FRIENDS.

I was having a bummer day back in November that was completely turned around by an email from the ever-so-wise Reverend Green. The title was DOODCAST and the text would reveal to me that one of my recent favorite sources of sick records, positive vibes and general good- times finally got his act together and started up a podcast. This force of a human is John Fitzgerald, better known amongst bros (and various Australian wildlife) as Fitz. He puts together the DOODCAST twice a month from his homebase of Dalston Junction (in the haaart of East London). Joining Fitz in this celebration of the tightest international psychedelic music you’ll ever here are his bros McAndrews, Bible Mike-- and PLENTY of brews.

Do yourselves a massive favor by clicking HERE and start with EPISODE 1...

Or
search for DOODcast on iTunes store

http://feeds.feedburner.com/DOODcast

AND keep your ears on the D’Cast this month for a special guest set by yours truly,
Turquoise Wisdom.

As the decade was closing, the reflective nostalgic bliss has been pouring in like a lovely moonshower (not sure what a moonshower is but it sounds nice so lets go with it). Desperately missing a paint brush, I decided to hang up and return to some old friends that I needed to look away from for a while.

Long ago, in 2003 (winks) I was fortunate enough to travel on over to Tokyo for a solo exhibition of my oil paintings in conjunction with illustrations for a British clothing line I scribbled/designed for called Birdie at the Claska Gallery. The experience was a serious whopper, I could write for hours about the adventures and amazing ear to ear smiled characters we clinked glasses with along the way including my London pals Nick and Rich from the Birdie daze.

One spirit exercise to share was the soundtrack for my journey, which was filled with the sweetness of '70s country folk Japanese band HAPPY END. My friend Mago, who curated the show turned me on to the magic and it provided for many a thought process and moments of awe as I explored bits of the city solo, clad with an iPod the size of an old VCR. Check out this lovely ditty by Happy End called "Kakurenbo" off their 1971 self titled debut:
Click HERE to listen.

Here is a little peek at some of the paintings from the show. Note these pieces are, as tiny elvis would say.... HUGE!



Big Wednesday Smiles.

xx

FRIENDS.

I am beyond proud to share this Hour of Wisdom piece done by R + F's resident DJ Zach Cowie who put together a beautiful tearful tribute of the late and inspirational John Martyn one of the greatest musical losses of 2009. Some words from Turquoise Wisdom himself...

Hello internet.
Zach Cowie, AKA DJ Turquoise Wisdom here-- resident DJ for the Rotter & Friends organization.

There were some pretty devastating loses this year musically, many of which I find myself still trying to process at year's end. i immediately cried my eyes out when we all lost MJ, but it was the passing of JM that was a slower burn that i still can't seem to shake. JM is John Martyn and he's one of my favorite voices and guitar players ever put to tape. I've wanted to do something to salute the man since he left us back in January, but I never knew what to do. As I sat in my record room yesterday playing his "Bless The Weather" LP, the tribute idea hit me-- get whiskey drunk (as John would have insisted!), pull all my John (and Beverly) Martyn LP's off the shelves, fire up the turntables, and make a totally live, unrehearsed mix of my favorite tunes of his to share with friends in hopes that these sounds bring others the joy and comfort they've always brought me. I played the mix back today and there are a few pretty rough fades and the poor sound quality of "I'd Rather Be The Devil" is already driving me nuts (truth be told-- that's the only thing not from vinyl in the mix-- it's a digital recording I made of one of my favorite JM performances from a Youtube clip). I considered remixing but threw the idea out the window pretty quickly. Rough around the edges is a perfect way to salute John; a man who died from livin'.

I really don't think I could've started 2010 properly without getting this out of my system. I hope all fans, new and old, find something in this mix-- if you are new to his name, please read up and prepare to have your mind melted.
John Marytn-- your voice has been, and always will be one of the best friends that's ever crawled into my headphones. Rest In Peace, brother.

-TW, LA

Click here to listen.

PS. Thank you Arron Bleasdale. You are the R + F wizard and keeper of secrets!

FRIENDS.

Hope this finds you well, half-eyed, and enjoying the holidazin'. As we enter the orb to embrace the fun of 2010 I wanted to share one of my favorite poems by WB Yeats. A golden friend passed this one on to me years ago, and it's nice to revisit + share it with people, for this piece is a nice reminder of life's drives and smiles. What better time than a new year for us to think of revved up goals, projects, and decisions for the ol' ROAD. Folks, life is a cabernet and I want to thank you all for the support, kind words, and discovery vibes you have given Rotter and Friends this past year. It's been a whopper and we are ready for some new exciting adventures.

BE DRUNKEN, ALWAYS.

That is the point; nothing else matters. If you would not feel the horrible burden of Time weigh you down and crush you to the earth, be drunken continually.

Drunken with what? With wine, with poetry or with virtue, as you please. But be drunken.

And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace, or on the green grass in a ditch, or in the dreary solitude of your own room, you should awaken and find the drunkenness half or entirely gone, ask of the wind, of the wave, of the star, of the bird, of the clock, of all that flies, of all that sighs, of all that moves, of all that sings, of all that speaks, ask what hour it is; and wind, wave, star, bird, or clock will answer you: “It is the hour to be drunken! Be drunken if you would not be the martyred slaves of Time; be drunken continually! With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you please.”

-W.B. Yeats


P.S. I have a little audio treat on it's way in the form of HOUR of Wisdom -stay tuned + stoked.
Big Hugs.

xx Jess

Cowie killed it by sending me this scorcher yesterday and since then we can't stop DESK DANCING and shoulder boppin' away..

ENJOY and clap it out lovelies..


P.S. not sure if your holidazin' is done by now but for a quick personal or gifted fix, a little birdie spread the word that there are still some R + F limited edition tote bags available at Other Music for um.. $5 a pop- a steal! Go get some as there aren't many left and it features some of our greatest scribble hits like Link Wray, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Karen Dalton, and Roky Erickson's GATOR.

Big smiles.

xx

FRIENDS.

When I put on a big Wolfprincess of LA-esque hat, I know it marks the season of RED SAUCE JAMS!

Coming from Syosset, Long Island (the home of where Mr. Billy Joel wrote the song "Italian Restaurant"), I bear a huge appreciation for late 70's/early 80's swayers that make one want to eat red sauced dishes, glug red wine, + get red blushed with friends, family, and crushes. When the air is uncle frosty, you GOT to get warm with a little people parmesan.

Another hilarious aspect of RS jams, is that people find it fitting to consistently send them to me daily, which kinda warms the heart. Here are a couple to share with YOU as we gear up for the holidaze:

R + F chief Photographer Hal Horowitz sent me this one today-pass the salt.....for the holiday wounds!!!

God on a Wheel did our Rusty Tuesdays knight Mr. Kevin Barker bring life to fruition as he blasted this jam at 3 am during a drunken holiday jammer last week. Sometimes I feel like filling out a doctor's form whilst hearing this as well. hmm....

My Foxtail partner in crime and Red Sauce co-termer Margot Nason will not let the night end without zinging this hit out.

This one makes me think of R + F Captain Danny and I driving in a rental down Sunset Boulevard after attending the most delicious meatball party at Dominiks.

Parental Syosset memories.

Who can FORGET this clip created by R + F's wisdom maker Zach Cowie which literally made him world famous whilst using one of the most important Red Sauce Jammers ever...

Forget About Everything from Rotter and Friends on Vimeo.

Got RS Jams to add? email us!

xx Jess

FRIENDS.

Had to share these simply gorgeous shots my dear friend Mattias took by his home in Järla Sjö, Sweden. WHAT a rad spirit exercise to sit by this scene and listen to N. Young's "Lotta Love" all day with a jug of cider. Thanks for sending these-saved my day.


Mattias is a musical wizard and bears great wisdom on the magic of music and livin'. Check his starry band Life on Earth here.

Peacefrogs.

xx Jess

FRIENDS.

What a shock it was this morning to find my trusty Muppet Show desk calender break the news that tomorrow is December 1st? Oh god on a wheel! Time to get in gear for some serious buyin' + gifting. I am SO stoked to announce the Rotter and Friends POWER Sale Spirit Weekend where we have teamed up with some of my favorite people in this grand city to create some killer sale fun. Why did I arrange these sales back to back? Because folks, time is money and we got none!

To start things off, we begin with this Saturday, December 5th hosting the first R + F Pop-Up shop at the holy Other Music Store. This is (hand to heart) a huge honor as this store has been a big part of my life for over ten years. In addition to being one of the most influential and educational stockists of the best jams for purchase, Other Music has believed in R +F since day uno as they picked up and sold out of our wares quite frequently since the inception of the line in 2007. This day will consist of tees mostly for the dudes including our "greatest hits" stock (Neil Young tees will be present), limited edition OM/Rotter tote bags with purchase, yours truly djin' some fun, and notebooks.

For the soul sistas, comes Sunday, December 6th where we head to Brooklyn for a sick sale at the Co-op 87 storefront that includes some magical designers (look at this whopper list below) and insane designer vintage from the vaults of (trust me) the best closets including my golden buds Alison Lewis, Jill Bradshaw, and Pamela Love. I need one of Genga's dreamcatchers asap which she is creating especially for this day. Come HANG OUT!! If you haven't seen this space its totally worth a nice brisk walk over.


Thats a schedule right there. HOPE to see you this weekend.

big ol' smiles.

xx Jess

FRIENDS.

I write this little piece of grattitude completely googly eyed from the good times we had last evenin' at the first installment of RUSTY TUESDAYS a monthly residency at one of our favorite bars off the ol' West Side Highway, The Rusty Knot. Big thanks to Skyler over there hooking us up with the fun!

Kevin Barker killed it with his 45's of denim jammers including Conway Twitty, The Insect Trust, and the all holy Tony Joe White. Margot Nason and I had our little tune curation debut as Foxtails sprinkling shakers from Emmit Rhodes, Selda, and The Guess Who. "Wild Tales" by Graham Nash was a true highlight and we took shots of some buds gettin'..CRABBY (in a good way of course). Thanks to all who came out-it was packed!








Power sale weekend is happening folks-really excited to announce the madness which is on December 5th + 6th, but let's wait until your bellies are full from turkeyness and roasted vegetables of all kinds. Have good one and hopefully you can embrace some calm.
PS: Bummed I must have been busy the day THIS happened:

Big smiles.

xx Jess

FRIENDS.

Hope this finds you well and starry.

SO excited to announce the debut of Rotter and Friends RUSTY TUESDAYS: a little selected DJ residency we are going to have at one of our favorite NYC booze joints, The Rusty Knot in the West Village. I will be spinning with my soul tune sista Margot Nason under the name Foxtails + we have also teamed up with golden music guru Kevin Barker (of Vetiver and Currituck Company fame). PLEASE join us as we hit the tables hard with some sweet and sleazy vintage denim jams. Should be a really fun evenin', plus it's happy hour rates : Bottoms up!

You'll most likely hear this.. (just had to use the TUX version!)

OH! Almost forgot-look what's arriving just in time for the holidays! Behold the first of my 3-part series of spiral notebooks for HEEB magazine called Note Jams. Here is a sneak peek at the Leonard Cohen piece...holiday presents anyone? The 'books will be about $10 each and available in the HEEB online store as well as the Other Music/R + F pop up shop happening on November 28th-stay tuned for details on that whopper!

Hope to see you next week for glass clinkage.

Big Smiles.

xx Jess