Time Out Presents The Other Side Reviewed by Eve Hyman

Time Out Presents The Other Side, an interactive DVD and CD travel guides, produced by Urbanation, Time Out magazine and the Deaf Dumb Blind Communications. These are pop culture guides to the urban landscapes that go well beyond anything available on the printed page, perfect for both the non-literati and the guide book enthusiast who craves both visuals and music. These DVD's are a must-have for anyone interested in seeing NYC, London or Paris for the first time - or for getting to know your favorite cities better.

The Other Side New York DVD is the gift for anyone interested in street smart NYCity. Rather than flooding you with content, the guide offers a selection of great spots for those in the know. It is a cheater’s guide to the best of the underground elite - from a speak-easy style sneaker shop to grafitti work spaces. It includes PS1's summer parties, Break Beat Science, guerilla artists, a Soho design store and Moby's Teany restaurant. The guide is chic enough for a viewer to overlook the "Meatmarket District" typo and take as tongue-in-cheek (and even to forgive) host Casey Spooner's Elton John “thing.”

The London and Paris guides are similarly impressive. London's The Other Side is
so so chic. If you think New Yorkers are sneaker crazy, peep the London segment
on "trainer" shopping. It is definitely next-level crazy. There are London specific
trends like Carribean-late-night-care-packages-as-take-out and "Bear Parties"
(big men disrobing). The format is laid back, the flow seemless. Like a friend leading you through town, the viewer travels from Kew Gardens to outdoor marketplaces, to girly sex shops, night clubs and trendy eateries.

The Other Side Paris made me yearn for euros; it goes beyond just being a guide.
Forget skating-boarding or blading, the ultimate urban sport has to be "Parkour."
"Parkour" is the art of moving through urban and natural places without cessation.
It's a mix of martial arts and ancient North African hunting in which an
individual jumps, climbs, and flips himself through the urban landscape, using
the city as an obstacle course. It was developed in the banlieu
(suburbs/projects) of Paris. Its founder, David Belle, guides you through The Other Side using apartment building balconies as bounding boards.

Another Paris highlight is the Mona Lisa on display at the Museum of Science and Industry. This other Mona is interactive, the visitor can take away her smile and replace it with his/her own facial expression and then make it talk.

This combo of urban meccas will really make you say ooh la-la-la and give you a travel bug. The DVD's release is perfectly timed to inspire off-season travel. The CD compilation on the DVD's reflects each of the DJ's unique style:
Fischerspooner for New York, Damian Lazarus for London; and Black Strobe for Paris. The music encompases genres from rock, house, disco punk, drum and bass, breakbeat to hip hop - including Bloc Party, Squarepusher, The Fiery Furnaces, and Princess Superstar.

Six editions of Time Out Presents the Other Side will be released annually - each featuring a native audio pioneer. These DJ's will serve as guides to a city's style in the same way as a city's visual artists, designers, musicians. Here the first three: The Other Side of New York featuring Fischerspooner; The Other Side of London featuring Damian Lazarus; and The Other Side of Paris featuring Black Strobe.

On the web: http://store.yahoo.com/shoptony/newyorkguides.html & http://www.timeout.com/otherside/