Moodboards WISH they had this sauce
Vibey defunct magazines, ill unisex shirts, joy-boosting chunes & more
Welcome to Blackbird Spyplane.
ENJOY the few remaining Spyplane tees and totes in the Spy Store.
Peep our list of the world’s 35 slappiest shops, where Spyfriends have added a ton of gems in the comments.
Our roundup of the Best Pants Out is here.
Mach 3+ city intel for traveling the entire planet is here.
— Jonah & Erin
Blackbird Spyplane — beautiful, blessed, back once again. Today we’re talkin’
Fire unisex button-ups from an expert European tailor who knows what the f**k is up saucewise
A deep-cut musical JOY BOOSTER about to get a reissue
Vibey out-of-print magazines that would send these young moodboarders into CONNIPTIONS
And more !
Kicking things off —
It’s time for the intel-rich BBSP feature known as “V.I.P. R.A.D.A.R.,” where Vibey Illustrious People come through with Rare And Dope A** Recon.
And we’ve got delightful gems from a kindvibed, erudite & bon vivantish king:
O yes! Dave 1 is one half of the EBULLIENTLY synthed-out NYC funk-pop duo Chromeo, with his longtime friend and Talkbox wizard P-Thugg. Tomorrow they are dropping their latest studio album, Adult Contemporary.
And not only is Dave nice with these chunes — he also has the kind of shining polyglot taste you want out of a V.I.P. So we were stoked for him to put us on to 3 off-the-beaten-path slappers:
YouTube fragrance reviews, in particular Chris Da CEO • “In another life, I would love to be a nose: the people who create fragrances. (Only problem is, you can’t go near spicy food.) And by the way that’s not because of the size of my nose, it’s because I have a hyper-developed sense of smell. I think that’s due to the fact that I had glasses ever since I was 2 years old, so maybe my olfactory capabilities developed extra hard to compensate? Anyhow, before bed, when I want to relax, I watch fragrance reviews on YouTube. A lot of them are nerdy or pretentious, but not Christopher Lee aka Chris Da CEO.
“He’s a rapper from the Midwest who shoots these great vids where he pulls perfume bottles out of his pockets and reviews them in the most hilarious, raw, yet self-aware way. I don’t even want to wear the fragrances he talks about — in fact, I don’t think I’d like the majority of them — I just enjoy watching him do his thing.”
Brazilian modern furniture • “Sounds very Grey Poupon, I know, but I got into collecting furniture over 10 years ago and it all started with a trip to Brazil for a Chromeo gig in 2010. My friend took me around vintage furniture shops and my mind was blown. Forget Danish, forget Eames, forget Prouvé…the Brazilian mid-century game is just a cut above. What’s interesting is that a lot of these designers were architects as well, and they couldn’t find tables and chairs to match the homes they designed, so they made their own.
“Another interesting bit is that a lot of these cats were immigrants: Jean Gillon is from Romania, Jorge Zalszupin came from Poland. So they brought a European, post-Bauhaus savoir-faire and adapted it to Brazilian materials like wicker and jacaranda. All of a sudden, the sober, utilitarian modernist tropes take on exaggerated proportions and sexy curves. They come to life. Jorge Zalszupin is my personal favorite of the lot.”
Out-of-print ‘90s cult magazines • “At my studio in New York I have stacks of underground ‘90s magazines I grew up reading. Obviously there’s the NYC cultural monuments: Ego Trip and On The Go. Those taught me everything. I’m proud to say that I’m only missing two issues of Grand Royal. More recently I got into Index, which was still popping when I moved to the city in 2002. Index is interesting: sort of the precursor to Vice, minus the edge-lord thing, it’s maybe an American equivalent to Purple minus the louche (although it has erotica), covers NY arts, NY alternative music, NY fashion, bit of politics — really hits the sweet spot.
“But my personal sweet spot is a German mag that was sort of a grail when I was a kid: Lodown. This had graf, skate, underground rap, electronic music, all packaged in Designers Republic-style artwork. I recently met the founder on IG and ordered every back issue available. My fave part is looking at the ads in the 1997-2002 era: Gravis sneakers, LRG/Akademiks/Triple 5 Soul clothing, pre-Skull Candy headphones… the real sus (and therefore GREAT) stuff that’s not on the mood boards yet.
“Is it safe to say all these magazines walked so that… the Spyplane could fly?”
Dave1 is on Instagram here. Chromeo are here, and their new album, Adult Contemporary, is out tomorrow. Listen on Spotify here and Apple Music here.
Ayyyy next up —
GREAT UNISEX SHIRTS ALERT !