Japan (the band, silly, not the country!)

[interbellum]

Does anyone know if the Oil On Canvas video was ever issued on DVD? I Remember watching it on Youtube some years back. As I recall, Mick Karn's footwork is almost as impressive as his bass playing, almost looking like he's wearing rollerskates.

This was released on DVD as "Japan - The Very Best Of". It includes 7 promotional video's and Oil On Canvas - Live From Hammersmith Odeon, 1983.

I'm a fan of the music of Japan and its members since 1978. Yes, I do like their first two LP's: different, but with a certain something I really love. And the second album, Obscure Alternatives, has got the first ambient, Satie-like piece, the band and especially Sylivan, would produce in later years: The Tenant.



Although Sylvian doesn't produce a lot of new music the last couple of years, Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri are quite active, so my Japan-collection grows and grows.

[the winter tree]

Sylvian lives about 45 minutes directly east of me. I've never bumped into him, but I had dinner with his ex Ingrid.

Japan were a very unique and influential band. An acquired taste for many, but worth the effort.

[interbellum]

Sylvian lives about 45 minutes directly east of me. I've never bumped into him, but I had dinner with his ex Ingrid.

Japan were a very unique and influential band. An acquired taste for many, but worth the effort.

Ingrid and David made a nice mini-record together once, Little Girld With 99 Lives.

[Staun]

Isn't this the Moody Blues cover from The Present?

[Staun]

I have always liked Tin Drum (1981)

Ferry like?

[gpeccary]

Isn't this the Moody Blues cover from The Present?

It's actually Maxfield Parrishs' Daybreak painting

[Staun]

It's actually Maxfield Parrishs' Daybreak painting

Thanks for the info Gpeccary. However, I think the Moodies added a few things. I don't want to hijack the thread so I'll ask you one more question and then move along. Do you know who did the painting for Long Distance Voyager? Love the detail in it and I would rather ask someone here rather than look it up. Thanks again.

[gpeccary]

Thanks for the info Gpeccary. However, I think the Moodies added a few things. I don't want to hijack the thread so I'll ask you one more question and then move along. Do you know who did the painting for Long Distance Voyager? Love the detail in it and I would rather ask someone here rather than look it up. Thanks again.

Oh boy, I guess they DID! Apologies, I jumped the gun and responded to the Dalis Car image above. So, I DONT know who did the Moodys' cover, but they should be jailed as a result! (I'm a huge Parrish fan!)

[Staun]

Oh boy, I guess they DID! Apologies, I jumped the gun and responded to the Dalis Car image above. So, I DONT know who did the Moodys' cover, but they should be jailed as a result! (I'm a huge Parrish fan!)

Ha. I'd like to know how you would get away with that. Remember the Roger Dean thread? If this isn't stealing I don't know what is. The person that did the Moodies cover had to have gotten permission, I would think.

[Progbear]

Thanks for the info Gpeccary. However, I think the Moodies added a few things. I don't want to hijack the thread so I'll ask you one more question and then move along. Do you know who did the painting for Long Distance Voyager? Love the detail in it and I would rather ask someone here rather than look it up. Thanks again.

Discogs just credits Cream, the design firm based out of Amsterdam, which isn’t terribly helpful. So I did a little digging (a very little, i.e.: Wikipedia) and came up with this:

The cover for the album was a painting from the Arts Union Glasgow, while the sleeve was based on a concept by the Moody Blues which was designed by Cream, who were in charge of the album's artwork.[4] NASA's Voyager spacecraft is at the top of the front side of the album cover. Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2's flybys of Saturn were in the news in 1980-81.

I could have sworn the painting was older than that, but I guess I never examined it in detail.

Oh boy, I guess they DID! Apologies, I jumped the gun and responded to the Dalis Car image above. So, I DONT know who did the Moodys' cover, but they should be jailed as a result! (I'm a huge Parrish fan!)

BJH also edited a Parrish print for the cover of their Time Honoured Ghosts LP. I suppose this is the first time anyone accused the Moodies from stealing an idea from them.

[mozo-pg]

What about David Sylvian's solo career? How does it stack against Japan? I personally prefer David's solo work, his voice matured and he had such a varied palate.

[Proghound]

What about David Sylvian's solo career? How does it stack against Japan? I personally prefer David's solo work, his voice matured and he had such a varied palate.

His solo career is amazing and what got me into Japan. The early Japan is shit, the later recordings are gems. Some of David's most recent stuff is a little too avant garde for my tastes, but otherwise, he is brillant.

[mozo-pg]

His solo career is amazing and what got me into Japan. The early Japan is shit, the later recordings are gems. Some of David's most recent stuff is a little too avant garde for my tastes, but otherwise, he is brillant.

Yeah, David's solo career is stellar. I also came into Japan through his solo career. As for his shift to avant garde (which I agree with), it's very hard to untangle but he could almost sing the phone book and his voice remains rich and textured.

[Proghound]

Gone to Earth is absolutely classic IMO.

[Mythos]

I was into Japan back in the day...

Three of the greatest vocalists IMO are:
David Bowie
David Sylvian
Peter Murphy

Anyway, my favorite David Sylvian song is Orpheus, such an awesome some, his vocals in it send waves through my soul and shivers down my spine...

[Scrotum Scissor]

The Tin Drum was once featured in PROG magazine's column "It's Prog Jim, But Not As We Know It!"

Yes, most artists with whatever member-connection to anyone "true prog" apparently risked being subjected to that fantastic column. As if there was some heterogeneous understanding of "Prog As We Know It" in the first place.

Prog As I Know It; somewhere entangled between the Third Ear Band, Tangerine Dream and Albert Marcoeur.

[miamiscot]

Tin Drum was my go to Japan record. Been a while since I've revisited their discography. Might need to correct that tonight. Excellent band.

[interbellum]

...The early Japan is shit, ....

Well, I like that shit a lot!

[gpeccary]

What about David Sylvian's solo career? How does it stack against Japan? I personally prefer David's solo work, his voice matured and he had such a varied palate.

I like his work starting from earliest forward the best. His later work from about Blemish onward tends to get a little too abstract, and Im not sure thats the word for it, for my taste if that makes any sense?

[interbellum]

On the Sylvian/Japan-forum there was a post with the title The Phantom Thread. First I thought it was a thread about something ghostly, but it appeared to be one about the movie with the same name. The start of the trailer has the voice of Daniel Day-Lewis, but when you close your eyes you would swear it was Sylvian in one of his spoken words-compositions he's been releasing the last couple of years.

[Proghound]

Well, I like that shit a lot!

Perhaps I was a bit harsh- i'm not a big fan of Obscure Alternatives, otherwise I am a big fan and have pretty much the entire catalog.

[mozo-pg]

I like his work starting from earliest forward the best. His later work from about Blemish onward tends to get a little too abstract, and Im not sure thats the word for it, for my taste if that makes any sense?

Yes, makes sense. The later work is more avant/dissonant sounding. I like the vocals on Blemish but the rest of the music is hard to get into.

[Dedatolo]

I know this story quite differently. Torn wanted Karn to play on "Cloud..." but Karn wasn't sure to be at the same level as Torn/Bruford/Isham and declined. Then, for the tour, Bruford had to call Karn to convince him to come to the party. There was no grumpiness and bullshit as mentioned. For "Tooth" Karn asked Bruford to play in it, but Bruford was busy and gave the advice to use Gavin Harrison.

Yeah, I vaguely remember reading a story, it might have been in Bass Player, when he passed away, but I've forgotten exactly where I read it, that there was a point where Karn, Torn and Bruford were rehearsing (I think this was just before they toured in the late 80's) and Karn was having trouble with some of the written stuff, because he didn't read music, and I gather that maybe Bruford was being a bit grumpy about the fact that it was taking longer than it "should" to get the material nailed down as a result. I guess he hadn't worked with musicians who couldn't sightread, probably not since the Yes days. But it was Torn's band, and I gather he wanted to work with Mick, so that's how it went down.

But it's kinda startling to consider all the different instruments Karn played, not just bass, or even keyboards, but also various woodwind instruments. I gather he actually played bassoon as a teenager (which, now that I think about it, makes the "he couldn't sightread" thing not make sense, because if he played in school orchestra or whatever, he shouldn't have had such troubles), and on various records, he plays saxes, bass clarinet, recorder, oboe, and I'm not sure what else.

[interbellum]

I know this story quite differently. Torn wanted Karn to play on "Cloud..." but Karn wasn't sure to be at the same level as Torn/Bruford/Isham and declined. Then, for the tour, Bruford had to call Karn to convince him to come to the party. There was no grumpiness and bullshit as mentioned. For "Tooth" Karn asked Bruford to play in it, but Bruford was busy and gave the advice to use Gavin Harrison.

Mick wrote a whole chapter on this in his autobiography, Japan & Self Existence.

In short he didn't want to play on the album, because he thought that the recording/rehearsing-time was too short. Plus he hadn't been playing bass-guitar a lot the four years before this all happened.
It was strange to play with Bill live, because he was used to drummers who kept in time, while Bruford "drifted from the tempo quite often".

[interbellum]

More with Steve Wilson, superb !

This will probably the bonus-track on the LP-version of JBK's Playing In A Room With People, to be released in Febr. 2020 at https://jbkmusic.bandcamp.com/album/...ple-lp-edition