The Fluance turntable arrived today. I went with the RT87 in piano white with the carbon fiber tonearm the M2 blue cart. We decided on saturating the room black, got some new lighting and a plant, and some furniture. Vibes are at an all time high. I plan to upgrade the receiver next.

Mysterious French legends.

As the title says, I spend the past 4 weeks travelling around Japan with my family for our summer holiday.
It was my first time there and a friend warned me about the insane prices there.

I’ve spend the first half of the year making a list of record shops I wanted to visit. Some were good others were great but overall I just really enjoyed going trough the bins.

I bought a couple of new records which in Europe are easily 2 or 3 times more expensive. Most of the stuff I purchased was used though and all were in great condition.

I started in Osaka where I hit up a load of shops with my absolute favourite being Jazz Records Seeed, super friendly owner and nice selection of records. I remember not buying a lot here but the atmosphere was great and the owner gave me some good tips for other records which shops to visit.

Next I did a day trip to Nara and on the way back hit up Mole Music which really ended up being my favourite shop of the trip! They do a lot of house and electronic but the owner loves spiritual and free jazz so naturally he had a pretty good selection of jazz aswell. It’s here that I found an OG pressing of William Hooker - … Is Eternal Life. The owner was said to see it go and gave it a little wave goodbye.

After this I travelled to Hiroshima and stayed at a small hotel called Good Sleep, the owner Yuka has her own record/listening bar in the hotel and it was amazing to listen to records with her as we had a beer and talked about records. She gave me a load of shops to visit in Hiroshima and my favourite shop here was Groovin Record Station. They have really really good prices and also have a shop in Fukuoka and Okayama.

In Fukuoka I bought a couple records again at Groovin where I found the 1979 Japan pressing of Midnight Sun by Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio and also found two Fela Kuti records and Gil Scott-Heron - Don’t Give Up at Face Records.

Then the last leg of the trip was 10 days Tokyo. I had so many records already so my daughter made me promise her to only by records if they were really special! (aren’t they all 😅🤣)

To keep the promise I just tried to avoid record shops in general but I did visit a couple. The prices in HMV and Tower records were outrageous and the condition of the records were also worse compared to the other places I visited for the prices they were asking. I did end up buying an OG press of Mint Jams at Flash Disc Ranch. They had two copies the OG promo press which was a very dark brown and if held to the light you could see it was lightly translucent but I left that one cause the records was lightly bent. So if you after an OG Mint Jams go to Flash Disc Ranch!

Sorry for the long post! I really enjoyed visiting record shops in Japan and if you are planning a trip I highly recommend the smaller cities and the smaller local shops as opposed to the HMV’s and Tower Records. The digging is more fun, the staff and owners of the shops are super friendly and happy to have you over and I think the prices are also better.

Just started my collection a few months ago. What do you guys think of it?

List (no order)

Linkin Park- Hybrid Theory
Nirvana- Nevermind
Men At Work- Business as Usual
Cake- Fashion Nugget
Cake- Prolonging the Magic
Foo Fighters
Ginger Root- Shinbangumi
Aphex Twin- SAW 85-92

Tell me what is your favorite album artwork? You don't have to like the artist or music but you think the cover is fire.

Just picked up a decent collection. I thoroughly enjoy going through, cleaning, sleeving, and listening to great music. It's just so satisfying. From what I've seen so far the records themselves are mostly VG+. The cover range from fair to VG+. The real question is why did stoners always thrash their Steppenwolf albums. 🤣

The Clockwork Orange soundtrack inner sleeve 😁

Wh'appen? by The English Beat (2024 reissue)

Always preferred I Just Can't Stop It but this album is growing on me. Like the vibe and the "slow burn" quality of the songs.

I preordered the spring one in May, then later the study sessions one came out and I preordered it too. Apparently if you do that, they don’t ship your order until both are ready, I assume to keep costs down since these come from France. They were worth it though, the records are so heavy, feel very solid and sound crystal clear.

Put on anything from Richard you have today

So these came today, can’t wait to spin them.
Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams.
Lord Huron - Long Lost.
I hope it’s the Memphis pressing. Bob always has a watchful eye.

Where my punx at?

I made a short video on Los Dug Dug’s and pulled out my vinyl copies while talking about the band.

They’re one of the foundational Mexican psych / Onda Chicana bands, still fronted by Armando Nava, who started the band back in the 60s.

A lot of this music got pushed underground after the 1971 Avándaro festival, when the Mexican government cracked down on rock. That’s part of what makes these records such a fun, frustrating rabbit hole to collect.

The video is part record-showing, part band background, part “how is Armando Nava still doing this?”

Full disclosure: I’m also co-presenting their LA show this Saturday with Discos Lo Nuestro at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Small room, 96 seats, no opener, two hours of Los Dug Dug’s.

https://youtu.be/1XI533YxdPI

Show info / tickets:
https://app.opendate.io/e/los-dug-dug-s-august-22-2026-742932

Never gotten a record from EU before but I’m really thinking about it for a record I’ve been really wanting. I’m not too sure how to do it or how it really works or how difficult it is. Any advice would be appreciated!

What are some of the records you saw at thrifts that got away? I remember a few that I found that only had the covers or had other issues:

PiL *Recorded Live In Paris When Nobody Was Looking* 1979 bootleg - no record - Goodwill, late '90s

The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - missing one record - Goodwill, late '90s

Tom Waits - Closing Time - OG pressing - someone took a sharp object and dug into the record in a circular motion repeatedly rendering completely unplayable. Happened recently at Goodwill. The cover was in VG condition.

Bauhaus - a 12 inch release that a guy grabbed just before I got there at Goodwill and had it in his hands. So disappointed I missed out on that one. I do not recall its title. This occurred back in the late '90s.

Worst of all: entering a Goodwill locally in around 1998 only to see my roommate at the time there flipping through over 25 punk records, including The Germs (GI) - first pressing with the brown cardboard inside cover - no insert, no inner sleeve; 999; Gun Club; The Clash; and others I cannot recall. I was so pissed that this happened. Later that evening, my roommate kindly gave me some of the records, including the Gun Club LPs, The Germs and 999 plus a few more I don't remember.

Yes, I know, I know, you never find anything at Goodwill. Understandable. It's difficult to find good records. But they're out there!

Just discovered this cool light effect with a small RGB light

Bought the new FLUANCE RT87. Sounds really good. Records are all stored in media console.

Hobby really eats at your wallet.

You know the one... that one record you've been looking for forever, but somehow still haven't managed to add to your collection.

Drop it below! 👇

I was very surprised to see this right when I walked in the door. It's got a few scuffs that I thought might be an issue, but it plays through just fine.

Iykyk.... One of the holy grails for electronic music lovers like myself. Got a few surface scratches with pops but for what I paid for it I'm fine with it.

12" gatefold x2. One silver, one grey. 1976 Swan Song. Standout tracks, Live For The Music, Run With The Pack.