Handsome had the chance to return to Boston over the weekend to meet up with a few stores and take in some of the city. We checked out some of our favourite spots and came across some new places too. Here’s a few suggestions for next time you’re in the city.

Bodega (pictured) is undoubtedly the highlight of shopping in Boston. The unassuming storefront seems exciting every time we visit. Make your way past the convenient store upfront, through the Snapple machine and check out the exceptional store space. You’ll be greeted by hardwood shelving, great service, Original Fake, Head Porter Plus and one of the best curated collections of sneakers in the country.

It’s worth the trip over to Charles Street to check out Uncle Pete’s. The boutique, owned by Pete Tam is a clean set up filled with Comme Des Garcons, Rag & Bone, Hype Means Nothing, YMC and Surface 2 Air.

Stel’s on Newbury Street fills a basement retail space with some well chosen brands including Robert Geller, Wings + Horns, APC, Nom De Guerre as well as Steven Allan.

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Aziz Ansari played two back to back shows at the Winter Garden Theatre on Friday night in Toronto. With growing popularity after hosting The MTV Awards this year, and popping up more in movies and television we were happy to catch him in a stand up set.

Todd Barry opened the show with his style of unenthused delivery. He did a good job warming up the crowd for Aziz who was on the opposite end of the energy spectrum – yelling into the mic and falling to the ground during some entertaining storytelling.

Kanye West’s new single “Power” blasted over the speakers followed by a comically refined Ansari who was sporting black tie to the event. He tore through new material; his mic at times to sensitive for his high volume impressions of people including his cousin Harris, R. Kelly and an aggressive ad for a paid adult site.

He pulled a considerately short break for his encore and came out to material requests. A handful were accepted, a few denied. Sadly Raaaaaaaandy was not on the scene after he died in a volcano accident.

Just for Laughs took over the Yonge & Dundas area of downtown Toronto this weekend. Dundas Square had free stand up playing while Massey Hall and The Winter Garden Theatre had some big names rolling through including Demetri Martin, Russel Peters, Aziz Ansari and Louis CK.

Interesting leading facts: Demetri Martin left his career in law to pursue comedy at the age of 24. He started playing instruments at the age of 29 and is now 37 with an impressive repertoire of instruments – guitar, piano, keyboard and glockenspiel.

We had a chance to check out Demetri Martin host a showcase on Thursday which featured his relaxing style of comedy mixed in among sets from: Tim Minchin, Harland Williams, Gabriel Iglesias, Elon Gold and Tommy Tiernan.

Highlights included Martin’s classic incorporation of guitar and harmonica into his bit. Imagine being super relaxed by some Classical Gas style guitar mixed in with some Bob Dylanesque harmonica playing. Adding some calm, hilarious life observations on it was perfection. And yes Demetri, saying “surprise!” at a surprise party is the least surprising word choice. You nailed it.

Next year, head down to the area and check out some shows this weekend. Also a trip to the bar at the Pantages Hotel can prove to be eventful. During a visit there we bumped into Demetri Martin, Gabriel Iglesias and Sugar Sammy.

Designer Drugs just released their latest mix. Everyone should know the drill by now.

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DOWNLOAD: Designer Drugs – Datamix X

We have been hearing a lot about LA electro DJ/Producer Skrillex recently, so we finally took some time this weekend to listen to his first EP My Name Is Skrillex.

Overall, we were quite impressed, especially considering he used to be the lead singer of every high school screamo kids favorite band From First to Last. The general sound is similar to Proxy in that it is very loud and very hard, however, he does mix things up by dabbling in some disco flavored tunes as well.

He has a solid amount of free available tracks online, but “Fucking Die 01″ (reference to La Rock 01 by Vitalic?) is the standout for us with its giant bass drops and a frantic amount of chopped up samples. He seems most at home when dealing with the deep and dark and telling your audience to die is about as deep and dark as you can get. Relentless.

However, don’t let that song scare you, and be sure to check out some of his tamer (yet still cracking) songs below (including a nice mix of Lady GaGa’s “Alejandro”).

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DOWNLOAD: Skrillex – Fucking Die 01

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DOWNLOAD: Skrillex – Weekends

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DOWNLOAD: Lady GaGa – Alejandro (Skrillex Club Remix)

Toro Y Moi, a.k.a Chaz Budnick, is releasing a new 7″ single called “Leave Everywhere” on July 20 under Carpark Records.  On “Leave Everywhere,”  Chaz takes a step away from his emblematic beat + synth routine, and drops in some southern glam guitar and xylophone. Coming from Toro Y Moi, this new sound is refreshing, and reminiscent of what The Drums are doing at the moment.  Expect more lustrous melodies and a second full length album from Chaz this winter.

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DOWNLOAD: Toro Y Moi – Leave Everywhere

Converse has put together three artists of the moment (Kid Cudi, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, and Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino) and the results are actually good. It’s normal to expect the worst when three disparate artists come together under the banner of commercialism, however, “All Summer” manages to be a nice microcosm of pop music today.

We have to agree with our friends over at IM//UR who think the song sounds like “a Christmas ad for Coca-Cola”, but it is still worth a listen.

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DOWNLOAD: Kid Cudi + Vampire Weekend + Best Coast – All Summer

A couple months ago Cults burst onto the scene with their first EP. It had us completely enamored with their dark subject matter yet uplifting & melodious sounds. We’ve been left waiting and wondering what’s next for the band and finally we have a response in the form of the new song “Oh My God”.

It’s very similar to their past work but that is perfectly fine with us. The song seems to discuss the “aha” moment some people have when they realize the destructive nature of the dogmatic thinking that comes along with cults, yet it can be applied to anyone in their life who is feeling in a rut and in need of some change.

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DOWNLOAD: Cults – Oh My God

BONUS: CEO released a new song titled “Everything Is Going To Be Alright” that works nicely as a response to the Cults song above. It will be alright.

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DOWNLOAD: CEO – Everything Is Going To Be Alright

We came across Erica Weiner Jewelry this week and were happy to see some creative pieces combined with a socially responsible company based out of New York City. The line focuses in on craftsmanship and affordability (you won’t find a piece over $100), enabled by a team of well taken care of friends.

One of our favourite pieces is the Penknife Necklace, which features an operational one inch penknife as a pendant on a thin twenty four inch brass chain. You can check out the fine details including brass rivets and a tiny notch for opening the knife with your fingernail.

Aside from the vintage inspired pieces, we were especially drawn to the company in one line off their site. “Thanks for supporting us–you’ve given us the freedom to sustain ourselves financially and creatively.”

Erica Weiner Jewelry is available in their Online Shop and The Drake General Store.

We were interviewed by Faux magazine a few days ago. In it we discuss our upcoming HNDSM line, our inspiration behind it, and why women are sometimes braver than men.

Read the full interview on their website.