I spotted Kieron in the corner of my eye digging around the 90’s Alternative/Grunge/Shoegazer at Coconuts in Kichijoji. I noticed he had some interesting range-finder form-factor camera slung around his neck which should have been more than enough reason to chat him up, but I must have been too preoccupied with the concentration required to dig through 7” singles while looking for a perfect, within-budget ¥300 score. Regrettably, I didn’t say hello or approach him for a photo. But about half an hour later, he caught my eye when I spotted him AGAIN at Disk Union in Parco, packing a stack of recently scored records into his backpack. I thought to myself, “Do I wait to ask until he has everything packed up, or do I interrupt him to save them the trouble of unpacking it all in case he agrees?” It seemed appropriate to wait until he was situated, and then when he was, I did finally approach him and chatted him up about Tokyo Record Style, he, of course, said, “Sure, but why didn’t you ask 5 minutes ago before I just neatly pack up all these records?” Haha.
Kieron and I got to talking and he was quite a friendly guy, visiting Tokyo from Bath, UK for the 9th time! We walked and talked on our way to HMV, about the differences in record shops and record-collecting culture between the UK and Japan. He confirmed that Tokyo record store culture seems to be as, or more, healthy and happening than anything happening in UK and Europe, adding that it seems to be easier to find many of those late 80’s and 90’s titles that were somewhat limited worldwide in the CD age. Upon arriving at HMV, and digging into their 90’s section adjacent to the entrance, Kieron immediately pulled a good handful of records and seemed to be having some good luck finding titles on his wish list. Hope you scored some treasure, Kieron along with this “Here Comes Everybody” by The Wake.
Lastly, I’d encourage the photography appreciators among you to check out Kieron’s Instagram. Sublime work, with some interesting experimental compositions that might overlap somewhere with his work in AR design that he also mentioned. Check it out!
Oh, one more note: 2nd SD card in a couple of weeks died during the shoot with my Canon R5 which has made all these photos. iPhone saves the day.
The Wake – Here Comes Everybody
Label: Factory – Fact 130
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: Dec 1985
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave
https://www.discogs.com/release/401836-The-Wake-Here-Comes-Everybody
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