Japan - Quiet Life LP



I've been on a Japan/David Sylvian kick lately, just haven't gotten around to posting this here until now. This was Japan's third LP overall, and a quantum leap forward from the first two where they had a rough-edged glamrock sound. I much prefer their style here where Sylvian uses his crooning voice and the band is more electronic driven...it just seems to fit them more. The whole LP is great but there is an unnecessary Velvet Underground cover that sticks out like a sore thumb...should've been left off or just subbed with an original track. As good as this album is, the next two are even better.

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Treat Her Right - Tied To The Tracks
RCA, 1989



This was the second album from Treat Her Right, a Boston-based band that got together in 1984. Mark Sandman and Billy Conway would split in 1991 to form Morphine, where they found considerably more critical and commercial success.

This album is an unsung classic of the late-80s college rock scene, full of odd, downtuned electric blues, with peculiar, jangly guitars and harmonicas laying over angular rhythms. Eleven of the twelve songs are originals, with the lone cover being a rave-up take on Captain Beefheart's Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man.

This band didn't get much appreciation during their initial run, and that's a damn shame. If you're looking for some blues that's pretty far out of the ordinary, check this one out.

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Quote
Gordon Rekcikssa
Treat Her Right - Tied To The Tracks
RCA, 1989

Very cool. I meant to check this band out for years due to the Morphine connection but never did.

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Willie Nile - S/T



Discogs Page

Now here is an album I meant to check out for some time but never did. At face value, Nile is a folk-rock based singer-songwriter schooled in Dylan, but the somewhat raw production and instrumentation give it a slight punky/new wave feel.

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Translator - Heartbeats and Triggers LP



Here's an American post-punk/college rock classic that's been pretty much ignored and forgotten these days. As such, you can pick it up for next to nothing. Translator took some influences from obvious things like the Velvet Underground and maybe the Modern Lovers also, but had their own sound. When they really get going with the driving guitars and minor key melodies you have to wonder why more people don't know about this band. They made some albums after this also, but those suffered from dated overproduction despite some good songs here and there. This is the album by you need to hear.

Discogs Page

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