BRILLIANT TREES

I was surprised by this album. Japan wasn't one of my favorite bands. I collected a few of their albums only because I was intrigued by Mick Karn's unique bass style. David Sylvian's voice was smooth, but I found his lyrics in that band to often be empty.

On this Sylvian's first solo album, he immersed himself in a fine array of musicians. There's Holger Czukay, Mark Isham, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Percy Jones, just to name a few. But the big draw for me is Jon Hassell, who also co-wrote some of the songs. Hassell's effects enhanced trumpet adds an eeriness that no other instrument can achieve.

The compositions are fairly simple. The band sets up a simple rhythm, and layers the instrumentation over it into a complex sounding pastiche. The technique works quite well, even though Sylvian often seems to be making up the melodies as he is going along. It makes this an intriguing and fun album to listen to, but the songs don't remain in your head after it's over.

It's a good album, and a nice start ti his solo career.