RAIN TREE CROW

I was a big fan of Japan at the time and subsequently loved Sylvian and Karn's solo work and when this album appeared - hyped by the music press as a 'Japan reunion', it certainly wasn't what I expected on first listen. Rather than deliver a commercial album loaded with a few pop hits, what you got was a very atmospheric and experimental album consisting of a lot of meandering instrumental pieces. It's one of those albums you have to be in he right mood to listen to but when you are - it's a masterpiece. It's more new age and ambient as opposed to new romantic and is more akin to the feel of some of Sylvian's solo work but it's certainly something that's best digested as a whole. Much of it was created from studio improvisations and some tracks work as a link between some of the more composed pieces. According to reports, Sylvian took the whole project over but to me it sounds like a band given free rein to experiment and come up with something interesting - which they did. Anyone looking for a catchy single will find solace in 'Blackwater' but the majority of the album consists of what can be termed atmospheric mood music and often that mood is quite bleak. Rain Treet Crow was initially meant to be an ongoing project but, possibly due to the disagreements that have been well documented and the lack of commercial material, they left us just this one singular album. It's certainly one that repays repeated listening and you could envisage Rain Tree Crow making very evocative soundtracks for arty films. Personally, I like this album a lot and is worth investigating if you are prepared to accept it's a radical departure from Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Tin Drum!