Takashi Murakami’s Superflat Monogram video opens with a little girl becoming infuriated when she drops her mobile phone and it’s eaten by a multi-colored panda.
Soon, she is likewise consumed, and winds up floating in a trippy, dreamlike world with Louis Vuitton logos dancing all around.
The video’s quirky music was provided by the critically acclaimed Tomoyuki Tanaka, who deejays under the moniker Fantastic Plastic Machine and along with the Dexpistols and Mykal (林哲儀) plays at BRAiNCHiLD clothing brand’s opening party tonight at Legacy Taipei.
Tanaka’s resume reads like a how-to manual on earning money from music without huge record sales. His work can be found on video games, movie sound tracks and British sitcoms.
Mykal partnered up with his longtime buddy, actor Wilson Chen (陳柏霖), to form BRAiNCHiLD and is bringing over Fantastic Plastic Machine and the Dexpistols party for the gig because “they’re all my good friends from Japan and they’ve always had a strong relationship with the fashion scene in Asia,” he said in an e-mail interview.
After finishing his compulsory military service in 1996, Mykal frequented Spin, a now-defunct dive bar that played an eclectic mix of rock, pop, drum ’n’ bass and hip-hop, and became friendly with the DJs. They invited him to play some tunes and in 1999 Mykal opened up M@M Boutique record store on Zhongxiao East Road in Taipei’s East District (東區).
“Sometimes I’d receive white label or bootleg vinyl records from a distributor in advance,” he said. “But the whole market has shrunk and distributors won’t do that much any more.”
Besides focusing on music, Mykal added T-shirts, hats, hooded sweatshirts, jeans and collectible toys to the shelves at M@M Boutique, which sparked his interest in fashion.
BRAiNCHiLD Store Grand Opening Party with Fantastic Plastic Machine, the Dexpistols, and DJ Mykal is tonight from 10:30pm to 5:30am at Legacy Taipei (傳音樂展演空間), located at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), Center Five Hall (中五館), 1, Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市八德路一段1號). Admission is NT$900 (NT$600 in advance, available from ERA ticketing, online at www.ticket.com.tw or by calling (02) 2341-9898), which includes one drink. On the Net: www.legacy.com.tw
M＠M Boutique is located at 4F-3, 112, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段112號4樓之3), tel: (02) 8771-5688. BRAiNCHiLD is located at 1F, 19, Ln 161, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段161巷19號1樓), tel: (02) 2772-7710.
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