Obscure Alternatives
Japan
Camden, 2004
1 CD
Catalogue #: 82876566942
EAN: 0828765669429
UPC: 828765669429
You save: 25%
Japan: David Sylvian, Rob Dean (vocals, guitar); Richard Barbieri (keyboards, synthesizer); Mick Karn (bass, saxophone, background vocals); Steven Jansen (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Ray Singer, Anna, Claudine (background vocals).
Digitally remastered edition from first generation tapes features a bonus enhanced video.
The second Japan album followed their debut by a mere six months and, like its predecessor, the cover art suggested glam-rock. In the heady days of punk, it was largely ignored in England, but the band did begin to find acceptance in Japan--surprise, surprise! Mick Karn's elegant, flexible bass playing is more prominent, and David Sylvian's vocals settled on a very Bowie-esque style--circa THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD. With these elements in place, the band was on their way to developing their signature sound.
The album contains two classic Japan tracks, "Rhodesia" and "Suburban Berlin." The first of these is welded to a reggae-influenced guitar line and lyrics that make passing references to racism, masturbation, and Nazis, while the second, with its chattering, cricket-like guitars, is another of the band's attempts to described a place as completely, but obliquely, as possible. For the album's closer Sylvian contributes "The Tenant," a piano-based instrumental with mournful guitar accompaniment inspired by his interest in classical composer Erik Satie. All told, OBSCURE ALTERNATIVES is a step forward and an improvement on all fronts--this is a classy, intelligent rock record.
Tracklist
Japan
Japan started out as an audacious young glam-inspired band in the late '70s. By the '80s, their sound grew more subtle and exotic, a mixture of Bowie/Roxy art-rock and Asian influences. Their electronic textures and high-fashion image were inspirational to "new romantic" bands like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, who outlived but never surpassed Japan.
