I’m sitting here with Bob James and his 3-piece in my headphones as he’s tickling away the keys on the Fender Rhodes, an instrument I once owned but had to reluctantly bestow on local hero, Brian Haas of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey fame. And as Im basking in Bob James’s supremely cool grooves, sampled the world over for hip-hop records, I’m thanking Takuma san, pictured here for re-introducing me to the American treasure of a pianist, arranger, and record producer, thinking to myself, “How are these young Japanese guy so tapped in?” as I remember how unrefined I was at whatever age Takuma is now, or was earlier this year when I made his photo outside of Union Vinyl in Shinjuku.
Takuma has scored some great records: Tatsuro Yamashita’s Come Along II (whose iconic cover designed by Eijin Suzuki we spoke at length about), Bryan Ferry’s Taxi (the record Takuma seemed most excited to have scored and to share about), and Tyler the Creator’s Igor (a record I have really come to appreciate having discovered and re-discovered it a few times though Tokyo Record Style subjects. Some other bands that Takuma told me he really appreciate were Oasis, Jimi Hendrix, Serge Gainsborg, Radiohead, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, and again, Bob James. If my memory serves me, when I asked Takuma what the first music he ever remembered getting, he offered up “Eccentric Shonen Boy” which I later learned was by the elusive creator of the cult-classic indie game Yume Nikki, and a song that became internet-famous in the late 2000s. Pretty fun track that evokes, well, an Eccentric Shonen Boy.
Not only was Takuma rawking some great new records, he was also dressed out in full regalia, looking SHARP. He word a lovely green wool overcoat, replete with the knotted leather buttons, subtly pinstriped tweed trousers, som high-voltage ostrich skin buckle loafers, a vintage Micky Mouse T-shirt, a 40’s or 50s era Wrangler Blue Bell 11MJ, ox-blood wool muffler, a ragtag ball cap, and some vintage British speck, the designer I’ve forgotten, Wow, Takuma! Stealing the show for sure!
Hope to see you out there again!
More Tokyo Record Style on the way!
Tyler, The Creator – Igor
Label: Columbia – 19075965221
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: Genre: Hip Hop, Funk / Soul
Style: Contemporary R&B, Neo Soul
https://www.discogs.com/release/32292255-TylerCreator-Igor
Bryan Ferry – Taxi
Label: Virgin – V 2700, Virgin – 0777 7 86998 1 1, Virgin – 786998 1
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Europe
Released: 1993
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Synth-pop
https://www.discogs.com/release/1120442-Bryan-Ferry-Taxi
Tatsuro Yamashita – Come Along II
Label: Air Records – AIR-8005
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: Japan
Released: Mar 5, 1984
Genre: Jazz, Funk / Soul, Pop
Style: Jazz-Funk, Funk, Soul, Disco, City Pop
https://www.discogs.com/release/2220384-Tatsuro-Yamashita-Come-Along-II
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