“The War had left a population bereft of resources in the UK while America ruminated on the birth of consumerism. Rumblings of discontent were heard the world over, but it was perhaps in Great Britain that the most visually beguiling teenage cult of all time was to be born: The Teddy Boy.”

Catch the rest of this story, written by Chris Sullivan, and many others in Frank Book 34, guest curated by Zoltar the Magnificent. Look for the Book at Flagship Retail Network™ Locations soon!

A giant inflatable dog turd brought down a power line after being blown away from a Swiss museum.

Via BBC

This inflatable pile of shit was created by artist Paul McCarthy, friend of London fashion and art house Zoltar The Magnificent.

Stay tuned for Frank Chapter 34, when Zoltar takes the Book for a ride through London Town.

Mare 139, pioneer of the “style writing sculpture” opened his new exhibition, titled “Freestyle Archityper”, at Brighton University in Sussex this weekend. His exhibition thoroughly represents his continued transformation of graffiti and hip-hop imagery from the layup into the tangible, three-dimensional space. His pieces here have set a new standard. Brilliant.

More photos after the jump… (more…)

Tomorrow night is the 3rd Anniversary bash for NYC’s groundbreaking dubstep event, DUB WAR. To help warm people up for the celebration, Frank151 took a minute to sit down with Dub War’s founder, Dave Q, and reminisce about three years of heavy basslines and white label dubplates.FRANK151: So, let’s start from the beginning. How did you get turned onto dubstep?DAVE Q: I’ve always been into dub reggae. I was a big dubhead, and I was into roots reggae and all of that. I was into hip hop. I was into jungle in the 90s, and I used to go to the bigger jungle raves in the late-90s up until 2000, but by 2000 I was starting to get a little bored.The music that was coming just wasn’t as interesting to me. And I used to go to the Drum & Bass Arena, this big online message board, and some of the people on there posted about how this UK garage stuff was cool — I mean, a lot of people hated it, especially in the drum & bass scene in the UK, but some people said, “Oh, it’s kind of interesting.”So, I checked out this artist, Wookie. He was one of the producers for Soul II Soul back in the 90s, and then he started producing garage and two-step stuff, and so I checked out — actually, there’s one particular tune of his, called “Battle,” which is the one tune that, when I heard it, I was like “Wow, this is some really interesting shit.” Because it had the R&B influence going on, which I like, it had the hip hop influence, it had some of the palette of drum & bass and dancehall — it was just this fusion of different sounds.

From that, I started checking out more and more of what was coming out of the UK garage scene. And at this point, it was just when some of the producers were starting to experiment with some darker, deeper, more dub-influenced sounds…

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BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions

Log on to Radio151 to your left and down to hear the new Badman Radio. The show includes brand new music and an exclusive interview from Mr Vegas, plus brand new tracks from Jamaica’s top dancehall artists including Sizzla, Delly Ranx, Vybz Kartel, Lady Saw, Macka D, Spice, Elephant Man, Buju Banton, Mavado, Beenie Man and Cecile, Foxy Brown, Demarco, Busy, Bounty, Matterhorn and more and more brought 2 u by the UK’s toppa, toppa, Selecta in the USA Trasha…..Murda!

Despite spending billions of pounds on security cameras to make London the most heavily-monitored city in the world (1 camera for every 14 people), officials from Scotland Yard reported today that their massive new CCTV network has failed to make a noticeable change in crime rates.

Hard to believe, right? Seemed like such a good idea at the time! George Orwell would be shocked.

The news left both London officials and citizens in shock, less than a year after heated debates raged across the LDN over right-to-privacy implications of the city’s CCTV initiative. With only 3% of street crimes actually solved using the police’s closed circuit network, the public’s been left to wonder what purpose the cameras really do serve.

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The grime cats from Red Hot want you to know: if it’s London’s best fried chicken you want, you can skip the other 128 joints around the LDN and head straight for East London’s Southern Fried Chicken… The guys have even penned an homage to the spot’s £1.50 Junior Special Meal to prove it.

Yes, it’s a joke… but no, they’re not joking.

It might be like five months old, but this shit is fire all over London pirate radio right now.  Seriously…. Check out this Boy Better Know show on RinseFM if you want proof. 

Vice Magazine also caught lead MC Jaxor for a quick fried chicken interview, and thoughtfully asked if this wasn’t maybe reinforcing racial stereotypes… but considering how jokes their video is, we’re thinking a question like that might be taking ”Junior Spesh” a little too seriously. 

Now, who’s got the Crave Case single coming up for us?

Dope new dancehall, it’s the perfect beat coming just in time for the sunny weather…

Gabriel over at the UK’s Heatwave just passed us their new single, “Things Change”, featuring the one and only Warrior Queen.  You can download it here.

The track was also featured on their compilation, An England Story (which we previously covered here… and here too.)

She’s amazing.  If you haven’t heard “Poison Dart” yet… play the video below immediatey.

OK, it’s like a month old now, but it’s kind of great. And UK public service announcements are way better than US public service announcements (unless you’re in it for the irony).