Behold the perplexing multi-media underground electropop darlings of Tokyo, Trippple Nippple. Their stage show sounds like a J-Pop version of out-there 70s performance artists, The Kipper Kids, and features stuff like eggs, glitter, milk, blood and rotting food. From an interview posted today at the Dazed and Confused blog:

Dazed Digital: Is there symbolism behind your costumes and performances?

Qrea Nippple: Last time we were doing some guillotine things, and we cut so many heads off balloons. The helium goes to the ceiling. Yuka was crying like, “Oh I feel so guilty for killing so many balloon heads, so I drew some really wicked, bad faces on the balloons, so she wouldn’t feel guilty for cutting their heads off. ”

Dazed Digital: What were some of your most memorable performances?

Yuka Nippple: We have a lot of stories about making a mess. We played club Asia in Tokyo and our costumes were mud, just that. And we put on some blonde hair ponytails. We were just mud and blonde hair ponytail. That was our costume. It was a lot of fun as always. But in the morning when the lights turned on, the whole club was covered in dry mud. And everyone went mad, and everyone had to clean up until about 9am in the morning. We made a lot of people really upset. We didn’t mean to of course, but my bad, but I’d like to announce that we can do “Not dirty one” too! People sometimes misunderstand what we are, but we are musicians!

Dazed Digital: So where did you acquire all this mud?

Yuka Nippple: Amazing, amazing store called Tokyu Hands in Shibuya. It’s a department store with 21 floors of DIY stuff. We get everything from there. You can spend a day just looking for things. We found rice-field mud in a packet.
 

 
Read the entire article at Dazed Digital: TOKYO’S TRIPPPLE NIPPPLES: Insane electro popstresses hailing from the fine land of Tokyo talk fake tits and their milky alcohol

 
Look At Life were a series of short documentary films produced in the 1960s by the Rank Organization. They were shown in British movie theaters before the main attraction. Shot in vibrant color, Look At Life often focused on ‘Swinging London’.

In these two clips we get a peek into the King’s Road fashion scene and hip London coffeehouses. Groovy.

Photograph by Bruce Davidson
 
Photos of old school New York before they switched over to the subway trains that couldn’t be graffitied on. New York has sadly lost a lot of its character since then (as well as many of its characters, too!)
 

Photograph by John F. Conn
 

Photograph by Bruce Davidson
 
See more photos after the jump…
 

 

 
I first discovered Brit rockabilly wildman Vince Taylor when I saw him and his band in some French Scopitones. I was blown away by his over-the-top stage moves and fetishy black leather outfit. The cat was ultra-cool in a synthetic sort of way, a simulacrum composed of bits and pieces of Elvis, Gene Vincent and interstellar tonup boy. Vince had a string of hits and was a mega-star in France. But, LSD, alcohol, and being absolutely convinced he was Jesus, brought Taylor’s musical life to a loopy end.

Vince Taylor may have lost it (or found IT), but before he flamed out he managed to record two of the best rockabilly songs ever recorded, Jet Black Machine and Brand New Cadillac (later covered by The Clash). He was the inspiration for David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona and provided the fashion proto-type for Elvis circa 1968. He opened for the Rolling Stones, copped his first hit of acid at a party for Bob Dylan and slept with Brigitte Bardot. Morrissey used footage of Taylor dancing as a visual backdrop during his 2007 tour.

Vince’s moment of fame may have been brief but it was action-packed and he left an indelible jet black impression.

In this fascinating BBC documentary, Taylor’s story is told by his former drummer (the wonderfully animated Bobbie Clarke), David Bowie and people who helped guide his brief but amazing career. Enjoy.

 
Rock journalist Steve Krakow (Plastic Crimewave) is blogging about forgotten musicians of Chicago. The Secret History Of Chicago Musicians sheds light on a number of bands I’ve never heard of and it’s a fascinating read.

Krakow went in search of the Windy City’s equivalent of Anvil, a band that flirted with fame but ended up in the cutout bin of history, and he found Amulance.

Amulance’s story is filled with your typical rock band nightmares. Formed in 1984, the group suffered through shady management, bad record deals, tours that fell through and even a murder. It’s another tale of speed metal gone off the rails and heavy metal heartache.

In compiling the reasons Amulance never made it, I’d put the vocalist’s and the lead guitar player’s fashion sense some place close to #1. Fortunately, the band has revamped it’s look for it’s recent re-union gigs. Good luck guys, it’s a jungle out there….but you already know that.

 
More heavy metal thunder after the jump…

 
R. Crumb’s Motor City Comics #1, “the only true workingman’s comic book,” featuring Lenore Goldberg and Her Girl Commandos. Another gem from “The Lizard Collection” over at Little Green Footballs.  I like the back cover even more than the front. From Crumb’s Marxist phase? Nicely!
 

 
Thank you Charles Johnson!

 
Epic.

 
According to XLR8R, Dangerous Minds pal Madlib has come out with his own brand of designer espresso:

OK, we know the dudes at Stones Throw like to get creative with their merchandise, but this might be a hip-hop first. Madlib and Intelligensia Coffee are teaming up to make a custom espresso blend inspired by the Beat Konducta. The limited-run blend is being debuted tonight at the cafe’s Pasadena location, and Intelligensia is calling the product “a syrupy, sweet offering that has kept (Madlib) awake long enough to average an album-per-day over the past three years.” We can’t vouch for the taste, but we’re certainly intrigued, and more importantly, we’re wondering how Diddy or Jay-Z did not come up with this first. Apparently, the hip-hop underground is leading the way in both beatmaking and brand-building.

I hear it goes well with this.

Update: Tara has had some. She describes it as “like crack.”

Via Coolhunting

 
Mashup of the week. U Can’t Kiss This.

Thanks, Al­pha1999.

 
The brilliance of Bonzo Dog Band. Real genius never gets old. I remember as a teenybopper watching Magical Mystery Tour for the first time and thinking how dull it was until Vivian and the boys made their appearance and suddenly the movie became electric, exotic and dangerous.

Enjoy. Thank me later.

 
More of the Bonzos after the jump…