Osakobe? Kobesaka?

Friday night, went down to Kobe to meet a friend for a drink. She was super excited at having bought a DS, she must have been one of the 5 remaining people in this country who still didnt have one. We wandered round Harborland, a nice little area with some cafes and bars and great city views over the bay, this part of Kobe looks great at night. Didn't want to do an all nighter, mainly to save some energy for Sat, so after chilling in the cool underground eclectic little bar that we like (where they played a strange Japanese vocalist covering What's New Pussycat in a sort of reggae/ska fashion), went to stay in a capsule, but arrived too late, and they were all gone, so ended up staying in the capsule hotel in a room they have with loads of futons spread out on the floor, a bit like the shelters people make in churches and places after a natural disaster. Like everything though, was fun.

On Saturday, still in Kobe, picked up some great new music:



I wanted to try listening to some more Japanese vocal music, as much as I like Makoto Ozone and Naoya Matsuoka, theres no lyrics. I don't really like j-pop, each to his own, but the majority of it seems very lightweight and disposable. Gagle, however, are cool, basically because DJ Mitsu the Beats is their DJ, meaning their beats are fantastic. This is a repackaging of their latest album, with the tracks in a different order for no apparent reason. The Antibalas album is weighty Afrobeat jazz, and reminding me why I love record shopping in this country, it had a sticker on it declaring it a 'Hot Chart Hit' whereas in the UK it's no doubt tucked away somewhere in the tiny jazz section. Yes Japan! Finally the Musiq album is great, more soulful melodies and beats (he's great at what he does, I went off him for a bit when I heard him cover Stevie's "Visions", but when he plays to his strengths he's probably my favourite neo soul or whatever you call it singer after Dwele.)

In the HMV, there was a big flatscreen and listening post stand cos Soil and Pimp Sessions have got a new album out. Now brace yourselves Soil and Pimp fans (I basically mean Stewart), it's nothing special. If there wasn't a listening post I would have bought it straight away, but theres really no new ideas on it, and their tunes seem to rely more now on simple repeated riffs than the uptempo soaring post bop melodies that they can do. Theres a cover of Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay" on it which got me all excited, but it's mediocre at best.

Went for a haircut which is quite different from the UK. In the UK, often, the more you pay, the more attitude the place has (until you find a great place) but here, the people are just cooler. I've tried a couple of other places that were so-so, but Le Chic in Kobe (TERRIBLE name I know) is awesome. I normally have the more senior guy do it, who is cool enough to bend time as he goes past - no joke, the other employees sort of cower from him, running up with a bow to offer scissors and clips as he cuts. This time I had somebody else though, and the normal guy glared at me from the other side of the salon. (check him out, employee number 003 on the website under 'staff' - he always looks like that, never a smile.) From my extensive survey of 4 people I've talked to while having my hair cut, I can tell you that 100% of cool looking people who work in a salon in Japan have visited London when they were a student, mainly for shopping, and they loved it. Of course they did! I have a bunch of 'England lies' that I tell in order not to stifle conversation (when you're as shit at Japanese as me you have to make the most of every chance), namely that I support Arsenal and used to go to the matches a lot when I was a kid, and I stop for tea every day. Having a haircut in this salon is a little bit like those dreams where you're the king, begins with a head massage, jazzy house is played [this is possibly just in my dream] as cute girl assistants are running up and bowing to you all the time (i couldnt work out why, i think it was before and after their breaks). Haircuts in Japan are excellent.

Don't normally blog about this sort of thing, but I'll just briefly cover Saturday night as it was surreal. Mix together one great beginning to a night out with an Osaka girl who works in a hostess club, great meal (Barbara in Umeda is the best non Japanese restaurant I've been to without a doubt) and film (Perfume), go for a late night drink round higashi umeda, it's like pretty much the ideal date... until we run into her ex yakuza recent ex boyfriend with his little crew at a bar and he's clearly still into her (he is admittedly pretty cool but not the right time) and comes over to chat for ages and completely shows me up by mr bigshot yakuza paying our large bill before he leaves without me realising (ZING)... gah. There you have the first half of my latest hilarious-if-it-wasnt-me story (with some great one liners and later situations that just aren't fit for a public blog), available in all harrow pubs from August 2007.

At least life here is always interesting. Off to Hong Kong soon!