Beatniks and Hipsters '71

• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Facebook
• Email

You've waited and wondered with starry eyes, will there be another Ultra Swank compilation? Of course and here it's the first one for 2008. As the title suggests we are moving away from lush cocktail parties, stewardesses and martinis for a while to go down one flight of stairs into the world of swingers, beatniks, hipsters and cool cats. Welcome to the Electric Psychedelic Swingers Pussycat Club downtown London, were we play psychedelic rock and pop from the late '60s and early '70s until the break of dawn.

Trying something different this time, but I hope that you will enjoy it and have as much fun as I did. I wanted it to sound like the songs were recorded live at the club so I have processed them to make them sound heavier and a bit dirty. They are mixed as one long 70 minute set but I have included a alternative download with the tracks separated for those who prefer that instead. This time I have also tried to list the year the song was published in the ID3 data for those who are interested. You can find the links under the track listing below. As always, play it loud, enjoy and give feedback if you like it. Yeah baby!

01. Intro - Entering the Club
02. Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense And Peppermints
03. The Fleur De Lys - Circles
04. Pearls Before Swine - These Things Too
05. Pink Floyd - Matilda Mother
06. The Carrie Nations - Find It
07. Strawberry Alarm Clock - Hummin' Happy
08. Tinkerbell's Fairydust - Twenty Ten
09. Roger Nichols & The Small Circle of Friends - Don't Take Your Time
10. Jack Arel and Jean Claude Petit - Strange Galaxy
11. Tommy James - Draggin' The Line
12. The Attack - Neville Thumbcatch
13. Alan Hawkshaw - Beat Boutique
14. Pink Floyd - Julia Dream
15. Strawberry Alarm Clock - Birds In My Tree
16. The Attack - We Can Take It
17. The Open Mind - Cast A Spell
18. Michel Legrand - 14 Juillet 70
19. The Who - My Generation
20. Groep 1850 - Little Fly
21. Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
22. King Crimson - In The Wake of Poseidon
23. The Bunch - Looking Glass Alice
24. London Underground - Mind the Doors
25. Soft Machine - Dada was Here

Download (songs separated)
Via Mega Upload

Download (one long track)
Via WW Download

ICA in Gothenburg

• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Facebook
• Email

Found these great vintage photos taken at two different ICA stores in Gothenburg, Sweden. Most likely taken for publicity reasons for use in catalogs or magazines. ICA is one the largest retail chains in Sweden, started back in 1938 today boasting over 1600 stores nationwide. Can't help thinking how Americanized the ICA Bergköp store looks like.

ICA Bergköp store, Gothenburg, Sweden, early 1960s

ICA Bergköp store, Gothenburg, Sweden, early 1960s

ICA Tynnered Center, Gothenburg, Sweden, early 1970s

Shopping Spree - Part 8

• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Facebook
• Email

More retro photos of Domus stores in Sweden. Why? Because it's good for you. Someone please bring back Domus, we miss you. Oh and clean up on aisle three.

Related posts
Shopping Spree - Part 1
Shopping Spree - Part 2
Shopping Spree - Part 3
Shopping Spree - Part 4
Shopping Spree - Part 5
Shopping Spree - Part 6
Shopping Spree - Part 7

Domus store, Nyköping, Sweden, 1976

Domus store, Söderhamn, Sweden, 1963

Domus store, Vimmerby, Sweden, early 1970s

Arne Jacobsen for your office

• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Facebook
• Email

Spring is officially here in Scandinavia, a good time to enjoy something new (or old). Warm colors, international design and clean lines are all trademarks of Danish designer and architect Arne Jacobsen. If you are in the process or remodeling or thinking about it here are some personal favorites of mine available to buy from Hivemodern.com. Enjoy!

Related posts
Arne Jacobsen

Arne Jacobsen Egg chair (1958) from hivemodern.com

Arne Jacobsen Series 3300 sofa (1958) from hivemodern.com

Arne Jacobsen Oxford chair (1963) from hivemodern.com

Does your airline offer this?

• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Facebook
• Email

More airline retro goodness from a TWA commercial made in the early 1970s. Looks cheesy but still delicious in some odd way.

Attention all customers

• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Facebook
• Email

I am not only interested in vintage design, architecture, lounge music and umm... stewardesses but also graphic design and typography seeing it has been my major subject in college and what what I work with for a living in a way. One thing that caught my attention lately are those old handwritten posters and placates that were found in major stores and outlets. Handwritten of course, they were in their own way a work of art. Done correctly they would both look elegant and selling. Of course, the effect would be the opposite if they were done the wrong way. Here are a couple of nice examples taken from a book about how to learn the quick lettering technique used for signs and billboards. Now grab your pens and start practicing.

Swank just got swankier

• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Facebook
• Email

As you might have noticed, some things has changed here at Ultra Swank. Felt that a design update was long overdue, seeing that the blog has looked the same for over two years. So said and done here is the new, improved, better, bigger and even more swizzle cool version of Ultra Swank! Since it is still being tweaked on, there might be some bugs here and there. But do not worry - they will all be taken care of in time. If you notice anything really strange, feel free to let me know by using the new contact form available on the top right side.

Other changes are the additions of a few banners from Google. My intention with this blog has and never will be to make money from it. But seeing that a lot of people do visit it nowadays, I thought I would see if I could break even with some of the expenses I have. Still experimenting with the ads, so expect to see some minor changes here and there over the next weeks.

I also set up a PayPal account which you can donate money to if you feel like giving something back to me, that is if you like the subjects I write about or the music compilations I share. My plan is to save any donations I might receive to partly fund some traveling later this year. Have been given a few invitations to visit some of the readers of this blog, who knows - maybe I will get a chance to meet some of you in person? :)

Fly Eastern

• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Facebook
• Email

Here in Sweden we just skipped spring, summer and autumn and went directly back to winter again, so why not take a trip to the sun with Eastern Airlines? Here are six one-minute vintage commercials with none other than Brazilian bossa legend Astrud Gilberto on vocals. The jingles were recorded in the late 1960s and styled in different variations. Taken from a promotion 7" record intended for their employees only, but now offered to the Ultra Swank readers as well.

"The soaring spirit of the New Eastern...the lyrical beauty of an aircraft in flight...the exalted triumph of man's conquest of the skies - all these have been joyously captured in the melodies on this record. Created especially to serve as background music for Eastern television and radio commercials, these exhilarating musical passages stand on their own as a memorable tonal tribute to the new freedom mankind has achieved through modern aviation."

1. "Fly Eastern" Theme
2. "Number One to the Sun"
3. "After Business Hours"
4. "Sunrise at San Juan"
5. "Miami Cocktail Lounge"
6. "Song for Sun-Worshippers"

Download
Via Megaupload