Author recognizes Author!
Not sure how much I am allowed to disclose on this one cuz I know my pal, Professor Christopher Bondy, pictured here, is a fairly private fellow. He always pulls a “Home Improvement’s Wilson” on me in past Tokyo Record Style appearances, just poking his head up behind his featured purchase, though I’ve been lucky to capture his handsome mug more than once. Whether I’m allowed to disclose his own literary credits (see comments), we’ll find out together, if I end up eating my words and begging for his forgiveness after writing this.
About Christopher: Besides being a avid music lover and record collector with far more excellent tastes than mine, and besides being a father to an equally avid music appreciator (who learned the backstroke with my son at the local swim school, which is how we met) Christopher is a well-established, well-published, well-decorated and well-awarded, soon-to-be-tenured-if-he’s-not-already-professor-researcher, and authority (or at least western expert) on the “Burakumin” people of Japan. The Burakumin are described as the discriminated-against descendants of the pre-Meiji era lowest feudal caste who had the occupations of executioners, undertakers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, and tanners. Christopher lived for an extended time amongst the Burakumin in the furthest regions of Japan where they still maintain a unique (albeit still heavily stigmatized) cultural presence. Despite knowing Christopher for nearly a decade, I have only ever scratched the surface of this topic with him, and as I’m writing this, I’m realizing I should really engage him more about it so as to better understand myself. I can’t say I know more about Burakumin other that what I have just written but my hunch is that the culture is filled with subtle nuance and likely time old lessons even for living in a modern world. (Thinks to self, “Reader, have you ever seen the Japanese movie, “Okuribito/Departures?” It will give you a whole new appreciation for the art of caring for the deceased.)
So what did Christopher, the author and academic, (who I might add is currently researching Record store culture and community in Japan for an upcoming paper, possibly book) score this time for Tokyo Record Style Day Volume 9 at Organic Music run by the the similarly published authority, on obscure music of all things, Chee Shimizu, you ask? Well of course, the latest revised edition of HIS book, naturally, “OBSCURE SOUND” about which has been written “a new disc guide that takes you into an unknown world of sound, and has been traded at premium prices since the manufacturer ran out of stock. Chee Shimizu, who has worldwide connections as a DJ and buyer and is leading the global re-evaluation of New Age and ambient music, has selected about 800 records… This book is the bible for those looking for music that is a little different from the rest.”
Boy, I would love to read both these books, illuminating collections of knowledge I’m sure! This post is having me realizing two things: 1. that it’s taken me well over a month to get this post out, and that I really need to get caught as I have dozens of record collectors in the queue, and 2: I really want to join both Christopher and Chee as an author. I’ve always thought I would write a book but I always thought it would be a novel and that I’ve have to take a year or more off to actually write it, and it wouldn’t be a collection of stories that I’ve written about record-collectors, composed little-by little-over, two Harry Potter Novels worth of text so far, over the course of two years. But that’s where we are. I’m really setting a goal for myself to make this happen and if you want to be, or can be, a part of that journey in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Ok! Back in the saddle! More Tokyo Record Style on the Way!
OBSCURE SOUND REVISED EDITION【オブスキュア・サウンド リヴァイズド・エディション】
Publisher : リットーミュージック
Publication date : February 21, 2020
Language : Japanese
Tankobon Hardcover : 248 pages
ISBN-10 : 4845634090
ISBN-13 : 978-4845634095
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Chee-Shimizu-ebook/dp/B084ZHZ3FF?ref_=ast_author_mpb
(SEE BELOW)***
Kalapana – Kalapana III
Label: Abattoir Records – KALA0004
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1977
Genre: Jazz, Funk / Soul
Style: Jazz-Rock, Jazz-Funk
https://www.discogs.com/release/1282880-Kalapana-Kalapana-III
Christopher Bondy – Voice, Silence, and Self: Negotiations of Buraku Identity in Contemporary Japan (Harvard East Asian Monographs)
Publisher : Harvard University Asia Center
Publication date : September 7, 2015
Language : English
Hardcover : 200 pages
ISBN-10 : 0674088409
ISBN-13 : 978-0674088405
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Christopher-Bondy/dp/0674088409
***
Chee Shimizu
Obscure Sound Revised Edition
Ritto Music (Japan) 2020
ISBN978-4-8456-3409-5 (Book) Softcover, reprinted version.
This is a reprint of the Obscure Sound Revised Edition, which was released in February 2020 as a revised version of the record guidebook Obscure Sound – 640 Selections of Shangri-La Records, published in 2013 and out of print. Approximately 200 records from the first edition of 2013 have been retained, and approximately 600 new reviews have been added. In addition, a long interview with respected musician Yasuaki Shimizu, Japanese ambient/new age, ECM, Spanish music, and more are featured in the opening feature. Regular reviews are also categorized by keywords, inheriting the style of the previous edition. The artwork is by Ginji Kimura, who is currently active in many fields, the binding/design is by Shinji Mizoguchi of Lush, and the planning and editing is by Ken Hattori of Rittor Music, just like the first edition.
It has been reprinted! “Once again, to the hidden realm of music – Ambient, New Age, Contemporary Music, Experimental Music, or strange jazz and rock, listened to with ears that have been through club music” The disc guide “OBSCURE SOUND” supervised by CHEE SHIMIZU, who introduces deep and high-quality works every day at the cult record shop “ORGANIC MUSIC” and is also attracting attention from around the world as a DJ, has been greatly expanded and revised!
This is a greatly expanded and revised edition of “Obscure Sound: 640 Shangri-La Records,” which was released in 2013 and has been a hit in the used record market as a new disc guide that invites you into an unknown world of sound, and has been traded at a premium price after the manufacturer’s stock has run out. Chee Shimizu, who has worldwide connections as a DJ and buyer and is leading the global reevaluation of new age and ambient music, has selected about 800 records (of which only a little over 200 are duplicates of the previous work). This book can be a bible for those looking for music that is a little different from the rest.
Ambient, New Age, Contemporary Music, Experimental Music, or Unusual Jazz and Rock, Listened to with Ears Passed Through Club Music.
Released in 2013, “Obscure Sound: 640 Shangri-La Records” has been gradually making waves in the used record market as a new disc guide that invites you into an unknown world of sound, and has been traded at premium prices since the manufacturer ran out of stock. Chee Shimizu, who has worldwide connections as a DJ/buyer and is leading the global reevaluation of New Age/Ambient, has selected about 800 records (of which only a little over 200 are duplicates of the previous work). This book can be a bible for those who are looking for music that is a little different from the rest. (From the publisher’s guide)
Try Best Offer Score
On Instagram
