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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Stewart Mason <flamingo@theworld.com> |
| Subject | Re: Gimme a Tim.../Japan |
| Date | Wed, 04 Aug 2004 03:26:56 -0400 |
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At 01:19 AM 8/4/2004 -0500, Michael Bennett wrote:
>2. Japan got uneven critical response during their lifetime, but I always
>liked what I heard. I have to check those albums out.
Kind of like Ultravox, who you go on to mention, Japan had a violent shift
in artistic focus after their first couple of albums. Their first two
albums, ADOLESCENT SEX and OBSCURE ALTERNATIVES, are an absolute mess. It
sounds to me like the idea was to sound like MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD-era
David Bowie fronting WOOFER IN TWEETER'S CLOTHING-era Sparks, but with all
the plastic cynicism of the former and none of the cracked melodic and
lyrical invention of the latter. While that combination sounds like it
could be interesting, trust me: it really isn't.
QUIET LIFE, the third album, is the odd one out. Early Ultravox actually
is a pretty good comparison, as are the first couple of Simple Minds
albums: synthesizers are starting to supplant the guitars (guitarist Rob
Dean left the band after this record and he wasn't replaced), and there's a
kind of clattery nervous tension to the sound, but they're clearly reaching
for something more polished and controlled.
GENTLEMEN TAKE POLAROIDS and TIN DRUM, on the other hand, are beyond
polished and controlled. These records make Steely Dan sound like the
Mountain Goats: utterly pristine, largely electronic soundscapes. What
puts them over is that there's an incredible sense of spaciousness to this
music. There are keyboards, but they're treated and processed until they
sound entirely unique in comparison to what the other synth bands were
doing. There's bass, but Mick Karn was playing a fretless electric bass
(pretty much only Jaco Pastorious had done much of this before) and he
tended to be playing either melodic leads or these slow single note lines
that are more for atmosphere than for rhythm. There's drums, both real and
electronic, but Steve Jansen had the lightest touch of any rock drummer of
the '80s, and I don't think there's a single basic 4/4 rhythm on either of
these albums. (I'm not a drummer, but as near as I can figure out the
rhythm of "Still Life In Mobile Homes," it's in 5/4 time, and Jansen's
playing the first and second beat of every measure instead of the
traditional 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. And this is as close to conventional dance
music as these guys got!) There are vocals, but David Sylvian had dropped
the Bowie affectation and was singing in an entirely different voice that
was deliberately on the verge of disappearing entirely. Most of these
songs, on either album, are over five minutes long (well over in many
cases), but many of them feature maybe one or two verses and a brief
chorus. Anyway, very much a product of the
post-punky/synth-poppy/art-rocky times, but these records hold up
incredibly well, much more so than many similar records of the time.
S
In a somewhat
>similar vein, I picked up an Ultravox comp, covering their pre-Midge Ure
>years on Island. Some good songs, a few which became the template for Gary
>Numan. Right now, however, I'm obsessed with the Bowie-esque "Rock Wrok".
>
>Mike "Insomniac" Bennett
>
>
>
>Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
>Find out about Chicago shows:
>http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/
>
>
>>From: Stewart Mason <flamingo@theworld.com>
>
>>At 01:11 AM 8/4/2004 -0400, Jaimie Vernon wrote:
>> >>I still consider Tim Horton to be hockey's premier cultural touchstone.
>> >>Screw the Leafs, gimme an apple fritter and a large coffee to go.
>> >
>> >What, no Stan Mikita's?!? :-)
>>
>>Okay, has *everyone* just re-watched WAYNE'S WORLD or something? This is
>>the third reference to Stan Mikita's someone I know has made since Charity
>>and I got the movie from Netflix a couple weeks ago.
>>
>>During this ongoing debate tonight, I've been rather obsessively listening
>>to two new Newbury Comics purchases, recent UK reissues of Japan's two
>>classic albums, GENTLEMEN TAKE POLAROIDS and TIN DRUM. Nothing at all to
>>do with the Beatles -- more like what would have happened if Eno had
>>launched a revolution and taken over complete creative control of Roxy
>>Music -- but I can't remember when I last listened to these albums (several
>>years, at least) and, as always, I'm just incredibly struck by their sheer
>>perfection. These albums are really the pinnacle of the artsier end of UK
>>post-punk, and yet they actually had some songs that worked as singles too,
>>like "Still Life In Mobile Homes" and "The Art of Parties." Highly
>>recommended, if you've never heard them, and at least at Newbury Comics,
>>nice-priced: $11.88 for the single-disc GENTLEMEN TAKE POLAROIDS (with
>>three bonus tracks from the "Taking Islands In Africa" single, still my
>>favorite thing this band ever did) and $16.99 for the two-disc TIN DRUM,
>>which includes the UK-only THE ART OF PARTIES EP as a bonus disc and is
>>beautifully packaged in a nice little cardboard box.
>>
>>S
>>
>>
>
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