421 Hello David Sylvian ( solo ) * - Bamboo Houses / Bamboo Music

(* as  one  half  of  Sylvian  Sakamoto )

Chart  entered : 7  August  1982

Chart  peak : 30

Number  of  hits : 11

I  must  admit  I  haven't  heard  this  one  in  a  long  time - the  start  of  one  of  the  most  enigmatic  of  solo  careers.

After  the  release  of  their  1981  album  Tin  Drum, Japan   had  become  more  feted  than  ever  before  in  the  UK, its  blend  of   arty  Western  synth  pop  and  Oriental  themes  and  melodies   sounding  like  nothing  else  around. But  it  was  clear  even  as  they  toured  it  that  things  were  amiss  in  the  band  with  the  tension  between  the  members  palpable  to  the  audiences. The  principal  protagonists  were  singer  David  and  bassist  Mick  Karn  whose  Japanese  girlfriend  he  had  just  poached. Temporarily  the  answer  seemed  to  be  solo  projects  for  both  men.

David's  preferred  partner  was  Ryuichi  Sakamoto  , keyboard  player  with  Japan's  premier  synth  pop  act  Yellow  Magic  Orchestra  who  had  contributed  some  synth  work  to  a  track  ( and  got  a  co-writing  credit  )  on  Japan's  previous  album  Gentlemen  Take  Polaroids .  His  brother  and  Japan's  drummer  Steve  Jansen  played  on  the  single  and  appeared  in  the  video  for  "Bamboo  Music"  but  didn't  get  an  artist  credit.

"Bamboo  Music "  was  the  side  that  got  the  ( limited )  radio  play  probably  because  there's  more  vocals  on  it. It's  very  much  a  continuation  of  the  Tin  Drum  sound   with  Dave  giving  an  observer's  view  of  life  in  the  paddy  fields  of  somewhere  in  the  Far  East  possibly  Cambodia  and  Jansen  providing  his  customary  off-kilter  rhythms.  Dave  and  Ryuichi  explore  what  Oriental  noises  they  can  squeeze  out  of  their  Prophet  5  synths  with  a  mid-song  wind  chime  break  that  completely  throws  you. While  it's  not  completely  unmelodic   there's  certainly  nothing  resembling  a  memorable  tune  which  probably  explains  Radio  One's  reluctance  to  give  it  many  spins  and  the  record's  modest  chart  placing.

"Bamboo  Houses " is  my  preference  of   the  two  sides,  a  slow-building  near-instrumental  with  a  minor  key  synth  riff  as  its  main  hook . Ryuichi  mutters  the  one  verse  in  Japanese  before  David  eventually  translates  it  as  a  lament  for  a  devastated  society  ( Cambodia  again  ? )  and  another   choral   keyboard  comes  in  to  underline  the  sorrow. It  gets  better  the  more  you  hear  it  and  it's  a  shame  the  record  has  been  largely  forgotten.