It’s time for our third playlist, just in time for the Spring season that is upon us. I started compiling this in November with an intent to release it in December…and then again in February. But here we are and it’s almost April (can’t believe it). A lot of the darker tracks were taken out and more upbeat ones replaced them because it is, in fact, almost spring. Here in Los Angeles the weather is always fantastic but I’m very well aware it snowed recently on the East Coast. There’s a few well known tracks on here: Father John Misty has been spinning at our West Coast HQ lately even though it came out a few years ago, same with Real Estate though they have a great new record out. There’s a few mostly-instrumental gems in this one, notably tracks by Blockhead, J-Walk, The Octopus Project, and Working For A Nuclear Free City and a quick visit to the opening tracks off of Beck’s new album. Hang in there, folks; warmer days are right around the corner and enjoy Vol. 3 of our playlists. Be sure to click the button at the top right of the embedded Spotify player if you’d like to follow us and add the playlist on your Spotify account. Click here to listen to the full playlist.

Categories: Playlist

Alfred Lane Solid Colognes

A. Frankel

Posted on March 5, 2014

On today’s docket, we have a small company in Chicago selling “solid colognes”. Ever heard of it? Neither had I. Unsolicited reviews are a tricky beast here at The American Classic; our policy is typically that we’ll take a look at whatever you’ve got but there’s no guarantee you’ll get a review. We’d much rather talk about the things we love and think you should love, too, rather than dwell on negative things. The gents from Alfred Lane reached out a few weeks ago for a review and following our policy, they’ve found themselves with this review because their product is fucking cool. Based in Chicago, these guys have released a line of compact, solid colognes that are designed to be thrown in a bag and reapplied whenever. They’re unobtrusive, packaged in a super slick vintage-inspired sliding tin, and provide an easy way to apply with zero mess. Read the full article here.

Categories: Photos, Reviews, Writeups

Pilot & Captain

S. Streisguth

Posted on January 31, 2014

Pilot & Captain is a recent side project from the Jason and Dustin, who founded the award winning design studio The Heads of State, right here in Philadelphia. Their client list includes Apple, IBM, The New York Public Library, Penguin, and Time Magazine, among many others. What started out as personal design studies evolved into a line of shirts, prints, posters, and totes inspired by luggage tags and fine travel destinations.

Categories: Interviews, Photos, Writeups

Field Trip: Berkeley Supply Co. in Denver, CO.

A. Frankel

Posted on January 13, 2014

Every December for the past 7 years, I’ve made the pilgrimage to Steamboat Springs, CO. for some winter sports action. I like Steamboat a lot; it’s casual all of the time (read: don’t have to wear a fur coat to fit in), the mountain isn’t as miserably crowded as others, and the town has a great homey feel that some of the other ski towns lack. Every year we fly into Denver and make the 3-4 hour drive into the mountains. Every year we make the 3-4 hour drive back to Denver and fly out. I have distant family that lives in Denver and I never visit them because I’m an asshole and I really should make more time for them. This trip I did just that and had a few extra hours to kill so I swung by Berkeley Supply Co. who, like my family, I’ve been meaning to visit for a while. It was now or never so my girlfriend and I trekked over to the Tennyson district to check out the shop.

Categories: field trip, Photos, Travels, Writeups

A Recap of 2013

A. Frankel

Posted on January 7, 2014

Happy New Year!

2013 was another big year for us here at The American Classic. We celebrated yet another birthday and couldn’t be happier to be around to see another New Year as well. We like to do a little number crunching annually to gauge how we did and where we’d like to go in the upcoming year. This helps us stay on top of what we’re doing by reminding ourselves of what kinds of articles do the best here. In 2013 we visited 12 shops, shot 10 separate brands, released several new creative writing series, released a new video promoting upcoming works, released two seasonal playlists, and traveled to 5 different cities for coverage. Our viewership is up 150% from 2012 which was up an enormous 536% from 2011. Our Instagram account alone increased it’s following by a solid 500% this year which really makes us proud given that our account was created by accident after Rogue Territory errantly tagged us. We added Leslie Zacharkow to the team, a talented developer and designer working with us on a few different projects. All of this means progress for us and we’re really happy to be here doing it. As we said this time last year, there will be plenty of new programming this year and lots of features that will take us more in-depth with brands. Be looking for updates to how the site looks and feels and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or just want to say hello. Here’s to another year!