Good as Gold » Travel

The new breed…

Courtney Sanders — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:42:34 +0000

So we all know the major labels are on their last legs, re-financing, splitting departments, re-issuing back-catalogues and pretty much doing anything, any-which-way to stay afloat. The change in the market due to technology has had a massive effect on everything, not just the fate of the ‘Big Four’, but a positive is the HUGE amount of truly rad independent labels, who without distribution and creation of a fan base via the internet wouldn’t have had a chance of getting noticed, or even getting off the ground.

Three of my faves are out of the States and right now have right hot artists on them. Not Not Fun is the first, and while they’re geographically straight chillin in LA, the music they sign and release is totally remiss of that sun-drenched vibe. Noise rockers the likes of Sun Araw and Pocahaunted are part of the Not Not Fun family, and those bands also happen to be two of my faves from this label, and this locale. Pocahaunted just released a new full length Make it Real, tracks from which you can listen to at their myspace HERE, and check out the Not Not Fun website HERE to purchase it in MP3, CD or Vinyl formats (or you can buy it from Amazon like me!) They also have a sweet blog with info on all the bands who are part of their fam, with some wicked live pics.

Unlike the aforementioned, Art Fag records comes outta the sunny West Coast somewhere (maybe LA too…) and sounds exactly as it should: laid back, lazy, girls-in-bikini’s, Beach Boy throwback, blissed out beats. They signed Dum Dum Girls before Sub Pop got a hold of them, and still hold Best Coast, Crocodiles and Pearl Harbour close to their hearts. Again, sick blog HERE and you can email them at that site for information on how to buy all their limited released split 7″ and-the-like stuff.

Last but not least Woodsist are I think, AGAIN, from LA (who said Hollywood was all bright lights and boob jobs) are a little bit more established and have been releasing sweet stuff from the likes of Real Estate, Woods and The Mayfair Set (a collab between the aforementioned Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls and post punker Blank Dogs – they release his stuff too). They have a sick logo and sick roster and throw heaps of parties and stuff. But because you can’t go to them you should check out their blog HERE and their releases HERE

Follow G.A.G. at RAFW…

Good as Gold — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:51:15 +0000

Ruben (G.A.G. owner) & Ash (Head buyer) are currently over in Seedny at RAFW ‘working hard’, checking out new ranges, a few shows and doing whatever it is you have to do when you’re ‘working hard’ at fashion week.

Follow their exploits HERE on tweety bird

R & A ‘busting their balls at 09 RAFW’

Melbourne trip…

Ruben — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:51:33 +0000

I went to Melbs a while back to check out some new ranges from Cheap Monday, TV, Sophomore, Skinny Nelson, Generic Surplus and Perks and Mini. I always look forward to my Aussie buying missions and love my Aussie mongrel mates, good times, amazing ranges and warm weather… I stayed at my old mate Mark Cats-Asses place on the couch, and had far too many nights out on the piss, below are some pics from his gypsy pad and bar shots…

I also spent a day riding bikes, swimming, making art, moving boxes and eating ice cream with Misha from PAM. Jock’s ice cream parlor down near the beach in St Kilda is off the chain, best eva! (pics below)

Plus here are some pics from the Flip Side office, Flip Side distribute Generic Surplus, Edwin, InCase, Carhartt, Pointer, and Sean the boss man has the best art and toy collection, this black beast of a toy is one of 5 and stands a bout 4.5 feet high.

Golden Girls……

Good as Gold — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:35:31 +0000

Be sure to get yourself along to Photospace at 1st floor, 37 courtney place and check out “Golden Girls” the brain child of Kendra McCarthy and Zoe McIntosh. The exhibition opens this friday night from 5pm-7pm where you can get a refreshing beverage and even buy a poster to support the girls further adventures…. “Zoe and I had $5 in our pockets, a cask of wine and a sign that read “Trucks Only”. We had given ourselves a week (and not much else) to hunt down these mythical creatures known as The Golden Girls.” It runs from 24th of April – 15th May….Get to it!!

VAN PORN…

Good as Gold — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:02:27 +0000

In a blogisphere coup de grace, Lower/You Know We Ain’t LTD has averted doing the usual and creating a blog based around 70’s style images of motorbike porn and porn, and instead has gone for a 70’s era BEDFORD Van (the new sales wagon) to be their chosen subject- its titled ‘Thirsty Work’. Very refreshing!

If only there was some porn in there somewhere…

Click HERE to oogle…

Toko, more summer travels pics..

Ruben — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:15:34 +0000

One of the most amazing places I’ve traveled to in New Zealand is a little spot north of Gisborne called Tokomaru Bay… Our buddies Cate and Mike have all the local connections and always show us a rad time. Cate’s family has lived in the area for almost as long as New Zealand has been colonized by the British, the old Busby family farm house in the hills is unreal, with pool, grass tennis court and killer views…

The Busby farm house and veiws…

A night in the shearing quarters on the Busby farm… Dirty beds, kina, a long drop toilet, beers, weights and a singalong…

Tokomaru Bay’s old meat works..

Summer Gold…

Good as Gold — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:49:19 +0000

Our homies over at neonsleep.com have got a cool new photographic project on the go in association with GAG, WPS and POWER SHOVEL camera’s, it’s called SUMMER GOLD. They are shooting a butt load of 35mm film with some GOLDEN HALF cameras (available here) over the sunny summer months ahead…

The first series is up now so make sure you head over to neonsleep.com now and have a look-see, get inspired, and then come get a new POWER SHOVEL film camera from GAG…

Digital camera’s are so 2009…

SUMMER GOLD pics here…

Early Summer Travels

Ruben — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:18:21 +0000

Last month Ashlee and myself had a wee break in Aussie to escape the never ending Wellington winter. It was 30 deg everyday and super nice. Here are some pics from Sydney and Palm Cove…

This will be on Air NZ planes soon…

Ruben — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:26:52 +0000

This video was filmed for “b-guided tv” a few weeks back. It is going to be part of an in-flight guide to NZ’s good shit that will be playing on all in-bound Air New Zealand flights some time in the near future…

If you live outside of Wellington and have not visited Good As Gold it gives you a little look inside our shop walls and a taste of my ripe kiwi accent…

The Blackmail…

Ruben — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:04:32 +0000

A few of my Aussie mates have been working away on “The Blackmail” website/newsletter for a few months now and I thought ya’ll should know about it!!! It’s full of super good content for quiet nights at home with nothing to do.

peep it here
make sure you sign up to the newsletter too…

This is how The Blackmail guys describe themselves…
‘The Blackmail is the definitive and most discerning guide to the very latest in popular culture and sub-culture.� Each month The Blackmail features ten of the most exciting exhibitions, concerts, shows, films, records, literature, releases and events happening across Australia.’

Incisive, intelligent and above all inspiring content distributed via email on the first day of each month. That�s nice in itself but there�s more to online publishing than just words. The Blackmail team then ensures that each item featured takes full advantage of the medium. Extended image galleries, podcasts, exclusive clips and downloads, apps and mixes from the best DJs around – there are no boundaries to their creativity…