2024 July Challenge Thread - Welcome to Japan! (日本へようこそ!)
- Thread starter Rip_City
- Start date
Rip_City
Well-Known Member
omgdefinitely a special album for me as well. lock screen code for my phone is 281433
based
throwingthings
Active Member
Day 2 / 2024.S7.E2 - A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity (一期一会)
Kimio Eto - Koto Master
Here's one that I had a strong connection with immediately. I collected records a bit in high school and college (cd's mostly) but really got obsessed while I was in grad school from 2011-2017. I wasn't exactly rolling in dough, so I was very much in the Bay Area bargain crates, exploring unfamiliar genres and going deeper on things that didn't have hipster cache in the present.
Kimio Eto is the kind of thing I'd be discovering—"world music" that would have been popular among Bay Area mystic types, or like the college professor in Inside Llewyn Davis. There's a funny passage in Philip K. Dick's The Transmigration of Timothy Archer that references it:
Dick was wrong. The record is not rare or valuable. You can probably still find it any number of Redwood City thrift shops or Rasputin cheap bins.
Anyway, this is the kind of thing I'd be spinning while reading for seminar or writing papers—great for focus and meditative background, but also astonishingly beautiful and virtuosic and very rewarding of close listening as well. It definitely became an instant staple and a record I often pick up and pass on to people who I think would enjoy it.
Kimio Eto - Koto Master
Here's one that I had a strong connection with immediately. I collected records a bit in high school and college (cd's mostly) but really got obsessed while I was in grad school from 2011-2017. I wasn't exactly rolling in dough, so I was very much in the Bay Area bargain crates, exploring unfamiliar genres and going deeper on things that didn't have hipster cache in the present.
Kimio Eto is the kind of thing I'd be discovering—"world music" that would have been popular among Bay Area mystic types, or like the college professor in Inside Llewyn Davis. There's a funny passage in Philip K. Dick's The Transmigration of Timothy Archer that references it:
Dick was wrong. The record is not rare or valuable. You can probably still find it any number of Redwood City thrift shops or Rasputin cheap bins.
Anyway, this is the kind of thing I'd be spinning while reading for seminar or writing papers—great for focus and meditative background, but also astonishingly beautiful and virtuosic and very rewarding of close listening as well. It definitely became an instant staple and a record I often pick up and pass on to people who I think would enjoy it.
Day 2 - Important Album on First Listen
Annie Lennox - Diva
Sitting with a friend and we’re talking about music and then I realized I need to play an album for today. We were talking about “Why”. This album is still so sublime.
Annie Lennox - Diva
Sitting with a friend and we’re talking about music and then I realized I need to play an album for today. We were talking about “Why”. This album is still so sublime.
MyWifeHatesTrain
Frothy
7/2
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
I grew up listening to the Beatles but it was mostly the early stuff. This was the first Beatles record I bought with my own money. It was a cd. I remember opening the long box and looking at the cut outs and stuff. I knew this was the album you were supposed to know and I suppose I had heard A Little Help from my Friends, but I certainly hadn’t heard this. It was most definitely the first psychedelic music I ever heard. I remember listening through my bargain cd player through my parent’s old Magnavox all in one shelf system and being like “wow.” I went from liking the Beatles to being obsessed. A Day in a Life is still my all time favorite song. I still search for music that gives me the same wow factor.
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
I grew up listening to the Beatles but it was mostly the early stuff. This was the first Beatles record I bought with my own money. It was a cd. I remember opening the long box and looking at the cut outs and stuff. I knew this was the album you were supposed to know and I suppose I had heard A Little Help from my Friends, but I certainly hadn’t heard this. It was most definitely the first psychedelic music I ever heard. I remember listening through my bargain cd player through my parent’s old Magnavox all in one shelf system and being like “wow.” I went from liking the Beatles to being obsessed. A Day in a Life is still my all time favorite song. I still search for music that gives me the same wow factor.
Yer Ol' Uncle D
Well-Known Member
Day 3 / 2024.S7.E3 - Childhood Memories (子供時代の思い出)
Play a soundtrack.
Who's to blame?
Jimmy Page - Death Wish II Original Soundtrack
Play a soundtrack.
Who's to blame?
Jimmy Page - Death Wish II Original Soundtrack
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Day 2 / 2024.S7.E2 - A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity (一期一会)
Willie Nelson – Phases And Stages
This was the album that cracked open my Willie fandom. I'd generally enjoyed him fine whenever his tunes popped up in my life but never really sought him out. A musician friend suggested I check this one out fifteen years, or so, ago and it remains my favourite Willie album to this day.
Willie Nelson – Phases And Stages
This was the album that cracked open my Willie fandom. I'd generally enjoyed him fine whenever his tunes popped up in my life but never really sought him out. A musician friend suggested I check this one out fifteen years, or so, ago and it remains my favourite Willie album to this day.
Rip_City
Well-Known Member
Day 3 / 2024.S7.E3 - Childhood Memories (子供時代の思い出)
Play a soundtrack.
Bob Dylan - Shadow Kingdom
Bob made a concert film in 2021 and then released this soundtrack for it in 2023. It’s him performing older songs (which if you’ve ever seen him live you’ll know is not common) backed up by a rock solid band.
I actually had no idea this existed until seeing it online for a real good deal. So I went in blind and was pleasantly surprised with how good this is!
Play a soundtrack.
Bob Dylan - Shadow Kingdom
Bob made a concert film in 2021 and then released this soundtrack for it in 2023. It’s him performing older songs (which if you’ve ever seen him live you’ll know is not common) backed up by a rock solid band.
I actually had no idea this existed until seeing it online for a real good deal. So I went in blind and was pleasantly surprised with how good this is!
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
Day 01: Welcome to Japan! (日本へようこそ!)
Play a record with something related to Japan
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Thousand Knives Of Ryuichi Sakamoto
Such a wild ride.
Play a record with something related to Japan
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Thousand Knives Of Ryuichi Sakamoto
Such a wild ride.
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
Day 02: A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity (一期一会)
Play a record that became important to you on first listen (or shortly after)
Hiroshi Yoshimura - Green
One of the first ambient works that I ever connected with. This version removes the nature SFX and while I never minded them or previously version, this completely focused synth really connects with me. It’s a record that provides soothing calm whenever it’s played.
Play a record that became important to you on first listen (or shortly after)
Hiroshi Yoshimura - Green
One of the first ambient works that I ever connected with. This version removes the nature SFX and while I never minded them or previously version, this completely focused synth really connects with me. It’s a record that provides soothing calm whenever it’s played.
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
Day 03: Childhood Memories (子供時代の思い出)
Play a soundtrack.
Various Artist (though mostly Kevin Shields) - Lost In Translation (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)
A Movie Soundtrack
for a movie about a trip to Japan
staring Bill Murray
Play a soundtrack.
Various Artist (though mostly Kevin Shields) - Lost In Translation (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)
A Movie Soundtrack for a movie about a trip to Japan staring Bill Murray
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
Day 03: Childhood Memories (子供時代の思い出)
Play a soundtrack.
Various Artist (though mostly Kevin Shields) - Lost In Translation (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack)
View attachment 207612
How did it take this long before someone played this today?
Hemotep
Well-Known Member
It's still pretty early in the day for our West Coast friends.
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
They need to try harder!!
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
I had a few back ups in mind because I assumed that I’d get scooped.
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
It was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the prompt
Rip_City
Well-Known Member
Day 3 / 2024.S7.E3 - Childhood Memories (子供時代の思い出)
Stopping into a Studio Ghibli store is a common tourist spending drain…especially with the rapid depreciation of the JPY
USD 
. Everything from pot holders, tees, stuffed animals, enamel pins, mugs, you name it. There’s are a bevy of Ghibli stores in the country, this one was taken from when visiting Kamakura (鎌倉) during the last few days of this year’s visit. It even has multiple floors to hold all of the stock. Play a soundtrack.
Nujabes / Fat Jon - Departure
Samurai Champloo was a revolutionary anime for its time. Interplay of Edo era Japan (江戸時代), hip hop culture, gorgeous animation, and cool swordplay/fight scenes was lightning in a bottle. One of my favorites to watch reruns of on Adult Swim in high school, back when it was "weird" to like Japanese culture, especially anime. The dub with VAs in English is totally fine to watch; Steve Blum is a god and lent his voice well to Mugen. This was also during a time when Nujabes was a very under the radar beatsmith, especially in the USA, and not the late legendary influence that he has become now. Fat Jon's contributions for production to the soundtrack should not go unmentioned, with him providing the calm, thick beats to break the tension followed by comic relief or even another encounter.
RIP Nujabes.
Stopping into a Studio Ghibli store is a common tourist spending drain…especially with the rapid depreciation of the JPY
USD . Everything from pot holders, tees, stuffed animals, enamel pins, mugs, you name it. There’s are a bevy of Ghibli stores in the country, this one was taken from when visiting Kamakura (鎌倉) during the last few days of this year’s visit. It even has multiple floors to hold all of the stock. Play a soundtrack.Nujabes / Fat Jon - Departure
Samurai Champloo was a revolutionary anime for its time. Interplay of Edo era Japan (江戸時代), hip hop culture, gorgeous animation, and cool swordplay/fight scenes was lightning in a bottle. One of my favorites to watch reruns of on Adult Swim in high school, back when it was "weird" to like Japanese culture, especially anime. The dub with VAs in English is totally fine to watch; Steve Blum is a god and lent his voice well to Mugen. This was also during a time when Nujabes was a very under the radar beatsmith, especially in the USA, and not the late legendary influence that he has become now. Fat Jon's contributions for production to the soundtrack should not go unmentioned, with him providing the calm, thick beats to break the tension followed by comic relief or even another encounter.
RIP Nujabes.
Last edited:
Wicked Dreamer
Well-Known Member
Day 3: Childhood Memories
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood Original Motion Picture Soundtrack