Rain Tree Crow - "Blackwater" b/w "Red Earth" & "I Drink To Forget" 12" Vinyl, 45 rpm, Limited Edition, 1991 (Virgin)

In reality, Rain Tree Crow is the band Japan.  Why they changed their name when they decided to get back together to make an album is a mystery to me.  Still, this 12" single is one of their best songs.  "Blackwater" is a beautiful moody melody that expresses not exactly a romance, but the essence of looking back, and the need to move on.   Mick Karn, Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and of course David Sylvian, with assistance from guitarist and Cocteau fan Bill Nelson.  Mellow, with the ultimate Sylvian croon, "Blackwater" is a dream existence or location that one can feel, but maybe never touch or be in that location again.  It's a sad song.  It's melancholy with traces of wistfulness.   

Side two of this 12" single are two instrumentals.  "Red Earth" is on the Rain Tree Crow album, and it's very cinematic I think due to Brian Gascoigne's orchestration, and he also worked with Scott Walker's later recordings.  "I Drink To Forget" (don't we all) is prepared piano played by Sylvian with the rest of the band doing electronics is very slight, and it's almost an afterthought, but it is also very beautiful in its nature.  

Rain Tree Crow (Japan) - "Blackwater" b/w "Red Earth" & "I Drink to Forget" Vinyl 12" 45 rpm, Limited Edition, 1991 (Virgin)

For whatever reasons, the band Japan decided to regroup to make an album under the name of Rain Tree Crow.   David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Steven Jansen, and Richard Barbieri co-wrote all the music, but Sylvian dominated the lyrics.   I have the album on CD, but I just recently found a copy of a limited edition 12" of one of the songs that are on the album, "Blackwater." 

Without a doubt, it is one of the most beautiful recordings from Sylvian and company with an elegant melody played with great sensitivity by all above, including guest guitarist Bill Nelson.  It's ironic that this song is hidden in the Rain Tree Crow project, even though it is on a Sylvian compilation, it really needs full attention from Japan fans and elsewhere.  Whatever it is tensioned between Sylvian and Karn that caused the unit to break up, they clearly work well together, with respect to the results of their recordings.   Both have an interest in Eastern music or melodies, and it's borderline tragic that they didn't stick it out to make further albums.  The Sylvian and Karn solo recordings are good, but I often listen to a Sylvian solo release and think "where's Karn's fretless bass?"  Still, perhaps it wasn't meant to be.  At least Japan has made three excellent albums and Rain Tree Crow is very good as well.  Although it's a mystery to me why they didn't go under the name of Japan. Legal reasons?   It's a stupid name for a band, and maybe they wanted a fresh start.  Nevertheless, "Blackwater" is a great record.