NIGHTPORTER

I can't say that JAPAN has ever been among my favourite bands. Their clinically synthetic sound is often lacking life & emotion and many songs are just boring, artificial and monotonous. A good example actually comes as the B-side of this non-album single from the latest phase of the band's career, before the frontman DAVID SYLVIAN started a solo career (that has produced a lot of much better music than he made with Japan, in my opinion). Also worth mentioning is the keyboard player Richard Barbieri's membership in Porcupine Tree plus his own projects, e.g. teaming up with Marillion's Stve Hogarth. But back to this single. 'Ain't That Peculiar' is just one of those dead boring Japan tracks. I listened to it from YouTube and have no interest whatsoever to hear it ever again.

But there's something so fantastic about music world: one doesn't have to give a damn about a band/artist in general in order to love a song or two by them/him/her. If I'm deeply moved by a song of someone whom I couldn't care less about as an artist, I'd still let myself fully enjoy that song and simply ignore the rest of the output if it leaves me cold. 'Nightporter' is such case for me. Not necessarily the ONLY Japan song that I like, but by far the best, the one that touches me the deepest. It woud be placed quite high on my list of all-time favourite pop songs.

The song is slow, elegant, nocturnally atmospheric and beautifully melancholic. The rather minimalistic arrangement is dominated by piano, and there's a notable resemblance to the piano music of ERIK SATIE ('Gymnopedies' and such), one of the most unique figures in the world of classical music. I'm not certain if the melody is directly borrowed from a Satie piece. And Sylvian, the vocalist, pours his soul into this tune that is best suited for the late night moments when everyone's tired and it's time to depart or go to sleep. In fact, a couple of times I have played 'Nightporter' at the end of friend gatherings. Greetings to whom this concerns! - How about listening to some more of Japan, Matti? Naah, no thanks, it's so boring.