Blog - Weekly revue: 2018 weeks #43-44 (October 20 to November 2)

Weekly revue: 2018 weeks #43-44 (October 20 to November 2)

Travel: From October 25 to 30 was a very nice trip to Thailand, with for main destination the most northern province and city of Chiang Rai. We first did a short stop in Bangkok where we got to do a bit of shopping and enjoyed a great meal at Meatlicious, and also dropped by Studio Lam and enjoyed a DJ set by Kanehbos (ZudRangMa Records). Then we headed to Chiang Rai and did some sightseeing at the white and blue temples (Wat Rong Kun and Wat Rong Suea Ten), and later spent a night in the mountains of Mae Salong, and then went up to cross the border to Tachileik, Myanmar, and came back to Thailand to see the Golden Triangle where Myanmar and Laos can be seen in one spot. A lot more photos are up on Flickr.

Music events: - On the release day of Nomiya Maki's new album "Shibuya-kei Songbook", which happened to be the day of Halloween (and Shibuya streets were full of costumed people), I went to see her in-store event at Tower Records Shibuya. The event was a talk show with for topic the 25th anniversary of "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji". They played in chronological order bits of most of the versions she has sung since its first release in 1993. The new album includes a brand new version produced by Konishi Yasuharu! Those who bought the album there got a signed postcard handed directly by Maki. Of course I got one! :)

Versions played: 8cm single ver. / 8cm single B-side remix (by Fukutomi Yukihiro) / "Television Workshop e.p." ver. (probably the most heard version) / "Overdose" ver. ("one year after" with different lyrics) / KCRW live ver. from "Great White Wonder" / "R.I.P." ver. / Nomiya Maki's Billboard Live 2013 live performance / Studio ver. from "What the World Needs Now Is Love" / Bon-odori ver.

- Right after that I rushed to HMV record shop also in Shibuya to see another in-store event by Chikada Haruo whose new album "chō jōdan dakara" was also being released that day. It was mainly a talk event, MC'd by Himeno Tama, after which he sang two songs: "gokigen Cabriolet" and "hana to mitsubachi". I got the new album and his autograph!

Music release news: Record Day 2018, Nagisa Yoko, La Veuve Moustachue, Denki Groove, Takahashi Yukihiro, Learners, Haruko Tajima, Hoshino Michiru, Vacation Three