So we’ve got everything available for sale again and I have to say, these are our best prints of the design yet. Joel mixed up new inks and somehow made them magically softer and brighter.

Just in case you were wondering, here’s the inspiration for the tee (which I personally can watch over and over and over).

Another layer of fun this year was the addition of new folks selling their wares: Cincy Apparel, Deadstar, Southpaw Prints, Rockit, and Allscreen set up for the first time. And returning there was Park + Vine, Alternative Motive, Donkey Ts, Anonymous Skate Shop, Unheardof Boutique, Able Projects, Ski Cincinnati and Proforma Albrecht.

Top it all off, there was a Reds game and music from You, You’re Awesome, Pop Empire, Flux Capacitors, The Western.

Days like this and  we’re proud to have such a vibrant downtown.

Alright, enough with the words, here’s a whole slew of pictures from the day.

Over lunch we were doing some blue-skying about projects and thought out loud, “Wouldn’t it be nice to work on a porch today?”

Now there’s a porch across the way from the studio, but we never go over there and use it.

That changed today.

Here’s what we’ve got in the queue right now:

TOM SPINS:

Jim O’Rourke – Mizu No Nai Umi
Story goes that O’Rourke found a box full of old tapes of drone experiments. Two long drone pieces that rank right up there with Disengage.

Yes – Relayer
I was given a copy that a friend of a friend found in the trash umpteen years ago. Just recently picked up the vinyl reissue.I had no idea what I was missing out on. Gates of Delirium is a prog masterpiece.

Pavement – Quarantine the Past
A “best of” from one of my top five favorite bands. They could easily release 4 more “best of” sets as far as I’m concerned. Still waiting for the Terror Twilight Deluxe.

CHRIS SPINS:

The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
My buddy Erik introduced me to this band, and as some call it the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, I began to hear them everywhere, even on my favorite TV show (which is Brothers & Sisters if you were curious.) Anyway, I am smitten with their basic approach to music making. It’s a bit Appalachia mixed with rock I guess. I dunno. I just like it. And their lyrics are awesome.

Rufus Wainwright – All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu
I can’t say I love their new Rufus album right off the bat, but if he’s taught me anything it’s that you have to stick with it. His last two records took a long time to sink in, but once they did they repaid the investment handsomely. This album finds him with just a piano accompaniment. It’s heavy. My favorite tracks open and close the set, but I’m warming up to all the songs in between.

Atom™ featuring Tea Time – XXX
My friend Chris turned me on to Uwe Schmidt (aka Atom™) and this particular album cover was the least offensive to post here. But it wasn’t a concession, I genuinely enjoy the music. This particular album has an odd mix of really deep bass beats, clicks and latin hip-hop. It’s weird in a good way.

JOEL SPINS:

Jim O’Rourke – The Visitor
I recently got hooked on Jim O’Rourke’s acoustic albums, this being the album I cut my tooth on. The instruments on this album appear and disappear, in and out like a great idea: quick, colorful, and inspiring. I could listen to this album on repeat all day.

Talking Heads – Remain in Light
I’ve always been a huge T.H. fan. Dad introduced me early on. They are a group that I always forget how much I like them until I hear any of their albums. Tom and I didn’t know that both of us were big fans until I played this album for the first time in the shop when we looked at each other and asked, “YOU like the Talking Heads?” Sometimes you have more in common with the guy next to you than you think… you just have to make the connection. Life lessons from David Byrne? Hm, who would’ve thought.;)

Sufjan Stevens – Greetings from Michigan
When he first hit the scene a couple years ago, I was anything but a Sufjan fan. But, over the years of listening to his music, it’s definitely grown on me exponentially. He has the power of juxtaposition, mixing lullaby like songs with disturbing and depressing lyrics. For some reason, I’m really diggin’ that right now. He’s surely confirmed his talent to me lately.

WENDY SPINS:

Jakob Dylan – Seeing Things
Up until the last few days, the weather has been gloriously warm and summer-like. This always makes me want to roll up my sleeves and dig into a project. Unlike the boys in the office, I work best with a more subdued soundtrack, and this is perfect selection to play out on the patio as I’m repotting plants or sweeping up the winter debris. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get it together enough to go check out Dylan’s new album.

When my friend Heather said she’d love to use this photograph for her upcoming percussion recital, the gears started turning.

After lunch I got with Tom and we decided to try pushing some ink through a screen using the image. (He did all the hard parts, I just tried to be helpful and complained we didn’t have enough shop towels.)

A few hours later we had a handful of off-center posters with minor alignment issues. Overall? A big win. Very excited. And looking forward to Heather’s recital!

And last but not least, hidden in the corner, a little picture of one of Heather’s kitties, because cats make everything better.

Within an hour of meeting Austin, he was already whipping out a sketchbook and capturing the scene at the local BBQ joint down there in Texas. He’s always making something it seems.

Even on his bus ride to work he started marking up newspaper articles to create something new, something that straddles the line comfortably between poetry and art. In his words, “Never believe anyone who says they have no time.”

Pretty bang on and inspirational, that guy.

Now we’ve teamed up with Austin to produce this Blackout Poem t-shirt that reads “Creativity is subtraction.” It comes out right as his book Newspaper Blackout is hitting the stores and garnering excellent reviews.

We’ve been working with Chris for a while now, helping him with interface bits for his website and you might even remember that Nice Tweets shirt we made. (On that note, there are only a few sizes left but we’re thinking it’s time to throw it back on the press.)

I remember Chris from Singled Out on MTV, but he’s been pretty busy of late: hosting Web Soup, appearing on Attack of the Show and Chelsea Lately, and on stage doing stand up. Now he has this new podcast and the guest line up has already included the likes of Jon Hamm, Rob Huebel, Adam Carolla, Drew Carey and Tom Lennon.

He’s hurting my link making finger.

We’ve got some new goods coming down the pike real soon in conjunction with this fine gentleman. Real soon! We’re excited.

(This post might seem like filler, but trust me, it’s a big deal.)

Anyway, we filed his return mailer with the wrongly shipped shirts away in the restock basket.

Months pass.

Finally I’m clearing out the bin and discover Andrew included a drawing of the two mistakenly shipped shirts (Dino Smart-Tee and Play Station). These were modeled by two members of The Pretenders with the words “Back to Ohio,” awesomely using the typeface of their debut album.

We were so excited by this (and ashamed it took us months to discover it) that we printed up a special shirt with Aaron’s drawing and shipped it back to him.

There he is over there on the left modeling said tee. Turns out, Aaron has a website chock full of excellent work with everything from illustrations to music. So check him out on Baarbarian.com and know that something as cut and dry as a product return is an opportunity for awesomeness. We are taking note.