three CD set containing a trio of albums from the British band led by David Sylvian: Adolescent Sex, Obscure Alternatives and Quiet Life. Sony.
Brilliant Trees is the first solo album by the British singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released in 1984. Produced by Sylvian with Steve Nye, it was his first full-length release after the break-up of his band Japan in December 1982 (though former Japan members Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri both appear on the album). AllMusic called the album "an eclectic affair fusing funk, jazz, and ambient." Additional musicians on the album included Danny Thompson on acoustic bass, Jon Hassell on trumpet, and Ryuichi Sakamoto on keyboards. Sylvian and Sakamoto had previously collaborated on the singles "Bamboo Houses" and "Forbidden Colours", and continued to collaborate at various points in their careers. The album peaked at no.4 in the UK, the highest chart position of Sylvian's career to date, and contains his biggest solo hit, "Red Guitar", which reached no.17 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1994, ten years after its release, the album was certified Gold.
The 1981 compilation Assemblage gives a skewed, incomplete picture of Japan's early career; this is not necessarily a bad thing, as Japan's early career frankly wasn't very good, and it certainly had little to do with the mature, studied art-pop of their later albums…
"Life in Tokyo" is a song by the British band Japan. A collaboration with disco producer Giorgio Moroder, who also co-wrote the song with David Sylvian, it marked a change of direction from the band's previous sound. Originally released as a single in 1979, it was reissued twice before it finally became a hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1982.
Ryuichi Sakamoto (born January 17, 1952 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese musician, composer and actor. Sakamoto studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he graduated with a BA in composition, and a Master's degree with special emphasis electronic and ethnic music…
The early 80's is now a quarter of a century ago! Whilst there have been many 80's compilations we feel now is a good time to release an `edgier', cooler tracklisting highlighting some of the artists and tracks that may not be as familiar, but still defined the times. Many of these tracks have only previously been available on vinyl. "Great mix of eighties music that goes that little bit deeper then the usual eighties collection. A mix of classic eighties and the obscure. I would strongly recommend this to anyone who wants to relive that eighties feeling".
In the late seventies, every other episode of Tomorrow’s World seemed to feature the futuristic ‘synthesiser’, a mass of patchboards, knobs and wires which was all set to make orchestras redundant around the world. But the singles chart was largely immune to the synth - with the honourable exceptions of Hot Butter’s Popcorn and Kraftwerk's Autobahn - until the watershed year of 1979. Then, Tubeway Army’s Are Friends Electric stormed to number one with its blend of bleak sci-fi, European cine-drama, and the heavy, ominous noise coming from machines labelled Roland, Arp and Moog…