indoKTrination exercises, KaTian and otherwise

[IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU]

>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.

>Rob

Right, it is a hard question. Rather than try to sway your opinions,
IED will just offer stylistic pigeonholes for all Japan and post-Japan
LPs, as follows:

1. Adolescent Sex
      and
2. Obscure Alternatives

     These are Japan's first two LPs, and they do not have much in common
with "real" Japan. They're essentially a kind of quasi-effeminate
heavy metal with decadent themes and histrionic vocals (in higher keys)
by Sylvian. There are one or two proto-ambient tracks, and all of it
is expertly performed, but it's generally not what people think of
when they hear the name Japan. Sylvian has disowned both LPs.

3. Quiet Life

     This is the break-through LP for Japan, kind of like their Dreaming,
so to speak, although the two LPs have NOTHING else in common.
The title track was rereleased after GTP and Tin Drum started making
waves in the UK, as the first single from the compilation LP.
The general tone of this LP is low-key, Sylvian's voice is now much
lower, softer and more tired. There are several welt-schmerzy, arty
and brooding semi-ambient tracks, including In Vogue and Despair
(the latter sung in French).
This is very fine music, but if one of the main things you liked
about GTP was its incomparable production and sound (the subtle
tempering of Jansen's drums, etc.) and the emerging complexity of
the Jansen/Karn rhythms, then you may be disappointed by QL.
Alot of Japan fans swear that QL is their best album, however.

4. GTP you know already.

5. Tin Drum
     Tin Drum is the last Japan LP, and unquestionably their
most technically accomplished and most thoroughly directed.
All the tracks are united stylistically. The rhythms are more
economical than on GTP, but at the same time all the voices,
both rhythmic and instrumental, are carefully layered -- the many sounds
exchange remarks, so to speak, like a conversation -- in the
new LP so that, from a musical standpoint, at least, great
steps forward have been taken. IED's favorite Japan LP, but, to be
fair, some fans think the whole thing is too pat -- contrived, routine.
The ethnic theme throughout this LP is Chinese, incidentally, not
Japanese (although Jansen's drum style was influenced by
Takahashi's from YMO's BGM LP).

6. Brilliant Trees you know.
     If Brilliant Trees is what you like more than anything else,
then go right out and buy Gone to Earth. Despite all the hoopla
and Sylvian's new (and annoying) mainstream appeal, IED can
see virtually no musical development between Brilliant Trees
and Gone to Earth. IED loved Brilliant Trees. Hearing more of the
same in Gone to Earth, however, it seems like a glorious but superfluous
postscript.
  Ditto Alchemy..., ...Shaman and attendant tracks on Preparations...

     Mick Karn has made two LPs, one under his own name (called Titles),
the other as Dalis Car (sic) in the eponymously titled LP.
The latter is sharper in tone, perhaps less Japan-ish
than the former, and features vocals by Peter Murphy (ex-Bauhaus).
Both, however, consist almost entirely of Karn's music and performance,
and both are very fine and rather eccentric.

     Finally, Jansen and Barbieri have also released one LP (Japan-only
release, also on Japanese CD) called Worlds in a Small Room. It is
a brief LP, mainly ambient electronic instrumentals but with
considerable melodic and rhythmic body. There is one vocal track
sung by Jansen in a style very close to Sylvian's. IED loves this
LP.

     There's a lot more stuff, but those are the only full-lenght LPs,
aside from the 2-LP live album called Oil on Canvas. Typical
perfection of craftsmanship and presentation, but perhaps a little
lifeless. It does contain three exquisite instrumentals, however,
and a few of the live tracks are dynamite.

 -- Andrew Marvick

>Hello,
>    I am an old fan of KB (from late 70's) and i just happened to
>tumble to the existence of love-hounds. Has anyone compiled a
>collection of interpretations of what her songs are about?? I have a
>analysed a few of them myself but many are still sealed books to me.
>Most of the following classes of songs are easy to decipher: the
>literary songs (Wuthering Heights, The Man With the Child in His Eyes
>etc.), the anti-war songs (Army Dreamers, Breathing etc.), the famous
>females/persons songs (With This Kiss etc.) and political commentary
>(The Dreaming etc.). However, i recently saw a note about Cloudbursting
>intimating that it was Reich as told by his son ("...your sun's/sons's
>coming out..."). Is this true?  What other songs have deep (or any)
>meanings??
>    Please help!!
>         greg.

Well, as one ca '78 KT fan to another, IED will try.
You're very welcome at L-Hs, greg. So please don't
take it amiss if IED pulls you up onto the carpet for some
errors in your otherwise admirable posting. As all L-Hs will
avow, IED is a real pain in the ass about trifling details Bushological.
The title is "Houdini", not "With this Kiss" (assuming you're
talking about that song), and the other title
is "Cloudbusting", not "Cloudbursting". This latter song
is indeed biographical, inspired as it was by a memoir of childhood
written by Wilhelm Reich's son Peter. There are now practically hundreds
of pages of printout about this song and related matters in Love-Hounds'
back issues. Ask Doug to send you a bunch of old stuff about this.
Also, of course, you could subscribe to the Kate Bush Club Newsletter,
and there's also Homeground and Break-Through. All of these Kate Bush
journals have included discussions of "Cloudbusting" in the past.
As for explanations of all of Kate Bush's songs, come on! Each one is
capable of withstanding a book's worth of painstaking analysis without
really being cracked open. Let's just take them one at a time.