I had a pen pal back in the day when people used pens who turned me onto Japan. Hilde was a bit older, worldlier, with an established taste in music at times far from my own. So, it was "Oil on Canvas" posted to me in the mail after numerous letters and raves about the band -- copied from her LP onto cassette. Seduced, I was. I mean, what was THIS? That opening bass line - those vocals...off-putting and embraceable at once. Japan was done by then and 'Brilliant Trees' slithered into my consciousness in Winter '84 as a senior in high school. I was working at a KB Toy Store in the Mall -- holiday help for the Christmas season then. This odd, brooding, troubled LP became the soundtrack to such wonderful memories only enhanced by the rush of a crush on Lisa, the cashier. I think we dated for about an hour. One of those girls who was just too pretty to not stop dating just in GENERAL -- why waste all those good looks, right? She could do no wrong, I could do no right and Sylvian's singing "...why do I fail, just when I'm needed?" amid the toys and the children and the Christmas lights. I came upon 'Brilliant Trees' in the dollar bin over at Som Records last weekend. I was almost tempted to repurchase it despite owning it on vinyl and CD. I miss this record, I thought. I miss the me then, eons ago, amid the toys and the children and the Christmas lights and the pictures of the people who've come and gone, the lives and loves, who I've actually shared this record with. ...Sylvian's singing "..the sound of waves in a pool of water, I'm drowning in my nostalgia..." in the dollar bin.David Sylvian - Backwaters (Mp3)
David Sylvian - Nostalgia (Mp3)
David Sylvian - Red Guitar (Mp3)
David Sylvian - The Ink In The Well (Mp3)
David Sylvian - Weathered Wall (Mp3)
