#TOWER RECORDS

[etakeh]

The story of Tower Records is really something.

Tower Records, Tacoma Washington, 1978

[omp4n]

Tower Records. Shibuya City. Tokyo, Japan.

[mylittlevintageworld]

[fangomusic]

Old Record Stores.

[laboitediabolique]

Cover of Tower magazine, Number 254, 20 April 2008

[yridenergyridenergy]

Pictures by DIRENGREY_sho

[kylieforeverandever]

Kylie Minogue at Tower Records in Piccadilly, London, to sign copies of her new album "Kylie Minogue - The Album" on 23rd March 1998.

[tomorrowxtogether]

[fuzzyghost]

[grrlmusic]

Yellow Magic Orchestra

[eightiesfan]

Tower Records - 1986

[omp4n]

Double Exposure of Sake Barrels from Meiji Jingu and Tower Records in Shibuya. Shibuya City. Tokyo, Japan. 2002. Film. Kodak Portra 400.

[oldshowbiz]

Space Ghost at Tower Video

[yyh4ever]

Yu Yu Hakusho POP UP SHOP in TOWER RECORDS

AMNIBUS announced that a Yu Yu Haksuho POP UP SHOP will be held at some Tower Records stores in December. New merch with illustrations based on the concept of "fighting back" (戦う背中) will be released! The guys are so cool showing off their backs! Yusuke has a sexy back.

Details will be announced at a later date!

[aquamarine-oceanfront]

TADC Tower Records Cafe collaboration information

A few hours ago, the official Japanese Amazing Digital Circus Twitter account revealed that the series would be collaborating with two Tower Records Cafes in the country. Ticket pre-sales begin on the 18th (JST), and the actual collab will start between October 31st and November 1st (depending on the store) and run until the 25th.

What will this entail, exactly? As Tower Records' post on the matter says (roughly translated):

ポムニたちをはじめとしたキャラクターたちのイメージコラボメニューの販売やオリジナルメニュー特典のほか、コラボ限定描き下ろしを使用した店内装飾で皆さまをお迎えいたします！ In addition to selling new menu items styled after Pomni and company, as well as specially-made bonus postcards, everyone who comes will be greeted with in-store collab artwork (made just for the occasion)!

They'll also be selling merchandise (some new, some pre-existing) to people who consume the event's food.

That's the gist of it, but I felt like summarizing all the relevant information I could (near-entirely from the aforementioned blog post) - the fruit of my efforts is just below the jump.

To begin with, attending the cafe requires advance reservations, with each time slot lasting for an hour & twenty minutes. Attendees buy online tickets (worth 500 yen per person, accompanied by a 500 yen meal coupon) tied to the number of seats they'll need - oddly, they're grouped into either 2 or 4 seats independent of the flat 500 yen/person rate, which means that a single diner is still technically in the "2 seats" category despite obviously only needing one.

(Also: they do offer same-day tickets if - and only if - there happens to be vacancy. They don't come with any meal coupons, though.)

(As a second side note, every price I mention in this post includes tax.)

Of course, your ticket won't (entirely) cover the cost of food and drink. The Cafe limits the amount of either you can buy: a single person (500 yen) can purchase no more than 1 food item, 1 sweet, and 3 drinks. (This is also the limit for same-day tickets.) However, the upper limit scales in accordance with the price of the ticket (and, in turn, the amount of people expected to be in your group) - at absolute most (4 people/2,000 yen), diners can get 4 food items, 4 sweets, and 12 drinks.

Right now, I imagine, you're probably wanting to see those food items. Without further ado, here are the two options (both costing 1,890 yen):

Pomni Hamburger: Includes buns, hamburger patty, pickles, a chedder cheese slice, red-leaf lettuce, tomato, and ketchup. Served with French fries & monaka. (I'm not 100% sure about that last one but it's the only translation of モナカ that seemed plausible in this context.)

Ragatha Omurice: Includes chicken rice, a thin omelette "sheet" (オムシート), and ketchup. Served with potato salad, red-leaf lettuce, mozzarella cheese, cherry tomatoes, & monaka.

Now we move on to the sweets:

Caine Cupcake (1,690 yen): A cupcake with strawberry whip, strawberries, blueberries, mixed berries, mint, powdered sugar, chocolate sweets, strawberry sauce, & monaka.

Zooble Parfait (1,690 yen): Includes a strawberry no-bake cake (literally "rare cake," or レ���ケーキ - I assume it's a cold or at least cool treat), mango ice cream, corn flakes, mascarpone whip, blueberry sauce, yogurt, mixed berries, mint, chocolate sweets, rolled chocolate, & monaka.

Jax Pancake (1,890 yen): A thick hotcake served with blueberry sauce, mixed berries, blueberry cream, whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries, chervil, silver dragees (tiny edible decorations), powdered sugar, monaka, & latte (panna?) cotta.

The drinks make up the largest category by far - each one is priced at 900 yen:

Gangle Berry Tea (HOT): Made with raspberry syrup, black tea, mixed berries, and mint. Also mentioned (but not pictured): whipped cream & monaka.

Jax Blueberry Yogurt: Made with blueberry sauce, drinkable yogurt, blueberries, whipped cream, and mint. Not pictured: monaka.

Ragatha Blue Lemonade (HOT): Made with blue curaçao syrup, lemonade, and lemon slices. Not pictured: whipped cream & monaka.

Pomni & Kinger Strawberry Milk: Made with strawberry syrup, diced strawberries, milk, whipped cream, strawberry sauce, and a cherry. Not pictured: monaka.

Caine & Bubble Cranberry Juice: Cranberry juice with raspberries and star-shaped nata de coco. Not pictured: whipped cream & monaka.

Finally, there's only one takeout option:

Takeout Bottle w/Popcorn (980 yen): Specifically popcorn colored red, blue, & yellow. They make these in-store, and Tower Records recommends you eat them as soon as possible (regardless of whether you open it or not). They're also exempt from the aforementioned purchase limits - buy as much as you'd like. (Or as much as is available - each store will keep the public updated on their inventory through their respective Twitter accounts.)

(Curiously, one of the many disclaimers seems to state that the "collab & takeout menus will be available for the whole [financial] year." I don't know if I'm misinterpreting the original Japanese sentence - コラボメニュー・テイクアウトメニューは通期提供です。)

As an extra bonus, every order (including the takeaway bottle) comes with a bonus postcard featuring some of the event's artwork. The selection differs depending on the date: come before November 12th and you'll get one of these at random:

However, if you come between the 12th and the 25th (the event's closing date), you'll instead get one of these:

Finally, people who pay for any of the aforementioned dishes will be allowed to purchase merchandise on-site.

The above promo picture conveniently separates the new items (top) from the existing ones (bottom). The former includes acrylic stands and badges (sold either individually or as a full set of 8 - the latter being the upper limit for them no matter what), clear files, and mugs (1 per person). The latter is mostly stuff InfoLens made for the Japanese market (some of which will only go on sale on November 7th), with the lone exception of Jax's AniMatez figure. Also: the limit is specifically per person, not per the number of seats - so one attendee won't be considered two people, even if they're technically in the "2 seats" category. (Remember that from earlier?)

[withnailrules]

Tower Records, Seatle, 1980