Rain Tree Crow - "Rain Tree Crow" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 1991/2019 (Virgin)

Rain Tree Crow is the band Japan, with all four original members (David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Steve Jansen, & Richard Barbieri). This album is a reunion after Japan broke up. Why they didn't keep the name, Japan, is a mystery to me. When the record was released in 1991, it didn't make significant noise in the music press nor anywhere else for that matter, which is a shame, because this is a beautiful record.

The first cut "Big Wheels in Shanty Town" is very similar sounding to the David Byrne/Brian Eno's album, in that it has a groove that's "World" music like, but then David Sylvian's croon makes it their music. Sylvian and company, which I suspect were under the influence of Can while making this album, is a series of improvisions done in the studio. What was perhaps a 'jam' album becomes tight compositions. The appeal of Rain Tree Crow is that what they do is not original, but that they can take the concept or riff and make it their own.

Their sound (as in Japan as well) is very distinctive of their collaborations. Barbieri has that unique ambient electronic sound that gives the material a foundation. Then you add Karn's distinctive brass arrangements and fretless bass, with the creative percussion by Jansen. Then Sylvian adds effects, and importantly, his Bryan Ferry-like croon. What once was an inspiration, now is very much part of the Sylvian aesthetic. The great song is "Blackwater," which is a stunning ballad. It builds to a certain level and then floats like a cloud seen from a distance. The album, in whole, works in that fashion.  

David Sylvian -"Pop Song" 12" 45 RPM, Single, Vinyl, 1989 (Virgin)

"Pop Song"  creeps up on the listener, it's like watching a single fly on a window pane, moving around and not going anywhere.   It's a beautiful song/recording, due to David Sylvian's croon, which is an instrument in itself, where he sings of disappointment and resentment.  "Tell you I love you, like my favorite pop song."  "Pop Song" can be seen as a critique of the nature of commercial music or being in a position where one has to produce a product for the listener or the masses.  With jazz like piano riffs and the tension built in its rhythm, this is classic Sylvian.  

Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band - "Paraiso" LP, Vinyl, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, 2018/1978 (Light in the Attic)

Haruomi Hosono, is without a doubt, one of the most important musicians/record maker in Japan.  If I have to make a comparison with a Westerner, Van Dyke Parks comes to mind.  Hosono is a producer, songwriter, founding member of YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra) and very much a music historian.  Of course, there are other figures in Japanese pop music that are important, but Hosono is unique in that he has a perspective that is very much Japanese but also has an understanding about music from other cultures. Also, to note, he knows about outside music that influenced Japanese taste and contemporary culture.  In that sense, he's like Parks in that he knows his history and how to use it or comment on current culture by going back into the past and bringing back music, but in a different way or arrangement. 

To dwell into Hosono's world is difficult just due to the range of music he made in his career.  He went from traditional Japanese pop music to Hawaiian to rock to electro-pop, and ambient.   The unique aspect of Hosono is that each style he investigates he does so with expert knowledge and an organic manner in appreciating the different types of music. It doesn't seem to be on a 'fashionable' or surface level, but a deep appreciation of how music has traveled around the world.  It's interesting to note that Hosono uses the name Harry for these 'exotica' recordings. 

"Paraiso" is a fascinating album that bridges his interest in tropical/exotica music but entering into the electronic world by baby-steps.  Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi make their first appearance here with Hosono before they formed YMO.  So, the album is very much a journey, and it's not the destination that's important but the travel itself.  'Asatoya Yunta" is a traditional Okinawa song, but he also rips into "Fujiyama Mama," an American rockabilly song, which some may think is in rather bad taste, with respect to the bomb.  Nevertheless, with humor and wit, Hosono makes his own planet of music that connects from dot to dot.  A beautiful reissue from Light in the Attic, with a great interview in English with Hosono as an additional plus to the whole package. 

David Sylvian & Holger Czukay - "Plight & Premonition Flux & Mutability" Vinyl, LP, Album, Compilation, Reissue, 2018 (Grönland Records)

David Sylvian and Holger Czukay became good friends when Czukay helped Sylvian on his first solo album "Forbidden Trees," which by the way is an excellent album.   Around that time, Czukay invited Sylvian to come to his studio in Germany, where he recorded and played with his previous band Can.  They made two albums together "Plight & Premonition" and "Flux & Mutability."  Both albums are now reissued on vinyl in one beautiful package, courtesy of Grönland Records, who have been reissuing a lot of Czukay's recorded work. 

On the surface, first, listen one thinks of the David Bowie instrumental sides from "Low" and "Heroes."  They border on the ambient side, but there is something textural that is not precisely like wallpaper music.   The same goes for the Sylvian and Czukay pieces.  Also, these four pieces on the album are improvised works, and I'm not sure how to improvise the Bowie tracks were.  Nevertheless, these primarily instrumental works (with some borrowed voices deep in the mix) are very much in the aesthetic and sound of the Sylvian and Czukay world.  Their relationship is perfect for making music.  To my ears, Sylvian is attracted to third world or Asian melodies, and Czukay has his ears tuned into the European 20th-century classic mode.  There are traces of western orchestration that comes and goes in the mix, and it is indeed a world where the band Japan meets Can.

My favorite cut is "Mutability" which has a lot of guitars, with various pedals/effects.  It's a majestic piece of music.  The music is mellow, but one is never sure how things will play out in the music.  For instance, at the beginning of "Plight," there's a sound of either a voice or a bird screeching that is startling to the listener.  It reminds me of the famous film cut in Orson Welles'  "Citizen Kane" where a parrot shows up suddenly with a loud screech.   A superb collection of two albums, with a beautiful essay by David Toop.  

The Ventures - "Pops in Japan" 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Japan, 1980 (United Artists Records Japan)

If for nothing else The Ventures brought the electric guitar to Japan.  To this day, The Ventures (or whoever is left of the band) still do yearly tours of Japan, and it is one of the significant areas of the world to complete your Ventures vinyl collection.  Other then that, The Ventures made two albums for the Japanese market covering Japanese pop songs and Enka, which is similar to the blues, but in Japanese.  These sad Japanese pop ballads have a natural relationship with the electric guitar.  For the Westerner, it's a cool combination.  For my wife, who is Japanese she may find it kitsch.  Since I'm writing this review, I will say it's fine art.

The liner notes are all in Japanese, and I suspect that side one & 2 of this double set was released as it is sometime either in the 70s or 60s.   It is also better than the second disc, which has keyboards and has a late 70s vibe in its recording.  Still, a remarkable document.  I have heard songs or singles that is devoted to the Japanese market, but it's rare to listen to a whole album by a Western band dedicated to the Japanese songcraft and hits.  The Ventures play their twang guitar sound, but it fits in perfectly with the Japanese melodies.  Also, I must note that side one is all original songs by The Ventures focusing on a Japanese 60s pop sound.  The rest of the double-album set are cover songs.

It took me years to find a vinyl version of this album, even in Japan, it's hard to find. I found this perfectly beautiful edition at Counterpoint Music and Books.   It was the last thing I expected to see in a shop.   The Ventures generally are not my favorite instrumental band.  For instance, I prefer The Shadows, and I think it comes to the Jet Harris bass and the Hank Marvin guitar. Still, one has to acknowledge the importance of The Ventures, and the little-known knowledge that they had a massive impact on Japanese pop music and aesthetics.  Before The Beatles, the other fab four, The Ventures, came and stole the hearts of future Japanese guitarists.  

David Bowie - "Lady Stardust demo" b/w "Crystal Japan" Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, Picture Disc , Japan, Limited Edition (Parlophone)

I bought this rarity at the right moment and time.  It was at the V&A "David Bowie Is" exhibition that took place in Tokyo in 2017.  I was like a child going to Disneyland for the first time. I was extremely excited to go to this exhibition to see or feel David Bowie, which was tragically taken away from us in this natural world.   The exhibition overall was fantastic, but the curating I felt could have been stronger.  The placement of the outfits I thought was wrong, and I hate the multi-media aspect of such an exhibition.  As I walked through the show, I kept a mental list of where I should place that item or costume in the exhibition.  But again, that was also part of the fun of such a show.  The gift shop, on the other hand, was a total joy, even though not everything was equal in its worthiness.  Still, I did purchase a picture disc 45 rpm single of a demo of "Lady Stardust" and an obscure instrumental that Bowie did during the "Low"/"Heroes" era, for a Japanese water or was it a sake commercial?  Nevertheless, a remarkable piece of music.  It could easily fit on side-two of the "Heroes" album.  Electronic in nature, but it had a slight Asian or Japanese approach to the melody as well.  

"Lady Stardust" is neither better or worse than the recorded version of the song on the Ziggy album.  It's just another layer of paint or texture one wants to bath themselves in the greatness of that song as well as sharing a few moments of worship on one's time. 

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.  

Koji Ueno - "Music for Silent Movies" Vinyl, LP, Album, Japan, 1985 (Yen Records)

Koji Ueno was in Guernica, the duo/band with Jun Togawa that brought the 1930 aesthetics of Japan to the late 1980s.   Here on his solo album, from 1985, he makes music to go with early Surrealist/DADA silent films from the 1920s.   The pieces are "Retour a Raison," "Le Etoile Mer," and "Emak Bakia" by Man Ray, "Anémic Cinema" by Marcel Duchamp, "Ballet Mécanique" by painter Fernand Léger & Dudley Murphy and Rene Clair's "Entr'acte."  So, in a sense we have an album of Modernism, but 1920's modernism written and recorded in 1985. 

All six music pieces do match well with the original silent films.  I know, because I have seen these short movies many times.   "Ballet Mécanique" is very electronic and reminds me a bit of the French Musique Concrete pieces from the 1950s, but most of the album is done on real instruments, and the talent of Ueno's scoring, arranging, and composing becomes in focus.   "Entr'acte" has traces of Erik Satie's original score for the film, and Ueno is very respectful of each film's aesthetic and purpose.  Perhaps a man born in the wrong time, still, he makes up with his obsession for the pre-war era of Japan, and it's acceptance or at the very least, a curiosity of the avant-garde world of Europe at that time. 

Japan - "Quiet Life" Vinyl, LP, Album, Japan, 1979 (Hansa)

As I mentioned in an earlier review of a Japan album, I would never buy one of their albums due to their name.   It's a general rule that any band that names themselves after a country, a state in the United States, or even a city, are usually terrible.  The two exceptions are the bands the United States of America and of course, Japan.   I first discovered Japan from their album "Tin Drum," which was also their last studio release before splitting up.  "Quiet Life" is an important album for the group.  Their third album and the one that broke off their previous two albums in sound and vision. 

David Sylvian gets his crooning voice in order and the band plays with textures that at first reminds me of Roxy Music, and obviously influenced by Bryan Ferry and company, but took that sound to another place.  I was going to say another level, but Roxy Music and Japan are very different from each other.  Ferry is very much focused on the ideal female - not even a woman, but a presence that is almost ghost-like in his imagination.  Sylvian is more spiritually inclined and in many ways more sensual than Roxy, but also quieter.  I think Eno's "Another Green World" is another influence on the band, in that it is making music for reflection than action.  Mick Karn's presence is felt strongly, and it's interesting to note that Sylvian on the Japan releases is always the cover figure and Karn lurks in the back cover, the placement for a writer or arranger.  Still, this is a fantastic band that blends the sounds in a natural manner, that is suitable for Japan.  

The songs on "Quiet Life" is uptempo in parts, but the future sound is clearly marked.  The song "Quiet Life" is a quiet anthem, and it has a glam overture with the phrase 'Boys..' - and the beautiful string arrangement by Ann O'Dell on "The Other Side of Life" is exquisite.   There is also a cover of The Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties," which is suited to the Sylvian croon.  Simon Naiper-Bell managed Japan, and the early Sylvian career, which strikes me as an odd relationship. Only considering that the great Napier-Bell (I'm a fan) went on to manage Wham! and George Michaels, as well as The Yardbirds, and early Marc Bolan.  He co-produced this track, but most of the production work is from John Punter, who worked on the solo Bryan Ferry recordings.  

Ironically I bought this album in Tokyo and this version of "Quiet Life" is the Japanese vinyl edition. It comes with a poster, liner notes (in Japanese) as well as the lyrics both in Japanese and English. 

Lewis Furey - "The Sky is Falling" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1979 (RCA)

Lewis Furey is one artist that is hard to follow due to the obscurity of his recordings and most of his work is in France.  This French Canadian somehow missed his mark in the United States, even though he was signed to A&M Records during the mid-1970s.  The fact is I purchased most of his albums as cut-outs at the time, and when I went to Japan in 1989, I re-purchased them as CDs, due that some Japanese music company purchased the rights to distribute and re-release the entire A&M catalog for the market there.  One of the reasons why I'm devoted to Japan is due that they released Lewis Furey albums in that country. 

"The Sky is Falling" is the third album by Furey, and it is similar to the first solo album in that John Lissauer produced and did some of the arrangements for both records.  Furey is a combination of many talents that reminds one such as Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen for example,  yet not like them at all.  Their resemblance is based on their observation lyrical skills, with some musical overtures.  The one connection between Cohen and Furey is Lissauer, who also produced/arranged the Cohen recordings of the late 1960s and early 70s.  Furey is very much had his feet in the musical theater, as well as writing French Chanson songs in English, that tells a narrative that is usually sexual and there is a strong off-Broadway aspect to his work.  "The Sky is Falling" was only released in Japan and France, and it's a fascinating collection of songs.  Some were meant for a theater piece, but the other songs match perfectly with respect to mood and location.  "Thieves" is a show-topper of a chorus, and the beautiful song that ends side two "Ordinary Guy" is a French composition that's translated and adopted by Furey.  He's an artist that should be better known, and especially for those who are fans of Leonard Cohen.  I feel that they are missing a creative link here. 

Midge Ure & Mick Karn - "After A Fashion" b/w "Textures" 12" Vinyl, 45 rpm, 1983 (Chrysalis)

One of the things I love about the New Romantics period in pop is artists embracing the foreign and at the time, very exotic landscapes on this planet.  In a sense, they take the idea from Paul Bowles, not only as a writer, but his iconic personality as the Westerner in the exotic Middle East, or North Africa.   Bands like Duran Duran, Japan, and Ultravox liked to present themselves as an international artist(s) in a very adventurous world.   Very much of an exploitation in theory, because when you get down to it, we're all tourists.  Which I think is the most honest aspect of The New Romantics era.  Once in awhile great music comes from the juxtaposition of British pop (once part of the grand occupation) and the world that is out there.  We can almost taste it, but at the time we could only admire the tourist postcards, or in this case, album covers or publicity photographs.  Mick Karn is very much the exotic musician who started from one place and ended up embracing the world.  "After A Fashion"a one-off recording by two musicians who were prominent in British pop during the early 1980s.  Midge Ure I suspect was the more successful pop star due to his musical history with other bands, but especially with Ultravox.  

Karn was the brilliant fretless bassist, and who added exotic color to David Sylvian's Japan.  The sounds he made from his bass was like liquid being poured into a glass, or on the sand.   His textural playing and compositions (especially on his early solo albums) reflect on a world that was exciting, and sexual.  Midge Ure in his fashion (no pun intended) also explored the same landscape but through a more pop format than Karn and Japan.  What makes this 12" single fascinating is the combination of Ure's pop awareness with Karn's outer world sounds.  

The 7" single is very different than the 12", in that the song is expanded in a textural manner that flirts with the main chorus.   Almost a dub version, but not quite.  I have to imagine that it's only Karn and Ure on this recording, doing all the instruments.  It has that 'studio' feel and truly the image on the cover of this long single, is quite accurate.  The picture of Ure and Karn in Egypt is both a postcard as well as a visual interpretation of the sounds with on the record.  Paul Bowles had taken numerous photos of himself among the desert of North Africa, and for the literate or aware, this is clearly the influence of Ure and Karn's "After A Fashion."  The b-side is an instrumental that is a sound piece that reflects the aesthetic of travel and being aware of one's limits.  

Dalis Car - "The Waking Hours" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1984 (Paradox Records)

Dalis Car is truth in advertising.  Mick Karn from Japan and Peter Murphy from Bauhaus.  Both talented musicians from bands with the worse names.  Dalis Car is just as bad as a name for a band, but if we ignore that little fact, the music is quite awarding.   Both Murphy and Karn have/had an aesthetic that is very much based on East European or Asian sounds.  Listening to their album "The Waking Hours" is very much like going to a great metaphysical bookstore that covers spiritual practices not only in the West but also other parts of the world.  Murphy as the vocalist moved from the goth/Bowie world into a figure that's exploring other worlds.  I think of the relationship between Karn and Murphy such as Jean Cocteau's two main characters in his film "Orpheus."   Murphy playing the Orphée role and Karn as Heurtebise.  Leading one to another world.

The Waking Hours" (very Cocteau like) is very much Mick Karn playing all the instruments, including the magnificent fretless bass, that he mastered with sparse instrumentation to give Murphy a lot of room for his vocals.  It's interesting to note, as a Japan fan, to notice the differences between the David Sylvian (Japan's main writer and vocalist) and the Karn solo/project works.  Sylvian opens up his recording where there's a lot of space, but Karn sounds like he's working in a very small room which contains the sound.  It's not Mono, but the sound comes from one direction. Like in Japan, the bass is the lead instrument, and Karn had the knack to make his instrumental skills very punk-like (although not in sound) in that there is a DIY mentality in his recordings.  Dalis Car is not a band, but Mick Karn doing all the music and Murphy adding the vocals. 

I don't know if Dalis Car was meant to go on after this album, but for me, I don't think there was a need for another album from the Karn/Murphy duo.   This is very much a great listening experience and I miss the late Mick Karn greatly. 

Japan - "Oil On Canvas" 2 X Vinyl, LP, Album, Live, 1983 (Virgin)

David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Richard Barbieri and Steve Jansen and on this album, guest guitarist from the country Japan is Masami Tsuchiya.  Not to be confused with the name of the band, which is Japan.  I loathe groups that name themselves after countries, cities or even states, but Japan is a different type of category.   As mentioned before in other of my writings, I have always felt Japan were influenced by Roxy Music, if not in style, in the music adventuresome of the Eno era of that band.   What I first thought was imitation, it eventually turns into originality.   I can't think of another group at the moment that had that odd journey to me.    I fell in love with Japan because of Mick Karn's darkened eyes and David Sylvian's mixture of preppy clothing and makeup.  Japan physically and musically changed in a rapid process from glam rock guys after that movement to a more spiritual and at times, border on a New Age aesthetic.  Sylvian and company have the good taste to go to the root of their obsessions.  Joseph Beuys, Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, and a Westerner's fascination with the Asian East.  That, in a nutshell, is Japan. 

One thing Japan never was, is an overnight sensation.  With the assistance from their (brilliant memoirist) Simon Napier-Bell, he engineered their changes and a darker melancholy into a salable hit in England and oddly enough, in Japan.   The band at the end of their career as a group worked out a sound that was minimal and ambient but still had a funk rhythm, with Sylvian sad sounding vocalizing.  The combination was hard for me to avoid, and I ended up purchasing not only their original albums but also all the 12" remixes and the very few b-sides.   "Oil On Canvas" was the last official release from Japan, and it's a live album.  

For the tour, they brought in Masami Tsuchiya, who was at the time, in a band called Ippu-do.   At the time that band sounded like a combination of Bill Nelson and Japan, so his guitar work, as well as his aesthetic (makeup), fitted perfectly in the Japan format and sound.  It's a shame that he never became a permanent band member for recordings.   Still, this is a live album that is not a museum nor a document of a live show.   Among the live recordings are three studio pieces.  "Oil on Canvas" (composed and performed by Sylvian, and very Satie sounding), "Voices Raised In Welcome, Hands Held in Prayer" (composed and performed by Sylvian and Jansen) and to finish off the album "Temple of Dawn" composed and performed by Barbieri.    It's interesting that these instrumentals are placed in the beginning, the end of side two, and the last is the finishing track on side 4.   All of them frame the live material in the sense that these pieces expose the musicians' interest and future, while the rest of the album is very much like the studio recordings.  The riffs are longer, and the songs are stretched out, but not that far from the studio work.   So like "Oil on Canvas" as you mix paint, it becomes something new or an added texture.  I think Japan was of that opinion in that line of thought as well.   I don't feel this album is a product but in actuality a statement of sorts.  The great painter, Frank Auerbach's work, is on the cover, and he's known for his portraits that merge from massive paint strokes.  

The classic Japan sound is really two instruments up front.  That is David Sylvian's voice and Mick Karn's fretless bass.  The rest of the instrumentation backs up those two sounds, and this is what makes Japan so unique and wonderful.  

Japan - "Quiet Life" CD, Album, Reissue, 2001/1979 (BMG)

When the most unfashionable band in existence became the most fashionable band in the era of the new romantic.   How they made that work is a total mystery to me.  Japan's first two albums I have heard bits and pieces but never could take them seriously due to their appearance and worse, the name of their band.  It's common knowledge that bands that name themselves after places, especially countries, in theory, suck.   Yet somehow, David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Steve Jansen (David's brother), Richard Barbieri and guitarist Rob Dean managed to turn themselves into sophisticated sonic artists. 

It's like they made a deal with Satan at the crossroads.  Nevertheless, it must have been an 'ah-ha' moment for all those involved. 

What's interesting, and who I think is an essential person in their change of tactics is their producer John Punter.  Punter worked with Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music on their/his early solo recordings  The first thing I think of when listening to Japan is Roxy Music.  Sylvian took on the Bryan Ferry voice mannerisms, and the instruments became more Roxy like, but with additional sonic textures that were their own making.  The interesting thing about Sylvian is that he truly transform himself into a different type of singer/performer/writer.  Sylvian's songs reflected his mood, but with a European icy aesthetic that pretty much removed them from their London roots.  Also in future recordings, they worked with Steve Nye, another long-term Roxy/Eno associate.  The results of these relationships and in the band's artistry is remarkable. 

"Quiet Life" is the first 'new' version of Japan.  The original vinyl album had eight songs, but the CD reissue has 12 altogether, with two being remixes for the 12" market, and the additional "Life in Tokyo" produced and co-written by the great Giorgio Moroder.   Sylvian is not a man of action, but a figure who reflects on his surroundings, and contemplates on the nature of his world.  With his deep ballad (Ferry like) croon, his voice floats over the instrumentation, which has one very particular instrument - and that's Mick Karn's fretless bass.  Karn is the secret ingredient to Japan's success. Sylvian looked like a cross-dressing fashion model out of Vogue, but Karn had a Mediterranian good looking vibe, but also his distinctive playing of the bass is a huge part of their overall sound.  In a sense, it is like there are two singers in Japan.  Sylvian with his voice and the other voice is the bass.  Also noted is that the front cover is Sylvian by himself, but the back cover is Karn. Which suggests that the band is Sylvan on one side, and the other is Karn, with the rest of the group being in the middle of those two, as they are displayed in the inner sleeve. The keyboard work from  Barbieri (as well as Sylvian) is never based on chords, but more with sound. It's very organized musiques concréte, with jazz-like drumming from Jansen.  

The weird juxtaposition of them being pin-up teen idols, but with a very sophisticated sound must have been an odd experience for both the fan and musicians.   Although the music is loose, it is still very contained in an airless box, which makes listening to a "Quiet Life" an exciting experience.  The songs are all beautiful.  The pacing is quite slow, but it's the textures that keep one's interest throughout the album.  Their cover of the Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a perfect vehicle of a song for them to do.  On the surface captures the sense of dread within a social world, and Japan, at this point, is out of that world, and in a much-confined inner-world.  

"Quiet Life" is by no means an ambient album, but I think a listener can tell that the group was heading toward a place that is 'furniture music' (Satie), but here they still explore the boundaries of the pop music format.  If the new listener can get past their silly name, one will be awarded an impressive landscape that is Japan's music. 

Mick Karn - "Titles" CD, Album, Reissue, 1990/1982 (Caroline)

Bass playing in my listening experience is not always, but usually distinctive to a specific player.  Mick Karn, I can identify within a few seconds of his playing. For one, he plays a fretless bass, and the way he treats melodies is like containing water by cupping your hand. It will slowly leak out, but the essence of the taste of the cool water will stay with you.  Karn's playing works in the same fashion.   It throbs with sexuality, and it is almost like hearing someone crying.   Karn was a member of the band Japan.   His bass playing for that band was essential to their overall sound.  David Sylvian the lead singer and writer for Japan never really changed that much in his solo recordings, except maybe be more experimental in its overall sound.  Still, when I hear the Sylvian solo release, I think, where is Mick?    And when I listen to Karn's solo recordings, I think "where's David."  In truth, or whatever their problem was, they needed each other.  The original band should have never broken up, even though I do enjoy the solo recordings by both artists. 

"Titles" is the first solo Mick Karn album.   One would not expect that much because he's not known as a composer or songwriter, but still, the bass playing is the essence of everything he did.  The truth is "Titles" is a very good album.  Ambient in parts, and totally exotic sounding throughout the record.  It reminds me of David Bowie's "Low," in that Karn gives in to the instrumental side of the world.  The album features members of Japan (except David of course), but it's mostly Karn doing all the overdubs and it's great noise.  Spiritual in a pop sensibility way, the album is Karn stretching out his muscles and brain.  His death from Cancer was a terrible tragedy.  As I mention, the bass playing is very individual practice, and with him out of the picture, we lost a unique and brilliant musician. 

The Ventures - "Golden Pops" / "Pops in Japan" CD, Compilation, 1999 (See for Miles Records)

Not an easy CD to find, or the two original albums "Golden Pops" (1970) and "Pops in Japan" (1971). These two oddities or albums was a fascinating find for me when I lived in Japan, and I think I originally rent the original albums to listen to them around 1989.  Nevertheless, The Ventures were (and still are) an important band in Japan.  One of the first, if not THE first, bands to tour Japan with electric guitars.  Once can't undermine the importance of The Ventures for Japanese pop culture.  Due to the commercial marketplace or just something that they wanted to do, The Ventures made two albums focusing on Japanese Enka music.   Enka is an entirely unique pop music that is a big part of the Showa era in Japan.  Theme wise not that far from weepy country and western, but also is a version of the Japanese blues.  The ultimate bar music of loss, regret, and sadness. 

Weirdly enough, this is the only Ventures collection I have. I was never a fan of their music because it seemed water-down compared to the other great surf/instrumental bands of the early 1960s.  But "Golden Pops" and "Pops in Japan" are really unique albums, with some fantastic music within the disc.  I recommend this CD package for those who have a yen for Japanese pop culture or have an interest in the Showa era.  On one level it's totally marketing for The Ventures in a country that still brings them currency, due to their yearly tours of that country, but also eccentric listening experience as well.  American musicians interpreting Japanese pop music.  The hybrid is fantastic. 

Swing Low - "Swing Low" CD, Album, Japan, 1996 (Mercury)

"Swing Low" is an album by Haruomi Hosono (or known as Harry here) and singer Miharu Koshi. Hosono is a combination of Brian Eno, Brian Wilson, Les Paul, Ry Cooder (in his knowledge of music history),  and a touch of Van Dyke Parks.  He's electronic and ambient and then on another album, he's a music historian focusing on how Western music has affected the Japanese landscape.  Smart, elegant, and on top of that,  his grandfather was on the Titanic and survived that ordeal.   

Swing Low focuses on the odd mixture of classic American songwriting with touches of Electronica here and there.  Real instruments as well as computer technology.   In Japan, he's a huge influence and figure in contemporary music.  In the West, not that much and that is truly a shame.  For the fan of Hosono outside of Japan, it's a hard road to locate his recordings, unless you go to Japan.  One can usually find his solo albums in the YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra) section of a large record store.  It's worth the adventure because the listening experience is so great. 

Hosono works in themes or concepts.   Rarely is there a solo album by him that is not attached to a bigger idea or comment on a certain aspect of music.  He's hard to define in the Western sense, and to recommend a specific album is not difficult, but you have to keep in mind that is records change from one to another in an entirely different manner.  Swing Low plays with the 1950s image of American lounge music/Space Age with traces going back to Europe. One becomes a world traveler through Hosono's recordings and music. 

I think what makes Hosono so amazing is that since he's a Tokyo personality, so he looks at the world as an "other" and doesn't hesitate to borrow cultures here and there.  He's truly a world musician.  His partner-in-crime, Ryuichi Sakamoto, follows similar roots as Hosono, but the big difference to me is that Sakamoto has lived in New York City for numerous years,  and although hot American, I think he understands the American landscape through his personal experiences.  Hosono I feel gets his information through books and recordings.  And for sure, as a traveler, but Hosono is never far away from the aesthetics of Tokyo life and music.  "Swing Low" is a take on the 1950s, with its kitsch aesthetic, but also the beauty of exploring another universe, which is a weird hybrid of American, European, and Japanese pop culture.  "Swing Low" is a great album. Difficult to find, but as I mentioned above, worth the adventure.  Also, you can hear the album here on YouTube. https://youtu.be/06HcFuiHWZ4

Japan - "Tin Drum" CD Album, Reissue, 1994 original release 1981 (Virgin)

This was my first introduction to the band Japan, and the voice of David Sylvian.  My first hearing experience was "a Roxy Music rip-off."  And on top of that, what a horrible name for a band.  It's common knowledge that any band that names itself after a city, a state, a country or continent, sucks.  But I do have to admit, it's a great album cover.   The second listening experience brought me pleasures that are still with me.   Japan was a very original band.  

Sylvian's voice is very mannered in the Bryan Ferry mode, but he uses it in a different method with respect to his music.  As for the band, the strongest presence on "Tin Drum is Mick Karn's fretless bass playing.  A remarkable musician.  To me, he's the Brian Jones of the band.  The rest of the instrumentation the drums or percussion is sparse (by Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen) but in a very jazzy complexed manner.  The keyboards (Richard Barbieri) add electronic effects that are mood more than melody.  Sylvian carries the melody in his vocals.  The band and recording (by the great Steve Nye) are tight.  Almost if the air has been sucked out of the room.  

On the surface, it's Asian sounding, but why?  It's almost like a Wittgenstein response in that you know what's in front of you, but one can't define the experience.  There are song titles that bring the image for instance "Cantonese Boy," "Visions of China," and "Canton."  But it's a very romantic, yet at the same time, dry look at a culture or country.  This is not negative criticism.  I think Japan is exploring worlds that are known, but to them at the time, perhaps not that well known.  

The band is eye-candy as well.  You can't go wrong with a group of young guys in make-up.  But their style at this time was sort of like Asian minimal chic, with a touch of Brooks Brothers button collar shirts, but of course, with make-up.   Fans take them seriously, but I think if there was no Japan there would be no Radiohead. 

V.A. - "Bandes Originales des Films de Jean-Luc Godard" CD, Japan, 1994, (Hortensia)

Over the years there have been many great reissues or original vinyl that are connected to Jean-Luc Godard's film work.  As a Godard fanatic, I want them all!   But if push becomes a shove, and there is a fire in the house, and I have to reach out for that one Godard soundtrack collection, it would be Bandes Originales des Films de Jean-Luc Godard."

The reason is because it's an excellent package, the cover becomes a poster, but beyond the visual, the music on this CD is fantastic.   It covers "A Bout de Souffle" (Breathless), "Pierrot Le Fou, " "Alphaville," and the great soundtrack to "Le Mepris" (Contempt).  Very much a perfect compilation of the early Godard soundtracks, all on one disc.  Of course, the original soundtrack albums can be fitted on a 10" ep, when originally released - but to get all of it here is a fantastic buy.  The Japanese know how to put a music collection together.   The composers/performers are Martial Solal, Anna Karina (Godard's then-wife, and a brilliant actress), Antoine Duhamel, Paul Misraki, and the legendary Georges Delerue.  Find and buy!

Guernica - 電離層からの眼差し CD, album, Japan (Teichiku Records)

In my year-long exile (1989) in Japan, I discovered this remarkable CD I think at the Wave music store in Roppongi.   I was immediately intrigued by the graphics on this CD, and thought to myself, how can this possibly go wrong?    It's a masterpiece. 

Guernica is a musical project with music by Koji Ueno, lyrics by Keiichi Ohta, and most remarkable of them all - Jun Togawa singer.  She is like every great new wave singer from the 1980s rolled into one body or mouth.     The music is highly orchestrated with real strings, horns, and it's so retro that it's basically an avant-garde pop album.  The album even has tap dancing, which I think is real.  The roots go back to the 1930s, with a touch of Busby Berkeley.  Togawa's vocals are operatic, to small Judy Garland "Wizard of Oz" era vocals to the vocal range of someone like Yma Sumac.  

This is not easy listening music.  It's very much in your face and totally doesn't take any prisoners.  The closest thing I can think of is "Song Cycle" by Van Dyke Parks.   It's a militant aesthetic that looks toward the past but to make something totally new.   This album is totally unique.   Hard to find, even in Japan, but worth the hunt.   I strongly recommend this album to anyone who is interested in orchestrated pop, baroque pop, and experimental music.