Fretless bass playing + Japan/Mick Karn/Percy Jones/Ippu-Do/Masami Tsuchiya/YMO/Ryuichi Sakomoto/Bill Nelson

And of course, Japan and Slyvian expanded and remastered reissues out Sept. 15th.

This has made my weekend. I had heard about the reissues and was excited about them, BUT OMG, NOW I HAVE A TARGET DATE TO GET EXCITED OVER! I especially want to get the Oil On Canvas and Brilliant Trees reissues, but you know what's interesting? I was noticing the "added tracks" on the Gentlemen Take Polaroids reissue and I already have "The Experience of Swimming" and "The Width of a Room" on my GTP CD. Then again, I did hear that the US Caroline Records version of the GTP CD *did* have some tracks on it that UK releases didn't have. Still, it's exciting to know that they're going to have the b-side from the "Visions of China" single on the GTP CD, and I do look forward to the Tin Drum reissue overall because, um, I accidentally scratched up my old CD. *cringes* Now I can only listen to the MP3s of it. *sniff* I miss my Tin Drum.

I think Masami Tsuchiya is the most underrated artist ever!

http://www.nightporter.co.uk/pages/images/trilby.JPG

Can't wait for the Japan, RTC, Sylvian reissues.

Never heard "Pendulum". But if you can find his ECM "Works" or "Colours Of Chloe" you should def. purchase. Really great.

Yes, I did. I love the new album cover, but can't completely slate the old album cover. I love the Tin Drum cover as we already know it, but you know what? The photo they use for the reissue cover is one of the best photos I've ever seen of David Sylvian, and I like the clean and simple look of it.

And I always thought those two extra tracks on 'Gentlemen' disrupted the flow of the CD. Hopefully they'll be tacked onto the end this time.

You think so? I didn't mind so much, perhaps because I'm used to listening to albums where there's an instrumental or two stuck in what may appear to be random areas of an album. But I do love those two songs, especially "The Experience of Swimming". And good news for you -- I did see an exact track listing, and the additional tracks will be the last ones on the album. Hm. Wonder what'll sound different with the remix of "Taking Islands in Africa".

I'm going to purchase the 3 Japan reissues plus 'Rain Tree Crow' plus 'Brilliant Trees' and 'Gone to Earth'. Man, that's a lot of money.

Oh yes! When I did go back to notice the artwork again, I did take note of the Rain Tree Crow reissue. I'd love to get that one too. Oh man oh man oh man, do I wish I were wealthy enough to where all of this wouldn't be an issue but rather, "Oh, I can swing all of them at the same time." Instead, I think I'm going to have to buy one by one, unless Amazon or Half.com or someplace similar offer affordable prices for every one of them.

Plus:

I think Masami Tsuchiya is the most underrated artist ever!

Amen, Patrick, amen. Why he isn't more well-known is criminal.

And, btw, the way you post a picture is by doing the following:

<img src="IMAGE URL HERE">

Of course substituting whatever would appear in the address bar of your browser window as the IMAGE URL HERE.

Thanks Deanna!

And I accidentally left out Akiko Yano. Her album from '82 called 'Ai Ga Nakuchane' features Mick Karn and YMO members and is another favorite of mine.

fretless bass is a pukey spawn of satan, the requisite "smooth" faux-sophisticated sound that emanates from the hellish fake soul/dead soul likes of sting, whitney houston, and sade. the mere presence of a fretless bass always seems to scream "class envy!" and "upwardly mobile twit!"

imagine if you will some low-caste no-marks aspiring to be oh-so sophistimicated (as homer simpson would say)...

"hey, what would get us off of the cockney streets and into the winebars, mates?"

"how 'bout tuxedos, a faux blue note lp cover, and a fretless bass, eh?"

"good idea! try to get one of those with six or eight strings then."

as an object, the fretless bass is the physical manifestation of all of everything that is wrong with capitalism. a shame deleuze didn't get around to writing a book on them.

well, maybe baudrillard will yet.

http://www.chunterritchie.org/instruments/double-bass.gif

I didn't actually apply their makeup or anything.

In this vein, may I also mention Ippu Do's album 'Radio Fantasy'?

All of My Heart

Also, I've never been the biffest fan of Jaco. I own his s/t, 'Black Market', 'Heavy Weather' and 'Weather Report: The Jaco Years", and while I enjoy them, I prefer Karn's and Jones' style. Perhaps Jaco's style is too technical? I suppose I like Karn more because his playing is usually more simple and easier for me to emulate. I guess I'm not the biggest fan of jazz either.

Though, you have to admit that Pino chose some pretty cheesy artists to work with. His work with Paul Young was outstanding though, even if the cheese factor was fairly high, especially on the post-'No Parlez' albums.

I have yet to hear them, though. I'll give an update later. But based on presentation, these come highly recommended. Very sleek.

15th October 2006
Ippu-Do "Magic Vox" CD and DVD box set due out December 20th in Japan.

Japan members, Sandii, Bill Nelson and Ryuichi Sakamoto all feature.

The box set will include the Ippu-Do albums "Normal" (1979), "Real" (1980), "Radio Fantasy" (1981), "Night Mirage" (1983), "Live & Zen" (1984), "Rice Music" by Masami Tsuchiya and "Out of Reach" by Akira Mitake. Included are many tracks featuring performances by Mick Karn, Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri. Sandii provides backing vocals on several songs while Bill Nelson and Ryuichi Sakamoto make guest appearances on "Rice Music". The icing on the cake is that this set comes with a DVD of previously unreleased video clips and performances. All albums with the exception of "Real" feature bonus tracks.

Why be interested? Ippu-Do's front man and main songwriter Masami Tsuchiya was a member of Japan for their final tour and "Oil on Canvas". However, before that his band Ippu-Do were one of the groups contemporary to Japan that were directly influenced by their sound and style. From "Radio Fantasy" on there are clear similarities to the Japan sound, with all the subsequent relases featuring the group themselves. "Out of Reach" by Akira Mitake was produced by Richard Barbieri and is a lost gem, with a lovely smooth pop production - something later continued on the Dolphin Brothers album. I also enjoy the first two Ippu-Do albums, where Masami works through his interests in 60s guitar bands and German electronic and prog sounds - often in the same songs. Like the first two Japan albums, they have a raw sound that is pretty compelling and a nice contrast to some of the more refined material on the later recordings. Like "Nightporter"? Check out "Crystal Leaves" on "Night Mirage", a truly beautiful number. Nearer the release date there will be audio clips available on the Sony website so you can sample the sound of Ippu-Do for yourself.

Anyone have the Akiko Yano single "Kang Tong Shonen"? Love that song. I have her performing it on a live 1979 YMO video and wonder how the studio version ( as well as her album w/ YMO + Japan folks) holds up.

Also, has anyone seen the sheer VOLUME of music these guys did for Medium Productions? It's, like, 400 records that the YMO/Japan/etc. guys all have done together in various combinations. As my experience with Dolphin Bros. wasn't the highlight of my life, I have no idea if any of it is worth buying, but you can hear some of it at http://artist-shop.com/medium/

Terrible news
http://www.mickkarn.net/
Say a prayer.

D:

Awful news, he's one of the reasons I picked up a bass in the first place. Hoping for the best...

terrible news indeed

There needs to be a more obvious thread for this :/

God bless Nick, you have always been one of my heroes.

Mick. Fuck. Typos.

His website's down at the moment but I googled and found the statement. This truly sucks.

Heartbreaking news. I can't believe I started this thread 7 years ago. Clearly, he's had a giant influence on me. My thoughts are with him.

this is terrible news. seems like mick karn has had alot of hard luck during his career, despite his immense talent. will be making a donation

'advanced stages' :(

titles is sounding pretty good right now, i hadn't played it in a while. amazing how he makes his bass sound like a 303 on "passion in moisture"

really digging some of these Ippu-Do albums

about half of "Real" is one big tribute to Neu!, and unlike what I've heard in the past, it's actually pretty spot-on and awesome. "Normal" has some ace tracks too and "Radio Fantasy" is a classic.

Wow, Night Mirage is splendid. Super super lush and deep.

fuck the haters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iay1HePfFks

mick karn+david sylvian — "buoy" (1986)

wonderful track, one of my favourite solo releases from either. Big fan of Dreams of Reason all round.

Numan couldn't get Palladino for Warriors but Bill Hubbard does a fine job of holding it down on the fretless & Bill Nelson makes the album great, single most underrated album (including by Numan) in his catalog

I cherry-picked the "Warrior" tracks with Mick on bass. There's just no one that sounds like him.

I'm enjoying Dreams of Reasons Produce Monsters more than Titles, but Karn really needed contributors to bring focus to his music. He's such an unassuming vocalist, and even when he's trying to specialize in texture, the results are thin.

"Dreams" is my favorite solo Mick but "Titles" is very good as well, I had passed on it for years before listening with fresh ears. "Weather The Windmill" is particularly great. I also dig "Bestival Cluster" but after that it's cherry picking time.

Ha! I was searching for various Japanese bands from the 80s that I've been enjoying. There is so much love for YMO and its spin-offs around here that I wondered if anyone was into Ippu-Do or Boøwy or Der Zibet or that lot? (I could have sworn I saw a Soft Ballet thread on this forum but can't seem to find it again.)

I suppose it makes sense that Ippu-Do get the love, given the Japan connection. Honestly, out of all the UK new bands of that generation, Japan was the one that never quite clicked for me. But I really dig Ippu-Do.

Ippu-Do's REAL is one of the best krautrock pastiches I've ever heard - ジャーマン・ロード really has to be heard to be believed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTNZqAs9tOk

Ooh, that is excellent.

There's a whole tangle of Japanese bands who were seriously obsessed with British New Wave and German Krautrock - that Ippu-Do and Der Zibet went on to inspire bands like Buck-Tick and Soft Ballet who became huge at home, but never made much impact abroad - my understanding that this scene was centred around the Tsubaki House disco in the wake of YMO.

I suppose I should ask in the YMO threads if anyone has any information about Tsubaki House? It's hard to get English language information.

about half of "Real" is one big tribute to Neu!, and unlike what I've heard in the past, it's actually pretty spot-on and awesome.

Listened to this album a few times today and there's only really two songs that sound like Neu! and they're actually much more like la Dusseldorf and Michael Rother solo. There's a song which mentions Neu! in the title but proceeds to sound like they're trying to re-write "Torn Curtain" by Television - the guitar solo is a blatant rip-off. There's also some reggae and the last track sounds like the Shadows!

Yes! You're highlighting exactly what is great about that album. Other Ippu-Do albums are more original, but I find something very joyous in their cosplay, and the way they wear their admiration on their sleeves.