BlackBook

Donald Cumming has led and continues to lead quite a life. From the trials and tribulations of his youth to those that accompanied signing with a major label, the 31-year-old born-and-bred New Yorker has no shortage of stories illustrating his hustle, his hang-ups and his regrets.

This week’s playlist is dedicated to being a teenager, which is something that people seem to be universally nostalgic for despite the fact that we can all agree that a lot of those years sucked. Does it have something to do with missing when you didn’t have any real responsibilities? Whatever. Shout out to anyone who knew me in high school who’s still friends with me now, because all the awkward stuff that happens to me currently doesn’t even compare to how bad it was back then.

BlackBook favorites The Virgins are having a busy year, having just released their new seven-inch EP Venus in Chains. The band's currently recording their new record. More importantly, the New York-based band has signed on to play the first-ever CBGB Music Festival, a show that will take place on July 6 at Bowery Electric in the East Village.

he Virgins haven’t released an album since their 2008 self-titled debut, but the group is starting to kick around new tracks in advance of a new record rumored to be released this year.

You may have already been exposed to the charms of Anya Marina and not been aware of it. The Michigan-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter has not only had her songs featured on television shows like Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl, but has also had an acting stint in the film 100 Girls, a role which the pixie chanteuse had to appear in sans eyebrows. Her sophomore album, Slow & Steady Seduction, Phase II, was produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel and Louis XIV’s Brian Karscig and, with Marina’s breathy vocals and sharp lyrics, is best enjoyed with a snuggle companion and a glass of something tasty in hand. Marina is currently on tour with The Virgins and Lissy Trullie, but she took some time out to talk with us about getting topless while recording, her Roman Polanski-inspired video for the single "Move Me", and gender play when covering T.I.’s “Whatever You Like.”

Indie rockers let loose on the night

“Follow the hip-looking kids,” says I, as we navigate a maze of escalators and booby-trapped hallways (marked down Chanel can be quite a snare). "I feel like we are about to see Tiffany," my plus-one replies, descending the escalator at Bloomingdale's. Donald Cumming of the Virgins, oddly enough, feels the same way: “I feel like we’re Tiffany up here.”

The L.A. fashion scene is abuzz, and not just because every designer in the world wants to dress Jessica Biel—they do, for the record. (She seems to be a Giambattista Valli girl.)

Who are these carb-eating Angelenos at Pizzeria Mozza?!