It's true, I've become addicted to buying records. Somehow. It started off innocently enough...just stuff I knew would be good, that I didn't already own, that I found in the store. Only a record every once in awhile...but then...
I don't know, a couple factors I guess spurned this shift. My band's been doing pretty well, and we've been prepping for shows/working on other members' songs, so I've stopped writing new stuff (don't wanna forget my latest one in the meantime - one of the best songs I've written yet!)
So I've just been having band practice a lot, and drinking on my own. No girlfriend, not hanging out with Jacob anymore...basically, a lot of downtime. Which led me to ebay. Which led me to "hey I can buy any record I want, any time I want!" So that was bad.
And then one day I saw a pretty cool album in the store by some artist named Genya Ravan, and she was pretty sexy looking and it was a really obviously '70s-looking album, and I saw she worked with Lou Reed and John Cale on a couple tracks, aaaaand it was pretty cheap, so I was like "oh hell why not!" thinking you know, it was no big deal to experiment on something new, and I was pleasantly surprised, there was some great stuff on it that I never would have found otherwise!
Sounds good, right?
Except now buying music I've heard before is boring. So I just kind of look for artists I've heard of or have heard other material from, or pick up stuff that just looks like it'll be good...which isn't so bad in itself (discovered lots of cool stuff!) but now instead of buying the occasional record I KNOW I'll enjoy simply to say that I own it, I've turned to buying an armful of random records for the thrill of it.
D'oh.
Anyway, I guess it's too late for me now. With like 10 records waiting for me at home in the States, 2 currently en route to my apt, and another 20 I've bought in the past week (!!!) here in person, I'm obviously fucked. But that's ok - in my defense, most have been 7"s (which are [usually] quite cheaper) and the only reason I bought so many this week was because I had Monday off and decided to use it to go record shopping, and then after I bought like 7 records there, I found out there was a record fair today! And of course I had to go to that (even though I didn't really want to...Jenn, of all people, who doesn't even listen to records, convinced me to). Anyway, long story short, I bought a shit ton of records. Said records include:
LPs:
The Beat - s/t LP
The Undertones - Hypnotised
Gene Clark - No Other
10"s:
Germs - Cat's Clause
7"s:
Lou Christie - She Sold Me Magic
The Fevers - Show!
The Fe Fi Fo Fums - Electrofize Me/Wild One
Sweet - Fox on the Run
Ohio Express - Chewy, Chewy
Ohio Express - Yummy, Yummy, Yummy
The Equals - Baby Come Back
Hentchmen - Ypsilanti's newest hit makers
Bare Wires - Voo Doo Doll EP (!!!)
Eric Hysteric & the Esoterics - Tropical Vision
The Cuff Links - Tracy
Tyvek - Summer Burns EP
The Registrators - Monkey/Stupid Girls
1910 Fruitgum Co. - Simon Says
Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs - Lil' Red Riding Hood
Scott Walker - Jackie
I have to give credit where credit is due - of these, an unhealthy proportion have been directly influenced by my friend Miranda (and that says nothing of the Supercharger, Bare Wires LP, and Daisy Clan I picked up off ebay - all direct influences...) But srsly. Ohio Express, Fe Fi Fo Fums, Lou Christie, The Fevers...and all so good! Some of the other more pleasant surprises include the Eric Hysteric & the Esoterics, a 1980 German droning dance-punk record that's way catchier than it should be, and the Registrators, who were apparently a Japanese punk band of the late 80s/early 90s and are totally awesome, released this 7" on Rip Off records, run by Supercharger's old bassist. And I get the added benefit of feeling like I'm "making the most" of living in the country!
So yeah, that's my story. My name is Sean, and I have a record buying addiction. Thanks for listening - now I must be off to go track the Cuff Links' LP, currently trading for only $4.24! Until next time!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
ketai(ee) memories
Ok, so this is kind of a copout, but on the plus side - you get pictures! Albeit pretty lousy quality ones, courtesy of my cell phone ("ketai" in Japanese - hence one-half of the title's pun...)
Let the show begin!
So this is a 7 year old girl dressed as a Geisha, taken from the Ogaki matsuri (festival). There are 2 festivals here every year (you may remember the autumn one, where I got drunk and carried a shrine around town all day). The spring one is significantly lamer - just a bunch of tents set up along the streets downtown, 90% of which sell the same foods (octopus dough balls, jerky, fried noodles, etc.) The other 10% sell cheap masks and other really cheap toys for kids. Seriously, nothing of note, at all, except for the big floats being pulled around town with various people in traditional clothing on them. Most of them didn't do anything (and the floats weren't particularly interesting to look at, either), but this one had a bunch of 7 year old girls - there was a sign indicating their age - who would come out and do traditional Geisha dances to music. It was really cute/kind of creepy.
(On a side note, the best festival I've seen thus far happened in a nearby town called Godo, where from midnight to about 2am a bunch of drunk people in loincloths ran down the streets carrying bamboo bundles. Bamboo bundles lit on fire, that is. Then they'd dump them on a big bonfire and act crazy, and afterwards some old Japanese did a little parade in samurai garb. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of that one.)
Next up we have this lovely picture of downtown Osaka, one of the biggest cities in Japan. I went maybe a month ago with my coworker Michael, who I also went to Shikoku with (see: facebook photos). We got tickets to baseball game there from our Japanese coworker, who had tickets but couldn't go.
Japanese baseball games are a lot like American ones, but there are a few differences. First off, it was in a dome - not necessarily different from in America, but a contributing factor. The dome, while impressive from the outside, was actually pretty small inside, and everything just seemed kind of...artificial. Not just the astroturf, but I guess the Japanese-ness of it (I'm also pretty sure their fields are smaller). Still, it was fun seeing all the fans decked out in jerseys - just like in America! - and eating a little mini Domino's Pizza, which I would never do at a ballgame in America, helped make the whole experience a little more familiar. Then again, the unfamiliarity was perhaps the best part - for example, instead of singing "Take me out to the ballgame" after the 7th inning, everyone buys balloons and blows them up real big (or real long I should say - they look like giant...well, guess) and then lets em go all at once, on cue, and the stadium fills with a giant wheezing sound while little balloons sputter about like...well, guess. (I forget Michael's direct quote, but it was something like "watching an orgasm from the inside.")
Here we have a sign for "Club Sean," which I did not go to, but obviously should have. Since Osaka is about 3 hours by train from Ogaki, and me Michael didn't want to leave right after the game was over, we decided to stay out all night and party instead. We paid quite a bit of money to go to a club that he went to a few years ago, when he was studying abroad here. Finding it was quite the hassle - all Michael knew was the name (and addresses here are pretty much nonexistent, so we had no means of looking it up). We didn't even know what area of the city it was in. We just went to the downtown part and walked around for a few hours, following Michael's instinct (this looks familiar! this looks familiar! let's go...that way!) until, lo and behold, we found it (quite near to that first picture, taken on a bridge in the heart of downtown). And what do you know, it was celebrating its 5 year anniversary! For 40 bucks, you could come in and drink all night for free - open til 5am! It was fate. There was only one catch: you had to wear shoes to get in.
Obviously I was wearing shoes (I hate sandles). Michael, however, was not. The bouncer directed us to a nearby shop, however, that was selling very cheap shoes, so we made our way amongst the other people trying to replace their footwear and after a short 15 minute excursion we were ready to go. The place was pretty fun at first - the music was decent, and we danced around (if not exactly with) some girls - but by 2am it was packed, mostly with dudes. So we broke for some ramen and wandered around a bit before we got bored and made our way back. I moseyed my way up to a girl who, while not exactly stunning, didn't shirk my advances, and we danced for awhile. But her lack of resistance quickly went from encouraging to slightly creepy, as I realized she was too drunk to even respond to what was going on around her. So I went off to look for Michael, letting another guy (literally) slide into my place - with no acknowledgment of the shift on her part...
By the time I found him it was about 4, and we were pretty tired of this place. We had some time to kill before first train back though. That's when we somehow came across this English speaking girl (maybe Canadian?) who suggested some other bar nearby that her boyfriend worked at. So we went over there and hung out for a bit, talked about how Japanese girls are crazy, drank a beer and then made for some early morning ramen and a 5 hour train ride home. Then I slept all afternoon and swore off drinking for one whole day - I think it was a good one but, ironically, I can't remember it.
This is a silly little picture I took on the way to a new school branch one day. It looked a lot more exciting on South Park, don't you think? Casa Boni-ta! Casa Boni-ta! dododododododo...
Props to Japan for having both ridiculously cheap cigarettes and widespread public smoking, as well as one of the most awesome anti-smoking campaigns you could imagine. I mean really, why does that man throw out so many cigarette butts all at once? (Alternatively, this is probably why so many people in Japan still smoke).
This is...uh...an exotic butterfly hiding in the leaves. I took it on the way to work. Maybe this is what that creepy caterpillar thing from my previous ketai picture post turns into?
And this is my friend Shino. He drums for Darge, who are possibly the best metal band I've ever seen (though that doesn't particularly say much). This is also the band Rafa is in (you may remember them from our mountain trip with the marijuana-loving Baka Nihonjin, though probably not because that was months and months ago). He played the whole show with this ridiculous hippo mask on, which I think speaks pretty loudly about how awesome he is. This show was on Saturday, and also featured Scandalar, another of the top bands in the area. We'll be playing with Scandalar at our next show, and Jacob is trying to set up a show with Darge. Should be fun, providing we don't fuck up.
Well, it's 1:30am and that's about it for recent cell phone photos. Looking back, I sure do have a ton though. Got some camera pics I wanna upload too (if not here, look for them on the facebook in the near future). And now I am off to sweet dreams of Casa Bonita...
Casa Boni-ta! Casa Boni-ta! dododododododo...
Let the show begin!
So this is a 7 year old girl dressed as a Geisha, taken from the Ogaki matsuri (festival). There are 2 festivals here every year (you may remember the autumn one, where I got drunk and carried a shrine around town all day). The spring one is significantly lamer - just a bunch of tents set up along the streets downtown, 90% of which sell the same foods (octopus dough balls, jerky, fried noodles, etc.) The other 10% sell cheap masks and other really cheap toys for kids. Seriously, nothing of note, at all, except for the big floats being pulled around town with various people in traditional clothing on them. Most of them didn't do anything (and the floats weren't particularly interesting to look at, either), but this one had a bunch of 7 year old girls - there was a sign indicating their age - who would come out and do traditional Geisha dances to music. It was really cute/kind of creepy.
(On a side note, the best festival I've seen thus far happened in a nearby town called Godo, where from midnight to about 2am a bunch of drunk people in loincloths ran down the streets carrying bamboo bundles. Bamboo bundles lit on fire, that is. Then they'd dump them on a big bonfire and act crazy, and afterwards some old Japanese did a little parade in samurai garb. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of that one.)
Next up we have this lovely picture of downtown Osaka, one of the biggest cities in Japan. I went maybe a month ago with my coworker Michael, who I also went to Shikoku with (see: facebook photos). We got tickets to baseball game there from our Japanese coworker, who had tickets but couldn't go.
Japanese baseball games are a lot like American ones, but there are a few differences. First off, it was in a dome - not necessarily different from in America, but a contributing factor. The dome, while impressive from the outside, was actually pretty small inside, and everything just seemed kind of...artificial. Not just the astroturf, but I guess the Japanese-ness of it (I'm also pretty sure their fields are smaller). Still, it was fun seeing all the fans decked out in jerseys - just like in America! - and eating a little mini Domino's Pizza, which I would never do at a ballgame in America, helped make the whole experience a little more familiar. Then again, the unfamiliarity was perhaps the best part - for example, instead of singing "Take me out to the ballgame" after the 7th inning, everyone buys balloons and blows them up real big (or real long I should say - they look like giant...well, guess) and then lets em go all at once, on cue, and the stadium fills with a giant wheezing sound while little balloons sputter about like...well, guess. (I forget Michael's direct quote, but it was something like "watching an orgasm from the inside.")
Here we have a sign for "Club Sean," which I did not go to, but obviously should have. Since Osaka is about 3 hours by train from Ogaki, and me Michael didn't want to leave right after the game was over, we decided to stay out all night and party instead. We paid quite a bit of money to go to a club that he went to a few years ago, when he was studying abroad here. Finding it was quite the hassle - all Michael knew was the name (and addresses here are pretty much nonexistent, so we had no means of looking it up). We didn't even know what area of the city it was in. We just went to the downtown part and walked around for a few hours, following Michael's instinct (this looks familiar! this looks familiar! let's go...that way!) until, lo and behold, we found it (quite near to that first picture, taken on a bridge in the heart of downtown). And what do you know, it was celebrating its 5 year anniversary! For 40 bucks, you could come in and drink all night for free - open til 5am! It was fate. There was only one catch: you had to wear shoes to get in.
Obviously I was wearing shoes (I hate sandles). Michael, however, was not. The bouncer directed us to a nearby shop, however, that was selling very cheap shoes, so we made our way amongst the other people trying to replace their footwear and after a short 15 minute excursion we were ready to go. The place was pretty fun at first - the music was decent, and we danced around (if not exactly with) some girls - but by 2am it was packed, mostly with dudes. So we broke for some ramen and wandered around a bit before we got bored and made our way back. I moseyed my way up to a girl who, while not exactly stunning, didn't shirk my advances, and we danced for awhile. But her lack of resistance quickly went from encouraging to slightly creepy, as I realized she was too drunk to even respond to what was going on around her. So I went off to look for Michael, letting another guy (literally) slide into my place - with no acknowledgment of the shift on her part...
By the time I found him it was about 4, and we were pretty tired of this place. We had some time to kill before first train back though. That's when we somehow came across this English speaking girl (maybe Canadian?) who suggested some other bar nearby that her boyfriend worked at. So we went over there and hung out for a bit, talked about how Japanese girls are crazy, drank a beer and then made for some early morning ramen and a 5 hour train ride home. Then I slept all afternoon and swore off drinking for one whole day - I think it was a good one but, ironically, I can't remember it.
This is a silly little picture I took on the way to a new school branch one day. It looked a lot more exciting on South Park, don't you think? Casa Boni-ta! Casa Boni-ta! dododododododo...
Props to Japan for having both ridiculously cheap cigarettes and widespread public smoking, as well as one of the most awesome anti-smoking campaigns you could imagine. I mean really, why does that man throw out so many cigarette butts all at once? (Alternatively, this is probably why so many people in Japan still smoke).
This is...uh...an exotic butterfly hiding in the leaves. I took it on the way to work. Maybe this is what that creepy caterpillar thing from my previous ketai picture post turns into?
And this is my friend Shino. He drums for Darge, who are possibly the best metal band I've ever seen (though that doesn't particularly say much). This is also the band Rafa is in (you may remember them from our mountain trip with the marijuana-loving Baka Nihonjin, though probably not because that was months and months ago). He played the whole show with this ridiculous hippo mask on, which I think speaks pretty loudly about how awesome he is. This show was on Saturday, and also featured Scandalar, another of the top bands in the area. We'll be playing with Scandalar at our next show, and Jacob is trying to set up a show with Darge. Should be fun, providing we don't fuck up.
Well, it's 1:30am and that's about it for recent cell phone photos. Looking back, I sure do have a ton though. Got some camera pics I wanna upload too (if not here, look for them on the facebook in the near future). And now I am off to sweet dreams of Casa Bonita...
Casa Boni-ta! Casa Boni-ta! dododododododo...
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Ogaki ROCK!
Today is July 8th. That means yesterday was my mother's 50th birthday - happy birthday Mom! - and 4 days ago was July 4th, my home nation's 234th tanjoubi. And in celebration, my current town hosted a rock festival. Ok, it was probably coincidental, but whatever. You could argue that nothing is really "coincidental" (though I wouldn't - but please, don't let me stop you).
Anywho. You may recall that last year's Ogaki Rock Festival (held later in the year) provided my first encounter with the Hips, a now fairly well known and pretty damn good local band who initially caught my attention with a righteous cover of Eddie and the Hot Rods' "Do Anything You Wanna Do." They played again this year, but I unfortunately missed it (though I've seen them plenty since). I did, however, catch our Japanese friend Masaru's band, the Same Old Chillies. The name was chosen, I've been told, because they wanted to pick a name that had something to do with weed, but one of the bandmates works at city hall, so they went with "chillin" instead. And, "you know, because we're always doing the same old shit." Hence "the Same Old Chillies." In case that description didn't provide you enough detail, they're pretty laid back - kind of like a Japanese Sublime. At least the lead singer was entertaining - waving his arms around and singing/rapping off the beat while simultaneously climbing all over everything in the vicinity, wearing a pair of oversized purple sunglasses and smiling like a buffoon. I think he was pretending to be on acid, which isn't quite as good as watching someone actually on acid, but it was decent enough for what it was.
The other bands were rather lackluster. They included:
-a couple girls caterwauling over acoustic guitars
-a high school ska band
-B.O.B., the show's headliners, who played really boring, overly-polished J-rock.
The best performance came from a group of older dudes in drag, whose music was entirely unmemorable (though not unpleasant) but whose entertainment value rested solely in their heavy makeup and dancing, manically hiking up their dresses and generally acting silly/insane. I think this picture sums it up best.
Thanks to my new friend Carmei for this pic, btw. Met her at Ogaki Rock. Also met a girl who works at the nearby Banana Records store, who recognized me as that American dude who buys records all the freakin' time. Apparently Ogaki Rock is pretty hoppin'.
But yeah, so me, Jake, my friend Dak, Kyle, his wife Hiroe, new teacher Andy, and Faith, an old teacher who recently returned to Japan to reunite with her boyfriend, Same Old Chilly Masaru (it's a small world round these parts) hung out all day, getting drunk in the hot sun and watching these lackluster bands. Some other lame drama also ensued, which I've chosen not to go into but has essentially resulted in the cessation of my friendship with Jacob (though we still act cordial as bandmates - and to think, I could never understand how some bandmates hated each other!). And then the day ended with us firing roman candles off in a nearby park (where fire is explicitly forbidden, natch). Of course, we had a Memorial Day bbq there at 2am, too, so I guess it was only appropriate.
So, to conclude: America - fuck yeah! Or something like that.
Anywho. You may recall that last year's Ogaki Rock Festival (held later in the year) provided my first encounter with the Hips, a now fairly well known and pretty damn good local band who initially caught my attention with a righteous cover of Eddie and the Hot Rods' "Do Anything You Wanna Do." They played again this year, but I unfortunately missed it (though I've seen them plenty since). I did, however, catch our Japanese friend Masaru's band, the Same Old Chillies. The name was chosen, I've been told, because they wanted to pick a name that had something to do with weed, but one of the bandmates works at city hall, so they went with "chillin" instead. And, "you know, because we're always doing the same old shit." Hence "the Same Old Chillies." In case that description didn't provide you enough detail, they're pretty laid back - kind of like a Japanese Sublime. At least the lead singer was entertaining - waving his arms around and singing/rapping off the beat while simultaneously climbing all over everything in the vicinity, wearing a pair of oversized purple sunglasses and smiling like a buffoon. I think he was pretending to be on acid, which isn't quite as good as watching someone actually on acid, but it was decent enough for what it was.
The other bands were rather lackluster. They included:
-a couple girls caterwauling over acoustic guitars
-a high school ska band
-B.O.B., the show's headliners, who played really boring, overly-polished J-rock.
The best performance came from a group of older dudes in drag, whose music was entirely unmemorable (though not unpleasant) but whose entertainment value rested solely in their heavy makeup and dancing, manically hiking up their dresses and generally acting silly/insane. I think this picture sums it up best.
Thanks to my new friend Carmei for this pic, btw. Met her at Ogaki Rock. Also met a girl who works at the nearby Banana Records store, who recognized me as that American dude who buys records all the freakin' time. Apparently Ogaki Rock is pretty hoppin'.
But yeah, so me, Jake, my friend Dak, Kyle, his wife Hiroe, new teacher Andy, and Faith, an old teacher who recently returned to Japan to reunite with her boyfriend, Same Old Chilly Masaru (it's a small world round these parts) hung out all day, getting drunk in the hot sun and watching these lackluster bands. Some other lame drama also ensued, which I've chosen not to go into but has essentially resulted in the cessation of my friendship with Jacob (though we still act cordial as bandmates - and to think, I could never understand how some bandmates hated each other!). And then the day ended with us firing roman candles off in a nearby park (where fire is explicitly forbidden, natch). Of course, we had a Memorial Day bbq there at 2am, too, so I guess it was only appropriate.
So, to conclude: America - fuck yeah! Or something like that.
Monday, July 5, 2010
...And we're back!
Welcome back to Life in Japan: a continually evolving retrospective of one man's experience in the Land of the Rising Sun. That man is of course me, Sean: your host. And this is my blog.
I realize it's been a long time since you last received any new episodes, so I will try my best to provide a quick recap. Late last year, I formed a band with my friends Jacob and Jenn. We're called the Dead Gazelles (myspace.com/deadgazelles!), and we played our first show last month. We have another one coming up July 25.
I also got a girlfriend sometime late January, but after a lot of grief re: lack of trust and overall neuroticism, and in the face of a general lack of free time, I recently put the relationship on hiatus (it's been a less-than-smooth severance, however, so don't be surprised to see continuing drama in that dept. in the future).
Lastly, I agreed to sign on for another year, so you can expect to see more sordid and scandalous details of life inside the world's second (soon to be third!) largest economy until at least Sept. 2011 - or until I get tired of updating this again. Whichever comes first.
Happy reading!
I realize it's been a long time since you last received any new episodes, so I will try my best to provide a quick recap. Late last year, I formed a band with my friends Jacob and Jenn. We're called the Dead Gazelles (myspace.com/deadgazelles!), and we played our first show last month. We have another one coming up July 25.
I also got a girlfriend sometime late January, but after a lot of grief re: lack of trust and overall neuroticism, and in the face of a general lack of free time, I recently put the relationship on hiatus (it's been a less-than-smooth severance, however, so don't be surprised to see continuing drama in that dept. in the future).
Lastly, I agreed to sign on for another year, so you can expect to see more sordid and scandalous details of life inside the world's second (soon to be third!) largest economy until at least Sept. 2011 - or until I get tired of updating this again. Whichever comes first.
Happy reading!
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