Dobek Ohashi CxT Tokyo Straight Edge

Cymeon X

Dobek Ohashi — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:26:54 +0000

My friend Seba mailed me a link to this PL magazine that featured an article about the 1st ever straight edge band in Poland: CYMEON X. Very very very boss.
I have only managed to catch them live few times in the early 90s when they played with my friend Wojtek’s band HOMOMILITIA but they were unforgettable gigs.

Great band, great memories!

DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THE MAGAZINE ARTICLE HERE
(There’s an English translation of the article after the Polish text!)

Pimp your…. turntable!

Dobek Ohashi — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:05:31 +0000

I am very happy with my little USB Numark turntable. I am happy with how it works. I am happy that I can easily connect it with my PC and I am very happy how convenient it is to rip shit.
I am NOT happy however with how it looks. I am not into the whole DJ thing > spaceship design > cheap silver plastic > big NUMARK logos all over > general Zoltan style and all..
Getting a new record player is far down on my shopping list. One day when I’m rich I will definitely want to upgrade to something very very heavy and with lots of wood like this

or something with lots of heavy glass and fancy chrome shite like this

or this

For now however, I thought I’d think small and get rid of the NUMARK logo hairy slipmat and replace it with something PLAIN with no logos and of better quality. The slipmat I had was like a soding dust magnet.
So I type “slipmats” in google and in one of the top of the page results I get this site: www.slikmats.org

Custom slipmats. 20 quid a pair (same or two different designs, up to you). A bargain. It took me about 3 minutes to whip up two .png images in hi res. Upload > send > order complete.
A true fucking impulse purchase.
After I ordered the damn thing I started having 2nd thoughts. I was gonna buy the PLAIN fucking slipmat to make the damn thing look simpler and not like a fucking MTV’s Pimp My Ride product.
Oh well. What’s done is done. Few days later I get the package, open it up and them mats actually look pretty cool!!
The quality is MUCH better than the OG Numark one. They are thicker and less hairy. Actually they’re not hairy at all. The print quality is also very awesome. I was expecting something between the silkscreen and the print shop iron-on type of crap but it actually looks very sharp and the printed surface has exactly the same feel as non printed surface. Very very cool.

Check it out. The NUMARK slipmat goes to the retirement box

And the first two designs that popped into my head

and what it looks like in action

Chung King + Bringin’ It Down

Dobek Ohashi — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 05:59:59 +0000

Brett Beach once had a signature on the LiveWire Msg Board that said

If you compare it to Judge it’s shit
If you compare it to shit it’s not so bad

This pretty much sums up how I feel about Judge.
All of the info below comes from either “THE FINAL WORD” Version 6.06 or from my wild guessing.
Read the story on how the recording went here.

Judge
Chung King Can Suck It LP
Revelation # -1 1989

Test press : 6 black vinyl
Both Jordan and Porcell believed that there were only 3 test presses. This however does not make a great deal of sense due to the fact that they usually come in a set of at least 4, otherwise your are not getting a true “test” of the stampers. However, it was discovered that Porcell sold one under the belief that he was selling a “Bringin’ It Down” test (since Chung King was supposed to be “Bringin’” it could get confusing). After it was thought that there were then 4 tests, a 5th was found in New York and then a 6th in Europe. There could be a few more, there’s just no way to tell. Three tests are in California, one in New Jersey, one in New York, and one in Europe. If you have one of the tests or even one of the original 110 Chung Kings, be sure to email Revelation at webmaster AT revhq.com so it can be added to the big list of where they all are.

1st press
110 on white vinyl
100 intended to be pressed, but 110 were made. 15+ still at Rev warehouse. #43 has a pseudo-gatefold sleeve for no apparent reason. At least one was mailed without a sleeve, but which number was excluded is not known.
#33/100

The extra 10 had the 100 over written with 110 and were stamped numerically.
#104/110

Judge
Bringing It Down LP
Revelation #15 1989

Test press : 8 black vinyl with Rainbo labels

1st press
712 on green marble vinyl w/ purple labels and black/yellow insert

5458 on black vinyl

Rev’s pressing info states there were only 4 presses. 1st one (above), 2nd (w/ red labels), 3rd (w/ maroon labels) and 4th final one (on orange vinyl). I found that to be inaccurate as there are at least 3 different versions that pop up with red labels, indicating that AT LEAST 3 separate pressings were done between the 1st and the 3rd one. Interestingly the pressing sheet also states that 3rd press+ came with maroon labels. I don’t know who put that there because such version doesn’t exist. All of the pressings between the 1st and the final one came with red labels. Putting these pressings in chronological order was pretty much a guessing game on my part but here is what I deduced:

2nd press
Black vinyl, red labels, black/yellow insert.

3rd press
Black vinyl, red labels, black/purple insert.

4th press
Black vinyl, red labels, black/white insert.

5th and final Press (April 2001)
There was a separate set of test presses made for this release to check whether the plates were still usable

Test press : 8 black vinyl with Erika labels

333 Orange vinyl, back to purple labels

Things that are worth noting:
The 1st press came with plastic dust sleeves while all of the other pressings had paper inner bags. Also in the 1st pressing we have PRINTED IN CANADA on the spine. In all of the subsequent pressings this was covered with an ugly pink box. See the comparison here:

Also type/quality of the cardstock used for the covers differs in few cases resulting in different colour and different type of gloss finish. It indicates that they may have been printed at a different printers over the years. One example:

And to end this here’s the poster REV printed to support this awesome release:

Related links:
JUDGE New York Crew 7″
JUDGE Storm 7″
JUDGE Bootlegs

Cat broship

Dobek Ohashi — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:58:09 +0000

After about a week+ of hissing and generally being a dick to the kitten all the other cats have finally gotten used to Nina and started to treat her as a member of the family.
Now that I am sure they will not bust her head open I started to let her out more so that she can play with the others. She looks very happy. Also her eye colour started to turn gray from blue. It seems like it’s going to be some shade between yellow and green but can’t say just yet. I am curious but will have to wait for another month or so to see the final eye colour.

Random quotes from school

Dobek Ohashi — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:49:31 +0000

Summer holidays are upon us so kids don’t really want to do shit.
We do not however waste time. We always do stuff. Like this for example

Aside from that teaching 6 to 18 years old kids can result in some interesting discussions. Here are some of the more memorable quotes from past few weeks.

: So who do you want to be when you grow up?
: A train driver.
: Really? I suggest you choose something that has proven hugely succesful in the past.
: Like what?
: A caravan manager.

: What do you mean you have no interest in human sacrifice?

: Now, what do we know about the PCP tests in the 50s?

More coming soon…

Hanging out with Jorge

Dobek Ohashi — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:51:59 +0000

Today we spent whole day on the Disk Union Tour. Kannai > Yokohama > Machida > Fuchinobe > Shinjuku.
Found some cool records. Also found a weirdo V/A LP with a cover that looked like Chumbawamba’s SLAP! cover.
Aside from the minor train fuck up where we lost over an hour going in the good, then wrong and then again good direction, it was a great day.
Crème de la crème of the day: a bird I saw at the Shinjuku station.
There’s this boy band that all of my high school students are into called Hey! Say! JUMP. So there was this bird walking right towards me with the name of one of the Hey Say dudes (山田涼介) written across her face. She must be like the Earth Crisis Face Dude of J-pop. By the time I took my camera out she was already past the ticket gates but I managed to snap one quick shot. You can still see the 介 letter on her chick and a hand made bag with cut outs of the dude stuck with the glue all over.
I find the phenomenon of total idolism and worship mentality in Japan very interesting.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Dobek Ohashi — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:25:07 +0000

My friend Jorge who lives in Korea came over to Tokyo for few days and stayed at our place. I had work in the morning for some 2 hrs but then met up with him and Naoko in Shibuya and went to check out the Pieter Bruegel the Elder exhibition in Bunkamura. Very very very boss. I liked what the guy was doing ever since I was in high school. i was siked to see the Seven Deadly Sins for the first time in real. Found out some new stuff I didn’t know before, like the guy in the Lechery, the one with writing on the hat was originally drawn as a catholic priest but that didn’t fly back then so they switched him to a regular dude. I saw the original priest drawing at Bunkamura but strange though it may seem could not find it anywhere on the internet. Should have taken a quick snap at the exhibition. Bumout.
Anyway, I looked up the actual prints so you can check them below.

• Luxuria
• Gula
• Avaritia
• Acedia
• Ira
• Invidia
• Superbia

Enter: Nina

Dobek Ohashi — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:42:04 +0000

This woman I know found a stray kitten. She was like 2 weeks old and the mother was nowhere to be found so she took her home. Unfortunatelly they also had a dog and couldn’t keep the cat. So the kitten was taken by my friend Kaori. Unfortunately again her youngest son Ryu turned out to have a deadly cat allergy. So, that’s how the Kitten ended up with us. Anyone wants a little baby kitty girl? She’s very cute and I just recently found out she is also into the Cro-Mags.

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space

Dobek Ohashi — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:36:14 +0000

I had a lesson in Ikebukuro so I dropped by the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space. Haven’t been there in a loooong while. Last time I went they had a shuuji exhibition. I was wondering what’s it gonna be this time. It was shuuji exhibition.

Amy’s UC Mosh

Dobek Ohashi — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:51:45 +0000

Just found this video that I thought was long lost.
When we lived in Whitechapel, my room was next to Charlie’s room. It was around the time Julio was staying at my place. That was maybe around 2004? So one day Amy was semi moshing to the UC record and Charlie was sitting there just watching her (in a strangely still manner). I thought it would be a good idea to record this. It was already dark outside so Julio and I climbed out of my window onto the entrace roof and went to Charlie’s window to film Amy mosh. That alone is fairly funny but her reaction when she actually spotted us lurking outside the window is priceless.

Vinyl nerdery

Dobek Ohashi — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:57:40 +0000

I am now officially in the record cleaning business. For the very first time ever in years and years and years of record collecting I have purchased a proper vinyl cleaning gear.
I got AUDIO-TECHNICA cleaner, the better one with the indicator and this is the one that’s good for wet and dry cleaning. Also the Chris Alpino recommended AUDIOQUEST brush. Very boss.
I am looking forward to my clean records!

The Witch Musical

Dobek Ohashi — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:17:44 +0000

Tazuko-san’s son, Taiyo and daughter, Kokoro were in the school musical about the bad witch who wanted to annihilate all the children in the city. She was plotting to kidnap all the kids during the New Moon Festival and put a blame on two orphaned sisters who wondered into town. Pretty nasty turn of events. Needless to say the orphans had their own plans put into action. With the help of an angel chappy and possibly zee Germans they managed to turn the witch’s 3 little helpers against her. Then, with the help of the rest of the kids, they completely obliterated the old tart, all of that while singing and sync dancing. Very boss performance. It was Taiyo’s second time as he did the last year’s musical as well so he’s now almost a pro but for Kokoro chan it was a stage debut!!

So, Tazuko-san mailed us the tickets along with an awesome letter from Kokoro-chan. She wrote me that she practiced really hard and even though she has no speaking part she will be dancing a lot so I should come to see her. So cute!!

After the musical we hung out at the big shopping center in Minami Osawa. Lots of summer sale discounts. I snatched a shirt and one of those knitted ties. Very cool.

Long time no cats

Dobek Ohashi — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:52:20 +0000

This one goes out to Boardman and his wife :)
How’s Vegas mate?

Punk’s Not Dead

Dobek Ohashi — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:45:35 +0000

I hung out with my friend Yuyu the other day. She’s from Peking aka Beijing. She’s also a real punk. With mohawk, spiderwebs, studs, Doc Martens and all.
And she’s never heard of Cockney Rejects. What can I say…

Jake just made my day

Dobek Ohashi — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:28:23 +0000

I was injecting myself with my daily dosage of the google reader to catch up on what’s up with my mates and here’s what I found.

Murakami? Yes. Stockings? Yes.

I read all of these books.. London days…

Floorpunch

Dobek Ohashi — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:27:02 +0000

I don’t know about the USA but in Europe, back when FLOORPUNCH were still around, there was this big “controversy” that they are this and that, that they eat meat, that they gamble, that Porter has an IQ of a monkey and whatever the fuck else all of them politically minded “scensters” were saying. Oh, well.. who gives a fuck. Bottom line is Zusi and Zev have got to be one of the illest dudes on the planet and not all the bands have to be all about Freedom for Palestine..

Goal Line Stand Demo Tape
In My Blood Records / Hardware Fanzine

Nobody knows how many were made

Division One Champs
In My Blood Records

1st press, gold vinyl #44/88
You know the story. Throwing records in the sea and all. Here is a list of who’s got what.

1st press, black vinyl / 900

2nd press, red vinyl #177/200

2nd press, blue vinyl / 800

3rd press, black vinyl, yellow labels, green lettering sleeve / 925

After the 3rd pressing all of the subsequent presses came with this JUDGE rip off cover

3rd press, black vinyl, yellow labels, JUDGE rip off sleeve #41/75

4th press, Euro Tour, JUDGE rip off sleeve #292/300

5th and final pressing, white vinyl, JUDGE rip off sleeve #9/100

Twin Killing
Equal Vision Records #EVR038
Released on October 28, 1997

Test press / 10

Clear vinyl / 300

Black vinyl

Fast Times At The Jersey Shore
Equal Vision Records #EVR047
Released on November 10, 1998

White vinyl / 98

Green vinyl / 300

Black vinyl

New Jersey Double LP
Six Feet Under Records #SFU041
Released in June 2010

Test press #7/16

Pre-release.
199 were pressed for the Euro tour before the actual artwork was ready. I would consider this the 1st pressing and the actual release the 2nd pressing. All of them came on black vinyl with blank labels and silk screened covers . Some of them are hand numbered out of 150, like this one here #83/150.

and some aren’t

You can only tell if you look at the back of the cover. Most of the numbered copies were sold in Europe. The remaining, unnumbered copies were sold at gigs in the US.

The actual pressing was released a long while after the Euro tour
Blue vinyl / 95
While all the other colours were on the first come first serve basis this particular one was inserted randomly into various orders

Tiger stripe vinyl / 303

Vegas gold vinyl / 599

Clear vinyl / 1009

BONUS 1* Final Mosh shirt, size M
I am not into collecting shirts but this one is to cool to omit it in this post.
This shirt was given to friends and only a handful of them were made. Never available for sale.

BONUS 2* Poster bonanza!
My man Matt Melnick went to that very first of many FP reunion gigs a long while ago and bought me a nice present. Linas’ silkscreened poster. He sent it nicely rolled in a tube along with a whole lot of other goodness. I was so stoked on getting it in the mail that I actually went to a stationery store and bought a big arse frame for this thing. It looks AMAZING. Matt, you’re the man of the month!

Here’s my #36/88

2 years on and dudes are screening posters like crazy!!
Stelton Church Dec 19 2009 silkscreened poster blue, artist proof / 10

Stelton Church Dec 19 2009 silkscreened poster green #62/120

Stelton Church Jan 16 2010 silkscreened poster red #24/46

Stelton Church Jan 16 2010 silkscreened poster blue #147/150

Fidel & Tofik Crew

Dobek Ohashi — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 01:11:18 +0000

Our best friends Seba and Ania who came to hang with us in Tokyo and who we later visited in Taiwan are now living back in the motherland and are expecting a baby boy (due to arrive in Oct!).
If that wasn’t enough I will tell you that they brought with them from Taiwan one of the stray dogs they were taking care of at the animal shelter there. His name is Fidel. Recently Fidel has struck a broship with the neighbours cat Tofik. Now they roll with the crew. Who said that cats and dogs don’t get along?

Never forget the warriors!!

Dobek Ohashi — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:33:42 +0000

Believe it or not but when I first heard the JUDGE NYC EP it took me a long while to get used to Mike’s version of the Warriors. After listening to the original track for so many years the “new” version seemed like an utter fucking rubbish. Fast forward, close to 20 years later and I still love and listen to regularly to both records (Blitz and Judge) but each time I play the original version of that song now it seems slow, bland and weak when compared with Ferraro’s powerful delivery.
See how I can make the BLITZ post to be all about JUDGE?

Anyway, what I really am trying to say here that next to The Partisans LP, Voice of a Generations is definitely the best record to ever come out on the NO FUTURE. Possibly one of the best records to ever come out of the UK in the 80s.

BLITZ
Voice of a Generation
No Future PUNK 1 1982
1st pressing. All of the early copies came with the brown inner dust sleeve with lyrics, skeletons and a set of very boss “we’re drunk at the cemetary at night and we’re not scared” photos.

BLITZ
Voice of a Generation
VAP Inc. JAPAN 1982
There are 2 versions of this LP. The rare white label PROMO and regular version that was availabale in stores.
Both came with the same sleeve, obi and insert that looked identical to the UK one except that the Japanese lyric translations were on the inside.

Promo version. These came with white SAMPLE COPY/NOT FOR SALE labels. VAP sent them out to the radio stations and magazines for review prior to the general release.

Regular pressing came with the normal VAP green labels:

Inside Out NY

Dobek Ohashi — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:26:10 +0000

I found this at Disk Union today. Funny enough I sold this record TWICE in the past 3 weeks. 1st time on eBay but the guy said he wanted to return it because he expected Zack/Vic Inside Out and got something he never heard of. So I gave him a refund and sold it again on my limited pressing page

The one I found just now looks as if it was brand new and some genius at Disk Union marked it with the following comment:
“4th press, red vinyl. Comes with insert.”

Funny enough there were only 2 pressings of this and the 2nd one was marked with words NY on the cover to distinguish from Zack’s Inside Out. This makes it 1st press on one of the two limited colours (the other one was blue). Great score for very little money. This record must love me because each time I get rid of it it keeps coming back.

Panic on the streets of Tokyo…

Dobek Ohashi — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:20:31 +0000

Or so I expected. The Japanese have just lost to the Dutch and one would expect tragedy and occasional violence. Strangely enough loosing at football is just another reason to cheer and have a good time. If I didn’t know I would have thought they’d won!

The Masons have taken over the FRANC FRANC!

Dobek Ohashi — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:49:19 +0000

Apparently the Freemasons have taken over the design department at a popular furniture/houseware store Franc Franc.
Today I found this photo frame:

Looks familiar?? Apparently God was replaced with an international symbol for arsehole but still…

The video YouTube won’t let you see

Dobek Ohashi — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:30:40 +0000

I barely could get through the fucking thing…
Nicked from PETA:

Animals who are bred and killed for their fur in China live in misery from birth to death. Chinchillas, foxes, minks, raccoons—and, yes, even dogs and cats—are jammed into crowded wire cages, and the close confinement and filthy conditions quickly lead to mental illness. As documented in our undercover video, fur farmers kill animals by bashing their heads in or breaking their necks while they are still conscious.

Animal protection laws are nonexistent in China, but PETA Asia is working overtime to change that. Whether by submitting recommendations for China’s first-ever animal protection legislation, going undercover at fur farms, or exposing the hideous conditions for animals in Chinese zoos, PETA Asia is tirelessly on the front line for animals.

Please take a moment to write to the Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Zhang Yesui, and ask him to do everything in his power to put animal welfare on the agenda in his country. Share the video with family and friends, and remember: If we don’t watch it, we can’t stop it.

For more information on animal welfare in China, please check out PETA Asia’s Web site.

Posted by Jennifer O’Connor

Haven’t you heard?

Dobek Ohashi — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:12:20 +0000

Bontaname Crew!!

VA: Connecticut Fun LP

Dobek Ohashi — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:23:43 +0000

I recently decided to find anything and everything that is somewhat relevant in the YOUTH OF TODAY vinyl department. Being that the CT Fun was where YOT tracks appeared for the very first time pressed on wax I’d think that would make this particular piece of vinyl extremely relevant to my case.
Unfortunately this record was eluding me for quite some time. It seems like it NEVER makes it to eBay. One day I decided to post a little wanted request on the LWB and in no time I had several people contact me who strangely enough DID NOT want this great record (shout out to Gordo of DCXX). Not only that, Joe Snow of Incas records emailed me saying he had a spare test pressing he wouldn’t mind sending me. One week later = Christmas in June!

Connecticut Fun Compilation
Incas Records 1985

Test pressing:

Regular press (with both inserts):

Harajuku… again

Dobek Ohashi — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:55:33 +0000

I DID NOT go there on purpose. I was just passing by after I went to my weekly BRAIN YOGA session. Honest.