A few years ago I wrote about SWIMS and how they revived and stepped up the galoshes game for you guys that want to protect your shoes in the harsh weather, but still look on point. At the time they were about 2-3 years into the footwear game, fast forward to today and SWIMS offers a full on footwear collection that has expanded on the weather and elements concept from umbrellas to boots, to coats, to now a full line of loafers. Loafers aren’t exactly a shoe you would associate with the water but that was something Johan R. (the founder of SWIMS) set out to do.

Using high-tech materials, they’ve designed a loafer that is suitable to wear in the water so you will not have to worry about scraping your feet on rocks. These are pretty much your go to shoe if you want to look sharp at the beach, partying poolside or cruising with the wind in your hair on a deck of a boat. Whatever it is you plan to do this summer do yourself, your feet and wardrobe game a favor and pick up a pair and drop the flip-flops (along with your other frat summer gear).

You can grab them from SWIMS, WANT Apothecary, and Kith NYC (to name a few retailers).

I’ve been itching for spring and summer to come, so this mix is more or less a prep for the next 6 months to come. One thing I’ve been asked is to put more vocals on my mixes, so I’ve tossed in a few favorites from Disclosure (one of SKW‘s favorite groups), Chris Malinchak, Paolo Rocco, with some new bangers via Duke Dumont feat A*M*E and Justin Timberake, and for good measure I made sure Montreal was representin’ with tracks from CFCF and EZLV.

Like Peanut Butta Lova vol 2, there is a recipe included in the mix for those of you that download it (you’ll find it in the ‘lyrics’ section in iTunes). Feel free to bang this out for that long run, or for that house party.

If you enjoy the mix feel free to share it with your friends, family, dog walker, coffee barista, and fellow peanut butter lovers.

Chivers,

pl

Track Listing

CFCF – Cometrue
Disclosure – Boiling (Medlar Remix) feat Sinead Harnett
Tiger Stripes – This Man (Adana Twins’ Thursday Disco Vox Remix)
Urulu – Another Time
Francis Inferno Orchestra – Father Figures
Chris Malinchak – These Dreams feat Damon C. Scott
Julio Bashmore – Au Seve
Paolo Rocco – Present Value
Polkadot – Wasn’t Like That
Audiojack – No Equal Sides
Sharam Jey – That Body (Instrumental)
Disclosure – White Noise feat Alunageorge
Duke Dumont – Need U (100%) feat A*M*E
Justin Timberlake – Suit & Tie (Four Tet Remix)
EZLV – EZ Lee

The good homie Paolo Rocco (you remember the one I introduced you to from a few months ago) has had amazing kick start to 2013, starting off with a couple of gigs in France, playing at Club DV1 for Sharivari Records, then in Paris for a Real Tone Records Showcase along with Franck Roger, Burnski, and Maya Jane Coles. Shortly after he dropped the bass heavy, foot stomping, 90′s deep house influenced remix for Alex Flatner and MSMS‘ track ‘Love is a Condition’ (featuring Cari Golden) on Noir Music (grab it from Beatport). Then to top it all off he played to a massive hometown crowd for Igloofest along side Josh Wink and DJ Sneak (you can check out the set on Soundcloud).

It’s not all business with Paolo he’s managed to squeeze in time to challenge A&R and label execs at FIFA 2013 for a free remix (no winners), embarrass himself for the love his fans, and share drop a real dope mix for Pulse. This isn’t a standard mix there this is a “hour of raw, live, no editing, straight up mixing featuring some exclusives, vinyl cuts, classics, personal favourites, and a new unreleased original”. While you are checking out the mix (which is available to download)  be sure to read the interview on Pulse.

If you are in the Miami area be sure to check him out when DJ Sneak hosts his ‘I’m A House Gangster’ Party for WMC along with Doc Martin, Hector Moralez, Chris Carrier, the Martinez Brotherz, and more.

And EA Sports if you are reading this, feel free to challenge the man, as he seems to be undefeated at present.

This is hands down one of the hardest times of the season, you got this cold weather still sticking around, having to still wear heavy layers of clothes, boots, and not being able to ride your bike (unless you’re that one guy who is not a courier that has made it a lifestyle choice to save money at any cost and ride a bike in -40 weather). Although we are still a few weeks away from Spring it doesn’t mean we can’t start planning on what we are going to wear on the road. H&M has a teamed up the famous East London Bike shop: Brick Lane for a pretty dope collection which will work perfectly with any of your canvas VANS sneakers.

Aside from looking sharp there are a lot of great details from the quilted shirts for colder days, to the chinos with reinforced crotch, and reflective tape seams (which are visible when rolled up), to the colour stripe Henleys in either cotton or Merino wool, which are cut longer at the back. Another great piece is the repellent rider jackets that have ventilation holes under the sleeves and taped seams, with a back pocket and straps inside the jacket so it can be worn as a backpack. From top to bottom the mini collection has got versatility and function firmly in mind for cyclists.

The H&M for Brick Lane collection will be available at H&M shops March 7th, hopefully an early Spring will show up shortly after.

2012 was  a pretty big year for Antoine Tavaglione, if you are on the east coast it’s pretty hard to miss seeing his work. Just before the holidays I gotta chance to catch up with Antoine to recap what was a breakout year for the artist at 808 Bike Shop, one of his latest and biggest projects (if you are looking for a new Bianchi this spring hit them up!), and see where he’s going for 2013. For a recap on the year check out the photos after the link.

Antoine Tava // 808 Bike Shop

I’m having a hard time getting some sleep this week and this morning was no different. I woke up at 5:40am and just decided to record this mix I had in my head. It kind of reminds me of a lot of the stuff I would hear late at night on the college radio stations between 12-3am. This is definitely not polished but whatever, I’m taking my friend Paolo’s and just putting it out there for all of you to digest.

Tracklisting

Roska Ft. Anesha – I Need Love
Deadboy – Wish U Were Here
Jet Project & The Polyamorous Affair – Fantasy
Cosmin TRG – Plaisir Interdit
ZZT – Zzafrika (Tomas Andersson Remix)
Boddika & Joy Orbison – Swims
Sbtrk – Wildfire (Objekt Tool Mix)
Presk – Love Again
George FitzGerald – Friends In High Places
xxxy – Kerpow
C.R.S.T – Midnight (Part 2)
Duncan Powell – Lonely Heart
Maya Vanya – Panama (LOL Boys Remix)
Damu – After Indigo
Groove Theory – Tell Me (George FitzGerald Remix)

Still can’t believe I haven’t seen SBTRKT live yet. If you have or haven’t seen him, no doubt you’ll enjoy this clip of ‘Hold On’ for his live concert at Shepards Bush Empire. You can buy the dvd with a limited edition print vinyl onlin at SBTRKT’s website.

Lacoste just gave a whole new meaning to the term life uniform.

For the person who doesn’t know how to cook, needs to learn or loves to cook // Jamie Oliver’s ‘Food Revolution‘ and ‘Meals in Minutes‘

I LOVE JAMIE OLIVER! It is no secret in my family, I picked up a copy of his cookbook ‘Food Revolution‘ a couple of years ago as a gift for myself. This is one of the best cookbooks I own and use the recipes quite frequently. I love that each recipe is accompanied with photos on the process of making the recipe, and all the recipes are easy! You don’t need any fancy ingredients that you’ll use once, and there is a good variety of recipes from asian, indian, english, appetizers, breakfast, desserts, salads, soups, it has it all! I recommend this to anyone who says they can’t cook, guy or girl, young or old, making a few recipes in here will give you the confidence and inspiration to cook!

‘Meals in Minutes‘ was another one I picked up for myself again for Christmas (last year). I caught the Jamie’s show (same title) and fell in love with his jerk chicken recipe and everything that was prepared. One thing about this book you will need a food processor to speed up the prep work. Each meal offers a starter, main, or dessert, very handy if you don’t want plan a menu, or whip up an amazing meal in 30 minutes (well more like 45 minutes, I’m not as fast as Jamie in the kitchen).

For the Sneakerhead or shoe lover // Jason Markk

Last June I had a huge SOS, my sneakers got chain grease on the inside of one of them. I reached out to the sneakerhead Cid the Kicks to get some help, and like Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction sending over Winston Wolf, he linked me up with Jason Markk for a proper cleaning job. At $15 I got a 4oz bottle of the cleaning soap and standard cleaning brush. The cleaning product is 98.3% biodegradable (it’s made of natural soaps derived from coconut and jojoba oils), safe on all colors and materials, and cleans a 100 pairs of shoes. This is an absolute steal for anyone that loves sneakers (or any style of shoe). Pick up the softer premium cleaning brush for $10 extra to clean any suede, premium sneakers or delicate materials. As they say “Shoes are a window to your soul”.

“@parvezlakha: @Cid_the_kicks S.O.S. help please!! yfrog.com/h25x1ztj” my answer is @jason_markk

—
Cid (@Cid_the_kicks) June 21, 2012

(I got around to picking up Jason Markk in October, I’m sure the grease would’ve been completely removed)

For the tea lover // Anything from DAVIDsTEA

Sarah and I could go on and on about how much we love their tea, they even have a tea for all you coffee lovers (‘Chicory Dicory Dock‘ is amazing after drinking it 3 times you won’t even notice). The Fall or Winter collection each offer 6 different types of teas to indulge and expand your tea palette, or if the tea lover you know needs to a nice mug with steeper ‘The Perfect Gift‘ is the way to go (it includes a glass mug with 3 teas to try). For the Chai lover get them the Chai sampler pack with 8 different types of chai including my 3 favorites: ‘Pumpkin Chai‘, ‘Chili Chocolate Chai‘, and ‘Pure Chai‘. Whether they’re a foodie, chocolate lover, green tea or chai lover, fill their craving with their awesome gift packages or handpick an assortment for them, either way they’ll love you for it!

For the photographer/video editor/DJ who works on a Mac // The Nifty Mini Drive

This is the perfect device if someone you know owns a Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, or Retina Macbook Pro that are obsessive about Apple’s design. Unlike other SD cards that you stick into the slot this one does not stick out of the Mac and is flush against it, leaving it very clean looking, or if you grab it in red it adds a nice pop without being an obnoxious accessory. The Nifty MiniDrive is a great solution if they’re constantly moving a micro SD card to and from their Mac to transfer photos, videos, music or any important documents. If you’re feeling extra nice pick them up a 32gb (or go all out with a 64gb) Micro SD Card.

For the Person who is two steps ahead in their fashion game // Anything with the Brooklyn Nets logo

Quite possibly one of the greatest plays in business, when Jason Kidd set up a meeting with the owner of the Nets with Jay-Z when they were planning on moving the Nets to Brooklyn. The rest is history and Brooklyn Nets gear is hottter then gear from the Bulls, Lakers, Heat, and Oak City combined!

For the Traveller // Herschel Supply ‘Little America’ Backpack, Travel Febreeze & Tide to Go

My only wish is that this backpack entered my life years ago when I was doing my trips to Europe, although I did get a lot of use out of it wearing it to work everyday and with what seems like a trip to the US every month. Herschel Supply’s ‘Little America‘ backpack seems bottomless, I’ve travelled with my laptop (protected by it’s fully padded fleece sleeve), camera, lenses, Serato box, book, cables, and even had space for a cardigan to wear on my flight. The padded contoured back and straps are awesome and make wearing it super comfortable.

I have to give my co-worker Ellen for this, back when I worked at Diesel she would give everyone at the office a gift for their birthday. You get a bag loaded with a bunch of great practical stuff and a card and she would spend a max of $10! She would find something to match your personality and give you some practical stuff. For all of us in Sales and Marketing we would get a mini bottle of Febreeze and Tide to Go (with some other stuff). The ‘Travel Frebreze‘ came in handy from all those flights to Europe, sometimes our clothes can smell when stuffed in a suitcase and after 12 hours of travelling, and presto the funk was gone. The most brilliant was the ‘Tide to Go‘ stick, I tend to wear a lot of white tees and I tend to get very excited when eating and spill on myself, Tide to Go has come to the rescue more often then I can count, even for friends at the office and on the road. Thank you Ellen.

For the camper or anyone that’s been stranded in a emergency // BioLite CampStove

I spotted this device during the wake of Sandy on Twitter. BioLite CampStove is hands down genius, a stove that doesn’t require expensive polluting gas, just twigs that you can find anywhere on the ground. It burns heats up and boils a pot in no time while it uses the energy to charge your light or phone via USB, oh by doing this process you’re reducing the carbon footprint if you were to use fuel. HOW AMAZING IS BIOLITE?! Everyone should have it for their car emergency kit and home.

For anyone that owns anything Apple or loves their stuff // Apple Gift Card

This is without a doubt the most practical gift you could give anyone that has a Apple product, or loves their stuff. Whether it’s for buying those expensive apps (ie. a scanner for $2.99), a book, a song (like when I needed Jessica Pare singing ‘Zou Bisou Bisou’ at a DJ gig last second) having a credit on my Apple account makes buying whatever it is guilt free (especially if you’re a cheapo that doesn’t like to pay). Even better is getting a whole bunch of retail ones to put towards that new iPhone, iPad or even a laptop. In this Apple obsessed world it only makes sense to give a Apple Gift Card these days.

I have to give credit to my mother and Sarah for inspiring this post, they have this amazing ability to find and discover stuff that is practical, cool, trendy, awesome, and package them all together for a very custom made gift. They do this constantly without breaking and have yet to disappoint. Thank you ladies.