Calibre takes the opportunity to showcase his love for dub in this special mix recorded in his Berlin studio. The perfect warm-up for his show in The Ulster Sports Club as part of our good friend Chris Frieze’s Mystic Arts Records launch night on Saturday 4th March, 2023. Thanks to Chris for organising!
A brilliantly insightful interview from a few years ago between 2 long-time friends and musical pioneers. You can catch Calibre playing at The Ulster Sports Club, Saturday 4th March along with Chris Frieze to celebrate the launch of his Mystic Arts Record label, with NN on warm up duties.
We are very honoured to have Noel present a mix for us. It’s hard to put into words to be honest, if you don’t know Noel, you should. Best just to read his interview with Bill Brewster on RBMA, or watch his interview from the 2014 RBMA Belfast weekender to get a small indication of just how influential Noel, his brother Maurice and his peers were throughout the 80s and 90s. Punk, Sex, London, Malcolm Maclaren, Demob, Illegal warehouse parties, Wild Bunch, Nenah Cherry, CDG, Street Sounds, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Delirium, Tom Dixon, Andrew Weatherall, Basquiat, Rammellzee… the list goes on. He helped pave the way. Thank you Noel!
https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2019/01/noel-watson-interview
Setsumasa Kobayashi was born in Tokyo in 1961 and worked with numerous brands as a freelance shoe designer before launching his own brand GENERAL RESEARCH in 1994. It was born out of his love for outdoorswear, transcendentalist philosophy and punk music. After deciding that General Research wasn’t specific enough he shuttered the brand and in 2006 he began to present his products on a particular theme as a part of the …..RESEARCH project of which Mountain Research is the core of the project but also includes the likes of Prisoner Suit Research, Horse Blanket Research, War Field Wear Research and more. Each item for the project is designed based on the careful researches on existing products related to each theme.
The General Research Parasite jacket is being reissued as part of a two-piece collaboration with fellow Japanese label IS-NESS.
IS-NESS has been around since 2001, with designer Tomomi Kishita recently refocusing his designs from neo-hippy outdoor gear into trad-inspired balloon pants and buffalo shirts along with his IS-NESS MUSIC line, inspired mostly by electronic music genres with a collegiate spin.
Tomomi and Setsumasa have now linked up make these reworked classics, a jacket style that’s captured the minds of archival collectors such as Constant Practice, some of whom are selling original 1998 General Research Parasite jackets for upwards of £5,000.
Our selection is online here.
Image 1 – Setsumasa Kobayashi
Image 2 – Original 1998 Parasite Jacket featured in an editorial for SMART Magazine
image 3 & 4 – Setsumasa’s mountain retreat (read the article on his home here – https://www.alpinemodern.com/inspirations/a-platform-for-living
Rest of the images from our collection, online now.
Check out a great interview with Setsumasa here – https://yourfashionarchive.com/setsumasa-kobayashis-eternal-research-from-punk-shows-to-the-chichibu-mountain-range/
For AW22 Pop Trading Company enlisted Graffiti legend Delta to design a custom camo pattern which has been used to make a Parka.
This video from a few years gives some background on the artist and highlights his influence.