Walnut Tree Records

Happy November

2008-11-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

Oh man, it is so cold and wet today and I could think of better places to be than Vicarage Road! I'm sat in my car avoiding the cold for as long as I can, but the time is sticking away and I'm going to have to risk it soon enough. Last night was fun though - I dressed up as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for Halloween and put an obscene amount of flour in my hair! I figured it would make me look like I'd been involved in a small explosion of chemicals. Great times.
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A reason to celebrate...

2008-10-17T00:58:00.000-07:00

While we've all been pissing and moaning about the credit crunch - did anyone notice their local petrol station prices dropping dramatically? Great times!
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A Toilet Matter

2008-10-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

So my old University, the University of Manchester has decided to remove the traditional "gents" and "ladies" toilets from its student union - and instead label them as "toilets" and "toilets with urinals". This move is apparently to make transexuals and transgender individual feel more at home. Looks like times have really changed since I last relieved myself in the Steve Biko building!
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East Midland trains

2008-08-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

So there's a tube advert at the moment encouraging you to take the train with the tag line "when was the last time you saw a train jam?". They've obviously forgotten that at the same time I've never had to wait 40 minutes for my car to turn up, never had to stand in someones smelly armpit once it does and then never had to stop short 20m from my destination without being able to get out when the signals inevitably screw up. They've got a point haven't they...must get the train more in future!
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Whatever happened to the band...

2008-08-20T00:53:00.000-07:00

Kut U Up? I'm just watching Riding In Vans With Boys on my way to work this morning and its still hilarious years later. What it did remind me of though is how good Kut U Up's album "Pulled over" is, and I have to really add them to my "its a massive shame that I've never seen them live" list.
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Don't ask about the darts...

2008-08-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

I ended up captaining the losing side...it hurt having to hand the trophy over! There will be revenge!
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Throwing arrows for fun

2008-08-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night we are having a darts tournament at work and I thought I'd get in some last minute practice at home. I managed to beat my mum but I don't think that's really a great yard stick! I'll wear a collared shirt to work though so I'll look the part!
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A Broken Portman Atwood

2008-08-16T02:38:00.000-07:00

Last night I caught up with Portman at the Cavendish Arms in Stockwell. It's a funny place to hold a show, a sizeable walk from a dodgy tube station and not exactly well advertised, but it was such an awesome venue and I had a good night. It's basically a standard pub on the right hand side and then a nice little ritzy dancehall/venue on the left hand side. We all know I have big love for Portman and they played a few new tracks that sounded brilliant and
I'd happily watch them every single week if I had the chance. The big surprises of the night for me where A Broken Robot as they have so much more energy live and the first two songs "All Here" and "Elliot" were enough to get everyone in the crowd going. Atwood are also worth checking out, and I'm just about to give their debut EP a listen for the first time!

Portman tour dates

2008-08-07T15:02:00.001-07:00

The awesome PORTMAN are heading out on tour this week - see them at the following shows:

14th August - The Toreador, Stamford
15th August - The Cavendish Arms, London
16th August - The Rampant Lion, Manchester
17th August - Actress & Bishop, Birmingham
18th August - The Portland Arms, Cambridge

The band will be giving out free sampler cds at these shows, so head on down and ask them for your copy!

You know what's rad...

2008-07-11T00:33:00.000-07:00

This probably sounds really immature, but I love it when people write on the tube adverts. This morning there is a poster for Farnborough air show with a little kid pointing to the sky, and someone has written a note on it saying "this child is being corrupted". Keeps me entertained during the hour long journey anyway!
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It's been said before...

2008-07-09T10:21:00.001-07:00

But what exactly is so fun about eating fun size bars of chocolate? After snacking on a fun size Butterfinger I don't feel like I've had that great a time! Perhaps a fun size milky way is more enjoyable?
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No Girls Allowed

2008-07-09T01:57:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to the Barfly in Camden to see The Maple State, The Attika State, Data.Select.Party and This Love Affair. It was rad. I caught up with a lot of people I haven't seen in a while and some good friends and all four bands impressed me. This Love Affair are a band I haven't heard of before and I was expecting to be bored and a little annoyed that they'd (not intentionally on their point I should add) pushed the bands I wanted to see into later stage times, but they were surprisingly good and were giving out free cds after their set. I haven't given it a listen yet but will report back when I do! I also had a good chat with the drummer and he seemed sound. DATA.SELECT.PARTY are possibly the best unsigned band in the country at the moment. They're fun to watch live and have super catchy melodies - anyone with lyrics like "tonight calls for whores just to talk to" deserves to be checked out. The Attika State aren't a band I've really given much attention to before but they showed me up last night by putting on a great live show. I even bought a copy of their old EP as their last song was sick. They remind me of Tellison in some ways, but I'm sure I'll get slated for that!

The Maple State don't really need any introduction to anyone that knows me. Awesome band, singing awesome songs. The only downside was that I had to leave at 11 to catch my train and they were still on stage.

Good times.

A New Hope

2008-07-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

I wanted a fresher feel to the record label, the myspace and the blog - so welcome to the new layout, and head over to the MYSPACE page for the new layout there. I hope you like what you see!

I saw this shopping basket in a toy shop in Harajuku, Tokyo. It's rad.

Congratulations, and celebrations!

2008-06-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

The winner of our recent competition with Intricate Industries podcast is Daniel Ferguson from Cleveland. Congratulations!

Intricate Industries are onto their 22nd podcast now - so head over to their website to hear more! This episode they feature our very own Portman too, so they're obviously onto a winner there!

Tokyo Revisited

2008-06-18T00:51:00.001-07:00

So I'm afraid to say that the majority of my Tokyo write up will be used for the fourth issue of the Walnut Tree zine, but it only seemed fair that I finished this holiday blog off.

Tokyo is everything you expect it to be. It's incredibly busy and full of cool electronics and littered with advertising and neon signs. That's hardly surprising to most people I'd imagine. We arrived early Saturday evening as Tom had work first thing Saturday and the shinkansen train took us into Shinagawa. The hotel was literally just over the road and it was mental. Having seen the website before I knew that it had rides, cinemas, 3860 rooms and a dolphin show (yes, you read that right) but I didn't imagine it to be on such a scale. The queue just for checking in was 10 people long! Room was pretty standard but did have one of those toilets that warms the seat and spray a quite foreceful jet of water back at you!

After a bit of guidebook reading we headed into Shibuya and Harajuku for a bit of wandering around and people watching and had a pizza at a little restaurant just up from the famous 'busy' crossing. The train was easy enough as the Yamonate line pretty much mirrored the Osaka Loop Line and I could use my JR raill pass on it. Shibuya is my favourite place in Tokyo as its where the youth predominantly hangs out and was therefore lively and exciting - but you never felt uncomfortable or rushed. Harajuku seemed like the Camden town of Tokyo - in fact I think they should twin the two. There were enough "metal" shops to please a whole marching army of My Chemical Romance fans on a protest mission (how topical!).

The rest of the weekend we spent treading the streets and covering as much ground as we possibly could. It was tiring and our feet ached afterwards. It seemed like the natural end to my holiday and the train journey home to Osaka was spent playing DS and listening to Hey Mike!

Good times.

Final Day - Kansai International Airport

2008-06-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

So, this is where it all ends. I'm currently struggling with a japanese keyboard on the free internet that KIX provides in the departures lounge - I'm also standing up with my face about 10 inches away from the screen, so this isn't the easiest of updates! My trip to Japan ends in about half an hour as my plane begins boarding at 11.10 and I'm just killing time before then. I've had an awesome time and have had so much more to write about than I've been able to do on this blog. I still have Tokyo to update you about but it will be so much easier to do that when I'm back in Hertfordshire and getting ready for the English way of life again! All I can say is that my hotel did indeed have a dolphin stadium and an aquarium, and it also had 5 rides (one of which was a rollercoaster with a 360 loop thrown in for fun). Tokyo is every bit as busy and as mental as you expect it to be and so it was a tiring few days of getting a train to a district, walking for hours and then getting a train to another district. I'm half relieved to be heading into a day with minimal walking, but if my flight is anything like my incoming flight then I'm sure its going to be an endurance test to say the least!

Airports can be a lonely place when you have hours to kill and fortunately Bill Bryson has been keeping me company (not in the flesh of course, only in the form of a paperback).

I should go before this keyboard hurts my wrists anymore and sets me on a path to old age and arthritis.

It's been a blast - thanks to Tom for letting me stay and showing me the sights (plus beating me every single time at Winning 11 - I owe you a good beating soon dude!)

Tokyo

2008-06-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

...Is mental. Enough said. I'll update this more when I can work out how to use a japanese keyboard!

Nightmare before Kyoto

2008-06-13T20:32:00.001-07:00

Too good to be true

2008-06-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Friday - Day 8 - Kyoto (a.k.a The Kyoto Disagreement)

2008-06-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

So I've heard a lot of good things about Kyoto and that wasn't surprising considering it was the nation's capital city for a number of years. It's only 25 minutes from Shin-Osaka station (so about an hour in total from Tom's apartment) and seemed like a good, quick, choice for a day trip out. Friday in Japan was hot though, seriously hot, and waking up dehydrated and sweaty isn't a great start to the day! I've pretty much got the hang of catching trains in Japan now so the journey there was as effortless as it could be (aided by the fact that all I listened to was NFG's cover of "cut the tension" by Lifetime!) and I arrived in Kyoto at 11. The station entrance is pretty standard for Japan and I grabbed something to eat and headed off in search of a sightseeing map. Having found one in direct sunlight I was trying to be quick about it when an elderly Japanese man approached me speaking good English and being polite - and then his talk quickly turned to being a jovah's witness and did I want to talk to him about having a happy life. I did not want to talk to him about having a good life though as it was far too hot and my life has been pretty good so far!

They advise you in the guide books to use the public transport in Kyoto when you head off in search of the various temples but the guide book has been wrong on a number of occassions (such as suggesting that Osaka had a castle and then nothing else to see or do) so I walked it. Five minutes into the walk and I'm hating my life and regretting the walking option, but I didn't want to pussy out and stuck it out for the next hour of aimlessly wandering towards the east of the city in hope of finding something. It seemed like everytime I had a right or left decision, I'd go and choose the wrong one and end up walking back down the road and starting again. This wasnt helped by the fact that I was getting through a 500ml bottle of water every vending machine (a few hundred metres max). Eventually I find the first of the temples, although I have no idea of their names as I wasn't exactly sure where I was, and it had the biggest graveyard attached to it that I have ever seen. Of course the path led me through the graveyard and up into the hills. After a lot of bitching and moaning I made my way through it and into the next temple which was swarming with school children and japanese tourists. I wasn't having a great time. Some would say that I should have stuck it out more but after seeing a few temples I really had seen enough and hot footed it (literally) to the nearest subway station and made my way back to Kyoto station and went back to Osaka.

The night was far better though as we hung out with an American called Brian who lives downstairs from Tom and has been on the JET programme for three years now and he had a lot of interesting things to say and insights into the city and the country.

As I finish writing this we're off to Tokyo and I don't expect to have time to update this until at least Monday night, or maybe even Tuesday morning when I'm waiting at the airport to come home.

Video update from the top of Temporzan giant wheel

2008-06-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

After visiting the aquarium on Thursday morning I went on the Temporzan giant wheel (which you see at the beginning of my last video blog) - so I thought I'd go up it an show you the sights of Osaka. You can see that video HERE.

Rad.

Let's go Buffaloes!

2008-06-13T02:20:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to see Orix Buffaloes play the Baystars at baseball and although it's not exactly the major league it was still a good night out. The Buffaloes play down town at the Kyocera Dome and the place is pretty impressive - its like a smaller version of the Sky Dome in Toronto but without the sliding roof and Canadians. The Buffaloes won 4-1 mainly because the Baystars just looked like they had no idea how to bat - I think they hit the ball about 6 times in their nine innings. I've seen better baseball games to be honest, the most exciting thing was the Buffaloes catcher catching a ball whilst leaning into the opposition dug out. There weren't any home runs which was disappointing as it was Tom's first game but he seemed to enjoy it and sounds up for going again (although not with me, unfortunately!). The attendance was pretty poor as you can see in the picture, but I don't think the 6pm start really favours anyone that works. The Hanshin Tigers draw the huge crowds down the road. The ticket was 2400 yen (£12) for an unreserved seat in the upper tier and we had a pretty rad view of the game and were close enough to the two sets of supporters - who both had trumpets and drums and would sing songs for the different players when they stepped up to bat. The Buffaloes fans also stayed for half an hour after the game just singing songs and having a good time - which is unheard of in English sports for a standard league game. It was "Beer Night" so you could buy a beer for 200 yen (£1) which was pretty decent, but I wasn't a huge fan of the japanese food on sale and opted for frankfurters!

Afterwards we headed down to the club shop so I could buy a ball and some souvenirs and surprisingly they stock merch from all the teams in the league and then all the major league baseball teams too - even stocking merch from the Hanshin tigers who are their main rivals and similar in statue to Manchester United over here. Football on the whole is largely ignored it seems in every day life, but there is a fraction who follow the game and supposedly Gamba Osaka games are pretty lively.

Thursday - Day 7 - Osaka Aquarium

2008-06-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

So today I thought I'd try something a bit different and rather than typing a whole load I have made a video blog - which you can view HERE. I would post the video but blogger doesn't seem to allow photobucket videos and the video was edited (very basic as you can see) there and you can't download it! I look awful in it on the whole, the aquarium lighting doesn't do me any favours!

Hiroshima

2008-06-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

The A Bomb Dome is to the right

Wednesday - Day 6 - Hiroshima

2008-06-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

"And off to my right, the sky split open over the city of Hiroshima"

The above is an extract from a letter sent from a survivor of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in August 1945, and that event is the exact reason why I caught the train to Hiroshima today. The sight of the first atomic bomb may not sound like the most fascinating of tourists attractions compared to other cities but practically a whole city was wiped out in a few seconds so I figured it was worth finding out more about it. The train journey was fairly easy - caught the local trains to Shin-Osaka station and then a ninety minute shinkansen direct to Hiroshima and sat rocking out to Drive Thru Records bands of the past (the good ones, of course) to fill the time. However getting off the train and finding my way from there was a bit of a nightmare. The station had two main exits and it took me a good ten minutes after leaving the first exit to realise that I'd gone off in completely the wrong direction. The exit I needed to take was disguised as a shopping centre so I bought myself a few drinks for the walk and finally got on my way.

Hiroshima as a city is completely dull. The streets are all very similar, the shops are nothing to write home about and the rivers were wide but lacking in any colour. If it wasn't for the historical sights the other side of town then you'd have no reason, as a tourist, to visit. The first thing I came across was the Municipal baseball stadium (home to the Carps) and despite being a huge place it was in a poor state and again wasn't something really to write home about (yet...I continue to do so). However yards from the stadium is the hypocentre of the "A-Bomb" in the re-named "A Bomb Dome". The atomic bomb exploded almost directly above this building and it's become the symbolic figure for that day in history. As the bomb exploded directly above it the outer walls of the building just survived and the metal dome on the top was almost fully in tact - as the bomb spread from there and the impact wasn't as severe. Today the building still sits in almost the same shape as it was left that day, and although a touch of restoration has taken place the city intends to keep it like that forever. Across the river is a number of monuments dedicated to the different groups that passed away and it's also home to the museum - which for 50 yen (25p) was a bit of a bargain. It showed videos and pictures of the event and charted the decisions taken by the US when deciding where the bomb should be dropped (Hiroshima was on a short list of three and was chosen finally as the sky was clear over the target the day the bomb was to be launched) and like all good places in Japan it housed thousands of japanese school children on this day. To be honest the school children ruined it a bit as they'd swamped round everything worth seeing and you could barely get a look before another load had just pushed in front and started touching everything in sight. That meant I stayed shorter than I had planned and just as I left the rain poured down and I decided that I'd seen all that was worth seeing in Hiroshima so I headed back to Osaka and for a night of wild karaoke (I rocked out to Editors, danced to Hanson and felt like crying to Elton John).

Shinkansen

2008-06-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

The Shinkansen is awesome. It's the high speed rail network that runs across Japan and makes our trains looks amateur (although they do a good job at doing that on their own!). It's better organised too as they have a number of reserved and unreserved sections so you don't have to wander down the train trying to find the odd spare seat - and you can also reserve a seat almost right up to when the train pulls away from the station. The seats give more leg room and more space between the person sat next to you - I had much more space than I did on my flight over! Another thing I found fascinating was that the ticket conductor and the train crew would bow everything they walked in and out of a carriage - after a while it seemed a little pointless but it's a nice sentiment nonetheless.

Japan is a funny place - part 2

2008-06-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

Japanese people seem to dig wearing plain t-shirts with English writing on them - which sounds simple enough...but on the whole they don't make any sense or are really inappropriate!

My current top three I've seen this week:
3. A guy my age wearing a black shirt with the following written in white: GRANDMA, PLEASE TAKE ME HOME!

2. A fat middle aged women (rare to see in Osaka) with a pink t-shirt and in white it said ANGEL and in black it said OR GAY?

Those two are great....but this one on a girl no older than 6 yesterday really does win hands down:

1. "Ride Me Till You're High" - errr, no thanks love, think I'll be alright for now.

Japan is a funny place - part 1

2008-06-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

Why is it that throughout Japan there are signs saying "No littering" and then they don't put bins anywhere to be seen?

Out of my comfort zone

2008-06-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight I ate sushi for the first time (with chopsticks too!) and it was a great experience, but I can't say a very appetising one for me! I stuck with the tuna and egg plates and still had to just put it in and hope I didn't have to chew! The pieces are much larger than they really need to be and that put me off trying squid or octopus as I just didn't like the thought of wanting to gag and having a mouth full of some slimey fish to sick back up.

Having the food go round on a little track is rad though - more places should adopt that approach!

The best snack in the world?

2008-06-10T07:12:00.001-07:00

Todai-ji

2008-06-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday - Day 5 - Nara

2008-06-10T06:36:00.000-07:00

I activated my Japan Rail pass this morning so set off on my first out of town adventure - and in the grand scheme of things I didn't go too far. I caught the JP loop to Kyobashi and then the rapid train an hour down the line to Kizu, and then ended up catching a local train two stops down to a place called Nara. I was impressed that I managed to navigate without much English but I'm mainly memorising symbols and word structures and just looking for the same symbols on maps and trains! Nara is a pretty unremarkable town when you approach it but the beauty lies in it's parks situated about a ten minute walk through the shops and towards the hills. My first impressions were that it was damn hot and I bet Tom was glad that he didn't have to listen to me bitch and moan about the heat today. I hadn't eaten before I left as I was in a bit of a rush and so popped into a Lawsons (like a Spar) and found the king of all snacks - banana bread (picture to follow!) and pizza flavoured crisps. Not exactly typical japanese snacks but I'd not be exaggerating if I said that I'd happily only eat those two snacks for the rest of my life.

The town was pretty shabby and sold all the usual crap and then out of the blue you come across a huge pond with terrapins and giant kio karp swimming around in it, which was pretty surreal. Just left of this I climbed a set of stairs and come across a huge seven story tall pagoda and what I thought was hundreds of school kids playing with deer...on closer inspection it was hundreds of school kids playing with very tame deer. The deer roam the parks and you can feed them for 150 yen but this just seemed to encourage them to follow you, the japanese kids seem to like doing this but then screamed whenever they got too close. Many of the school kids found me fascinating too as I was out of about 10 white people in the whole city today and so I stood out like a sore thumb - I think being the only person wearing sunglasses didn't help matters much! Once you'd walked through this park you had roughly about 1km further to walk up the hill before arriving at a much larger park on the other side of the road and what seemed like thousands of school children. Tōdai-ji is situated within this park and its actually the worlds largest wooden building - and its pretty damn impressive. It sounds like one of those dull school trips where you've gotta be all pumped up and then you turn up and it sucks a big one...but the sheer size and scale of the building was something to be seen. It's 500 yen to enter the building and this seemed worth it even if it did only contain this 15 metre high buddha and a few smaller statues but it really does leave you speechless when you first see it. I say speechless, I'm fairly sure I mouthed "fuck me" when I first saw it.

Who let the dogs out?

2008-06-10T06:35:00.000-07:00

Shinsaibasin

2008-06-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

The Bridge

2008-06-10T01:00:00.001-07:00

So last night we met up with Tom's japanese friend again in the Shinsaibashi region of the city - which meant I had to get the subway for the first time. It's pretty much the same as the tube only much hotter and much cheaper. Shinsaibashi can be best described as a far brighter and larger Piccadilly Circus, only pedestrianised and down several streets. The centre piece is "the bridge" (over the Dotombori canal) which is famous for it's bright advertising boards and the fact that many of the japanese people there are either girls wearing mini skirts or guys dressed up like Bon Jovi in the 80's. As you can tell it's a pretty happening place! The shopping district there is based around one long covered street which stretches for what seems like miles - and then smaller streets jutting out from it. It's pretty much shoe shops and 100 yen shops so for the average guy is a bit pointless wandering down there on your own! Down one of the side streets we went in search of a pet shop as Tom informed me that they kept small dogs in glass kennels and it was quite a sad sight really. Apparently they have a high turn over of dogs though so they arent kept there for long, but I think that's probably because you catch their eyes and feel immediately sorry for the poor things! Shinsaibashi is a cool area of town though and the bright lights and busy streets are what I imagine most people picture when they think of downtown areas in japanese cities.

Ferris Wheels Are Rad

2008-06-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

Monday - Day 4

2008-06-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day where I was on my own for the bulk of it and it didn't get off to the best of starts! We woke up at 3.45am to watch Germany vs. Poland and then went back to bed, and by the time I woke back up it was almost mid day! After a quick shower I caught the train into Kyobashi station and then caught the JR Loop line a few stops to Umeida which is where we went on the first night. It's a cool little place and I did a bit of wandering around taking photos of random things. I then headed to the arcade and hoped to see some crazy dance dance revolution action but it seems those dudes work in the day and then dance at night when they get the big crowds! I also spied the karaoke place but didn't feel like going back on my own! Just up the road from there is a seven story shopping centre which has a huge ferris wheel on the top level that takes you high over Osaka and has sick views. Today it's a bit hazy but you still get the general idea and at 500 yen (£2.50) and it being full air conditioned I felt like going around a few more times! I had a quick look in Tower Records and Virgin megastores and spotted a few UK bands such as Fast Reaction and Me vs. Hero being sold and then bought the new New Found Glory cd as it was only £7 for the special edition. It's sad that I've gone thousands of miles and I'm still taken in by the "Punk/Emo" signs in music shops!

Thursday night I want to go to see the Orix Buffaloes baseball team at the Osaka Dome and the internet ticket sites are far from clear so I thought I'd head down to the Dome to buy tickets in person. It's only a 15 minute train ride and didn't look too far. Of course I caught the fast train that went right past the Dome and didn't stop for another 6 stops so I had to come back on the slower train. It was a lot of effort and then I found out that the area was dead and they don't have a ticket office! Back to Suminodo to meet Tom it was, just as the heavens opened!

Ramen

2008-06-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday night I ate ramen with chopsticks, and I didn't do too badly in truth! Ramen is pretty much noodles, pork and assorted bits in a meaty liquid and at first I couldnt get the hang of the chopsticks but after a bit of guidance from Tom's japanese friend I picked up the basics. It's all in the head though as when I dropped something I then couldn't bring myself to try picking it up as I was convinced that I'd end up dropping it time and time again. It's certainly frustrating and meant I ate less!

Osaka Jo

2008-06-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

Squeeze

2008-06-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

Squeeze - rocking out in the park!

Sunday - Day 3

2008-06-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

Jet lag isn't great, so I spent the first part of Sunday monged out in Tom's apartment while he went to work. The apartment is only a short walk to the station and has a few basic supermarkets and dry cleaners nearby - it also has porn vending machines which sell slutty dvds for 1000 yen (£5) and they're covered by curtains so you have a bit of privacy, which isn't great as you just look like more of a pervert when you walk in and out. There are drinks vending machines on almost every corner it seems and you can get a 500ml can of coke for 100 yen (50p) and beer in quite a few of them. It sounds stupid coming to a place like Japan and talking to you about vending machines, but as soon as you step into the street you need a drink in this heat so the machines are a god send. The locals find it curious that I'm wearing shorts and sunglasses, but they're a necessity for such a humid place and even then I'm too hot!

Sunday afternoon we met up with one of Tom's japanese friends and went to Osaka Jo which is the major tourist attraction in the city. It's a castle which dates back to 1583 but was fully restored 11 years ago after it was damaged by fire in the 19th century and then bombed during WWII in 1945. It's set in a large part and has a large working moat and grand entrance doors. Many of the guide books tell you that it's the only place worth visiting in Osaka, which is a harsh thing to say, but I see their point if they are talking about someone well versed in Japan and it's culture. It's all new to me though so pretty rad. Outside the castle building itself we found a guy showing off his iguanas and letting people stroke them - but I thought better of it. We also watched this crazy street entertainer juggle with fire and then finally eat it and everyone lapped it up. The coolest thing by far about the castle park was that on a Sunday between mid day and five they have live bands playing for free down this one street and on the whole they were pretty good. There were five stages and several bands would be playing at once so you can wander down and just carry on walking if you didn't dig what they were doing. If they had something like that back home I'd be a regular visitor and we found a good ska punk band called Squeeze!! who were well worth watching. It did draw a few crazy old guys who'd be dancing like nutters though but they just added to the entertainment!

Dinner!

2008-06-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday Night Fever

2008-06-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

It's taken me less than 12 hours in Japan to sing karaoke and I'll give these guys credit for how much fun it can be. After an afternoon nap (which only encouraged the jet lag!) we caught the train back into Osaka station to meet Tom's American friends Vince and Tom (Vince should probably change his name to Tom hey?) and went out to get something to eat. Pizza wasn't what I had expected to eat coming to Japan but I'm not complaining and the Americans were good company. Apparently in a number of the restaurants you can pay for 90 or 120 minutes of "drink all you want" rather than paying for individual drinks but I didn't think nursing a hangover would be a suitable look for this morning so opted against it for now! I'm not sure what the area of the city was called but it reminded me of Carnaby street in places as it was traffic free and full of interesting little streets and shops and its definitely somewhere I'm going back to. After eating we went into the arcade next door and its pretty much how I imagined it to be - japanese guys absolutely nailing "Guitar Freaks volume 4" and "Dance Dance Revolution". I played a cool game called Pop Music Party which is a rhythm based game where you just hit the right buttons at the right time (Parappa The Rappa anyone?) and watched someone getting a near perfect score on DDR and then getting out towels to mop his sweat from the floor. Outside a large crowd had gathered to watch someone else on DDR and it's crazy how good these guys were at it.

Karaoke is big in Japan and just standing in the entrance of this place showed you how diverse a crowd you'd get at 9pm on a Saturday night - as we had groups of younger people mixed with wasted middle aged women and then Japanese couples. We had a little room with a table suitable for six with a flat screen at one end, a media player at the other and then a huge book full of different songs to pick. Tom had told me before that they had the more well known pop-punk bands like Blink-182 but I never expected to be able to pick songs from bands like Pennywise and Cute Is What We Aim For. I was nervous as I'd never sung in front of a group of people I didn't know before but eased into it was "Feeling This" by Blink with Tom, and then ventured out by picking Jimmy Eat World's "Sweetness" (Are you listening? woh-ohh-ohh-ohhh-ohhhhh), New Found Glory's "Truth Of My Youth" and Green Day's "Waiting". At least I wasn't the only one who couldnt sing to save his life though! I was half tempted to go with Ben E King's "Stand By Me" as it's my favourite ever song but I didn't want to massacre that on my first night and I'm sure I'll get round to it this week!

Saturday - Day 2

2008-06-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

I'm currently writing this sat in Tom's apartment in Daito, Osaka - as he's at work right now and I have a bit of jet lag to work out of my system! Yesterday morning I met Tom in the arrivals lounge at Kansai airport and we headed off to catch the JR Loop train into the city centre. The train map shows you how much each station costs in yen so you select the price of your ticket at the machine rather than the station itself and it seems straight forward enough. The harder part is working out what train to actually get on so I let Tom work that out and we didn't have to wait too long before we were off. The first thing you notice is that the train seats have reversable backs so you can either sit facing forwards or backwards and most opt for facing forwards it seems!

Osaka at first glance comes across like the outskirts of most major European cities as it's predominantly high rise housing and smaller scale shops - the obvious difference being the limited use of English on signs and a lack of any graffiti (which seems to blight most cities across Europe, London very much so). The JR Loop Line is like the M25 of the train world - as it forms a circle around the city and we head up the east side - passing the Nagui stadium (host of England vs. Nigeria in the 2002 world cup) and the Osaka Dome before changing trains at Kyobashi station and making our way to Suminodo. There's a much better system of queuing for entry onto the trains though here and trying to get onto the next train seems much more civilised than the scramble I normally have at Baker Street station! Suminodo is Tom's stop and his apartment is a five minute walk away.

Friday - Day 1

2008-06-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

Long distance journies of any sort suck, end of discussion. My four hour stop over in Amsterdam wasn't too bad in truth as I just sat and read my Bill Bryson book and clock watched - but the eleven hours after that weren't my finest moments. As the flight was between 3pm and midnight UK time I just didnt have any desire to really sleep and its incredibly frustrating when everyone around you is fast asleep and I'm sat counting down the hours until I definitely knew I'd be jet lagged. I started off watching "No Country For Old Men" and after an hour I realised that I just didn't care enough, so I switched to "Flushed Away" but couldn't deal with the awful English accents on animated rats so in the end settled for "Dan In Real Life" and "Horton Hears A Who". I don't know why I'm sharing this with you, I'm just fascinated by what movies people see on flights.

When we touched down in Osaka the first thing I noticed was how, even at 9.30am, the heat and humidity were much greater than we could hope for in England this summer. Before getting off the plane the stewards asked us to fill in customs and immigration forms - but conveniently had run out of immigration forms when they got to me so I then had a nervy few minutes making up the addresses I'd be staying at (I hadn't written them down!) and then embarassed myself for the first time. I couldn't work out what the lady was saying so just handed her everything and walked off without my passport. I went and got it back, but it was a clumsy start to Japan and customs wasn't any easier!

Heathrow

2008-06-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

So today I fly out to Japan and it's taken me roughly 4 minutes to work out that Heathrow terminal 4 is a real kick in the face. What the hell kind of departure lounge doesn't give you the chance to eat McDonalds breakfast at 6am? Don't get me wrong I can't stand the stuff normally, but its somewhat of a tradition and they've now had to pass that over to Starbucks! I'm having flashbacks to 2005 and my flight to America where I spent my time in the departure lounge attempting (and failing) sudoko for the first time. Damn you Carol Vorderman!

Oh blast!

2008-06-05T00:40:00.001-07:00

The Circle Line is part suspended this morning "due to the consequences of an unexploded World War II bomb". Now that's exactly what you want to deal with on your way to work!

We love podcasts - part 1

2008-06-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

Intricate Industries podcast have been awesome enough to host a Walnut Tree Records competition and you can win a goodie bag containing our three releases, stickers, badges and posters by listening to episode 21 HERE. Tom also plays a track from Waiting For Sirens as well as interviewing Four Year Strong and playing music from Mimi Soya and Mayday Parade. Brilliant. Good guys, backed hard!

I asked 118118...

2008-06-02T02:04:00.000-07:00

"What is Walnut Tree Records?" and their answer was: Walnut Tree Records is a company that sells CDs, you can buy their CDs at http://WalnutTreeRecords.bigcartel.com. Thank You!

Well, that was worth 30p!

The Water Is Poison

2008-05-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

Portman are again featured on Punktastic.com's podcast - you can hear them cover "Deadbolt" by Thrice by clicking THIS link. Thanks to Paul for playing the band again, much appreciated!

Walnut Tree Records podcast

2008-05-26T02:54:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Not sure why I haven't posted about this before, but you can now subscribe to the new Walnut Tree Records podcast over on Itunes. This first episode includes songs from Paige, Waiting For Sirens, Portman, Save Your Breath, Furthest Drive Home, Geisert 8 and an interview with New Jersey's Tell Me Tell You. To subscribe (and get future episodes direct to your Itunes) then follow THIS link.

Broken bands

2008-05-20T00:48:00.001-07:00

Recently I've almost exclusively, and with no real intention, been listening to bands that no longer exist. This morning (and a great portion of last night too) I've been returning to The Junior Varsity and decided that they're one of the most under rated bands in my CD collection. Some of the song writing on The Great Compromise is awesome and this band really should have been given more credit. The fact that they aren't adds to their charm though, as its like you've got this awesome secret that you can pop back to from time to time and enjoy all over again. Wide Eyed is one of my favourite releases and it would be a good starting point for anyone - its a good mix of haunting vocals and catchy melodies. Don't you worry about the sky, its on fire!

Portman on the Punktastic podcast

2008-05-13T02:19:00.000-07:00

Portman are featured on this week's Punktastic podcast - you can listen to the show by clicking HERE. Thanks for Paul for featuring the band.

This very moment, nothing else is this important.

2008-05-13T01:08:00.000-07:00

The title of this post comes from Set Your Goals' "This very moment" and I've been thinking about this quite a bit recently. When I see a band live and they're playing one of my favourite tracks - nothing else matters that those four minutes. I'll sing along and feel really uplifted, however it seems that I'm alone on that front. Give It A Name this weekend seems to be the perfect example of that - far too many people trying to act the part when they've got a band in front of them. During Set Your Goals set you had hundreds of kids trying to "impress in the pit" and felt it appropriate to be openly hurting people. I must have taken several kicks to the knees and one guy even managed to kick me in the jaw...and I was stood up at the time. Now I know that this can be part and parcel of gigs these days - but when did people stop singing to bands and enjoying themselves at shows in favour of acting what they think is the part?

Give It A Name

2008-05-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

So I scored a free ticket to today's Give It A Name "festival" at Earls Court and so far it's been a pretty lack lustre affair. Mayday Parade are an alright band but there's nothing too special about them and this certainly seems to be the case live. Chiodos aren't a band I'm too familiar with but can't imagine that I'll be checking them out much further, and don't even get me started on Cobra Starship!

Fortunately My American Heart, Set Your Goals, Finch and Alkaline Trio look like making the show worthwhile.

Classical Station

2008-05-09T00:16:00.001-07:00

The staff at Croxley tube station have started playing classical music over the speakers every morning, and it seems a very good way to relax the commuters. Instead of wondering where the hell my 8.11 train is I end up wandering why on earth they'd decided to go for chilling organ music this Friday morning. The organ music gives you the impression that you're queuing up for a spooky ride at Thorpe Park and I half expected the tube driver to turn up looking like a skeleton. Very disappointed when he wasn't.

Dream to make believe

2008-05-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

Armor For Sleep aren't as good live as they are on record - that's my first observation about tonight. Secondly - I counted at least four people who had their fingers in their ears at some point during the set. It was incredibly loud in the venue and possibly dangerously close to ruining people's ear drums including my own. Third up - the person stood next to me spent the entire set recording songs on his phone and then playing them back in between songs. I don't recall him looking at the stage without his phone pointing there too. Seems a very tiring way to watch a gig to me!

Don't you just love a good show!

Can you see my room on fire?

2008-05-08T00:33:00.001-07:00

Going to see Armor For Sleep this evening at the Water Rats in Kings Cross. The last time I saw the band I went to get my album signed and they were pretty rude to me and seemed more interested in talking to girls. Hardly surprising I know! I hope they're good regardless!

Who watches the watchmen?

2008-04-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Portman have posted a new tour video for the track "Who watches the watchmen?" - you can watch it below!

Podcast is the new black

2008-04-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

So I've been working on a Walnut Tree Records podcast over the past week and I just wanted to tell you about one of the bands I feature and chat to. Tell Me Tell You are from New Jersey and you should head over to their myspace page and check them out!

Failure really is an option.

2008-04-28T00:32:00.001-07:00

Who'd have thought back in November that Watford would be going into the last game of the season needing a win just to stay in the bottom half of the playoffs? The idea of a bank holiday party in Blackpool sounded like a brilliant idea then and now it's in real danger of being Boothroyd's last game in charge. Shocking stuff.

Hey, I guess I'll figure it out.

2008-04-18T07:49:00.001-07:00

The MovieLife (well, Vinnie and Set Your Goals) are playing two UK shows at the Kingston Peel in May! I'm pretty damn excited!

Do you ever feel alone?

2008-04-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

I've just got back from seeing ANGELS AND AIRWAVES at the London Astoria and actually thought they were pretty decent. Tom DeLonge certainly isn't as enjoyable as he was in his Blink-182 days but he still has this certain charismatic charm at times. It was also good to hear Reckless Abandon being played live again, as well as My First Punk Song from the Box Car Racer album. Tom is always going to have his critics now and I'm not going to defend either side, its just I can't help but enjoy myself when he starts cracking the jokes and showing some enthusiasm.

It will never be as good as it was, but I'll sing a long anyway.

LAB records are brilliant.

2008-04-17T01:34:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of LAB records and thought I'd help them out by posting this video update - they've got a stack of sweet bands and a new one on the way!

It's been said a few times now...

2008-04-16T10:39:00.001-07:00

...and certainly said by people with more influence than myself...but isn't THE HOLD STEADY's "Boys And Girls In America" absolutely brilliant? Just giving it my umpteenth listen on my way home and felt like writing about it. I can't listen to it without thinking of the book "On The Road" and I'm sure that's part of the bands intentions. There are times when I too think that Sal Paradise was right!

The best video I've seen this year...

2008-04-16T02:42:00.000-07:00

This is the best music video I've seen this year. I'm not really into the music itself, but....Luke Leighfield, take a bow son!

Sombre Station

2008-04-14T01:10:00.000-07:00

I've just gone past the spot where they found children's television presenter Mark Speight dead yesterday. It must be a lonely world if you're reduced to killing yourself yards from where thousands of people pass every hour and you can't ask for help. RIP Mark.

Monday mornings aren't fun.

2008-04-14T00:37:00.001-07:00

I should use this blog more often to update people on how things are going both with the label and myself. I'm one of those annoying people that needs to write their thoughts down everynow and then - especially on a Monday morning. Right now I'm heading to work on the tube and its stuck outside Wembley Park station again - this happens every day and I'm growing tired of it! Fortunately I have the excellent FAST REACTION album to listen to. They're currently in Japan playing a few shows and having an ace time. I can't wait to get out there!

Walnut Tree Records sign Waiting For Sirens

2008-04-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

Walnut Tree Records would like to officially announce the worst kept secret and welcome Waiting For Sirens to the family! The four piece Southampton based band are just finishing up university and will then release their self titled debut EP at the end of May. The band will then hit the road for as many shows as possible before returning to make their first video this Summer. You can hear two tracks from their forthcoming EP at the bands myspace page right now, as well as hearing them on Punktastic’s 5th Podcast along with label mates Paige.

Waiting For Sirens debut EP "Waiting For Sirens" can be pre-ordered now at the Walnut Tree Records web store. Feel free to grab a copy of Paige’s EP "If you say so" and Portman’s brilliant "From here to your eyes and ears" while you’re there!

In other WTR news: Lead off band Paige have just posted their video for "You’ve got guts" on the WTR myspace page and are continuing their impressive touring schedule. The band then headline the London Barfly on June 4th - advanced tickets without a booking fee can be bought at the bands official website now. Stamford’s Portman are just about to head off on tour too and they should not be missed. The band then will be shooting their first video for "Overestimating your audience". Exciting times down by the Walnut Tree this Spring and Summer!

Brand new Paige video for "You've got guts"

2008-04-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

Paige - You've Got Guts (Shame We Gotta Clean 'Em Up)

Portman Tour

2008-03-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

Portman head out on tour in April with Steer Clear - check out the wicked tour poster and head along to a few of the dates!

Win Win Win!

2008-03-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

Our friends at Punktastic.com are hosting a Portman competition where you can win a copy of their debut album, "From Here To Your Eyes And Ears" and a number of other goodies! Head over to their competition section to see how you can enter. Good luck!

I always believed in futures.

2008-03-04T01:02:00.001-08:00

Jimmy Eat World last night at the Camden Roundhouse were brilliant. They've been brilliant everytime I've seen them to me fair, so I wasn't really expecting anything less. Highlights of the set were Blister and Authority song - but they play so many tunes that whatever you hear from them is good. They also played a good six or seven songs in their encore so I looked a bit stupid predicting that they'd do Hear You Me and The Middle only. Have already listened to three of their albums this morning - think I'll go through the whole back catalogue by the end of the day!

Portman - From Here To Your Eyes And Ears

2008-03-01T15:59:00.001-08:00

StrangeGlue.com has reviewed the new Portman album and given it a brilliant 8 out of 10. Check out the review HERE!

It starts with Dean Moriarty

2008-02-25T03:52:00.000-08:00

The Maple State are a band that I have a lot of time for and with every new release they seem to be getting better and better. Say, Scientist is released today on High Voltage Records and is six brilliant tracks - including my favourite "Starts With Dean Moriarty" which reminds me very much of Hot Rod Circuit (which is a very good thing indeed). For me the band are at their best when they up the tempo and launch into songs and "Don't take holidays" is the perfect example of this. Greg is also spot on with his lyrics once more and I wasn't expecting anything less. I always see people on forums saying that their newer material isn't as good as their first demo and EP, but they're definitely progressing and if anything I much prefer the newer tracks they're coming out with.

Wake up the town!

2008-02-25T03:09:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to Dingwalls in Camden to catch Data.Select.Party and The Maple State – both were brilliant and reminded me of how much I love to sing a long to bands. DSP were selling a four track limited edition demo cd so I can finally listen to them without having to hit up their myspace page. I was all excited about the prospect to ripped it onto my itunes and shoved my ipod in the dock – but found out on the train that I’d left my ipod on manual update so the songs weren't there! Absolutely gutted! Head over to their myspace page to hear what I’m raving about.

This is how they roll...

2008-02-24T03:21:00.001-08:00

Paige have some brand new merch up on their online store - badges, magnets, t-shirts and bottle openers. Check them out here.

Let Me Come Home

2008-02-20T01:50:00.000-08:00

Limbeck have posted their new video for "Let Me Come Home" - check it out below! Such a good band!

Punktastic competition winners announced!

2008-02-19T02:05:00.000-08:00

Punktastic (I'm sure you've heard that name before!) recently ran a Paige competition - the winners have been announced! Congratulations to Michelle Williams, Gwen Paterson, Paul Thompson, Monica Di Marco and Ruth Potter! All prizes were sent out yesterday - but please get in contact with me if you have any problems.

I like this band...check their EP out!

2008-02-12T03:58:00.000-08:00

If You Say So review!

2008-02-12T03:29:00.000-08:00

Punktastic.com have reviewed the Paige EP - you can read it here.

Portman hit the airwaves

2008-02-12T00:16:00.000-08:00

Portman are set to record their own podcast this week and this will feature their own acoustic tracks as well as cover tracks from bands such as The Get Up Kids and The Weakerthans. In addition to this we'll be chatting to the guys and playing some songs from wicked UK bands. Head back here for more information shortly!

Paige t-shirts!

2008-02-11T05:12:00.000-08:00

Paige t-shirts are coming! They should be back with the band by February 13th and ready to buy at their show in Hertford that evening. After their current tour finishes they will also be available online from their online store.

Welcome to Walnut Tree Records

2008-02-11T04:13:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Walnut Tree Record's website and blog! First off, I'd like to thank Paul Savage from Punktastic for allowing me to follow his ideas and use blogger for my website. Punktastic Recordings are a great UK label that you should check out, in particular their band Day Of Rising. In fact you should also check out their release by OverAndOut - who are a bit of a hidden gem if you like straight up pop-punk with catchy melodies. I'll try my best to update this as regularly as I can with information on my label and Paige and Portman. I'm also going to use this blog to talk about other bands that I think you should check out and shows you might want to go to! Bare with me while I change the templates and the fonts a hundred times.

Tom!