James Eldred
My Salaryman Soundtrack
Haven’t been updating a lot lately. It’s been difficult. Lots of reasons for it, but there are two big ones.
1. I kind of…don’t know what to write about? Okay, sure I could write about more record stores in Japan – and I plan to, trust me, but I feel like I should spread those out a bit. That shit gets old. So if anyone has any suggestions, let me know.
2. I’ve been HELLA BUSY! Work is, well, a lot of work! On the weekends I’m usually at the office for 11+ hours, and during the week I’m usually in around 7:00 am, which means I have to wake up at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am. I still get two days off a week, thankfully, but on those days I typically spend as little time as possible inside my apartment and don’t really feel the need to write. When you live in one of the most exciting metropolises on Earth, you really don’t like spending your days off cooped up in a tiny room, y’know?
But yeah, right now my life is pretty focused around my work. And I’m oddly fine with that. I’ve never been one to settle well into an office job. Cubicles typically make me want to die. But I guess the fact that I spend most of my day teaching helps counter that. Teaching is fun! At least, I find it fun. It’s one of the few jobs I’ve ever had that I’ve actually found emotionally rewarding. That’s a nice switch from when I used to work in a warehouse packaging porn (long story).
As much as I love my job, that morning commute, it’s a real mother. While I’ve gotten used to waking up at 5:30 in the fucking morning, it’s not something that I ever think I’ll be happy about. Forcing myself to crawl out of bed before the sun is even out is not easy. And there isn’t a strong enough coffee (especially in Japan) to put a bounce in my step that early.
Once again, music to the rescue. Continue reading
Snow can be cruel, Snow in Tokyo
It’s snowed in Tokyo.
It’s snowed a lot in Tokyo.
It’s snowed a lot in Tokyo for two weekends in a row.
It sucked. Continue reading
Tokyo Record Store Report: Jar-Beat Record
When I go out hunting for record stores in Tokyo, I usually know where I’m going and how to get there. I research the hell out of an area, make my own custom Google Map, and set out on a pretermined path to maximize shopping potential and minimize needless walking. But even with all my research and meticulous planning, even I sometimes wander across a record store that I would have never found if it hadn’t been for dumb random luck. Continue reading
Using Prog Rock to Combat Existential Dread
This is going to be a bit on the rambling side. Sorry about that.
When I announced to my friends and my family that I would be packing up everything and moving across the world to a country where I know no one and don’t speak the language, most of them said the same thing: “Oh my god, are you freaking out!?”
And the funny thing was that, no, I wasn’t freaking out. I was relieved! I was ecstatic! I was stoked! I was about to fulfill a dream that I worked my ass of for! To this day, nearly one month into my move to Tokyo, nothing about the move itself has made me “freak out.” At the most, I’ve felt confused (mostly because of language barriers) and at times daunted at all that had to be done, although that was widely before the move, now I’m in an easily-manageable routine.
To say I never freaked out though would be a bit of a lie. Because during this entire process I learned something about me that I had not previously suspected.
My brain is fucking stupid. Continue reading
Tokyo Toy Stores: Godzilla-Ya and 2000 Toys
Alf. Alf knows where’s all the rad shit in Tokyo is.
As a six-and-a-half foot tall giant white man living in Tokyo, Godzilla isn’t just a hero of mine, he’s a role model.
So when I found out about Godzilla-Ya, a toy store in the neighborhood of Koenji that specializes in retro Godzilla goods, I knew I had to make the trip – and it was totally worth it. Continue reading
Reviews of Stuff i Bought Before I Moved To Japan
In the weeks before my move to Tokyo I bought a few ridiculous high-end LPs and special editions with the intention of reviewing them for this website. However, in my efforts to maintain two websites, a part-time job, sell my house, pack my things and plan my move to Tokyo, I damn near had a nervous breakdown and decided that something had to give – so no reviews.
But now that I’m finally starting to settle down into a somewhat comfortable routine in my new home, I’d thought I’d catch up and offer some quick reviews of everything I bought up until my move to Japan. Continue reading
I Am Literally Big In Japan
Earlier today I was sitting in my new apartment in Tokyo, steaming my suits and listening to Yes when I realized that my life has taken some pretty unexpected turns as of late.
I mean, I never thought I’d be listening to Yes.
Seriously though, just six months ago I was an underemployed bum slacking off with various lazy writing jobs and with almost no ambition or drive to really do anything – working from home and sitting in front of a computer, barely talking to anyone in the outside world all day. Tomorrow I have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning and put on a suit for my first day at “the office!” I would have never imagined I would be doing anything remotely like that, let alone looking forward to it.
My point is that things change. In the past year I’ve changed, my life has changed, and now this site is going to change.
When I started this site a few months back, my goal was to have it be something dedicated to covering everything I like – which is mostly retro (see what I did there?) games, music and movies. But I just don’t have the time to do that anymore, nor the drive. Let’s be honest, this site pretty much became “audiophile nerd review weekly” within just a few months time anyways, and while I’m hopefully going to continue to write those types of reviews, I think it’s time to expand my horizons.
From this point forward, Mostly-Retro is going to be more of a personal blog recounting my experiences, lessons and adventures living in Japan. As it’s MY personal blog, it’s probably going to have a heavy pop culture focus, with plenty of reviews, but don’t be surprised to read a lengthy post about something like walking around Shibuya, the perils of Japanese apartments, or the highs and lows of being a six and a half foot tall giant living in a country populated with exceptionally tiny people.
Anyways, I hope it will be interesting! Both for you and me, and expect more content here coming soon!
Vinyl Review: Last House On The Left Soundtrack (One Way Static Re-Issue)
When people talk about The Last House On The Left, one of the things they usually don’t bring up is the film’s score.
That’s not to say it’s bad or not worth mentioning, it’s just that in a film that features some of the most disturbing scenes of depravity and sadism ever put to celluloid, I guess discussions about the music kind of get swept aside.
In fact, the soundtrack never even got an official release when the movie first came out (despite what Wikipedia may tell you). It wasn’t actually released at all until 1999, and that was an ultra-limited edition affair that vanished almost immediately. It’s not until now, in 2013, that the film’s complete soundtrack is seeing a wide release – thanks to the new genre re-issue label One Way Static.
And it’s a really weird record.
Seriously. There’s a part with a kazoo. Continue reading
(Mini) Vinyl Review: Nirvana – In Utero 2013 Mix
When In Utero was re-released in a stunning Super Deluxe Package earlier this year, an easy highlight of the release was the amazing 2013 mix by original album producer Steve Albini that presented a version of the album that was even more raw and intense than the original. Now that mix, which was previously only available on CD as part of the special edition or super deluxe edition of the album has been re-released as a special limited edition item for the Black Friday Record Store Day event.
And while the release does honestly come off as a bit of a quick cash grab targeted at hardcore Nirvana fans with more dollars than sense, it’s a really good quick cash grab targeted at hardcore Nirvana fans with more dollars than sense, so I’m going to let that part slide. Continue reading
Vinyl Review: David Bowie – Earthling (Music On Vinyl Edition)
Re-issue label Music On Vinyl has been on a bit of a Bowie tear this year. First they re-released Heathen, both as a standard black LP and an insanely limited edition brown/orange variant that was made exclusively available via the V&A web store (which I managed to get). They followed that up with a re-issue of Outside, which was also made in two flavors; a standard black LP and another brutally rare colored variant sold exclusively through the V&A website (which I didn’t manage to get and that makes me sad).
Now they’re finishing out 2013 with yet another Bowie re-release with a new vinyl pressing of Bowie’s 1997 album Earthling, which is mighty nice of them considering original vinyl copies of the album are currently going for over $300.