Not Greatest CD Sale

UPDATE: ALL THE CDs ARE GONE. As in, they're all sold. Thanks folks, for taking them off my hands. But for the folks who wanted some of these CDs and didn't get to them fast enough, or folks who want other CDs that weren't on this list - contact me and I can help you get another copy! It won't be sale price but I try to keep prices here as low as possible.

Hey folks! Cayce's doing some winter cleaning, and has discovered in the process that we have entirely too many extra Buck-Tick CDs for our own good. Therefore, addition to the items we introduced in our last shopping service post, we are also offering the following Buck-Tick CDs for sale, at the following extremely low and affordable prices. All CDs are in good to excellent condition. All are original official Japanese domestic releases, no re-releases, no bootlegs, no fakes. Most include obi strips. As always, sales are on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you would like us to put an item on reserve for you, let us know. We are willing to put items on reserve for up to a month. If you would like to purchase any of the items below, or simply have further questions, please contact us at themadaristocrat at gmail. Shipping rates depend on how many CDs you buy, which country you live in, and which shipping method you prefer.

Also, a poll question: how many of y'all would be interested in buying some slightly vintage Buck-Tick tour tees? We've got a huge stash, predominantly of 13kai and Memento Mori era t-shirts, but a few older and newer ones as well. Most are black with either red or silver printing and therefore appropriate with goth outfits, but there are a few outliers in strange colors. Most are size small and either very lightly worn or never worn and still in their original packaging. If you're interested, post a comment, and we'll offer more information.

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500 yen each!

SOLD
Seventh Heaven

(CD album)

SOLD
Taboo

(CD album)

SOLD
Aku no Hana

(CD album)

SOLD
Zangai

(maxi single, regular edition)

SOLD
Dokudanjou Beauty

(CD maxi single, regular edition)

SOLD
Elise no Tame ni

(CD maxi single, regular edition)

SOLD
Miss Take  ~Boku wa Miss Take~

(CD maxi single, regular edition)

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800 yen each!

SOLD
Just One More Kiss

(CD mini-single)

SOLD
Speed

(CD mini-single)

SOLD
Rockarollica II

(Second CD album of Imai Hisashi's side project Lucy)

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1000 yen each!

SOLD
Koroshi no Shirabe ~This is NOT Greatest Hits~

(CD album)

SOLD
Cosmos

(CD album)

SOLD
Sexy Stream Liner

(CD album)

SOLD
Rendezvous

(CD single, limited edition first press)

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1500 yen each!

SOLD
Kurutta Taiyou

(CD album, limited edition)

SOLD
Kyokutou I Love You

(CD album, regular edition - no limited edition issued)

SOLD
13kai wa Gekkou

(CD album, regular edition)

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Shopping Service Christmas

For the first time in a long while, here's a shopping service post for y'all! The following items are taking up too much space on our shelves. Buy some of them and take them off our hands so we can hunt for more! As always, orders are on a first-come, first-served basis. Send all order requests to themadaristocrat at gmail. Payment is via PayPal in Japanese yen.

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SOLD

The Day in Question 2005 Pamphlet

This matte hardcover tour pamphlet from the 13th Floor edition of The Day in Question is the size of a standard DVD case, and contains 64 full-color pages of studio photography of the band members having a gothic picnic in their gothic mansion, hanging around under sparkly chandeliers, and making wink-wink nudge-nudge use of symbolism with hobbyhorses, apples and blindfolds, all while corrupting an innocent young Alice who happens upon their party. This is hands-down one of my top three favorite tour pamphlets of all time, and it's now very rare and out of print. Not to be missed! The textured pages were difficult to photograph, but I assure you the photos are very crisp and clear in person. 6000 yen.

Front Cover

Picnic in the garden. Note Imai's "staff," and Acchan's fanboy fan.

Wouldn't you love to take a bite out of Yutaka's apple?

...or take a ride on Hide's sexy beast I mean hobbyhorse?

"Come take a look in my picnic basket"

Even Acchan is an Acchan fanboy.

This one speaks for itself.

"Even my bathroom has chandeliers."

"Guys, don't you love hanging up the green screen and pretending like we're picnicking outside?"

And now for some pre-prandial gothygoth.

"I always eat dinner blindfolded. Food tastes better when you can't see it coming."

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SOLD

'SACRIFICE'

Sakurai Atsushi Solo Photobook

This gorgeous, giant hardcover photobook was released as part of Sakurai Atsushi's solo project. Contains 158 pages of sexy, arty photographs of dear Mr. Sakurai. Most of the photos are black and white, but a few are in color, including that one that all the fangirls love to make into livejournal icons. This is a must have for any fangirl, though you'll have to take care not to stain the lovely glossy pages with your fangirl juices. Rare and out of print. Generally good condition. 9000 yen. Special shipping rates apply (this thing is so heavy you could use it as a weapon.)

Front Cover

Come on baby light my fire!

We saw what you did there, photographer.

ARMPRONZ (is that how you say it in fangirl speak?)

Please me, oh yes. It's like a porunograph. Get off get off just!

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SOLD

Warp Days DVD

Live DVD of Buck-Tick's concert Tour 2002 Warp Days 20020616 Bay NK Hall. In Cayce's opinion, this is one of their more exciting and dynamic live DVDs, featuring an unusual array of songs they rarely play anymore. One disc, region 2, excellent condition. No first press was issued. Track list below. Rare and out of print.

5500 yen

SE

Shippu No Blade Runner

21st Cherry Boy (includes the Flower Incident and other stories)

Warp Day

Aku No Hana

Trigger

Ghost

Shanikusai -Carnival-

Kyokutou Yori Ai Wo Komete

Long Distance Call

Brilliant

Misshitsu (filmed with the Sakurai cam!)

Down

Love Letter

Iconoclasm

Baby, I Want You.

Uta

Oukoku Kingdom Come -Moon Rise-

Barairo No Hibi

Rokugatsu No Okinawa (holy crap they never play this one!)

National Media Boys

Hurry Up Mode

Cosmos

Continue

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Aaand...some screen caps!

Mr. Sakurai can be seen wearing the custom-made Schwein tour ring.

Mr. Imai can be seen wearing futuristic robot makeup!

And Mr. Imai can be seen fingering his guitar, right in the F-hole! (Don't try to claim you haven't fantasized about this at least once. I know you're lying.)

And Mr. Sakurai can be seen pouring a bottle of wine on his head! He was partying like it was 1999 in 2002! Those were the days!

As they say in German, Buch Dich, Mr. Sakurai. Buch Dich.

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Dropz - Sweet Oblivion (limited edition)

The only album ever released by Hoshino Hidehiko's side project Dropz, for which Mr. Hoshino was the guitarist and main songwriter. The other members of the group were British-Indian vocalist Kelli Ali (formerly of Sneaker Pimps) on vocals, and Cube Juice (who has worked extensively with Buck-Tick and wrote the songs "Fantasy" and "Tensei" for Sakurai's solo album Ai no Wakusei) on synth. Dropz are chillout lounge music, with a bit of sweetness and a bit of mystery. All the lyrics were written in English by Kelli Ali. If you loved Sneaker Pimps' first record Becoming X, you will love the Dropz. Also highly recommended to fans of Portishead, Massive Attack, and, of course, Hoshino Hidehiko. This limited edition comes with a bonus disc of remixes and is in perfect, pristine condition. Rare-ish and out of print. 3500 yen.

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My Way My Love - Caution Tape

For those of you who don't already know: My Way My Love is the longstanding noise/grunge/shoegaze/dreampop project of Murata Yukio, a contributor to Sakurai's solo album Ai no Wakusei, and more recently a member of Sakurai's side project band The Mortal. Caution Tape is not My Way My Love's only DVD, by any means, but this is by far their most professionally produced. Contains the entirety of the final concert on the 2009 I'll Cure You With Electricity tour, held on July 19th, 2009 at Daikanyama Unit. Also contains a lot of bonus footage of the band as they travel Japan, sampling local delicacies in many prefectures. If you really love watching Japanese hipsters eat street food from food trucks, then boy is this the DVD for you! Warning: these guys do not wear leather pants or eyeliner and Acchan-chan is not on this DVD. Rare, out of print, mint condition, region 2. 4500 yen.

Track List:

Vagabonds

Lemon

Cowboy Killers

Kill Your Idol

Wreck Low

Garden the Underside Little Dead Leaves

The Rainbow Song

C.

tell me what went wrong my baby

Flake

Acupuncture Man

The Devil Song

P.I.E.

Death Has No No Fans

BAY

Pxxxx

ovo

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SOLD
Tsuchiya Masami - Mori no Hito

1997 solo album from Tsuchiya Masami features Sakurai Atsushi on guest vocals on two tracks, "Manatsu no Yoru no Mori," ("A Midsummer Night's Forest") and "Goblin Forest." Beyond Sakurai's guest vocals, this is a beautiful album in general, full of mysterious, soothing tracks, including vocals and instrumentals, and incorporating many forest sounds like birdcalls and crickets...great to listen to for relaxation and very possibly one of Cayce's top ten favorite records ever!  Conceived as a concept album against environmental destruction, the case and booklet were printed on recycled paper. The album was recorded in London and released by Cross Records, Sugizo's label. Song samples available on request. Incredibly rare and out of print. Excellent condition.

4500 yen.

San Francisco Graffiti

This, courtesy of Kame in San Francisco (shot from a moving bus by Kame). No, it's not quite what you think it is, but that doesn't matter.

Tower Records Kinshicho

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Last week, we found occasion to visit Tower Records Kinshicho, right under the Tokyo Sky Tree. Since Kinshicho is a bit of an out-of-the-way location (except for people who live in the nuclear fallout zones west Chiba and east Saitama, and who wants to live there?) we had not hitherto paid a visit to this particular location of Tower Records, especially since the 9-storey Shibuya location is far closer to our usual digs and haunting grounds. But certain sources had informed us that the manager of Tower Records Kinshicho is a massive fanboy of the same sort of underground Japanese rock covered here on The Blog-Tick Phenomenon, so we felt that a visit might be worth our while, and we were not wrong.

Even before we entered the store, we were greeted by this light-up billboard:

And once inside, we quickly discovered the very large Buck-Tick shrine, right next to the only slightly smaller shrine to Ken Morioka! Note the inclusion of old albums and side projects, including Schaft and The Mortal (for Buck-Tick) and Ka.F.Ka (for Ken Morioka).

At the bottom right in this picture, you can see that someone, presumably the fanboy manager, had made loving zine-style black-and-white photocopies of the promo flyers for the Atom Miraiha No. 9 tour, for interested customers to take home with them for free.

And here's his long, handwritten birthday tribute to Imai Hisashi:

A close-up on the Ken Morioka tribute boards. Fans were invited to write memorial messages of their own, and as you can see, both boards are already full.

The word is that this manager is an even bigger fan of My Way My Love than he is of Buck-Tick, which would certainly explain the effort that went into crafting this My Way My Love shrine, right around the corner from the Buck-Tick shrine. Note the miniature handwritten album review for Nothing is difficult to those who have the will, an album which came out ten whole years ago. At the left side of the photo is another set of black and white photocopied flyers that were handmade by the manager, including his very own handwritten live report of "Seiten no My Way," a concert performed by The Mortal members Miyo Ken (with his band Seiten no Hekireki) and Murata Yukio (with his band My Way My Love) back in May.

Friends, this is what record stores used to be like. Though this kind of record store is growing fewer every year, let's do our best to keep a few of them open. Next time you visit Japan, I encourage all of you to check out Tower Records Kinshicho - it's imbued with the sort of DIY spirit rarely found in this corporate era, and maybe if you're lucky, the manager will be on the floor and you'll have a chance to say hi and fanboy over Buck-Tick together for a few minutes. We're sure he'd be delighted.

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The Ticket Fairy

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Since we started This is NOT Greatest Shopping Service in summer of 2013, we've been pleased to help you readers and newcomers to this blog locate rare Japanese items, coveted new releases, and of course, the humdinger: Japanese concert tickets. Without a Japanese address and knowledge of the Japanese language, it can be next to impossible to purchase tickets to concerts in Japan without help...but have no fear, we are pleased to offer that help to you! This year in particular, we've received more requests for help ticket purchases than ever before, and to those of you who purchased tickets through us, we sincerely hope we were able to satisfy you.

At the same time, we know that for new customers, requesting this kind of service over the internet without a guarantee or reference from a trusted source can cause a certain amount of trepidation. It is our solemn pledge never to cheat, defraud, or otherwise do anything untoward toward our customers, but even though we say that, we understand that you don't necessarily have any way of knowing whether we're telling the truth.

Therefore, we have a favor to ask: if you have purchased concert tickets (or other items) through This is NOT Greatest Shopping Service and liked what you got, please write a comment with a few sentences about your experience, as a reassurance to future customers that we are who we say we are and we'll do what we say we'll do and we're not some kind of sketchy catfish scheme. If possible, please also include your name (handle is fine), the concert you purchased tickets for, and the name of your country. Thank you in advance for your help!

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In other news, your fellow Blog-Tick readers have brought it to my intention that the following three concert tickets are in search of good homes. If you would like to adopt either or both, please contact us at themadaristocrat at gmail.

Buck-Tick

Atom Miraiha 2016 Tour @ Kyoto Rome Theater

December 8th

One ticket is available. A dear reader of ours was caught by difficult work circumstances and became unable to attend this show...help her out by snapping up this ticket for yourself!

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Buck-Tick

Atom Miraiha 2016 Tour Final @ Nippon Budoukan

December 29th

One stage side ticket is available. The seat is on the second level, east side (Hide's side of the stage). Tickets to this show are mostly sold out so if you want to attend but don't have a ticket, this is your chance!

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Nocturnal Bloodlust

New Year Countdown Live at Harajuku Astro Hall

December 31st

One of our readers was going to attend this show and then became unable to make it. If you're a fan of dark dramatic metal and you'd like to go in her stead, let us know. Then again we suppose all metal is dark and dramatic. But there's always room for more darkness and drama.

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We look forward to hearing from you.

Cayce Does Luxuria

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Of the deadly sins going around this year, we've certainly seen our fill of Superbia (an anthropomorphic orange kitchen sponge who has THE BEST WORDS is going to make America win so much it'll get tired of winning!), Ira (the way anyone with a brain feels about the former situation), and Gura (the Grim Reaper had already taken too many musical souls for one year even before he got to Leonard Cohen). However, Luxuria has been markedly thin on the ground.

If you're feeling frustrated about this and searching for a solution, well, we're pleased to say that we've got just the thing you may be looking for.

Those of you who've been reading NGS/Blog-Tick for any length of time are probably aware that in addition to being the English-language internet's foremost Buck-Tick Blogger (What a stupendous claim to fame! We're almost tired of being famous already!), Cayce is a professional freelance translator based in Tokyo, which everyone knows is a magical land full of Pocky and Pikachu and Godzilla and lots and lots of anime. In fact, it's a known fact that anyone who visits Tokyo immediately transforms into an anime character upon arrival in Narita airport, and I know that every Blog-Ticker who's made the trip over here to see B-T will back us up on this one.

(This artist is wrong. The reality is actually much closer to the image on the left.)

And though we're a very private person, we're now pleased to share that not only have we been living as an anime character since our own arrival in Narita in aeons past, but we are now actively employed in the anime business, or more correctly, the manga business. That's right, folks: since spring of this year, the services of your very own Cayce have been engaged for the translation of manga. Specifically, your very favorite kind of manga: smutty manga.

Publishing takes a while, and most of the titles we've translated so far are still in production, but in celebration of this new development in our career, we're pleased to announce the release of our very first officially authorized manga translation: The Rose-Cutter and His Love Slave. The platform, Renta! Comics, allows readers all over the world to purchase or rent digital manga that you can read on your phone or tablet, and as you can see, it's Luxuria galore. Though we take zero responsibility for the inconsistent quality of the art and writing on these stories in general, if this kind of thing tickles your pickle, we encourage you to check out the whole site, as they have oodles of titles available. Most are written by female authors and aimed at female readers, and we believe the content can be best summed up by this lyric from Buck-Tick's "Black Cherry":

You’re the honey, honey spilling over 

I’m kneeling, eating it like a dog 

Weeping in ecstasy

Oh, yes, kids. Don't stop, kids! Let there be pr0n!

For those interested, we will happily keep you updated on the titles we've translated as they are released.

For the fujoshi among you: there is yaoi coming soon.

And last but not least, for all you teen weeaboos who dream of translating manga smut for a living: yes, this is a real job that pays real money. It was our dream once, and look at us now! Like we said, Tokyo is basically a real-time anime in city form.

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P.S. Fun fact: Cayce has actually slept with Godzilla in the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku (but it wasn't like that.)

Chandelier Lottery

Hi, folks.

As you may have noticed, everything is terrible. However, there should still be no reason why we can't have nice things.

As such, the wheels of capitalist opportunism turn apace, and this time, those wheels are grinding on the chandeliers used to decorate Yokohama Arena during Climax Together 3rd. As a part of Pia's Remember Project, various memorabilia items impregnated with bits and pieces of those chandeliers could be yours as keepsakes! Previously, the Remember Project has made memorial goods out of bits of the now-demolished Nihon Seinenkan, where Buck-Tick held their Great East Japan Earthquake charity concert in 2013. They have also made memorial goods out of the scrapped old seats from Yokohama Arena, bits of the now-demolished Hotel Okura, and bits of the soon-to-be-demolished Tokyo National Gymnasium. All they're missing are pieces of the now-demolished Shibuya Kokaido, may the dreamy cosmos have mercy on its soul. Why are all these buildings being demolished, you ask? Well, better to demolish them in advance than to wait for an earthquake to come along, right? Also, the International Olympic Committee demanded their destruction as blood payment for the sacred right to hold the Olympics in Tokyo. Wanton destruction is all the rage right now, so it's no wonder that Buck-Tick's management have partnered with Pia to demolish some of the Climax Together 3rd chandeliers in order to create limited quantities of the following eight select items, including miniature chandeliers and more. The items will be available through a lottery which opens on November 21st. All proceeds will be donated to post-quake reconstruction efforts in Kumamoto.

The items are as follows:

It's hard to see how this necklace includes a piece of a chandelier, but if you liked the Climax Together 3rd astral globe symbol design, maybe this is the necklace for you, if you have 11,000 yen to burn. Quantities of this item are limited to 1,000 only. For the price, you'd better hope the metal bit is real silver, but they don't say anything about that on the site, so it might very well not be.

Then again, if you have Ears of Steel, why not go for these chandelier earrings instead? After all, once you put them on, you'll look like a walking chandelier yourself, so maybe if you're lucky, Acchan-chan will decide to hang you from his living room ceiling. At 12,000 yen, the earrings are even more expensive than the necklace, but they have a more Climactic feel, in our opinion, so money well spent! Quantities are limited to 1,000 only.

Here's an item for fanlings of more modest means: a keyholder with a leather strap and one of the smaller chandelier crystals. These are quite affordable, at only 3000 yen each, but quantities are limited to 1,000 only, so if you win one, you're a lucky ducky.

If the above keyholder wasn't opulent enough for you, here's another fancier one. Look...the Climax Together symbol is cut into the glass itself! This one's a little more expensive at 3500 yen, and also limited to 1,000 only. On the plus side, if you win it, you could definitely take it apart and make it into a better necklace than the one pictured above.

And now for the mini-chandeliers! Honestly, we're not sure if these things quite count as "chandeliers," seeing as none of them could be hung from Acchan-chan's living room ceiling. However, if you're one of those Goth Lite people who never read Interview With the Vampire but liked the movie, proudly hangs your Edward Gorey calendar on the wall next to your coat rack hung with a rainbow of North Face anoraks in different colors, thinks Lorde's purple lipstick is really edgy, and found out about Buck-Tick through Trinity Blood, these are probably just about the right speed of chandelier for you.

Mini Chandelier A

Wouldn't this make a darling desk lamp? At 50 cm tall by 20 cm wide, it's just big enough to illuminate your smutty Toll fanarts and nothing else. At only 20,000 yen, this is a steal! Plus, it's engraved with the Climax Together logo and its own serial number. There are only 150 of them available. Fight for it, kids.

Mini Chandelier B

On the other hand, if you're the type who always wanted to try having a Beauty and the Beast-style candlelit dinner but is mortally afraid of real fire, this one might be the perfect choice. At 23 cm high by 11 cm wide, it's teeny tiny enough to fit on your dinner table. It's a little bit pricier at 24,500 yen, but there are only 19 of them available so if you win one you're a special snowflake.

Mini Chandelier C

If you liked the chandelier above but felt that it didn't really spread the crystals wide enough to make optimum cat toys, then this is the chandelier for you. Its side brackets are reminiscent of lily petal or jellyfish arms, and they spread those dangling crystals out so they're irresistible to cats! Bonus points if you shine a laser pointer through the faceted glass! Bengal kitties in particular are known for their need to investigate/play with/destroy absolutely everything in your house, so this chandelier might be your ticket to Acchan-chan's heart if you give it to him as a peace offering to replace all the chandeliers he has already lost to the wild and ebullient passions of Young Miss Kurumi. This one is also 24,500 yen, but more special, because there are only nine of them.

Mini Chandelier D

Aaand...last but not least! The Phallic Symbol Chandelier! This is Buck-Tick's Climax, after all, so you knew that was coming (no pun intended!) Its elegant, spidery legs call to mine the image of a lover up on tiptoe, trembling with anticipation, while its long festoons of silver crystals evoke a myriad of Buck-Tick imagery, from the Irregular Crystals of Love in "PINOA ICCHIO," to "Heroin -Angel Dust Mix-" to whatever those "countless crystals" were that Mr. Sakurai swallowed in "Glamorous" to that "sea spray" Mr. Sakurai was swimming in in "IN". This one's the winner. This one is going to make Buck-Tickistan great again. If, that is, you have the money: all 60,000 yen of it. And there are only nine of them. One for each of your nine new worlds. One for each of the nine lives you lost last night as you tried to kill yourself repeatedly.

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But please, my American Blog-Ticker friends. Don't despair. As of last night, Buck-Tickistan have announced they will begin reviewing asylum applications from refugees fleeing the chaotic ravages of terror in the United States of America. Application forms can be downloaded from the website of the Embassy of the Anarchic Republic of Buck-Tickistan. If you need any help filling them out, feel free to ask us for assistance.

And if you like the look of the above items and you want a piece of Climax Together climaxing in your house forevermore, but you need help entering the lottery, let us know before November 21st. Like we said. Wherever you are in the world, we're always happy to help you climax.

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