KNOW YOUR PRODUCT(S)! Gear Guide
Jul 23, 2008
De-funkifiers! Flip Videos! Robot guitars! Hair shirts! We got yer gear right here!
BY AARON BURGESS
Flip Video Mino Compact Handheld Camcorder
If your camera phone’s glitchy, 30-second video of that once-in-a-lifetime Tom Waits gig didn’t quite capture the magic the way you’d hoped, you don’t need to resort to a full-sized hand cam the next time you’re committing an event to video. (Read: You can still sneak this one past security.) No bigger than an iPhone, the Mino lets you store 2GB worth of VGA-quality footage, and it’s also got the tools to help you organize and share the clips when you’re back from the gig. ($179.99; theflip.com)
Kill It Dead: A Natural De-funkifier (So People Think You Take Baths)
Outside of baby wipes, Kill It Dead may be the greatest shower alternative ever presented to touring musicians. All-natural and vegan (unless you’re opposed to killing bacteria), the fine-mist spray attacks your funk while leaving you smelling neither perfumey nor like a hippie. Pick up a crate before your next tour, and you’ll also be benefiting the Kirk Rundstrom Cancer Fund, named for the late Split Lip Rayfield guitarist and connoisseur of funk both musical and physical. ($12.34; ilovechickenpoop.com)
Flüd 33 1/3 Watch
Flaunt your love of vinyl with this literal wheel of steel, which also happens to be available in a leather band, even if that doesn’t make for as good an analogy. Its record/platter face is designed with subtlety in mind, but the 33 1/3 packs such vivid detail that you can actually count the grooves on the record. You’ll probably impress more people if you don’t admit to doing that, though. ($60; fludwatches.com)
Gibson Robot LP Studio and Robot SG Special Ltd. in Limited-Edition Metallic Finishes
If you weren’t among the 4,000 lucky buyers who, over one weekend in 2007, bought up the entire run of Gibson’s revolutionary self-tuning Robot Guitar, you’ve now got a limited window to score the next best thing (and with these finishes, some would say better). Both the Robot LP Studio and the Robot SG Special Ltd. feature the cord-securing Neutrik jack and the classic styling and performance of their non-robotic counterparts – but unlike those models, these won’t be around forever. ($3,599 and up; gibson.com)
Lost in the Supermarket: The Indie Rock Cookbook
If you’re reading this, it’s not a stretch to assume that at some point in your show-going life, you might’ve put up some of the gourmandizing artists featured in Lost In The Supermarket – from Fugazi to Animal Collective, Black Dice to Antony And The Johnsons – after a show. Now, it’s the bands’ turn to repay the debt via this collection of recipes, recollections and road rules, all of which pack enough flavor and grit to do Anthony Bourdain proud. ($17.95; softskull.com)
Mix Tape USB Stick
We’ve uploaded as many love-struck jams to Muxtape as the next sap, but even still, a mixtape isn’t truly a mixtape without a hand-designed J-card and a cheap plastic face to make it real. With the Mix Tape USB Stick, you get the hiss-free fidelity of digital audio with the tactile reality of an old-school cassette mix – just store your music, video or whatever on the included USB stick, pop it into the “tape,” and aim for the object of your desire. (£20; suck.uk.com)
Wire & Twine Facial Hair Shirt
Only a pognologist (we had to look it up, too) would know for sure whether this shirt really includes every manner of beard under the sun, but from the looks of it, the Facial Hair tee at least has the full range of indie-rock beards covered. Forget irony – with this puppy sitting a few inches below your own Sam Beam, you’ll be positively meta. ($20; wireandtwine.com)
Guitar Hero: On Tour
The first truly mobile entry in the Guitar Hero series makes a surprisingly smooth transition to a system that really shouldn’t have been able to accommodate its console-friendly features. But thanks to the snap-on “fretboard” controller and the awesome detachable pick-stylus (please, let’s get one of these for the game’s other versions), Guitar Hero: On Tour shreds just as hard as its bigger siblings. ($500; gmpdiecast.com)
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