Album: Tin Drum
Artist: Japan
Born: Catford, London
Released: November 1981
Genre: Synthpop
Influenced: Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Talk Talk, Tricky, Radiohead
Like Kate Bush, David Sylvian is a musical butterfly that's hard to pin down. Sylvian was the principle songwriter and singer for Japan, who were part of the more credible, avant-garde end of synthpop, which ended up buried by the likes of Spandau Ballet. Starting out as a glam punk band in the late 70s, Japan's sound evolved into synthpop by the time of their third LP, Quiet Life, the title track of which was released as a single in 1979 (to little success, even though Duran Duran would mimic its sound remorselessly in the mid-80s). By the time of their fifth record, Tin Drum, Sylvian was drawing heavily on Far Eastern influences and more esoteric interests, and ironically this album was their commercial breakthrough. For me, Tin Drum forms a triumvirate of great synthpop records in 1981 (the genre's annus mirabilis), along with Dare and Architecture & Morality, the common thread being a rejection of rock & roll clichés and the emphasis on keyboards over guitars. Sylvian would leave Japan soon after this album's release to pursue a brilliant, eccentric solo career, but this album contains some of his finest moments, notably the minimalist Ghosts, a deconstructed pop song that somehow charted as a Top 5 UK single in early 1982.
With its references to Chairman Mao and Günter Grass' great 20th century novel, Tin Drum was as unique in its subject matter as in its sound. The unusual synth textures and offbeat noises were inspired by avant-garde composers like Stockhausen (who also influenced the likes of Miles Davis, Frank Zappa and Scott Walker). Sylvian and Richard Barbieri were responsible for programming the OB-X and Prophet-5 analogue synthesizers, while Mick Karn's fretless bass and Steve Jansen's polyrhythmic drums help to create the album's exotic sound. Sylvian had also spent time hanging out with Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of the members of pioneering Japanese synth group the Yellow Magic Orchestra (their album BGM is great), and this love of the Orient is reflected in many of the song titles (Canton, Visions of China, Cantonese Boy). As well as the Henrik Ibsen-inspired minimalistic masterpiece Ghosts (painting a picture of someone haunted by their past), other highlights on the album are Visions of China, Cantonese Boy and The Art of Parties (though I prefer the single version). Japan were similar to Talking Heads in the way they fused contemporary music forms with classical, exotic traditions, breaking down the components of the traditional pop song to form something completely original.
Like Kate Bush, David Sylvian is a musical butterfly that's hard to pin down. Sylvian was the principle songwriter and singer for Japan, who were part of the more credible, avant-garde end of synthpop, which ended up buried by the likes of Spandau Ballet. Starting out as a glam punk band in the late 70s, Japan's sound evolved into synthpop by the time of their third LP, Quiet Life, the title track of which was released as a single in 1979 (to little success, even though Duran Duran would mimic its sound remorselessly in the mid-80s). By the time of their fifth record, Tin Drum, Sylvian was drawing heavily on Far Eastern influences and more esoteric interests, and ironically this album was their commercial breakthrough. For me, Tin Drum forms a triumvirate of great synthpop records in 1981 (the genre's annus mirabilis), along with Dare and Architecture & Morality, the common thread being a rejection of rock & roll clichés and the emphasis on keyboards over guitars. Sylvian would leave Japan soon after this album's release to pursue a brilliant, eccentric solo career, but this album contains some of his finest moments, notably the minimalist Ghosts, a deconstructed pop song that somehow charted as a Top 5 UK single in early 1982.
With its references to Chairman Mao and Günter Grass' great 20th century novel, Tin Drum was as unique in its subject matter as in its sound. The unusual synth textures and offbeat noises were inspired by avant-garde composers like Stockhausen (who also influenced the likes of Miles Davis, Frank Zappa and Scott Walker). Sylvian and Richard Barbieri were responsible for programming the OB-X and Prophet-5 analogue synthesizers, while Mick Karn's fretless bass and Steve Jansen's polyrhythmic drums help to create the album's exotic sound. Sylvian had also spent time hanging out with Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of the members of pioneering Japanese synth group the Yellow Magic Orchestra (their album BGM is great), and this love of the Orient is reflected in many of the song titles (Canton, Visions of China, Cantonese Boy). As well as the Henrik Ibsen-inspired minimalistic masterpiece Ghosts (painting a picture of someone haunted by their past), other highlights on the album are Visions of China, Cantonese Boy and The Art of Parties (though I prefer the single version). Japan were similar to Talking Heads in the way they fused contemporary music forms with classical, exotic traditions, breaking down the components of the traditional pop song to form something completely original.
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