As you walk into Today Cloth-

ing, the philosophy that defines
the store is fairly clear. An elegant
interior and muted color palette
are juxtaposed with store speak-
ers softly playing vintage soul
music, evoking a distinct sense of
ease and artistry. Racks of men’s
clothes neatly line the walls,
eclectic and colorful sneakers
are tucked in the back and tables
placed around the store showcase
what new and notable wares have
come Today’s way. It calls Fourth
Ave. its home, Literati its neigh-
bor and is a bit of an anomaly as
far as Ann Arbor’s storefronts
go. With its shelves boasting sto-
ried menswear brands like A.P.C.,
wings+horns and Norse Projects,
one could move Today to one of
the hipper streets in SoHo without
anyone batting much of an eye —
and that’s largely the point.

“Even if I wanted to shop (in

Ann Arbor), there was nowhere I’d
be excited to be going. We decided
that it made sense to change that,”
said Kevin Pearson, who owns
and manages Today along with
Eric Hardin, a fellow Michigan
native and University of Michigan
Engineering alum. “I knew no one
was doing retail well here, or any-
where in southeast Michigan.”

What Hardin and Pearson

sought to accomplish with Today
was an audacious task, but its wel-
come presence in the city is the

thankful product of what they said
was “the timing being right.”

In addition to Today’s care-

fully envisioned design, Hardin
and Pearson said they put great
thought and consideration into
each and every item that lines
their storefront.

“We want items that look good,

but we also want items that age
well and that our customers can
wear for years,” Hardin said.

Customers can find colorful

and playful designs nestled along-
side monochromatic, classic looks;
wares can range from effortlessly
stylish and timeless threads from
menswear brands like Our Legacy
and Monitaly, to loud and personal
pieces from the likes of Vans and
local designer Yoshi, a Japanese
transplant and former Comme
Des Garçons collaborator wor-
thy of his own story. Today can
even say it is one of a few store in
the United States for many of the
brands it carries — at the moment,
Today is the only official stockist
for A.P.C. products in the state of
Michigan.

Beyond good looks and crafts-

manship, Today’s inventory is also
telling of the kinds of people Har-
din and Pearson are. “Our brand
is a map of who we’ve wanted to
work with. We’re fortunate to say
that most of these brands in here
can be called our friends and we’re
fortunate to work with them,”
Pearson said.

On the graces of previously

established industry connections,

Hardin and Pearson were able to
build Today thanks to personal
relationships they’ve continued
to foster; for every new brand put
into consideration, “getting to
know the brand and its people” is
an integral process for Today, per
Hardin.

“We decided to channel a lot

of our relationships and got seri-
ous about a shared vision” — it’s
an aspect of Today’s business that
separates the store from many of
its retail contemporaries.

Today is a refreshing fixture

among Ann Arbor’s typical retail
scene. Fronted by two gregarious
(and, frankly, very cool) owners
with an appreciation for all things
creative and well-designed, Today
affords its patrons a reasoned and
tasteful introduction to male high
fashion. As much as its inven-
tory is an illustration of the duo’s
personalities, Today is equally
an earnest homage to the art and
sophistication of menswear (fit-
ting, considering their space used
to house an art gallery). No matter
one’s predispositions to fashion
and menswear, Today’s contin-
ued contributions to Ann Arbor’s
cultural landscape are worthy of
recognition, and its significance
in Ann Arbor’s retail and fashion
scene will only grow as time goes
on. Noting Today’s relationship
with the city, Pearson said it best:
“Ann Arbor just felt like home.”
And for many of the city’s fashion-
able men, Today can function as a
home in much of the same way.

An A2 store for trendy men

ANAY KATYAL
Daily Style Editor

4th Ave’s Today Clothing outfits the fashionable male

CLAIRE ABDO/Daily

Harden and Pearson, the owners of Today Clothing.

STYLES UPON STYLES

How’s that mic taste?

As the school year gets into full

swing, I mourn the loss of days I
could spend watching Netflix and
eating my body weight in Chipotle
burritos. As the days get shorter
and my time spent in the library
gets longer, I hunt for new music
to get me through the (recently
chillier)
September
evenings.

This is where Gabriel Garzón
Montano comes in.

Raised in Brooklyn with a clas-

sically trained singer for a mother,
Montano began playing the violin
at the age of six and continues to
play various instruments today.
His first and only release, Bish-
ouné: Alma Del Huila, features
Montano playing every instru-
ment and writing all of the music
for the six tracks. While Montano
released the EP and toured along-
side Lenny Kravitz in the fall of
2014, his most recent rise to fame
occurred when Drake sampled
his opening song “Six Eight” in
“Jungle” off If You’re Reading This
It’s Too Late.

“Six Eight” opens the EP with

its sultry and seductive sound,
setting the stage for what Mon-
tano hopes to accomplish with

the rest of the album. I first heard
the song in the closing episode of
“Last Chance U” on Netflix, but
aside from providing a soundtrack
for a crying football team, “Six
Eight” is passionate and sexy
with slow, heavy beats and claps.
The five-minute song boasts only
four lines that Montano sings on
repeat; “Rock me real slowly / Put
a bib on me / I’m just like a baby,
drooling over you / The things
you do.”

Following
“Six
Eight”
is

“Everything is Everything,” a
track whose a cappella intro
becomes its background accom-
paniment. It’s hip and clever,
using traditional concepts of
groove and rhythm to create an
untraditional combination of pop
and funk. “Naeja” lures listeners
with light piano and techno beats,
leaving them slightly uneasy
when faced with the ominous
undertones. The lyrics play into
the restlessness of the steady,
chorus-less track when Montano
croons, “Thought I saw the man
/ Just my own footsteps in the
sand.”

The difficult to understand

“Pour Maman” utilizes layered
vocals, a tinkling piano and heavy
bass to transform into a new rock
sound, as Montano murmurs to

a missing lover. Closing with the
prophetic lyrics, “I’ll never leave
you / I’d rather leave you,” “Pour
Maman” mourns the loss of a
past life. Transitioning quickly to
“Keep On Running,” the most pia-
no-heavy song on the EP employs
its instruments to mimic its title.
With abrupt and hasty strokes to
imitate running away from the
past, its upbeat sound contrasts
with the bleak lyrics, “Won’t ever
get away / If you’re living for yes-
terday / Don’t expect things to
change.” It’s simple and epito-
mizes Montano’s sound through a
combination of traditional instru-
ments with modern remixes.

Bishouné: Alma Del Huila clos-

es with “Me Alone,” a soulful and
sensuous song that makes good
use of a steady drumbeat and
electronic voices harmonizing in
the background. Its closing lyrics,
“Well well what a mighty hard
life to lead / All this sunshine is
heavy hangin’ over me / I know
the grass is greener where the
angels be,” speaks to the fear of
loneliness and the starvation for
touch that comes along with it.
At the end of the EP, Gabriel Gar-
zón Montano leaves the listener
with both a respect for a doomed
past and a renewed sense of hope,
looking ahead for better days.

CATHERINE BAKER

Daily Arts Writer

Montano makes alluring, light tunes

Classically-trained Brooklyn singer is perfect for short fall days

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
the b-side
Thursday, September 29, 2016 — 3B

It’s time to herald the
return of one the best, most
underappreciated sitcoms on
the air: “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
Created by Michael Schur
(“The Good Place”) and Dan
Goor (“Parks and Recreation”),
“Brooklyn” entered its fourth
season last week with a
premiere that continued its
adventurous foray into more
serialized storytelling.
It’s ostensibly a series about
cops in its eponymous pre-
cinct, but it’s probably better
described as a workplace com-
edy. The show is a paragon of
the network sitcom, an ideal
every such series should aspire
to. It’s a testament to diverse
casting, the strengths of
ensemble comedy and simply
clever, hilarious writing.
When the final “Greatest TV
Duos” lists have been tabu-
lated, chief among the winners

should be
the mis-
matched
cops Andy
Samberg
(“Popstar:
Never Stop
Never
Stopping”)
and Andre
Braugher
(“Homicide:
Life on the
Street”):
this unholy pairing is about
as weird, wacky and utterly
hilarious as you’d expect. Sam-
berg’s trademark goofiness
takes a backseat to his ironic
sensibility and underrated
charm, and this dynamic plays
off Braugher’s deadpan perfec-
tion to create the most consis-
tent laughs a network comedy
could hope to mine.
The ensemble cast —
including Terry Crews
(“Everybody Hates Chris”),
Chelsea Peretti (“Kroll
Show”), Stephanie Beatriz
(“Short Term 12”) and more
— truly deserves to be in

the same conversation as
those of “Veep” and “Silicon
Valley.” And, as of the past
season, “Brooklyn” has even
ventured out of standard
case-of-the-week plots into
longer arcs — and done so to
predictably great success. It’s
ultimately a shame, then, that
the show is comparatively
underappreciated. FOX is
home to a dizzying menu
of fantastic comedies —
“New Girl,” “Bob’s Burgers”
“Last Man On Earth” — but
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is
what everyone, at some point,
needs: comfort food.

- NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT

EPISODE REVIEW

A-

“Season Four Premiere”

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

FOX

DEF JAM

Life is like a box of balls.

Admit it: there’s been a time

(or 100) when you’ve found
yourself to be in your feelings.
You feel emo — it happens.
It’s often unwarranted and
unprecedented; it may be due
to lack of sleep and/or food,
the exam you have on Tuesday
or the exam you had (and may
have failed) last Tuesday or
because you finally found the
person from your big lecture
class that you’ve been nursing
a crush on all year, and you see
on Facebook that they’ve been
in a relationship with someone
for two years. Who really cares
why you’re feeling emo — the
point is, you just are.

I learned in my musicology

course last year that listening
to sad songs while you are sad
actually does make you feel
better. It makes you feel as
though whatever it is you’re
feeling is valid, and after you
belt your heart out (or just cry
and listen) to your sad song of
choice, you undergo a sort of
catharsis that leaves you feeling
cleansed. Plus, the act of singing
releases endorphins, so singing
when you are sad will make you
feel happier. With that in mind,
if you do happen to find yourself
in the feels for no apparent
reason, check out the songs
below:

“Ivy” — Frank Ocean
It begins with a reverberated

guitar melody that progresses as
Ocean’s soothing yet powerful
vocals build. Then, it pierces
through all the walls and all
the bullshit that you have
worked to hide behind. Ocean
perfectly begins soft and low,
so when only 30 seconds in, he
skips up an octave into a more
exasperated, emotional tone,
the listener is ready to let go
of the strength and composure
they feel they must uphold.
This build up is expert, and is
executed at a level that isn’t
often heard, even from artists
of the same caliber. With ease,

Ocean juxtaposes an angsty and
nonchalant tone, representing
the whiplash of the constant
battle of feeling and caring too
much and not at all (“If you could
see my thoughts you would see
our faces” vs. “It’s quite alright
to hate me now”). His lyrics are
nostalgic, constantly referring
to “back then” — a time that
every listener has, a time that
every listener thinks of and a
time that every listener, at some
point, wants to return to.

“Don’t Think Twice It’s

Alright” — Bob Dylan

Dylan’s
apathetic
yet

powerful lyrics, combined with
his soft-spoken singing, are
like a stream of consciousness
within your own head. With
lines such as “I ain’t saying
you treated me unkind / You
could’ve done better, but, I don’t
mind, / You just kind of wasted
my precious time, / But don’t
think twice, it’s alright,” Dylan
succinctly puts the hardship
of breaking up with someone,
even after reluctantly realizing
that neither the relationship
nor the person was perfect, into
words. The matter-of-factness
in Dylan’s tone that basically
says “you suck, but it’s seriously
fine!” allows you to easily sing
along and convince yourself
that maybe it really is seriously
fine.

“Michicant” — Bon Iver
Listening to Bon Iver feels

like sitting on a rock in the
middle of a moving river, with
your feet in the cool-but-not-
too-cold water, with the sun
hitting your chest and the smell
of trees filling your olfactory
senses. It’s like being where you
are most comfortable, with a
warm blanket and a cup of tea,
with your favorite book and your
favorite person and a glass of
your favorite kind of expensive
alcohol. This song is one of my
personal favorites from Justin
Vernon, for the harmonies of
his voice and the entrancing
instruments. I don’t quite even
know how to describe his music;
it is hopeful and yet bittersweet.

There is something about it that
can mend a broken heart, a bad
day or a disappointment.

“Yes I’m Changing” — Tame

Impala

The first time I heard this

song — to put it frankly — I
was like, “Yaaaaas.” Taking
in the ambient vocals and
synthesizers
combined
with

the strong beat of the bass and
drums will inadvertently have
you nodding your head. The
lyrics are dreamy and matter of
fact; they have a way of relating
to different aspects of life that
make this song applicable to
almost
any
situation.
This

song is cathartic, with hopeful
lyrics such as “There is another
future waiting there for you”
or “There is a world out there
that is calling my name / And
it’s calling yours too,” and the
electronic, psychedelic track
consumes your being, allowing
your mind to get a break from
the war within.

“Love is a Losing Game” —

Amy Winehouse

These
lyrics
are
poetry.

Winehouse’s voice is poetry.
The music is poetry. Without
any
music,
the
words
are

incredibly sad, beautiful and
real. And Amy Winehouse, well,
she could be singing the phone
book and I would probably
still be sitting on my bed and
crying. The combination of
her voice, the words and her
musical choices are enthralling,
with each breath, vocal run and
carefully chosen accented word
or note bringing meaning to the
song that is deeper than what’s
on the surface. You don’t only
feel the pain Winehouse brings
forth through this song, you
share it with her. Written by
Winehouse herself, the lyrics
and music are so cohesive; the
words are deep and thought
provoking, while the music
is repetitive and simple. The
simplicity of the music makes
the song raw. Winehouse forces
you to listen to everything she
is saying and feel it completely;
she leaves you no other choice.

ALLIE TAYLOR
Daily Arts Writer

A mixtape for unexpected rushes of
intense emotional turmoil, drama

Actually less depressing than the headline leads you to believe

UOFMIXTAPE