Prefab Sprout-Wonderful the eighties artists

"Great in 1985, even better in 2008."

Prefab Sprout earned critical hosannas when it released its second album, STEVE MCQUEEN, in 1985. Titled TWO WHEELS GOOD in North America, the record showcased the incisive, sophisticated songs of leader Paddy McAloon, whose blend of folk-rock and complex popcraft contrasted greatly with the new wave trends of the time. People like Pete Townshend were quick to hail McAloon as a major talent. While McAloon never evolved into a singing-songwriting force along the lines of, say, Elvis Costello, many still revere the group and its music.

8 Carat Collection / October 1999

A Life Of Surprises / July 1992

Steve McQueen / June 1985

Surely most of us remember the eighties artists,rarely out of the spotlight with over the budget videos,stunning looks and hairdos sounding more or less the same(manufactured pop). But for those who cherish the more intelligent side of music, then the name Prefab Sprout must by all means must be considered. Their second album Steve McQueen was released in 1985 and immediately became their signature release. The songs are well crafted guitar driven gems and have an almost dreamy feel(thanks to producer Thomas Dolby).Standouts are Appetite,Goodbye Lucille,When Love Breaks Down and Desire As. This particular release is remastered with a bonus disc of newly recorded acoustic versions of the album by frontman Paddy McAloon. In essence the music of Prefab Sprout will always stand the test of time even decades from now.

A great compliment to an already masterpiece. Superb!

Hot and Covered...The World's Most Stylish...Bands

We pick the 11 sharpest-dressed groups on the planet right now

(The jonas brothers not included)

Spoon

We suspect that singer Britt Daniel (front, center) wouldn't know Raf Simons from Gene Simmons, but the guy (and his Austin-based bandmates) knows a thing or two about clean, well-tailored style. Credit the group's fondness for upgrading the indie-rock basics: Think leather boots (not sneakers), well-cut trousers (not jeans), and shirts with collars (not T-shirts). In fact, that last one is such a sticking point that Daniel famously refuses to be photographed in a tee.

Photo: Courtesy of Spoon

Franz Ferdinand

To paraphrase High Fidelity, these sharp-dressed Scots know that style ain't just about what you're like, but what you like—whether finely tailored suits, fine food (read singer Alex Kapranos' 2006 foodie travelogue, Sound Bites), or fine art. Their debut made an ideal soundtrack for the heady (and Hedi) days of early '04, and we expect the same from their next album, due in January. (Bonus fact: They're named after the most stylish assassinated archduke of the 1910s.)

Photo: Mark Allan/Wireimage

Dap-Kings

As the house band for the neo-soul Daptone label, the Dap-Kings have lent their support to divas from Amy Winehouse to Sharon Jones (pictured). The fellas' sound might change with their frontwoman, but their style is constant: They seldom appear out of suits, a nod to the gentlemanly backing bands of yore. And they make everyone they play with look better than she would alone. Now that's style.

Photo: Courtesy of Daptone Records

Babyshambles

You've got to hand it to Pete Doherty for the way he exudes Keith Richards–style panache without the Keith Richards–worthy pirate uniform. (The Keith Richards–style drug intake is another matter.) As for the rest of the group, well, they've yet to catch the eye of Kate Moss, but they don't dress too shabbily, either—even when they're pulling faces.

Photo: Retna Ltd.

Justice

Justice is meant to be blind, but there's little doubt that Gaspard Aug? and Xavier de Rosnay spend more than a little time in front of a mirror. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) The duo's ever-present leather jackets inspired their fr?res at Surface2Air to have them codesign a capsule collection earlier this year. Kris Van Assche is also a fan, having tapped the pair to score his S/S 2009 show for Dior Homme. (Listen here.) But the Frenchmen appreciate the cheaper side of fashion, too. Case in point: The video for their anthem "D.A.N.C.E.," a worshipful tribute to the T-shirt.

Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for MTV

Hot and Covered...The World's Most Stylish...Bands

Kings of Leon

Given this band consists of one cousin and three brothers from the Followill clan of Tennessee, we can only draw one conclusion: Followill p?re must be the sharpest-dressed retired preacher in the South. The guys, who churn out old-school riffs while wearing smart suits, leather jackets, and the occasional trench, have shown signs of maturity by shedding their hirsute locks, but fear not: Their latest album still includes a Zep-worthy ode to good times called "Sex on Fire." (No word on what Rev. Followill has to say about that.)

Photo: Courtesy of Kings of Leon

These New Puritans

For this Southend, England, group, it's hard to tell where music ends and fashion begins. Not only did they score Dior Homme's Fall 2007 show—Hedi Slimane's last for the label—but drummer George Barnett Barnett (second from left) also walked the boards. And while Barnett's bandmate and twin brother Jack (front) takes his cues from Ian Curtis, George's inspiration may well be Slimane himself. "Tailoring is definitely something I will turn to after music," he told The Fader earlier this year. He's already got a well-tailored leg up: After that show, he nabbed an apprenticeship at Dior with an assist from the designer.

Photo: Dean Chalkey

The Cool Kids

A name like the Cool Kids tempts comeuppance, but Antoine Reed and Evan Ingersoll have enough swagger to make even cynics like us believe. Their sound recalls hip-hop's golden age (think Eric B. and Rakim or Run-DMC) without merely parroting, and their look does likewise. (Not that we're recommending anyone try this at home.)

Photo: Jennifer Maler/Retna Ltd.

Hot and Covered...The World's Most Stylish...Bands

The Raconteurs

His other band's music may be better, but with these guys Jack White (second from right) at least dresses like a normal person—a normal person with a thing for well-tailored workwear, anyway. His bandmate Brendan Benson (kneeling), meanwhile, pairs the occasional contrast-collar shirt with smart blazers and jeans. As for bassist Jack Lawrence (far left) and Patrick Keeler (far right), when they're not telling sonic tales with the Raconteurs, they split their time with the equally stylish (and underrated) Ohio group the Greenhornes.

Photo: Stephen Berkman

Vampire Weekend

Let's face it: These guys' half-serious, half-jokey Graceland-inflected world pop would be pretty darn annoying if it weren't so well executed. Same goes for their clothes. While their sound is all anthro-class Soweto, their look is vintage St. Paul's: rep ties and shawl-collar sweaters, oxford-cloth button-downs, and beat-up Barbour coats. Not very rock 'n' roll, admittedly, but walk down any block in Williamsburg or Silver Lake, and you'll see they've struck a chord.

Photo: Vorasi

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Okay, when we say Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, we really mean just Nick Cave. And while he may not be blessed with the loveliest of voices, the man makes the most of what he's got. Same's true in the realm of aesthetics: Cave's not the handsomest guy in the room—or, hell, the handsomest guy in his band—but the charismatic front man wears bespoke with unrivaled authority. He keeps up the routine offstage, too: Cave recently claimed he dons a suit every day in the studio.

Photo: Courtesy of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Spacial Thanks also in The Upgrader/Style > features

On Men.Style.com

Beirut-Into a different period of time

"Condon coos these heart-broken serenades and intoxicated ballads in a liquid vibrato moan somewhere between Thom Yorke and Antony Hegarty."

Beirut is the band of 22-year-old Santa Fe native Zach Condon. The band's first official release was assisted by Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel, A Hawk and a Hacksaw) and Heather Trost (A Hawk and a Hacksaw); it combines elements of Eastern European and folk sounds. Condon plays the trumpet and the ukulele as his main instruments, having been unable to play guitar because of a wrist injury that prevented his hand from reaching fully around the neck of a guitar.

Though young, Condon has already released a few albums. He recorded under the name The Real People when he was 15, making The Joys of Losing Weight, which is a lo-fi electronic record (ie, generally in the style of 'Scenic World' on Gulag Orkestar) fashioned consciously after The Magnetic Fields. At 16, he recorded an entire doo-wop album that was inspired by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. Zach also released a three-song EP titled "Small Time American Bats" under the name 1971. The album was recorded in 2001-2002 and has never been officially released. Condon attended Santa Fe High School, where he was a student until he dropped out at the age of 16 to travel Europe (with his brother Ryan Condon) where he was first exposed to Balkan gypsy music, notably including the Boban Marković Orchestra and Goran Bregović.

Gulag Orkestar (2006)

EP-Lon Gisland (2007)

Flying Club Cup  (2007)

While there's little in the way of pop/rock influence in Beirut's instrumental approach, Condon sings in a low warble that recalls the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt, showcasing his unrestrained flair for drama on tracks such as the tense "Brandenburg" and the swooning "Scenic World." Effectively displaying Condon's considerable abilities, GULAG ORKESTAR is a fully formed first outing that is sure to appeal to many fans of ornate and adventurous indie-pop.

A great choice after a rough day of work.

Hot and Coverd...GQ: SPECIAL PAUL NEWMAN EDITION

20 of the late, great actor's top style moments-whether on the water, on camera, or smuggling a'stache through the airport.

California, 1955

A sign of true style: The man dressed well even before he was famous.

Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958

Here's a little dose of history for those of you who thought Pete Wentz invented the half-mast tie.

Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

1958

A note to all our designer friends: If you're looking for inspiration for your Spring 2010 collections, start here.

Photo: John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images

Hot and Coverd...GQ: SPECIAL PAUL NEWMAN EDITION

Circa 1960

Proof that the Mad Men look wasn't the only game in town back then.

Photo: Alan Band/Keystone/Getty Images

Hud, 1963

The character's dad put it best: "Oh, you got all that charm goin' for ya. And it makes the youngsters want to be like ya."

Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

Hot and Coverd...GQ: SPECIAL PAUL NEWMAN EDITION

Torn Curtain, 1966

If this wasn't Hitchcock's finest film, it certainly wasn't the fault of the folks in Wardrobe.

Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

Cool Hand Luke, 1967

What we have here is...the only man ever to make working on a chain gang look almost fun.

Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

Filming Rachel, Rachel, Florida, 1967

Directing your first feature is hard work—not that you'd know it from this shot.

Photo: Mark Kauffman/Getty Images

Hot and Coverd...GQ: SPECIAL PAUL NEWMAN EDITION

At the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago

Politically minded youngsters take note: It's perfectly okay to yell like a hippie without actually dressing like one. (And, yes, that's Arthur Miller in the background. The sixties were awesome.)

Photo: Lee Balterman/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969

With apologies to Chaplin (not to mention The Dude), this may be the best cinematic bowler of all time.

Photo: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection

With Joanne Woodward, London, 1969

Proof that no man was immune to Swinging London.

Photo: K. Britten/Fox Photos/Getty Images

Hot and Coverd...GQ: SPECIAL PAUL NEWMAN EDITION

The Sting, 1973

Sometimes it all comes together: great scene, great costume, great facial hair.

Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

On set of The MacKintosh Man, London, 1973

If only this movie were as good as the clothes.

Photo: Getty Images

The Towering Inferno, 1974

This ur-disaster flick starred three style icons: McQueen, Astaire, and Newman, who, as shown here, didn't break a sweat.

Photo: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection

Hot and Coverd...GQ: SPECIAL PAUL NEWMAN EDITION

Slap Shot, 1977

Hey, you gotta match the costume to the part—in this case, loud, proud, and gleefully profane.

Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

The Verdict, 1982

The performance? A model of restraint. The suit? Likewise.

Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

Heathrow Airport, London, 1984

How to wear a 'stache: with panache.

Photo: Mirrorpix/Courtesy Everett Collection

Hot and Coverd...GQ: SPECIAL PAUL NEWMAN EDITION

The Color of Money, 1986

He may have been a couple decades older, but Fast Eddie looked just as good in a suit as he did in The Hustler.

Photo: Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Road to Perdition, 2002

Aside from the meticulously researched costumes, Newman's commanding performance was the best thing about Sam Mendes' thirties gangster flick.

Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection

In New York, later in life

Once a man of style, always a man of style.

Photo: Peter Freed/Corbis

Special Thanks also in GQ/feature

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The Heart Strings-Try Fly Blue Sky (2008)

"A beautiful, fun and diverse as the city they call home."

Judging a book by its cover (or, in this case, a band by its name), I expected the Heart Strings to be an overly emo and whiny group bent on, well, tugging at listener’s heart strings. And although the band sometimes does just that, this London-based quartet is versatile, citing everyone from Guns ‘n’ Roses to Ben Folds Five as influences and creating music that is both smooth and catchy with upbeat blends of brass and piano.

“He Wanted to Fly and He Flew” is perhaps one of the band’s more inspirational songs. The story that the lyrics tell is simple: a guy overcame adversity. But the instrumentation gives the song more complexity, as it begins with the tinkle of a xylophone and becomes more and more layered until the song’s climax. By the end of the song, the Heart Strings are showing off their stripped-down side again with a few simple piano chords.

The Heart Strings certainly have a quirky side. “Mariana” is about a man falling for a woman who works at a “greasy spoon.” Again, the band lets the music wax and wane; the chorus of brass and swelling voices of background singers would make you think this is a song about the most epic love story known to man. In reality, the song’s narrator describes his relationship with Mariana by singing, “She served me my pies with wanton brown eyes.”

The Album suitable for People live in center … there’re happiness.

Porta's Eyes...The Opening Oct.08

There is a new phenomenon in men's fashion, and I call it the new modern classic. This look is being poshed forword by men of my generation (I'm turning thirty-three this year).

Right now, in the world of fashion, there is over-consumption. People who really love and are dedicated to their own style don't buy for the surface, and they are fed up with fashion being so mainstream-they don't want fashion to simply be about the newest look from the newest season.

I think now to buy somthing more long-term, somthing more personal to them-and they don't want to dress ridiculously. A few years back, in fashion you were not talking about age, because everyone looked the same. You saw fifty-year-old guys in baggy pants trying to look like school kids. We've had a long period of people dressing very street. Everyone, regular guys especially, loves to dress well, but when you become involved in fashion, people expect you to be flamboyant.

And for a long time, regular guys have been presented with fashion that looked very androgynous. So, now, there's a reaction against street style, but there's also a reaction against more androgynous styles. Many guys want to be classic, masculine and chic again.

They become inspired by Steve McQueen - he's a stereotype, but also a very real example of someone who was very well-dressed. Also Cary Grant, in North by Northwest. He dressed very cool - his button-down shirt was a bit looser, that sort of thing...

For a more classic, masculine look, it's all about how you mix your wardrobe. You wear a chino, but you wear it in a very classic way: pull the pant hight to make it shorter. Then you add a nice shirt from, say, Thom Browne, and then you fine a new, modern tie, and then top it off with a jacket with a more modern cut. You put there things together, and you have a modern silhouette.

Hot and Covered...Remembering Paul Newman, Humanitarian and Actor

The Method

Actor Paul Newman died Friday, Sept. 26, at 83, after a long battle with cancer

In the decade after World War II, three soulful studs went from Broadway to Hollywood. Marlon Brando, James Dean and Paul Newman became movie stars in the 50s and helped revolutionize the craft. Of these three, way back then, Newman seemed the least unique. He wasn't Brando, though he had studied at the Actors Studio and starred on Broadway in a Tennessee Williams play. He wasn't Dean, though he nearly played Dean's brother in Elia Kazan's East of Eden.

But unlike the other two, Newman stuck it out. Instead of leading his talent in weird and wayward directions, like Brando, or smashing it to pieces on a California highway at 24, like Dean, he just kept getting better, more comfortable in his movie skin, more proficient at suggesting worlds of flinty pleasure or sour disillusion with a smile or a squint. And of the three, he was the most conventionally gorgeous. How many teenage girls had that famous poster of Newman — his face in monochrome, his eyes a startling sky blue — tacked to their bedroom walls?

Then Newman did something really remarkable: he sustained that early promise for five decades. He grew old and gray but not fat and cranky; he was recognizably, at any moment in his film career, Paul Newman. He did cool things well, like racing cars, and made doing good seem cool, with the Newman's Own brand of foods that has donated about $250 million to charity. His politics remained responsibly liberal; his public voice retained its wit and equanimity. He deprived the tabloids of the scandal headlines they love: no rap sheet, no rehab stints, no notorious affairs. And no messy divorce; indeed, no divorce at all, once he became a public figure. He married Joanne Woodward (his second wife) in 1958; this past January they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. He was the movie star who could have been your prized next-door neighbor. To a great extent, the image had to be the man. That's why Newman, who died Friday at 83 after a long battle with cancer, was not just the iconic movie star of his age — he was one of the last public figures to lead an exemplary life.

Mark Kauffman / Time Life Pictures / Getty

Hot and Covered...The New Sartorialists

Band of Outsiders' Scott Sternberg, left, Adam Kimmel, Thom Browne, Michael Bastian and Taavo Somer of Freeman Sporting Club, all wearing their own designs.

In the late 1960s, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, two outsiders from the Bronx who dreamed of making it big in the fashion industry, started their companies. Both eventually created megabrands that took American style global and defined what it means to be successful in fashion.

Klein infused his brand with an unprecedented sexuality that now dominates the marketplace. He sold his company to Phillips–Van Heusen for $400 million in 2003. Lauren introduced lifestyle branding before the concept had a name, turning his notion of American splendor into a worldwide corporation with revenues of $4.9 billion in fiscal year 2008. Not bad for two wide-eyed sons of the Bronx.

Forty years later, a new generation of American menswear designers has emerged with a collective strength not seen in decades. And while Klein and Lauren remain legendary influences, their heirs are altering the model of success that was established before them: where their predecessors thought mega, this new group thinks micro.

The designers featured on these pages are marketing their personal brands of cool, initially driven by their own sartorial needs rather than a desire for global fashion influence. Having come to fashion not from design schools but from successful careers outside the industry, they count a Hollywood veteran, an architect and a former actor among them. They began by making clothes that their equally creative friends wanted to wear, conceiving their businesses the way MySpace users create profiles, reflecting their environments and tastes.

"It's artisan vs. corporate," says Tom Kalendarian, men's fashion director at Barneys. "Think of them as tailors, not designers. Give or take a few surprises, there's a lot of predictability out there. Men are looking for the idiosyncratic."

Combining contemporary imagery with timeless ideals of masculinity, these five rising menswear stars are creating conventional clothes for the not-so-conventional modern man.

Josh Rouse-The Best Of

"He's got a nicely scorched voice and some hummable melodies to match it."

Nebraska-born singer-songwriter Josh Rouse, who started his recording career after moving to Nashville, began in an organic, rootsy vein. By the time of his third album, UNDER COLD BLUE STARS, he had graduated to a more pop-oriented approach with increasingly sophisticated production. His 2003 release, 1972, upped the ante even further by touching on both Rouse's '70s pop and soul roots.

A highly prolific and accomplished singer-songwriter, Josh Rouse is well represented by this excellent two-disc set, which thoughtfully surveys the indie-pop performer's late-1990s/early-2000s recordings. Highlights include the wistful "1972" and the chiming "Winter in the Hamptons," songs that showcase Rouse's emotive voice and intuitively spare arrangements. The second disc consists largely of previously unreleased tracks, making the collection ideal for dedicated fans of the talented troubadour.

Josh Rouse's follow-up to his critically acclaimed album 1972 ventures still deeper into the territory of mellow, nostalgia-tinged '70s FM radio, and this time the results are a little less Philly soul and a little more Laurel Canyon. The gently lilting "Winter in the Hamptons" and "Saturday" find Rouse nestled comfortably between the Rolling Stones' "Tops" and Bob Dylan's "Sweetheart Like You" on the jukebox, while "Carolina" is so light it could make James Taylor cry into his lemonade. Tinkly piano floats under Rouse's breathy vocals on "Sad Eyes" in a manner sure to enhance any romantic yearning to the point of pain, while a boogie-woogie vibe turns up on "Why Won't You Tell Me What." It's great to see this Nebraska singer/songwriter stepping unashamedly into the AOR-ready troubadour mold left empty for decades, and it's a role he inhabits beautifully and proudly. Incidentally, the title of the album refers more to geography (Rouse lived in Nashville for a decade), than rhinestone-spangled cowboy style, though some nice pedal-steel guitar does sweeten up a few tracks.

"This guy is the real deal. A great songwriter, Great creative music and a great style you can relax to."