Re: Japan (Sylvian)

[mit-amt!topaz!harvard!wjh12!panda!talcott!uwvax!astroatc!gtaylor (Tiotto Matte Kudasai)]

In article <8609042222.AA03744@EDDIE> you write:
>Ok everyone, thanks for all the Sylvian/Sakamoto collaboration info.
>Now a more general question from someone whose hearing of Japan is only
>"Gentlemen take Polaroids":  which Japan material should I start off with,
>given that I love "Brilliant Trees"?  This could be a hard question given
>the mix of styles on BT, but give it a try.

The most eclectic mix of stuff you'll find would probably be on the
double retrospective "Excorcising Ghosts". It features an exquisite
Russell Mills painting (he collaborated on the recent book of B. Eno's
lyrics "More Dark than Shark"), and a nice cross section of music from
"Quiet Life" on: from the point at which they stopped being lousy and
started being good, in my opinion. The collection features an alternate
take of "The Art of Parties" that seems clubfooted compared to the
original and they left off Japan's wonderful cover of "Ain't that
Peculiar?", but for the rest it's excellent. NB: the CD is missing some
of the album material.

You might also try "Oil on Canvas", a live recording from their final
tour. It's heavy on the material from "Tin Drum"-and thus not as
broad-but still pretty good (you also get Masami Tsuchiya's guitar
work). That's on CD as well.


-- 
A man walks down a street/it's a street in a strange world/maybe it's the
third world/maybe it's his first time around/doesn't speak the language/
he holds no currency/he is a foreign man/he is surrounded by the sound/
cattle in the marketplace/scatterlings and orphanages/he looks around/he
sees angels in the architecture/spinning in infinity/he says amen,he says
hallelujah. Gregory Taylor/Astronautics/{wherever}!uwvax!astroatc!gtaylor