I will admit that I don’t go out for drinks that much anymore, and when I do, I find myself not really knowing where to go anymore (if I’m tasked with finding a place). With my good friend Luis Mendo in town this week — he’s working with me on some PechaKucha-related stuff — we ended up going out last night for dinner and then a bit of drinking in Shibuya, along with a few other friends.

Dinner was at the Royal Garden Cafe, and it was rather good — the menu focuses on organic offerings. We then met up with the rest of our companions in this wine bar. It was fine, but it’s a standing bar, and I’d much rather sit down and relax when I’m drinking and chatting, and so we then headed to a funky little hole-in-the-wall placed called Bistro D’arbre — there are apparently a few of them (as you can tell from the sign on the photo above), including a decent restaurant in Ebisu. Although tiny, there are 3 floors — we occupied the second floor (we were a cramped eight), and there was a tiny loft space on top of us.

All of this reminded me of the early years of my life in Tokyo, when I would cut out listings for bars and cafes, that I would past in a notebook, consulting it when I wanted to go out. It was a great research tool, and I had as much fun trying out new places as I had drinking at them.

It was announced this week that the Combine cafe in Nakameguro will be closing for good later this month (on February 25). Although I didn’t really go that often, I did enjoy the times that I did, and it does feel like a revered (or much appreciated) part of Tokyo is dying off — I don’t know when it opened, but it feels like it’s been there for most of the decade I’ve been here.

Should we be surprised? It is after all one of the aspects of this city that we tend to like: the endless flux. Tokyo is constantly being reimagined, and new spaces go up, just as they go down. Combine already played a part in this growth/contraction: the Daikanyama spinoff closed down last year after a nearby studio complained about the noise.

And like I said, I didn’t really go to Combine much — to be fair, I don’t get to Nakameguro that often these days — yet I feel sad about its closing.

Maybe it’s because a lot of people I know liked to go there too.

Maybe I’m hit by a sudden regret for not going more often — it’s not like there are that many spots in Tokyo that offer a nice open view of the river during the spring/summer months.

Maybe I shouldn’t care, and just take this as an excuse to find the next great spot to hang out with friends in. I certainly find myself not exploring this city as much as I used to, and although there are many factors that contribute to this (busy with work, location where I live, being married, having a dog), I do often feel a bit guilty that I don’t take the time still properly take in this city of mine.

So goodbye Combine, thanks for the memories. And hello, Tokyo.

That photo at the top is taken from this blog — there are more here.

Not that it’s really worth mentioning, but I updated my Cafe Pause mini-site, taking away the blog and simply keeping it as an info page — basically, somewhere to link to when I mention the cafe in a post (since the cafe’s own site is in Japanese). I used the lovely illustration Luis created for the Cafe Pause Poster series as the header.

And let me take this opportunity to clear up a few things, as a lot of people seem to be confused by my relationship with Cafe Pause. No, I am not the owner of the cafe, I’m just good friends with the owner and staff, which is why I’ve been able to produce events and host PauseTalk there. I was managing the gallery space, but don’t really do so anymore — although I’ll still help out if a foreigner wants to rent out the space for a show.

Thursday night I was out in Shibuya for the opening reception of the new Diesel Concept Store, which opens to the public today (November 20). Like the Diesel Denim Gallery in Aoyama, the store features a gallery space, and the opening show is Simon Henwood and Fannie Schiavoni’s “Black Sun” (until February 23). I rather like the diner-like cafe/bar area, but I have no idea what the regular menu will have to offer.

The party itself was a bit too packed for my taste, although I did get a kick out of seeing Takashi Murakami waiting in line to get in when I was on my way out.

And we’re off: The SNOW Magazine Cafe is now go at Cafe Pause, and runs until August 30. I just posted something on SNOW Magazine that details everything you can expect to find there. Sure, there’s all the magazine stuff (33 titles as part of the main exhibition, and then a large selection of zines, as well as special displays for Knee High Media and OK Fred), but I’m also pretty happy with what we (me and the staff at the cafe) came up with for the special menu. You will find the SNOW LASSI (Peach Lassi, 600 yen), the SNOW COCKTAIL (Malibu Rum and Milk, 700 yen), and the SNOW PUDDING (Annin Tofu and Tapioca, 500 yen).

The important thing to note is that the opening party is Monday night (August 2), from 19:00. There will be a short PauseTalk session at 20:00, but the event is definitely open to everyone, and so please join us even if you would normally not attend PauseTalk. Entry is free, and we’ll have a 500 yen drink menu, with all the event menu items available at that price as well.

Very nice to see that when my friend Jeriaska decided to interview Michiru Yamane, composer to the Castlevania series, he did so at Cafe Pause here in Ikebukuro. You can read the full interview here, as part of his “Chiptuned” column on the 1UP site.

Yesterday after getting lunch at the nearby Maison Kayser — it’s the one located inside Ikebukuro’s Sunshine City with a terrace, so it’s dog-friendly — we decided to just start walking, with the general idea of heading towards Iidabashi. Three wards later (Toshima, Bunkyo, and Taito) we ended up not only stopping for a drink at the very enjoyable Canal Cafe (you sit outside by Kanda river), we continued on to Yasukuni shrine. We wanted to end up at Sanbancho Cafe — it’s also dog-friendly — but there was a wedding reception in full effect, so no go. But the epic walk was an enjoyable one — despite some feet dragging on my part towards the end because of fatigue — and we’ve realized that it’s something we want to start doing more often. It gives us a chance to get out and about without having to leave the dog at home in his cage, which he doesn’t much like.

Pictured, photos taken by my wife near Yasukuni shrine, showing my dog Confiture simply hanging out. I think we should start a regular series of these, with him checking out various parts of Tokyo.

I announced the SNOW Magazine Cafe event a couple of days ago, and already I’ve been getting some great feedback — lots of people who wish they could actually come to Tokyo to attend — and also lots of contributions. I think we have the makings of something special, and I’m already excited about coming up with some new elements to add to the month-long celebration.

Also, I’ve set up a more permanent area for the event, so please feel free to share that link instead of the post on SNOW Magazine. I’ll also be using that space for future updates, both before the start of the event, and during. Notice that “2010″ in the title at the top of the page? Sure, why not make this into an annual event. And I’m certain that whatever I learn from putting together this year’s edition will contribute to making an even better event next year.

And again, if you are a publisher of (or work on) an art, design, or culture magazine and would like to participate, it’s as easy as sending me your latest issue. Zines are also welcome — I do love those too — and Ian Lynam is already going to help me put together a nice selection for the event.

I’m very happy to announce that the first SNOW Magazine-related event will take the form of a magazine exhibition at Cafe Pause this summer (August 1-31). The SNOW Magazine Cafe will be a month-long celebration of art, design, and culture magazines from around the world, on display for everyone’s reading pleasure.

It will be accompanied by a drink and snack menu created for the exhibition, to enjoy while browsing through the magazines, and a special edition PauseTalk (August 2) will cover discussion topics revolving around the theme of “magazines.”

I’m of course on the lookout for magazines to include in the event, so if you are a maker of an art, design, or culture magazine (or know someone who does), please send them to the announcement page. Each magazine included in the exhibition will be on display in the cafe, easily browsable by anyone, and will include an info “bookmark,” with details about the magazine in both English and Japanese.

I announced it a month back, and now the fifth edition of the “Cafe Pause Poster Series” is finally up at the entrance of the cafe. Again, huge thanks to Luis for doing this — it’s a great way to kick off 2010 at Cafe Pause! You can better see the poster here, as well as an explanation of the concept behind it.

After having such a great time coming up with tracks for this past Friday’s PLAY 00 (I used “00″ because it was a bit of a test for me) — see this post for the complete set list — I’ve decided to do it again this coming Friday (December 4). If you have nothing better to do, then hey, come on down to Cafe Pause in Ikebukuro for PLAY 01 to listen to a selection of tracks by me, from 21:00 to 23:00.

So yes, as I threatened last week, I did my PLAY two hours set at Cafe Pause this past Friday, and had a great time doing it. I didn’t make a big deal out of it because this was more a test run for me, and I did find a few things I need to take care for next time (longer cord, adjust bass on the sound system). But yes, there will be a next time, and more on that in my next post. I’d like to thank Hiro for dropping by and spending the evening with me (and taking the photo above), as well as Jason and his crew for coming by before the end.

As promised, I’m including here the entire playlist of my set, although keep in mind that the order is only 90-95% accurate because the software I was using, Djay, crashed at the end. The reason it crashed is because it doesn’t seem to want to record a 2-hour set, as I’ve tried to record my set twice after that, and it crashed every time. Since I did want to share the music, I instead managed to record it in two parts.

PLAY 00 (Part 1) (58 MB)

1. Tori Punk – “Sensor”
2. Beck – “Broken Drum (Boards Of Canada Remix)”
3. RJD2 – “Counseling (Instrumental)”
4. Bloc Party – “Banquet (Cornelius Remix)”
5. Erlend Oye – “Sheltered Life (with Soviet)”
6. Arling & Cameron – “Shake It”
7. Holland – “Bloodbath”
8. Mark Robinson – “100% Guaranteed”
9. Air Miami – “Airplane Rider”
10. Fujiya & Miyagi – “Cassettesingle”
11. Bran Van 3000 – “Jean Leloup’s Dirty Talk”
12. Czerkinsky – “Natacha (Remix)”
13. April March – “Mon petit ami”
14. Jacques Dutronc – “Et moi, et moi, et moi”
15. Belle & Sebastian – “Legal Man”
16. The Gruesomes – “Stop It, Girl”
17. Dog Day – “Sleeping On Couches”
18. Thurston Moore – “Cindy (Rotten Tanx)”
19. Aiha Higurashi – “Platonic”
20. Elastica – “Line Up”

PLAY 00 (Part 2) (45 MB)

21. Komeda – “More Is More”
22. Ladytron – “Playgirl (Tobias Newmann Mix)”
23. Freezepop – “Science Genius Girl”
24. Le Tigre – “Nanny Nanny Boo Boo (Junior Senior Remix)”
25. Metric – “Help I’m Alive”
26. Cat Power – “Love & Communication”
27. Charlotte Gainsbourg – “5:55″
28. Four Tet – “Twenty Three”
29. The Books – “Tokyo”
30. Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – “Romance”
31. Cake on Cake & My Lost Era – “Les souvenirs suédois”
32. Les Hommes – “Intraspettro”

I’ve been threatening to DJ — well, “music select” — somewhere for a while now, and I’ve decided to finally make it happen this week. On Friday (November 27) I’m introducing something I’m calling PLAY, in which I’ll be setting up my laptop in a corner somewhere at Cafe Pause, and make people listen to a selection of tracks by me, from 21:00 until 23:00 (when the cafe closes). This is not an event proper, it’s just a casual invitation to come hang out and listen to (what I think are) some good tracks. I don’t know if this will become a regular thing, it might, and I may invite others to join me in the “selection” duties in the future.

If you’re wondering how I’m doing this, today I found what looks like the perfect software for my needs, something called Djay. All I wanted was something that would let me transition tracks, and also allow for pre-cueing, which I’ll be able to do courtesy of my ZOOM H2, using it as a USB audio interface. If this all works as well as I’m hoping it will, I can also see us recording a live episode of Radio OK Fred this way.

This could have been a very interesting cafe project, if completed.

In 2008 Japanese architect Hiroki Tanabe developed a small café house of 62 sqm — a two-story complex which has an elongated U shape. On the first floor there is a kitchen and the café doubling as living room. The second floor houses a bedroom and bathroom.

See a gallery of photos over at Designboom.

I’m very happy to be able to share the latest entry in my “Cafe Pause Poster Series” (#5), a contribution by Amsterdam-based art director Luis Mendo. You know about the Tokyo map he just produced for the next issue of Journal de Nîmes, and now here’s also his homage to the cafe. The concept revolves around the seats found in the cafe — there are 24 (all pictured), with 23 people shown, the idea being that the 24th customer is you!

The poster should occupy the entrance of the cafe sometime this week, but unfortunately won’t be ready for tomorrow night‘s PauseTalk (Vol. 35).