RhoDeo 1302 Aetix

Hello,  snow is a rarety around here, yet today there was plenty to go around, one of those magnificint side effects of it is not just the pure white blanket of it but the wonderful silence that goes with it. Alas it never lasts long in the city.

Meanwhile, it's Aetix time and as I didn't fancy presenting a new act but instead chose to complete last weeks act discography and  re-rip and re-up the one i posted 6 years ago. Here are 3 remasters  .....  N'Joy

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The band began as a group of friends. Brothers David Sylvian (guitar and vocals) and Steve Jansen (drums), keyboardist Richard Barbieri and bassist Mick Karn studied at the same school. As youngsters they played Sylvian's two-chord numbers mainly as a means of escape; sometimes with Karn as the front man, sometimes with Sylvian at the fore. The band, who were initially nameless, opted to call themselves Japan just before their first live gig in the mid 1970s. The name was intended by Sylvian to be temporary until they could think of something else, but ultimately became permanent.

After winning a label-sponsored talent contest, they were signed to Germany's Ariola-Hansa Records in 1977 and debuted a year later with the 1978 album Adolescent Sex and followed up with their second album, Obscure Alternatives, the same year. Both albums, produced by Ray Singer, sold well in Japan (where the band's name helped them to gain a devoted cult following) and the Netherlands, where the single "Adolescent Sex" was a Top 30 hit. They also gained some popularity in Canada, however, in their native UK those albums failed to garner public attention and did not chart. Though influenced by artists such as the New York Dolls, Roxy Music and David Bowie, both albums were widely dismissed by the UK music press as being distinctly outmoded at a time when punk and New Wave bands were in ascendence.

In 1979, the band briefly worked with the successful Eurodisco producer Giorgio Moroder, who would co-write and produce a one-off single, "Life in Tokyo". The track was a significant change in musical style from their earlier guitar-laden recordings, moving them away from their glam rock roots and into electronic new wave dance music. This style continued on their third album, Quiet Life (1979), which was produced by the band with John Punter and Simon Napier-Bell. It showcased Barbieri's synthesisers, Sylvian's now baritone style of singing, Karn's distinctive fretless bass sound and Steve Jansen's odd-timbred and intricate percussion work, with Dean's guitar playing becoming somewhat sparser and atmospheric. Quiet Life was their last studio album for Hansa-Ariola.

After leaving Hansa-Ariola, the band signed with Virgin Records who released their last studio albums, Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) and Tin Drum (1981). The albums continued to expand their audience as the band refined its new sound, however the combination of their newer sound and the band's stylised visual appearance led to them unintentionally becoming associated with the early-1980s New Romantic movement. The band had always worn make-up since their inception in the mid 1970s at the tail end of the glam rock era, many years before the New Romantic movement had begun. Regardless, it had a positive effect on the band's record sales in the UK and they slowly began to gain chart success. After a couple of lower charting singles, their first UK Top 40 hit was a re-release of the "Quiet Life" single, which peaked at No. 19 in October 1981. Three of the singles from the Tin Drum album also peaked in the UK Top 40, with its unconventional single "Ghosts" reaching No. 5, becoming Japan's biggest domestic hit. The Tin Drum album itself peaked just outside the UK Top 10, and was the band's first record to be certified by the BPI, reaching Gold status within four months. The album is often seen as one of the most innovative of the 1980s, with its fusion of occidental and oriental sounds.

The group's final UK performances came in November 1982, culminating in a six-night sell-out stint at London's Hammersmith Odeon. During this period, guitarist and keyboardist Masami Tsuchiya performed with the band on stage. Japan's last ever performance was on 16 December 1982 in Nagoya, Japan. The band's final Hammersmith concerts were recorded to produce Oil On Canvas, a live album and video released in June 1983. Ironically, the band decided to split just as they were beginning to experience significant commercial success both in their native UK and internationally, with Oil On Canvas becoming their highest charting UK album, reaching No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart, a rare feat for a live album. By this time, the band's back catalogue had begun to sell steadily.

However, Tin Drum also proved to be Japan's swan song: Long-simmering differences among the bandmembers came to a head when Karn's girlfriend, photographer Yuka Fujii, moved in with Sylvian and the individual members proceeded with their own projects. Rob Dean had already departed after the release of the Gentlemen Take Polaroids album, as his electric guitar work was increasingly regarded as superfluous. Dean subsequently formed Illustrated Man. Karn released his first solo album, Titles, at the same time the band announced their split in late-1982. Sylvian began a successful solo career and also entered into a series of collaborations with performers like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Holger Czukay and Robert Fripp, while Karn  founded the short-lived duo Dali's Car with Bauhaus' Peter Murphy. In 1986, meanwhile, Jansen and Barbieri issued Worlds in a Small Room under their own names before recording together as the Dolphin Brothers.

In 1987, Karn released Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters, a solo LP which featured contributions from Sylvian and Jansen, spurring rumors of a reunion which came to fruition in 1989 when the four principal members re-teamed under the name Rain Tree Crow. By the time an eponymously-titled album appeared in 1991, however, relations had again dissolved in acrimony, and the musicians went their separate ways; while Sylvian continued working independently, as the decade wore on Karn, Jansen and Barbieri occasionally reunited in various projects while also maintaining solo careers. Sadly Mick Karn died of cancer July 2011.

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Partially growing out of their success in the country they were named after, as well as growing friendship and affiliation with such bands as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Japan, on Tin Drum, made its most unique, challenging, and striking album. It was also the final full studio effort from the group, and what a way to bow out. Rather than repeat the sheer restraint on Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Tin Drum is an album of energy, Sylvian's singing still the decadently joyful thing it is, but the arrangements and performances tight, full, and active. The fusion of exquisite funk courtesy of Karn and Jansen's joined-at-the-hip rhythm section and a range of Asian music influences, from instrumentation to subject matter, combined with an even wider use of technological approaches to create the dramatic, sly songs on offer. To top it all off, the band was more popular than ever, with "Ghosts," an appropriately haunting ballad notable for its utterly minimal arrangement, almost entirely eschewing beats for Barbieri's textures and Jansen's work on marimba, becoming a Top Ten hit in the U.K. The wound-up dancefloor art grooves of "The Art of Parties" and especially "Visions of China," the latter featuring what has to be Karnand Jansen's eternal highlight performance were also notable efforts. Meanwhile, the evocation of Chinese culture in general continued with such songs as "Canton," a slightly martial, stately march with clear inspiration from the country's classical music tradition. In 2011, thirty years after its release, Tin Drum was awarded BBC Radio 6 Music's 'Goldie' award posthumously for the best album of 1981.

Japan ‎- Tin Drum (flac 224mb)

01 The Art Of Parties 4:12
02 Talking Drum 3:36
03 Ghosts 4:37
04 Canton 5:35
05 Still Life In Mobile Homes 5:35
06 Visions Of China 3:39
07 Sons Of Pioneers 7:09
08 Cantonese Boy 3:51  
 
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The final Japan release was sold and marketed as a live album, though actually it's a bit of a catchall -- it is indeed mostly from concerts, but also includes a variety of studio instrumentals and a re-recorded version of "Nightporter" mixed in to sound like it's part of the show. The various re-releases of the albums over the years confused matters further, with resequencings, the excision of cuts, and more adding to general confusion about the release (not to mention the fact that some reissues completely omitted where the shows were recorded anyway!). Two of the instrumentals, "Oil on Canvas" itself and "Temple of Dawn," are brief, gentle pieces by Sylvian and Barbieri respectively. "Voices Raised in Welcome, Hands Held in Prayer" is a more involving effort, combining a quiet, gamelan-inspired rhythm with found-sound samples from what appears to be a religious ceremony. As for "Nightporter," it's a nice enough new version but isn't notably different or varied from the earlier studio take. The remaining live cuts show that the exquisite tension and serene sounds in the studio were easily transferred to the stage in all their elegant complexity. The Tin Drum selections, which make up most of the release, make the case even more that Japan was as much a prog band as a glam one, Sylvian's captivating vocals flowing over Asian-derived scales and melodies, the guitar parts handled by guest performer Masami Tsuchiya, who also plays some keyboards. "Visions of China" sounds especially grand, Jansen's entrancing drumming seemingly impossible to be created and yet clearly existing. Although the album was released some months following the band's much publicised split in late 1982, it was ironically Japan's highest charting album in the UK (where it reached #5). The album was certified "Gold" by the BPI in 1988 for 100,000 copies sold.

Japan ‎- Oil On Canvas   ( flac 432mb)

01 Oil On Canvas 1:26
02 Sons Of Pioneers 4:59
03 Gentlemen Take Polaroids 6:42
04 Swing 5:36
05 Cantonese Boy 3:46
06 Visions Of China 3:35
07 Ghosts 6:23
08 Voices Raised In Welcome, Hands Held In Prayer (Studio) 3:30
09 Nightporter 6:49
10 Still Life In Mobile Homes 5:38
11 Methods Of Dance 6:08
12 Quiet Life 4:35
13 The Art Of Parties 5:28
14 Canton 5:44
15 Temple Of Dawn 1:47

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Recorded in 1989-1990 and released in April 1991, the majority of the material on their eponymous album was written as a result of group improvisations (aside from 'Blackwater'). There were no pre-rehearsals and the music that emerged was a hybrid of atmospheric ambient ballads in the style of lead singer David Sylvian's contemporaneous albums and more dissonant experimental styles that sometimes echoed the work of Tom Waits and King Crimson. All members of the band aside from Sylvian wished to retain the Japan moniker which was last used when the band split in December 1982. However, Sylvian levered increasing artistic and production control over the project (including his insistence on using the RTC name instead of Japan, much to the other members' bemusement and annoyance), to the point where the recording developed from a band effort into a what was essentially another Sylvian solo project, leaving the other members as mere sessioners for the front man.

Like a mellower, new age-oriented version of Japan, Rain Tree Crow explores stark soundscapes that sound alternately beautiful and desolate. Although it is a bit too challenging to provide a good introduction to Sylvian and Karn's music, the album remains fascinating for their fans.

Rain Tree Crow ‎- Rain Tree Crow  (  flac 198mb)

01 Big Wheels In Shanty Town 7:08
02 Every Colour You Are 4:45
03 Rain Tree Crow 2:06
04 Red Earth (As Summertime Ends) 3:39
05 Pocket Full Of Change 6:08
06 Boat's For Burning 0:45
07 New Moon At Red Deer Wallow 5:13
08 Blackwater 4:20
09 A Reassuringly Dull Sunday 1:22
10 Blackcrow Hits Shoe Shine City 5:15
11 Scratchings On The Bible Belt 2:46
12 Cries And Whispers 2:36

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re-rip-up

Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids ( 132mb)

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