There’s been an escape from the planet of the BAPES, I repeat, there’s been an escape from the planet of the BAPES!

I’ve been rockin BAPE gear forever now, yes, way before Pharrell started wearing BAPE BBC tees on MTV and way before all the bootleg stuff started showing up at swap-meets across the country…don’t get me started.

Anyway, I was at a party the other night and someone asked me who started this cultural phenomenon and I told him, it’s a dude named “NIGO“. You mean JIGGA he replied back with a puzzled look on his face…ah, no, NIGO (too late) - now totally enamored with himself and his answer, he started into “jigga who, jigga what?” - yeah, that’s him.

NIGO’s blurbs:

I never set out to become Japan’s hottest fashion designer or an internationally famous arbiter of style, or to show young people how to rebel without losing their cool. But the fact that I am now one of the most influential movers and shakers of our generation does not strike me as particularly odd either. In fact, I focus on my passions, rather than on society’s expectations, as the secret of my success. I never planned too far ahead, wearing a T shirt and jeans plus two necklaces and a giant watch dripping with hip-hop quantities of bling. I just tried to do what I love and create the things that I wanted to create — I LIVE IN MY OWN WORLD

As long as there ignorant fools like the one I met at that party, I think I’ll be rockin my BAPEs for awhile longer - yay yay!

Found on: Nigo’s Myspace page

Must Reads:

Vintage Kicks

BAPE Website

What do I do with my robot girl?

This age old question has been debated on forum boards and in IRC chat rooms for decades now and for millions of Otakus out there, it’s a very serious problem.

Lucky for all us, EMO grindcore master, “Mochipet” just pulled a Dr. Phil to shed some light on this taboo subject.

His new track tittled: “Ellen Allien - Robot Girl” featuring Ellen Allien on his new album “Donkey Disco” helps to expose the inner “robotic” demons and the turmoil that many in the Otaku community have to deal with — all along, raising some much needed awareness.

Mochipet’s blurbs:

Born in Taiwan R.O.C. to rocket scientist father and kindergarten teacher mother, David Wang (a.k.a. Mochipet) did not get his start in music until the age of 15, when the urge of metal guitar overtook him in Livermore California. Rocking through a set of 2 in speakers and a cheap stiletto six-string, David Wang conjured up the forces which began his music adventure.

So what do you do with your robot girl? Well, Mochipet may not have the answer you’re looking for but what he does have are fat beats, hypnotizing samples and a great track and new album you have to get.

Found on: Mochipet’s Myspace page

Must Reads:

New Album “Donkey Disco”

I’m Teaching @ SFSU again… (view more)

Aloha from Hawaii, the island of pixels and the home of KG the ultra fresh designer and creator of islandpixels.com. KG designs and contributes to various types of media, mainly pixels and podcasts.

His latest project is a collaboration with Ceito ATV another hot designer I discovered on Myspace.

If you’d like to get more information about the project, click on the link below.

HOW TO GET:

the IPXLS vs C ATV collab sticker

Found on: IPXLS Myspace page

Must Reads:

IPXLS Flickr pics

IPXLS Blog

Had to report on one of the best shows that I have been to this year, DJ Shadow and Lateef the Truth Speaker at the Avalon. I was not expecting much out of this show becuase of the venue not being my favorite and my not completely being sold on Shadow’s latest album, The Outsider. I knew I needed to take advantage of the opportunity to see Shadow on a solo tour, so we hit up the Avalon on Sunday night.

It was a visual escape, watching Shadow playing on top of a raised stage surrounded by 9 projector screens with video and animation timed to his beats. The set list was a perfect mix of past and present and Lateef was a crowd pleaser. He really got the crowd started. Good times, good music and got some dancin’ in!

Shadow’s blurbs:

“I’m sure you’re probably thinking ,’Yeah, something’s changed with him’,” says Josh “DJ Shadow” Davis as he tries to explain a little of the life-changing journey he’s been on since his last LP, The Private Press, was released in 2002. That the change has been dramatic is evident on even the briefest of exposures to The Outsider, his fabulous, fascinating, fire-breathing third album: but it’s also there in the way he speaks, the way he looks, and the iron-clad confidence he now brings to his work.

Found on: Mangopop

Must Reads:

Shadow’s Myspace page

DJ Shadow and Lateef performing Enuff

Debbie Huey, the writer and illustrator of the BUMPERBOY comics describes BUMPERBOY as just a “Bubtopian” who is always up for an adventure and if my goddaughter Ella had her way, she would be with him and Gordy on each one!

Debbie’s blurbs:

Bumperboy and the Loud, Loud Mountain was a bit late to the stores because of a printing snafu, but I am happy to say that the book has successfully made it to the shelves of comic book shops across the country! So go pick it up now!

With Christmas just around the corner, looks like godfather Mochi just found his first present for Ella - yay yay!

Found on: Bumperboy Myspace page

Must Reads:

DIY Bumperboy

Debbie’s LiveJournal page

The Pharmacy Industry is an upstart label founded in 2002 in Milan; big in the Italian streetwear scene, Pharmacy Industry’s collection consists mostly of t-shirts and sweatshirts that are heavy on print design.

They recently got a lot of buzz for their “10 Shoots on Ten Styles” ad campaign. The campaign was based on a selection of young emerging photographers shooting 10 pieces in 10 pictures from the Pharmacy Industry Collection.

Found on: sarubozu stylehive

Must Reads:

Phcy Myspace page

Phcy Incd Lookbook preview

She plays the real voice, toys and random instruments and he keeps the noise pumping on his Mac “Powebook“.

Who are they? What are they?

They are 10.

10s blurbs:

The avant experimental duo ‘10‘ is ‘Marqido’ from Japan who is a laptop noise artist, and ‘itta’ from Korea who plays real voice, toys, melodica, accordion and miniature traditional instruments of some nations. Simple and of many of layers, noise and lyrical music, electronic and acoustic music.

“10s music began from that irony”

10’s ‘one’ and ‘zero’ cannot meet, but they can include each other. 10’s music started from that irony. 10 started from the relationships of irony, and 10 can make ironic sound. Their very names are ironic in that Itta is the Korean word for ‘exist (1)’ while for Marqido, ‘Maru’ means ‘eternity’ and ‘zero (0)’, ‘qi’ means ‘delight’ and “do” means “angry”.

Found on: 10’s Myspace page

Must Reads:

Youtube video “10 performing in Singapore”

Itta’s Myspace page

Marqido’s website

After reading the Indie Craft Documentary Myspace page, I knew collaborators Faythe & Micaela had a great concept for a documentary moive on their hands and a great story that deserves needs to be told.

ICD blurbs:

The new wave of craft is an emerging movement of artists, crafters and designers working in traditional and non-traditional mediums and methodologies to forge a new economy, lifestyle and community.

This new movement is influenced by the history and techniques of traditional handiwork, modern aesthetics, politics, feminism and art. The new wave of craft is a marriage of your grannies handi-work, punk and d.i.y.. We will be spending the next 7 months touring craft fairs, studios, galleries and boutiques We will speak with organizers, curators, cultural theorists, historians and the crafters themselves, documenting the new wave of craft so that we can give our watchers a thorough overview of this new art movement sweeping the nation.

Finds like the ICD page on Myspace sort of validate why I still go there and I for one, can’t wait to see this documentary when it comes out!

Found on: Indie Craft Documentary Myspace page

Must Reads:

ICD’s website
ICD’s Blog

Wonder twin powers - active!

Levelload is a girl-boy punk rock locomotive from the UK that managed to give me “Iggy Pop” sized goose bumps as I listened and rocked out to their punk rock anthem “I Know You Know,” one of four playable tracks on their Myspace page.

Lead singer and bass player Mariko LL is a stylized and gifted singer as well as a rocking bass player and her partner in crime, Tony LL is just as stylized and gifted on the guitar as he seamlessly shoots out three chord lighting boltz from his Telecaster in what, some may argue, could be the perfect sounding guitar tone.

Levelload’s blurbs:

A boy and a girl collide one night under Tokyo’s neon sky. They stay up for hours fighting it out over Blondie and The Ramones. Boy plays the guitar, so girl dusts off her bass and after a few riffs, suddenly, it all just makes perfect sense. A few weeks, a bunch of cool, tough-as-fuck songs and one long plane journey later, and they’re ready to take on London…

Found on: Levelload’s Myspace page

Must Reads:

Go to the artrocker’s review page

Channel4.com/music (view more)

What do you get when you mix a poster with a magazine dedicated to today’s hottest artist, designers, illustrators, web design and anything cool from all around the world?

Stirato-Stirato-Stirato!

Stirato is a free postermagazine dedicated to the visual arts; it is presented in an agile postcard format, and once unfolded, it explodes into a poster designed by an international artist. Each month, a single theme unites articles, interviews and news pertaining to the world of illustrations and photography, of comics and webdesign, while also incorporating architecture and new forms of visual communication.

Found on: Stirato Myspace page

Must Reads:

Stirato’s Website

nerd + stirato

For those of you that watched Bravo’s Top Chef, you might recognize this t-shirt. Steven, the slightly obnoxious Las Vegas wine afficionado, was sporting this shirt in the reunion episode. Mochi liked it so much at the time that I bookmarked it and surprised him with it a couple of months ago. Owl movement is company out of Florida that makes a series based line of tee shirts. This one in particular is one of my favorites, “Buddha Rock”. Check out their original stylish tees and adorable Owl Pillows!.

Owl Movement’s Blurbs:

We are OwlMovement.com! We make series based artist tees by talented designers from around the world. Each series has a theme which we invite artists to create original kick-ass art that is made for a tee. The result is an amazing collection of fresh designs overflowing with creativity that you will only find here. So far we have tees by Jon Burgerman, Christopher Lee, Shawnimals, Skwak, Vectorworks, ooo000ooo, 1988, C86, Graphic Airlines, Tado, Hello Brute, Huskworks and Secret Pizza Party! Owl Movement is the brainchild of patrick and jesha.

Found on: Mangopop

Must Reads:

Owl Movement’s Myspace page

Secret Tee Shirt Party II >> SEPT 16TH at NEOTRASH!!

I’ve been a “Myspace” friend and admirer of Kai and his music for a long time now. He recently sent out an email asking his friends to support him get voted as one of DJ Mag’s top 100 DJs, I voted for him and so should you!

Here’s the email:

Hey everyone,

Just asking for your support this year with the DJ Mag top 100 voting. As you may know, this is THE DE FACTO popularity contest that can literally determine a DJs career for the next few years!

If you’d like to drop me support please vote “KAI YING” (or even to be doubly sure “Kai” in the 2nd box). Last year most of my votes went to Kai Tracid so I want to avoid that problem this year.

Link to vote is below

link to vote KAI YING for DJ Mag top 100

Thanks!
-Kai

Kai’s blurbs:

For sneaker freakers that are into HBO’s hit show, Entourage, the recent episode “What About Bob?” must have piqued your interest. In it, Turtle and Vince try to get some limited- edition Nike Air Force ones and Vinny winds up dropping $20,000 to get his boy some custom-made jumps from the mysterious Fukijama. In actuality, these Fukijamas are the result of a collaboration between Mark Smith and kicks store, Undefeated, made especially for the show. This wearable high-class art is definitely the holy grail of sneakerheads and is so hot, we had to put it in the Hive even though they can’t be purchased.

Where In The Hive: bookmark/31058

Who: 4 people have hived Entourage’s Fukijamas, Mochipopstar (that’s me) was the first to add it to the Hive

[Via. Freshness and TMZ] Posted by Sabrina Yeung

Found on: Stylehive blog

Must Reads:

“What About Bob?”

Freshnessmag Post

I just ran accross Miss Misa, this great jewelry designer’s site as I was strolling through some myspace profiles.

Misa started designing in 2005. She uses vintage and retro charms, chains and semi-precious stones to create one-of-a-kind pieces. Miss Misa’s site also carries other designers jewelry.

Misa’s blurbs:

The main reason I started Miss Misa was because I believe that people must follow their passions. Whatever it is that they want to do in life, they should try to find some way to do it. My goal is to be able to support myself through Miss Misa by the end of college, following my dream of owning my own business and not having some annoying boss over my head every two minutes!

I love this necklace.

Found on: Mangopop

Must Reads:

Miss Misa’a Website and online store

Miss Misa’s Myspace page

British graffiti phenom Banksy is planning a mid-September warehouse show in Los Angeles. The world isn’t too surprise as he has left is mark on over here on the West Coast recently with some sweet messaging found on Melrose. Banksy’s last show, “Turf War,” featured vandalized police vehicles and live, painted farm animals, and caused quite a stir in London. The location for the Los Angeles event, titled “Barely Legal,” will be on Hunter St, Los Angeles, Friday 15th-Sunday 17th, 12-8PM

Found on: Mangopop

Must Reads:

ArtofState website

Bansky “Wall And Piece” Book

Bansky’s Myspace page