Berlin in Tokyo! I caught up with designer Marcel and fam on the streets of Shimokitazawa last summer as they were just walking out of Disk Union with some pirate treasure booty, figuratively and literally (see the cover of 1969 Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed). They were visiting from Berlin where, among other things, they run a cool independent fashion label and gallery that they founded many years ago called Adddress. Their brand is well-established and their style is, according to their website, “dominated by the crossing of contemporary and experimental elements …range of fresh concepts …grounded in spontaneous insights to shapes and forms …great care …innovative details …elaborate blend of the cool and the casual.” And if you zoom in to Marcel and his Lovely’s threads, you can see there is more there than meets the eye. I was diggin’ on it, ahead of the curve.
Marcel mentioned that he was part of a larger entourage on this trip, extended family and friends who had all come over to Japan on Holiday and creative inspiration, and he and this crew had jotted off for the day to to Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Shimokitazawa for some record shopping and some hip backstreets.
After opening a really nice chat, I was able to share that I’ve visited Berlin on multiple occasions and really enjoyed the city. We talked about the overlaps with Tokyo, New York, and other major cities. We also also talked about the overlaps in our musical tastes, the Velvet Underground being a big one. Marcel and I must have been roughly the same age and collected similar things, he mentioned mostly records from ’65-’75 though I’m sure there would be tons of spillover. When I asked the whole family for some musical recommendations, I got some from each of them though I can’t remember which rec was attributed to dad, mom, or son, but here were a few: “Jumping Back Slash” (Alternative/Indie/Dance/Electronic Producer and visual artist), “Birth Control” (German progressive hard rock band from 60s and 70s), “Gamma Ray” (German power metal band from Hamburg from 90s), “Amon Düül II” (pioneers of West German krautrock scene), …and I could be mistaken, but if I caught it correctly, Bruno Mars might have been current interest of their son.
Lotta tastes here, and good taste, you can tell. That was fun! I wanna say a special thank you to Marcel and his lovely family for sharing a little bit of their whirlwind Japan tour with me. It was a fun little hang on the street, and a nice memory made. I hope someday we might meet again. Continued good luck with trend-setting at Adddress and may your lives be filled with good design, good music, and happy family vibes!
More Tokyo Record Style on the way!
The Velvet Underground & Nico (3) – The Velvet Underground & Nico
Label: Verve Records – V6-5008, Verve Records – V6/5008
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, West Coast Pressing, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: Mar 1967
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Experimental, Art Rock
https://www.discogs.com/release/371471-The-Velvet-Underground-Nico-The-Velvet-Underground-Nico
The Velvet Underground – 1969 Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed
Label: Mercury – RJ-5148
Series: Rock Giant Series
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
Country: Japan
Released: 1974
Genre: Rock
Style: Garage Rock, Avantgarde
https://www.discogs.com/release/5970404-The-Velvet-Underground-1969-Velvet-Underground-Live-With-Lou-Reed
Matching Mole – Matching Mole’s Little Red Record
Label: CBS/Sony – ECPL-69
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Japan
Released: 1972
Genre: Jazz, Rock
Style: Jazz-Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock
https://www.discogs.com/release/435761-Matching-Mole-Matching-Moles-Little-Red-Record
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