice Cream dripping over the rubber outer sole. As per usual the hoodie and crewneck designs are excellent, with a nice relaxed fit combined with the quality of colour and graphic design combinations. The material the clothing is also fantastic, thick 100% cotton that will give you many years of wear without fading or loosing any great quality. I'm also a huge admirer of this IC line's flannel shirts, with both great quality materials used and a pleasing aesthetic design. The thick cotton model has a cool checked design with sensible and complementary use of colours (black and white, red and navy) featuring a little ice cream cone and and ice cream man on a skateboard respectively. These along with the crewnecks are items which would be well worth investing in for future years.

You can check the full lookbook out in the pictures below. These items will hit BBC flagship stores as well as specialist department and independent stores in September/October. The best places in the UK to find the items will most likely be Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Dogfish. Enjoy the preview images of the collection below.

Ice Cream Fall/Winter 2010 Lookbook Preview:

Billionaire Boys Club - Fall/Winter 2010 Lookbook

This beginning of this week has seen the release of the fall/winter 2010 lookbook from the Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream lines. I'm going to provide images form the Billionaire Boys Club line today, and then follow up with the new Ice Cream releases in the next couple of days. This is the 11th line designed by BBC, and after looking through the images provided by the lookbook it is without doubt one of it's best lines to date. The brand seems to be evolving from line to line, with a more reserved and toned down feel to this line than we have seen in the past.

The fall/winter line features a number of different styles of clothing, with varsity jackets, knits, blazers, crewnecks, denim, trousers as well as shorts and new styles of trainers. The crewnecks/hoodies are once again well designed, featuring the classic BBC logo against bright colours on a well fitted design. One feature I was really impressed by is the new shirt designs, something which the brand now seems to have become accomplished in designing in the past couple of years. Particularly the denim shirts caught my eye, with a smart buttoned look combined with a slim fit to create some really cool pieces. I believe the selection and design of denim jeans has decidedly improved over the past few seasons, finding a better fit in this line. Past lines have seen a baggier styles which come in awkward sizes, but this line seems to present a perfect denim which is a unique fit, one that almost falls between the straight and skinny cut lines. Once again the jeans have the astronaut helmets and dollar signs on the back-pockets, a signature design of BBC denim.

You can check the full lookbook out in the pictures below. These items will hit BBC flagship stores as well as specialist department and independent stores in September/October. The best places in the UK to find the items will most likely be Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Dogfish. I will be posting on the brilliant Ice Cream fall/winter collection over the next couple of days. Enjoy the preview of the new collection below.

Billionaire Boys Club Fall/Winter 2010 Lookbook Preview:

Young Montana? Ballast Presents Guest Mix

Fantastic. I absolutely love it when you get something you just don't expect, and all the better when that certain something is ridiculously good. This afternoon I got sent a brand new mix by Young Montana? in advance of Friday's Ballast Presents event, which after listening to this mix, you will not want to miss. I've only had chance to give the 45:18 minute mix a couple of listens in the last couple of hours, but I've already grown to love the work. As soon as I heard the opening 'You Still Believe In Dee', taken from Bullion's brilliant mixtape 'Pet Sounds: In The Key Of Dee' (a mash up of the Beach Boys and J Dilla as you can probably tell from the title), I knew I was in for a real treat with Young Montana's latest offering.

Montana? provides a glitch drenched mix which is so well put together, each track smoothly fading into another, and before you know it time is up, and you've been on one hell of a musical journey. It could have been easier for Montana? to just stick with glitch-hop artists, but he reaches beyond the boundaries and picks two great tracks, Mount Kimbie's 'Maybes' and Fantastic Mr. Fox's 'BrickAbrac' respectively, which lend the sounds of the post-dubstep movement to the mix, giving it that added sense of variety. Montana? himself provides a few unknown tracks within the mix which fill me with anticipation for future releases, sounding great next to the established works of Hudson Mohawke (Polkadot Blues') and Flying Lotus ('Do The Astral Plane'). Of course I'm not familiar with all the tracks in the mix, so take a look at the tracklist below for Montana's? brilliant selections.

Young Montana? Ballast Mix Tracklist:

BULLION - You Still Beleive in Dee
Young Montana? - Midnight Snacks
CLARK - Ted
MOUNT KIMBIE - Maybes
NABO - Parkinlot Pimpin
SHLOHMO - Tomato Smash
BUSTA RHYMES - Touch It (acapella)
FANTASTIC MR FOX - Brick-a-brac
EGYPTRIXX - Hexagon Ya
KUEDO - Starfox
LANDLORD (Groundislava)- Animal
J DILLA - On Stilts
HUDSON MOHAWKE - Polkadot Blues
CHAIRMAN KATO - Low Rises
FLYING LOTUS - Do The Astral Plane
16BIT - Chainsaw Calligraphy
DEM HUNGER - Electric Shithole
DARKSTAR - Videotape
DORIAN CONCEPT - The Fucking Formula
AMANDA BLANK - Might Like You Better (acapella)
DADDY KEV - First Things Last
S. MAHARBA - She
Young Montana? - Estrangered

You can download the mix now by clicking here. To hear the sounds of Young Montana? in the mix live then make sure you're at Plan B (Brixton) on Friday for the first ever Ballast Presents night. The line-up for the event is looking great, with Montana? playing alongside some of the best names in UK Bass music in the form of Kavsrave, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mosca and Darkstar. The guys promoting and organising the event have done a great job in getting such a talented line-up, and hopefully this will be the first of many great nights thrown by Ballast. Get your tickets now at http://www.wegottickets.com/event/85823, and join the events group on facebook for further information on upcoming events (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ballast-Presents/131756950185609).

FACT Party - The Lock Tavern

Tomorrow sees FACT Magazine throwing it's latest monthly party at The Lock Tavern in Camden. The event is an Independence special which will run from 3-11pm, which includes and all-day terrace barbecue and musical delights in the form of DJ sets from Guido, Pearson Sound, xxxy, as well as FACT's very own resident DJ's. Not to mention the event is FREE, which is outrageous for a line-up of such quality and magnitude, so make sure you get there early if you fancy attending.

The man headlining the event is actually the one I know the least about, having heard very little of his material before this point, although I have always known of him. I am yet to hear his debut album 'Anidea' which was released on Peverelist's Punch Drunk label, and from what I've seen the album was well received. After listening to a couple of his tracks, especially the really nice production 'Mad Sax', it's evident his roots are in dubstep and grime, although he adds a slightly soulful edge with melodies and hooks in the form of vocals and synths. As a big name from the emerging Bristol dubstep scene, I am pretty sure this will be a set full of exciting unreleased material from the best artists in that very underground scene. Check out some of his work at his myspace page by clicking here.

Pearson Sound (aka David Kennedy, who also produces under the alias Ramadanman) is one of my favourite artists, and over the past year or so has probably been the most prolific producer on the post-dubstep scene in terms of releases and live-sets. The Hessle Audio co-founder is yet to perform live as Pearson Sound, the name under which he creates more dub-house influenced tracks in the form of 'WAD', 'PLSN' and 'Indelible'. His sets always delight, drawing together a wide variety of sounds including dubstep, house, 2-step and UK funky. I have a feeling this set may prove to be the highlight of the event. Check out his myspace page as Pearson Sound by clicking here.

xxxy is a producer from Manchester which I'm really excited about. His own material pulls influences from UK garage, 2-step, UK funky and techno to create soulful dub tracks that emit emotion but that are equally suited to the dancefloor. Have a listen to a few of his newer productions on his Soundcloud page, especially the brilliant 'I Can't Stop', 'All Over This' and 'A.R.N', and you'll soon understand why I'm really anticipating the future release of this material. Having listened to a couple of his mixes, expect and eclectic mix of future dubstep, 2-step and UK garage with a slight house influence, which in the past has worked really well. xxxy's set is one you're not going to want to miss out on.

So, if you fancy great music and a decent barbecue sometime tomorrow, get down to The Lock Cavern in Camden (35 Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8AJ), although get there early; I have a feeling this one's going to be a busy one.

Donga & Blake - 'Grown Ups/Detroitus'

The latest release on the Brighton based label Well Rounded is a collaboration between label head Donga (aka Ultrasound) and Blake. The label is home to some of the best and most exciting up-coming artists in the world of UK garage and funky, with some really strong releases recently from the likes of Deadboy, Hackman and C.R.S.T. The label has many new exciting releases forthcoming as well, and later this month the label will be hosting its first club night in Brighton to display the talent it has on offer.

This 5th release on Well Rounded is quite a departure from what has gone before, with a more refined and forward thinking sound developed in these records rather than the slightly more colourful and exaggerated house and garage that someone like Deadboy had specialised in creating. The EP is great in the way it balances a number of directions and influences, with an really strong balance between soulful house, deep techno, funky and also garage rhythms. The first track 'Grown Ups' is very much of the tech-house sound, whilst still incorporating that old school garage feel and sound. Arrangements on the track are subtle and refined, rather different from the more explicit and bass heavy garage produced by C.R.S.T and Deadboy. The second track 'Detroitus' is my favourite of the EP, a track which was sold to me in Joy Orbison's Sonar set. This track has a real UK funky sound to it, with a strong rhythm complemented by the nicely arranged house chords that trickle in the background. The presence of the vocals are hypnotising as well, with the words "Can't Stop. Won't Stop" playing the perfect foil to the tracks well produced beat and chords.

On the flip side of the EP, Geoim provides a remix of 'Small Hours'. This is also a really great track, with meticulously arranged chords and synths which constantly twist and turn working well with a garage/funky rhythm that is accompanied by heavier sub-bass than we are provided with on the first two tracks. The EP has had a lot of support from well known DJ's and artists including Martyn, xxxy, Jamie XX, Doc Daneeka and Joy Orbison. You can listen to these tracks now at http://www.myspace.com/wellroundedrecords, and the EP has been released on 12" vinyl and is available from Chemical Records, Juno and Boomkat. The EP should also be seeing an MP3 release within the next couple of weeks, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for this and other releases on the great Well Rounded label.

Size? x Converse Poorman Weapon - 10th Anniversary

Size? have undertaken a number of special, one off, collaborations over the past few months in order to celebrate the specialist streetwear store's 10th anniversary. Already this year we have seen Size? team up with Adidas Originals to create a continuing city series, Reebok for the release of the Workout Plus, Nike to create both the new lightweight runners pack as well as the ACG pack, and also Trainspotting to produce two skull card t-shirts.

The latest planned release see Size? collaborate with Converse to produce a limited edition re-design of the classic Converse model the Poorman Weapon. The trainers takes the classic Poorman Weapon mould and dresses it to celebrate Size? in it's brilliant colourways. There will be a trio of colourways released, with the trainers coming in white, brown and black. Each style comes with a white midsole, as well as orange and black stripping and orange lace holes to celebrate the colours with which Size? has become associated with over its 10 year existence. The design is really nice, simple but yet effective in what it celebrates.

This collaborative collection will be released later on in the month on the 31st July, so if you fancy a pair make sure you note down that date. You'll have to be quick to get these, as they are being released in limited numbers and will no doubt be in high demand from sneaker loves and collectors. You'd be best advised to visit your nearest Size? store early on the day of release to guarantee a pair, or rather make sure you visit the website early that day to ensure you get the limited items made available online at http://size.co.uk.

Size? x Converse Poorman Weapon - 10th Anniversary Collection: