Highschoolers, collecting records, oldschool, newschool. Dope.
I bumped into Taiga, Yuusei, and Yoshimi in Shibuya Station. They had just picked up some records from RECOfan believe it or not, their firsts, all bought on a but of a whim if I remember correctly. Quite a selection.
Considering it was the frantic Shibuya scramble underpass, perhaps my first TRS encounter INSIDE a station, I was mindful of the foot traffic and the energy that everybody was on the go. The fact that this encounter was in January, hence the sweaters and puffy coats, any sense of memory from my notes sadly evaporated some time ago (and it’s gonna be like that for the next dozen or so posts as I get caught up). But there is plenty to riff on here, just the notion that these guys are highschoolers, caring and sharing about music, some GREAT music, hanging out in the city, being bros, being styley, becoming their own, expressing SO much, dreads, threads, gears, peers, piercings, pressings, duds, buds. Fleeting youthful memories of my own expressing so expressively flood back in. Oh to be young again. But let me talk about these records.
First off, Thriller was the first record I ever bought as my own, or at least claimed as my own. I remember the day it came home with us from a shopping outing, and listening and memorizing the whole album, perhaps in preparation for a big lipsyncing performance that the kids on the block and I would do one summer for the neighborhood. A decade later, Marley’s Legend became as beloved and played-til-the-groove-wore-out of a record to me as Thriller had been as a boy. Then you jump some decades to Kendrik Lamar’s Mr. Morale which not only pays so much tribute to the hip hop records of my youth, it’s so honest, exposed, confessional, and autobiographical that you can’t help but be mesmerized. Then you have Utada Hikaru’s First Love, which though it precedes Kendrik’s record, is probably as huge and ubiquitous now here in Japan, as it ever was when it first came out in 1999, never quite my jam the mega pop star, but that’s coming from somebody who grew up on MJ and Madonna. So there’s that.
Anyway, thanks gents for stopping in the busy station for a chat and photo for Tokyo Record Style. Happy to see a little of myself reflected in the youth of tomorrow. Keep enjoying music and homies, and styling and misadventure. See you on the next one!
Bob Marley And The Wailers* – Legend (The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers)
Label: Island Records – none
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Reissue, Repress, 180g
Country: Europe
Released: 2024
Genre: Reggae
Style: Roots Reggae
https://www.discogs.com/release/30606223-Bob-Marley-And-The-Wailers-Legend-The-Best-Of-Bob-Marley-And-The-Wailers
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Label: Epic – 25·3P-399
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Gatefold
Country: Japan
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul, Pop
Style: Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Synth-pop
https://www.discogs.com/release/10810041-Michael-Jackson-Thriller
Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
Label: pgLang – B0035986-01, Top Dawg Entertainment – B0035986-01, Aftermath Entertainment – B0035986-01, Interscope Records – B0035986-01
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Worldwide
Released: Aug 19, 2022
Genre: Hip Hop, Jazz, Funk / Soul
Style: Conscious, Trap, Jazzy Hip-Hop, Neo Soul, Contemporary R&B, Experimental
https://www.discogs.com/release/24356900-Kendrick-Lamar-Mr-Morale-The-Big-Steppers
Utada Hikaru = 宇多田ヒカル* – First Love
Label: Universal Music Group – UPJY-9202/3, Eastworld – UPJY-9202/3
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, 180g, Gatefold
Country: Japan
Released: Mar 10, 2022
Genre: Funk / Soul, Pop
Style: Contemporary R&B, J-pop, Ballad
https://www.discogs.com/release/22429213-Utada-Hikaru-%E5%AE%87%E5%A4%9A%E7%94%B0%E3%83%92%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AB-First-Love
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