Japan

London's Japan charted one of the most compelling paths in new wave. An assorted set of musicians – with the aching vocals of David Sylvian, the hypnotic basslines of Mick Karn, the "exotic" keyboards of Richard Barbieri and the obsessive drumming of Steve Jansen – would already have been enough to create one of the most spectacular ensembles in rock history. On top of that, there was an equally intoxicating sonic project: fusing the flavours of glam with the melodies of romantic-progressive rock, exotic (especially Eastern) sonorities with the eccentricity of electronic dandies from across the Channel like Brian Eno, Roxy Music and David Bowie.

At first, however, the quartet struggled to nail the formula. Before getting there, they had to go through two albums steeped in guitar-driven glam-punk and a spell in Japan (no coincidence, that…), soaking up sounds and flavours with the help of artists such as guitarist Masami Tsuchiya's Ippu-Do, Akiko Yano, and Yellow Magic Orchestra keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto. Already sketched out on "Quiet Life" and the single "Life In Tokyo" (with a hand from disco wizard Giorgio Moroder), the allure of the Japan sound burst forth in full on the following album, "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" (1980).

The record features a contribution from Ryuichi Sakamoto, who helps arrange the title track and co-writes with Sylvian the gorgeous "Taking Islands in Africa". The electronic dimension, meanwhile, is heightened by the skilled hand of John Punter. Sylvian and Barbieri's slowed-down vocals and delicate keyboards, Karn's "funk" basslines, and Jansen's brooding drumming come together in a collage of exotic textures and disorienting effects, with the guitar pushed into the background. The result is some of the most refined electronic ballads of the decade: the decadent title track, steeped in faint wave-ish aromas; the driving "Methods Of Dance", with Sylvian's voice buoyed by sensual female backing vocals as well as the usual sax, a spine-tingling bassline and wild percussion; the fairy-tale melancholy of "Nightporter", built around a stunning melody for piano and chamber orchestra complete with hyper-romantic lyrics ("Here am I alone again/ A quiet town where life gives in/ Here am I just wondering Nightporters go/ Nightporters slip away"); the ambient instrumental "Burning Bridges", with its sinister, ghostly atmosphere, embellished by Karn's sax and Sylvian's closing spoken-word passage.

Rounding out the album's exotically sophisticated landscape are "Swing", steeped in Eastern fragrances, a cover of a Marvin Gaye r'n'b tune written for The Miracles, "Ain't That Peculiar", and the sinuous "My New Career", polished to perfection, with the sax front and centre.

Sylvian sings with a decadent, Bowie-esque fatalism, while at the same time acting as the shaman of an Eastern liturgy, able to melt into draining ceremonial passages and climb paths of near-Zen asceticism. His sonic miniatures build a bridge between the London suburbs and Japanese lotus gardens, between the smoky pubs of Mitteleuropa and the rice paddies of Canton, in an ever more mystical and visionary crescendo. The band backs him tirelessly, and every musician manages to leave his mark, starting with that bass legend named Mick Karn.

"Gentlemen Take Polaroids" is a treasure chest of pure, rarefied sounds, built with meticulous attention to detail and a painstaking focus on melodic craft. A sequence of exquisite compositions that combine Eastern sounds, funky rhythms and ethereal melodies, showing how avant-garde experimentation can be applied to the song format without ever overstepping its bounds.

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31/10/2006