It’d be my dream to go vinyl and CD shopping in Japan. I love the quality of Japanese pressings and always grabbed them if well-priced. I lived in Hong Kong for years and used to go to flea markets there, in Taiwan and South Korea picking up local pressings. Got some interesting stuff. Sold a lot for mad prices, especially heavy metal, Kate Bush and JM Jarre, but kept some odd Taiwanese Beatles CDs as mementos.
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Up until Covid it was my job to buy records in Japan. Mr Jez wanna take over?
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It’s def up there in price. I’ve had mine for ages and don’t remember paying that much… I’ll have a dig too and see if there’s something nice at that price range.
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You’d come over and buy up to take back for your shop?
I’ve been asked before if I’d wanna do that for a store back home. Up until a few years back I would have said yes, but kids and career have since made record hunting something I only do every once in a while these days.
It was nuts how many stores there were and what you’d find when I first moved here in 2003. Many have closed or gone online now, but it’s still a treasure trove if you get around to the right stores often enough.
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Yeah we do that pretty regularly, or at least we used to. Quite a few shops do it for sure…especially the last 5 years and not just Australians. I have a couple of Japanese friends that have helped me during covid but as you say - it’s pretty rare for them to have the time to regularly help.
We buy there cos it’s rare to have great collections come over the counter these days and most people already have a pre conceived notion of how much their LP’s are worth thanks to the internet. Sourcing our own records however gives us the privilege to curate the shop around our tastes and means people might find things they don’t know…
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Everything here is in such spectacular condition too. Tokyo is unbeatable, but did you ever get out Kansai way for a dig?
Totally mint! Yeah have done it a few times…Osaka, Nara, Kyoto and Kobe. Great spots and not as picked over as Tokyo. Was there in Feb just before covid took over!
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pics?
Well, The Beatles themselves always regarded the mono mixes as the definitive versions.
Isn’t the general consensus that back in 60’s stereo was regarded as a gimmick which “would never take off”. As such, stereo mixes were kind of tossed-off as an afterthought (didn’t they take ~2 weeks over the Sgt Pepper mono mix, and ~48 hrs over the stereo mix?)
Weren’t Abbey Road and Let It Be the only ones really properly mixed for stereo (until some of the very recent remixes by George Martin before he died, and more latterly by his son Giles)?
Yeah, the early stereo mixes were just the mono track in opposite channels.
But some early ones (Beatles For Sale, Help) are great in stereo, and some people like mono releases of later stuff.
Hell yeah Tokyo vinyl shopping is great. Dragged Mrs Azza to as many places as I could when we were there in 2019. Spent a good amount of coin (and could easily have spent a lot more) and picked up a heap of goodies. All in great condition, too.
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I’m a s*cker for coloured Vinyl.
Just got this double LP.
Love the soundtrack, and love the movie (obviously).
Blood red with green splatter Predator blood 
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The beauty of LP really is the artwork, which really should set the tone for the record you are about to buy.
The liner notes everything should play it’s part. Sure a CD can have a little booklet, and now you can just go online to get the details. But LP has to be peak for artwork.
This is one of my favourite albums along with a cracking cover.
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I hate when you look in an album sleeve for the inner sheet with lyrics, liner notes, and whatnot, and they’ve just thrown a CD booklet in there and released it that way.
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Yeah, Tokyo had some great shops but my fave for record shopping, bar none, is Berlin. They had (still have?) some sensational shops.
Found a couple of beauties in Göteburg, Sweden 4 years ago too.
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Did you buy it to match your jeans?
I’m awaiting delivery of this bad boy from OS.
Guess if I’m matching vinyl to jeans, I’m gonna have to consider even another level of flamboyance in my fashion sense 
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Fluro tye dye is in fashion atm 
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The more things change… 
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Records look so cool, but I don’t need to start another expensive hobby. I still buy cd’s for ripping in lossless. Anyone know a decent FLAC website?