Record: Japan 'Obscure Alternatives' (1978)

This record is such an odd experience. Being a massive fan of their later works, the Japan sound I know is smoothly elegant; classy, cool, and substantially coloured by exotic tints of civilizations far from England in the golden age of synthpop. It's completely disorienting to put on a Japan record and hear loud, fast, raw, raunchy glam rock. None of the esoteric beauty of Gentlemen Take Polaroids is to be found here, and Sylvian, not yet having developed his trademark velvety baritone croon, is almost unrecognizable in these gritty, yowling vocals. Only in Karn's slippery, tonally unstable bass playing and Jansen's frenetically odd drumming can I hear strong hints of the sounds I know they'll be making by the next record, 1979's stupendous Quiet Life. Most of the record is more reminiscent of some strange cross between The New York Dolls and tidbits of jazz and funk. It's also strange to hear so much prominent guitar; after this record most guitar sounds would become completely lost in the tonal sea of Richard Barbieri's wall-o'-synth - which is nearly inaudible this time around. The only track which resembles what I think of as 'the Japan sound' is The Tenant, a piano-based instrumental which ends the record on a note that carries over into every record they released afterwards. 

It's a damned good record once I manage to shut myself off from the visceral "that CAN'T be Japan" reaction. Their musical proficiency makes for a nice change from the simplistic three-chord structure of most glam rock, and it's quite entertaining hunting for precursors to their rather sudden switch to a sleek, shimmering art-pop sound.

Record: Pitty Sing 'Pitty Sing' (2005)

Unrealized potential makes me want to cry, and this album is a perfect example why. It's not a great record; the songs are all over the place, the lyrics oscillate between witty, trashy, and trite, and the obsessive-sounding overproduction is just plain off. But the talent! It oozes out from between the grooves, displaying so, so much potential greatness, and it's a real tragedy for music that they never made another album. I remember hearing this when it first came out and thinking I'd discovered the next best thing since candy. The flaws here do shine as brightly as the facets - but there's still that undeniable appeal of something lurking in the music, set off rather wonderfully by the unusual harmonic progressions, the unobtrusively clever basslines, and Paul Holmes' outrageously sexy vocals floating atop a wash of sadly-digital-sounding synths. The right combination of time, experience, stern management, and better production might have resulted in one of the best bands of the decade - Steve Nye could have made these guys into stars! - and it's a damned shame we don't get to hear what that sounds like.

Favourite tracks: We're On Drugs (most solid song on the record), Anyway (a little overblown, but it's an awfully good tune), and ctwyl (fantastic use of that lovely voice).