Japan

Europe first press 1981. Limited Edition, CBS Pressing, Grey Labels.
No poster. 1981 and Japan go full art-pop zen master. Minimalist grooves, oriental textures, Mick Karn’s rubbery fretless bass, and David Sylvian crooning like a man permanently lost in thought. It’s stylish, strange, and endlessly cool — the sound of a band ditching their glam past to become avant-garde icons. Ghosts is the hit, but the whole record feels like a self-contained world. FFO: Talking Heads if they’d moved to Kyoto, Roxy Music with a philosophy degree, and basslines you can feel in your bones.