December 2011
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shanghai what's CRACKIN
my hotel room is bigger than any room I’ve been in for the past month
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i think i'm making guitar face in some of these
thx Yumiko for the photos!
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xmas in jpn
I’m pretty slagged! I’m surprised at how much last night’s show in Kokubunji took out of me. 3:30pm feels more like 11am to me. I’ve been a late riser the past couple years, but never quite this bad, ha!
Christmas is not such a big deal in Japan, which is nice, as my family is all on the other side of the ocean. I’m seeing a show later tonight with some friends,...
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Some Xmas tunes that I sang on tonight in...
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potential album art
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waiting on an email: worse than waiting on a phone...
i dunno i forgot what using a telephone is like
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WatchNew favorite: Trippple Nippples. Can’t find a real release anywhere on the interwebz but scope their soundcloud. So into it!
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Bonus Japan stuff
Saw this on the way back from potato guy:
Other stuff from this weekend:
Best pastry I’ve ever had maybe:
On my way back:
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Seriously
Took another trip out of the city this weekend to visit and record with my friend Julien, who lives in the town of Chino, Nagano. It’s a mountainous area of Japan, and despite looking pretty large from a distance, it has a real small-town, countryside vibe to it.
We did get a few good takes during recording, and afterwards, we decided to step out and get hot soup across town. (Another...
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WON JIKSOO: GREATEST LIVING MUSICIAN
This dude has not really been documented. I don’t have time to type up my Won Jiksoo story, and frankly it’s best told over a beer, but seriously everybody go study with this motherfucker and loan him money and shit right the fuck now.
I recorded the storytelling set that he did at this party I was at in Osaka, but he also plays clarinet. I dunno what this other guy is doing or who...
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no internet for miles part 3 - barhopping in...
Last night I went bar hopping with some friends in Shinjuku. The bars we went to were these little tiny affairs:
Seems like they’re all about the conversational aspect of bar hopping, not so much the loud, hard partying thing like in New York. Quiet rock or pop music, one bartender, and we’d file out when another group came in.
Afterwards we ended up hanging out at a venue that...
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no internet for miles part 2 - RETURN TO TOKYO
Been in Japan two or three weeks and this was the first traditional style Japanese toilet I’ve encountered:
Baby Copperhead + AEN @ Superdeluxe:
Caught this duet u+uco at Bonobo, a small venue in Harajuku:
I talked to them before their set, they told me they basically cover themselves in barcodes and use barcode scanners to trigger musical events via a bit of...
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no internet for miles part 1 - RETURN TO OSAKA
Like the title says! + Time’s been too tight to take photos and blarg about em and stuff. But I just got back from Osaka a few days ago. Fell in love with the place, the music is mad colorful and the people are really free and all that stuff. I miss it.
Stayed at Ten Hostel, recommend thoroughly. Late night pressing buttonz:
Most of my time is spent navigating through OCEANS OF PEOPLE:...
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wrong, or not right enough
BL: I’m pretty sure there’s no inappropriate time to say γγγγγγΎγ, right?
JG: Yeah, right. γγΏγΎγγ too.
BL: Oh for real?
JG: Yeah like you can say it alone in an elevator or whatever and it’s fine.
BL: In fact the elevator might get you there faster.
JG: Right yeah, it might think it’s doing something wrong.
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Gosh I'm in Osaka again gosh.
This time I’m not playing some crazy nervewracking classical stuff (which was nothing short of amazing!), so this time I get to experience the city a bit, meet some younger-generation artists, etc. I just got in but I already really like the place.
little exhausted
mentally
really happy to be meeting some very nice, fun, smart, talented people
not taking so many pictures
partially from...
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all over the place
rap rapper rappest
Have you seen this mountain? If so please call 555-1212
Some subways are completely enclosed like this, it’s kinda 2001 but also kinda claustrophobic:
Akihabara Electric Town (yes, a real city / neighborhood / whatever in Tokyo) is the coolest name for some shit pretty much ever:
Guys the Vanguard is actually, uh. OK well you just have fun.
...
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Met this dude at a hostel in Kyoto the night before this was taken. Didn’t have time to get a better shot before he took off.
When I met him the night before, he was wearing plain clothes. I noticed he had a bunch of beads on, looked like they might’ve been prayer beads, so I asked if he was Buddhist. He had about as much English as I’ve got Nihongo, so he said, “No,...
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Chino, Nagano
Took a trip out of the city to visit my good friend Julien, whom I hadn’t seen since I lived in Boston. He lives out in the countryside, teaches English, and takes mad good photos.
Took a couple wrong turns on the way out and ended up on some commuter trains:
Made it to Chino around 9:30pm or so, had a great dinner and slept on tatami:
Woke up and made a quick stop at the train...
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tokyo pt 1 / all in a day's work
I’m in Tokyo! Settled at my friend Jin’s apartment, right near Tamachi station, on the Yamate line - a train that runs in a big circle through Tokyo, with no first or last stop.
He seems to be settled in an out-of-the-way, businessy area - just a few fast food restaurants, not a lot of skyscrapers. Mostly apartment complexes and a few offices:
And a Denny’s!
Was...