Steve Aoki, Joachim Garraud, Crookers, Laidback Luke, Felix da Housecat, Mark Schulz and Gareth Emery headline a one of our very few winter festivals for a day of electro, trance, fidget and house.
Winter Sound System Brisbane photos here
London Elektricity photos here
Down to a one man band but he’s still kickin it like a full team!
Private pre-release listening party hosted by inthemix.com.au. Refreshments thanks to Pure Blonde and Smirnoff đ
Sydney electro mash boys drop in to the Empire
The boys are back at it again with their “Giving it back” series, basically putting their pay on the bar and sharing the love! It’s not about about being cool or leeching your mates, its about the love of music and having a good time and that’s exactly what we had!
Nike Air Jordan Spiz’ike 2010
Direct from Footlocker NYC after our recent trip there. AU readers, sorry but no news on the horizon about these hitting local stores just yet!
Tokyo part #6 â Akihabara
No trip to Japan would be complete without a (rather big) glimpse of what makes the country tick⌠and whirl, and buzz. Electronics! And thereâs no better place to get your geek on than Tokyoâs CPU, Akihabara aka Akiba aka Electric town. Just picture Jaycar or Dick Smith times a million and youâre getting close. Any kind of premade electronic product EVER from radios, to game consoles, to cameras and computers to the components used to make them, replacement parts, capacitors, inductors, circuitry, you name it, if its powered by electricity, youâll find it here⌠somewhere.
The station is only about 1km from Ueno, so itâs an easy walk or a couple minute train ride.
The first obvious places are the larger stores as you walk out of the stationâs west exit (follow the signs to âElectric townâ) being the multiple LAOX and Sofmap stores. These have an army of staff which are helpful and speak quite good English (some stores even have Caucasian staff) and also have duty free. They have similar style layouts, with a level dedicated to a certain type of product eg. Cameras, computers, watches, home goods etc. and a big index sign on the ground level will help you save precious shopping minutes đ
While you will more than likely find what youâre looking for in these shops, nothing can prepare you for the onslaught from the mothership on Akiba stationâs north east, that being the Akihabara Yodobashi Center.
Eleven floors of every model of every colour of every electronic item release in the last 5years (or there abouts). They even have sporting goods, toys and a floor of restaurants. Iâd say its like Harvey Normal times 1000 but Yodobashi actually has good service and good prices (yea, I went there). Speaking of prices, while they are very competitive to the local AU market, theyâre very similar to online (overseas) prices so you may want to save yourself some import fees when coming back through customs by not going all out on big ticket items. In saying that, being able to handle and eyeball similar products for a hands on, real life comparison, is indispensable.
After we surfaced from a sea of electric razors and toothbrushes, we headed to Super Potato (I know, right!). They specialise in retro gaming. Forget about your wifi enabled, pizza ordering, âIâm in a rap videoâ gaming consoles, its back to the roots with the 3 commandments. Shooting, driving, and jumping and maybe even all three! So basically anything prior to the Playstation 1, wall to floor to ceiling of games and consoles. Since very few cartridge games were reissued, theyâre mostly all originals but are all still in good to mint condition.
Atari, Nintendo, Mega Drive, Master System to the ill fated Saturn, Dreamcast and Game Cube are all covered as well as plenty of domestic market releases that never saw the light on the world stage and a bunch of quirky little handheld games and mini consoles. Just remember when buying any mains powered devices from overseas, that it will work on your local voltage supply, if not you will need to purchase a separate power transformer. Anything powered by batteries is fine since DC current is universal.
Back out on the main drag amongst the cosplay girls handing out flyers, youâll see more âPichinkoâ (or âTaitoâ), no not something Elliot from Scrubs would say, but gaming houses filled with slot machines. Half a block away youâll hear the deafening wave of bells and whistles as the automatic doors open and close. There are also plenty of gaming places dedicated to claw machines, but these are the same the world over. Only enough tension in the claw to give the prize the gentlest nudge of hope so you continue to funnel in your coins. You seriously have more hope getting a prize from a wishing well, so youâre better off just buying one from a toy store.
Whatâs that? Toy store? You thought I forgot didnât you? Not at all! A couple blocks north of the station is another Mandarake store. Multiple levels include buying on the ground floor for those with a bit of buyersâ remorse, cosplay and 2 levels of figures and collectibles. They also have items for the die hard fans, like the actual helmets used in filming Power Rangers and uniforms from local productions.
Over near Yodobashi there is another large toy store called Animate. Unfortunately during another âcanât see the forest for the treesâ slash âdamn you google mapsâ moment we couldnât find it but later discovered it in the background of one of our photos! Anyway, what you need to do is get to this store on a Sunday, when they close off a lane and its filled with performers and cosplayers.
Finally if youâre having withdrawals from sneakers or music, thereâs still a few ABC Marts and a Music Vox to appease that hunger, otherwise its Gashapon time!
About 2 blocks north of Mandarake off the main street in a small side lane is a dirty yellow signed store that houses a ground floor of Gashapon and 2 upper levels of toys, figures and collectibles. What is Gashapon? Youâll know them as the gumball style machines at the exit of supermarkets that you nagged your mum for change so you could get a toy in a capsule when you were little. The difference here is the toys arenât a poorly moulded ring, necklace or keyring, they’re highly detailed and painted quality pvc items. Best thing of all, you no longer need to nag your mum, you can buy as many as you want!
Choose anything from your favourite shows/games like Mario, Star Wars and anime characters to the weird and wonderful of light up poo keyrings, telescopic cat paw pointing wands, tote bags, countless mobile phone trinkets and for the (not so) mature crowd, the X rated figures in various states of undress and positions that will have even Paris Hilton taking notes.
The majority of Gashapon cost between 100-500Y, with dedicated stores like this one having a change machine and recycle bin for used capsules. Depending on how many you buy, itâs a good idea to bin the capsules to save luggage space.
FYI, âGashaponâ refers to âGashaâ as in the crank machine that holds the toys and âponâ the sound the capsule makes when it drops. A lot easier to say than click tic tic tac click tacka!
Tokyo part #1 – Ueno for a day
Tokyo part #2 – Getting round Tokyo, Ueno Sakura at night
Tokyo part #3 – Harajuku
Tokyo part #4 – Shibuya
Tokyo part #5 – Kichijoji and Shinjuku
Tokyo part #7 – Odaiba and Leaving Tokyo
Photo Gallery Here
Whoa! what a messy (of the dirty kind!) day that was! Contender for worse festival weather since Good Vibes 2009 but just as fun all the same.
Complete gallery coming soon.
What a day of nostalgic fun! The 90s was definitely the best decade for music and the headlining acts proved they still had it!