THANK YOU!!!

Our thanks to all the revelers that turned LOOPTOPIA into a street party!

Please visit http://myfriendscallmenikkos.blogspot.com/ for information on future happenings!

Cheers,

nikkos & the extraordinary renditions

Thank you for your interest...

...additional details, ideas and lunacy will be posted below for your amusement and edification.

There Will Be Jumpsuits

What are you waiting for:? Get on board. Check out this lovely young woman, spotted by the hipsterati at THE FADER:

The LOOPTOPIA Site Is Live...

The LOOPTOPIA site is now live...and yes, nikkos & the extraordinary renditions are listed. This shit's for real, y'all. And getting realer...

Preparations for LOOPTOPIA Are Commencing...

...stay tuned!!!

Why Jumpsuits?

UPDATED: Synchronicity strikes again. This just popped into my Google Reader. This is getting a little creepy.

Why not? Actually, there is method to the madness. This blurb from the NYT is almost creepy, it so closely mirrors my own thinking.

“Elvis Presley, with his assortment of bedazzled jumpsuits, may be the king of one-piece dressing, but thankfully he wasn’t the inspiration for this season’s styles. Designers like Miuccia Prada and Alexander McQueen were more interested in the functional garments first worn by workers and pilots; Dsquared went for pit stop mechanics; and Calvin Klein’s futuristic versions brought to mind “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Levi Strauss introduced denim “Koveralls” for children in 1912; Lee followed the next year with its Union-All suit, intended for farmers and factory workers. World War I pilots wore flight suits based on Lee’s adaptable model, and avant-garde artists zipped up after the war: the Constructivist artist Alexander Rodchenko had a two-piece “productivist” outfit designed to look like a jumpsuit. In the 1940s, cartoonists added fantasy to the onesie, outfitting the Flash and Green Lantern. But it took man walking on the moon to usher in the “golden age” of the jumpsuit — the 1970s. Soon, entertainers kicked it up a notch: David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust wore outrageous versions; Evel Knievel was sometimes carried into the emergency room in a star-studded red, white and blue leather number. Devo performed in yellow jumpsuits. (And don't forget Pete Townshend's white Woodstock-era jumpsuit!- nikkos) And in the early 1980s, retro-futurist designers like Thierry Mugler introduced styles with padded shoulders. Oddly, it was President Bush who refocused the public’s attention on the flight suit when he modeled one in front of the infamous “Mission Accomplished” banner in 2003. And let’s not forget shackled terrorists and their orange prison suits. The latter can be had for $13.95 at nationaltextile.us. Surplus flight suits on eBay are $30, and a repro of Elvis’s Sunburst suit is $3,300 at b-k-enterprises.com. Zip carefully, my man.” -ROBERT E. BRYAN

I could not have said it better myself. Just ordered my jumpsuit from nationaltextile.us. I'll report back once I receive it...

Community Sings

Is singing as a social act coming back into vogue? Let’s hope so. I see our performance at LOOPTOPIA to be part and parcel of this phenomenon, which stretches from roots in the Great Depression to today’s hippest-of-hipster acts, like the inimitable and strangely enthralling Dan Deacon:

Anonymous

Perhaps you want to attend LOOPTOPIA, but you wish to protect your anonymity. May I suggest...

:)

What is LOOPTOPIA?

More info here. (PDF)

This Is The Jam

Prepare for utter destruction. Also some good costume ideas.

More Music From Car Parts...

More details here. This is much, much more elaborate and complex than anything i have in mind...but I thought it was a good demonstration of the musical potential of junk.

Looking for a strange or exotic instrument?

If so, here in Chicago, I would recommend visiting Andy's Music.

Online, Lark In The Morning is your one-stop-shop.

Happy hunting!

Looking for portable amplification?

I plan on plugging my electric thumb piano into this Pignose portable amp and strapping it to my pack frame.

Voila! Portable noise.

Does anybody know...

...how to "circuit bend" an electronic instrument, know someone who does, or where such instruments can be obtained?

I Think It Would Be Cool...

...to get a variety of whistles and/or air horns for noise-making purposes. Even if you have a drum or other instrument in your hands, you can always have a whistle in your mouth. Just put your lips together and blow...

I Think It Would Be Cool...

...to mount old car parts on an old bicycle. The bicycle would then be played as a rolling percussion instrument.

Costume: Customized Orange Jumpsuits

Get your very own orange jumpsuit here.

Customize it as you wish: spray paint it, bedazzle it, cut out the crotch...whatever.

Not the really the "plan ahead" type? No worries: Belmont Army Navy (Belmont west of Clark) usually has jumpsuits available in a variety of colors.