We’re pleased to present a sneak peak of the new VBS series Picture Perfect. VBS goes on assignment with favorite portrait photographer Stefan Ruiz to document the “Cholombiano” Monterrey street culture of sticky sideburns and stoner cumbia jams in the first episode of Picture Perfect. Check out the series premiere on March 22nd.

Inspired by the videos Aaron Rose did for us, Thomas Christensen shot a little montage with his iPhone from a day in Riga.

Awesome job Thomas. We’ll be sending you some iPhone 4 cases for the effort!

A few days before embarking on La Sera’s first UK tour, mastermind Katy Goodman (vox/bass) and hired guns Jennifer Prince (guitar/vox) and Jonathan Weinberg (drums/dry humor), stopped by Room 205 to blast through a few songs from Katy’s upcoming full-length on Hardly Art.

It’s Music Monday, so to kick start your week, we bring you our second Room 205 session with LA locals Abe Vigoda, this time performing “Repeating Angel” from their latest album, Crush.

The band’s guitarist/keyboardist Juan Velazquez is an ardent admirer of fake fog and 80s-style video montages. When you watch the band’s Room 205 episode, it will all make perfect sense.

We are pleased to announce the release of Kreuzberg, the first of three original short films and photo essays by director and curator Aaron Rose for Incase. Known as one of the cornerstones of the street art movement, Rose is an artist, film director, exhibition curator and writer who merged his artistry, love for travel and reliance on his iPhone to create the visuals of Kreuzberg and two upcoming film and photo essay releases. Each piece highlights the creative possibilities that can be captured using the built-in HD camera of iPhone 4.

While traveling in Germany, Rose shot Kreuzberg on location in the Berlin neighborhood of the same name. Rose used the high-definition camera on his iPhone 4 while relying on our Snap Case to provide his iPhone with the protection that international travel and on-location shooting requires.

According to Rose, the film is a tribute to Brian Eno and David Bowie, both of whom recorded in Kreuzberg in the 1970s. Since the 1980s, the historically Turkish neighborhood of Kreuzberg has also been home to a population of artists, musicians and anarchists. Kreuzberg’s main characters are Fiona Geuss, an art historian who reads excerpts from Boris Groys’ essay on “light luggage,” and Nathan Harrington, a musician who also created the film’s original score. In the film, Harrington recites a poem written by Rose expressing nostalgia for the town and its storied history that echoes in its streets.

The three-part series by Rose will showcase how his creative mind harnessed the capabilities of iPhone 4 to create an inspired visual experience that engages viewers. Be sure to bookmark the Aaron Rose page; following Kreuzberg, we’ll be releasing two additional films and photo essays by Rose on November 2 and November 30.

As a means to foster goodwill between artists, music lovers and Incase, we have created Room 205, a rehearsal space in Downtown Los Angeles that has been converted into an audio recording studio. A new venture within our overarching Sound & Vision initiative, Room 205 will play host to touring and local bands who will each perform three songs and sit with us for some casual conversation.

Inside Room 205 you’ll be able to watch intimate performances and interviews, stream audio of the tracks and view photos of the sessions in the improvised space filled with recording equipment, sunlight and creativity. New and exclusive content will be posted to Room 205 (under Sound & Vision) every week for your listening and viewing pleasure.

We launch Room 205 with local LA favorites Abe Vigoda and a live recording of “Throwing Shade” from their recently released sophomore album, Crush.

Abe Vigoda (the Los Angeles-based post-punk quartet, not the octogenarian actor who played Sergeant Phil Fish on the sitcom Barney Miller) is as defined by their inability to be defined as anything else. On Crush, they continue to expand on their cold wave, minimal synth and new romantic influences, taking listeners on an unnerving sonic thrill ride filled with jarring twists and turns.

We’ll be releasing two more sessions with Abe Vigoda on October 11 and 18, so be sure to keep Room 205 bookmarked for future visits.

Room 205 joins Project Space and THIS Visits as the latest addition to Incase’s Sound & Vision initiative, a project created to share our collective passion for art and music and showcase the people that inspire us.

Working with artist and photographer Ari Marcopoulos, we’ve created a limited-edition camera bag perfect for professional photographers and enthusiasts alike.

During the the last month of his stay in the area of Sonoma (about an hour away from the Golden Gate Bridge), Ari took photographer/cinematographer Lele Saveri and Giuseppe Furcolo on a tour of this beautifully quiet region where deer roam free and the moon shines bright at night.

A few weeks before moving back to the chaotic life of New York City, which he left 12 years ago, he took Lele and Peppe tree-climbing in the valley. They spent the day jumping into a deserted reservoir, hitting golf balls into an empty field, wandering through the graves of the small town’s cemetery and discovering all the spots where local kids hide away from adult eyes.

During this weekend-long journey, they had the chance of meeting both of Ari’s teenage sons, some of their friends, some local fans of Ari’s work, a beautifully proud 92-year old lady and a couple of Mexican men enjoying the shade on a sunny summer day.

Lele, Giuseppe and Ari worked together on the making of this video, surrounded by Ari’s life packed away in boxes ready to go his new home. While Ari showed all old photographs and videos that were discovered during his packing, the Italians were cooking some specialities with the fresh produce of the Californian countryside.

Photos by Lele Saveri.

At the Bagdad Theater on Friday, September 10th, Incase & MFNW will present the new concert documentary Burning by Scottish post-rock giants Mogwai. If you’re at all wondering what this means, we can spell it out in three words: serious rock action. If an instrumental band ever deserved having a full-length concert film made about their live show it would be Mogwai. Bring ear plugs and a quadruple espresso. Doors at 7PM, tickets are $5 clams. For a chance to win film tickets and VIP passes to the festival check: @MUSICFESTNW

An introvert dedicated to little else than his heart and spirit, Danny Gibson’s introduction to art and design came through music. He got his outlook on art from his family, who believe that art is for the masses and should be inclusive rather than exclusive. His family instilled in him a belief that no matter how you earn a living, you can still go out into the world and be an artist in your own right.

THIS Visits presents an 8-minute portrait of Danny Gibson, a young man that escaped the cage of social class, dares to dream and is valiant is his efforts to remain staunchly nostalgic.

Check out Paul Rodriguez in this clip for Mountain Dew’s new Green Label Art Shop Series. Artwork in the clip by Don Pendleton. Bonus: behind the scene photos.