gtaylor@cornell.UUCP (Greg Taylor) (07/02/84)
Good Morning. Just thought I'd mention this little number that showed up in the import racks over the weekend. You may know Sylvian from Japan, and from his collaborations with Riuchi Sakamoto of the Yellow Magic Orchestra (the soundtrack to "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence", for one). If not....well, Japan started out as a Bowie ripoff in the mid seventies that managed to finish out its course as an innovative and interesting band. Sylvian's voice is marked by the same mannered vocal delivery that Bryan Ferry mines, though the lyrical concerns are a bit more diffuse (lots of vaguely sloganeering, and haiku-like snatches mixed up with the usual vague nostalgia). The old band was to my mind one of the most interesting practitioners of the "electronics as a source of semi-recognizeable timbres" school. THough the records are awash in synthesizers, it seems at first listen that there's a lot of bamboo and squiggly little flutes. ALso, the drumming owes much to Japanese Enka-type rhythms. You might want to check out their last studio album "the Tin Drum" or the liver import double "Oil on Canvas." Sylvian's gone solo now, and the results are the extension of the last album's concerns into a much richer tapestry of sound. He's joined by Holger Czukay and Jon Hassell (both of whom do a lot to redefine the "sound" of this record) as well as Sakamoto. Where Japan was busy producing imaginary orientalisms, this record seems located in some undefineable country, with Sylvian the romantic exile-type in the consulate bar after hours. The lushness of the recording meshes well with its general spirit, and Sylvian seems to have taken considerable pains to alter the manner of his voice to "fit" the music. I'd say that this is one of the best platter's to cross my reviewer's desk in an otherwise quiet summer. Unlike a fair amount of Brit posing, this one has a little aural integrity to it. That, I suppose, shouldn't surprise you much when you consider the company Sylvian keeps. I don't believe in stars (they are an aid to navigation only), but I would give this one a few for sure. g(May I see your passport, please?)taylor@cornell