NancyJohnson Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 10 minutes ago, No lust in Jazz said: Yes, for similar reasons I wasn't into Japan at all, but the Girls at school loved them for how they looked. At 6'4" and built like a rugby player, I certainly wasn't a shoe in as a Japan fan, but I adored them. At the time I was listening to a lot of North American stuff (Kiss/Rush/Starz/Angel/Cheap Trick, and so on) and Japan were a gateway into something entirely different to that. They just felt like my little secret, nobody (and I mean nobody) in my circle cared about them whatsoever until they started getting popular. When I listen to the early stuff it just makes me feel a bit sad at how the whole Japanese musical/cultural influences (Sakamoto etc.) shaped how they changed over the next two years. I still don't get how they fired Rob Dean and replaced him with a couple of players that added absolutely nothing musically. My wife made some remark about Masami Tsuchiya just making noise; figuring the choice of him joining may have been calculated to sell more records in Japan (much like Manchester Utd buying Korean players). Anyhow, back on track here, Karn. Polytown is great. Really enjoy his stuff on the Gary Numan album 'Dance'. Some of the solo work is outstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 When John Giblin passed away, I was subsequently recommended Mod'Fish and Forest People, both by Masami Tsuchiya. Both also feature Mick Karn, and are well worth a listen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 37 minutes ago, toneknob said: When John Giblin passed away, I was subsequently recommended Mod'Fish and Forest People, both by Masami Tsuchiya. Both also feature Mick Karn, and are well worth a listen. … not heard those before. Thank you so much for recommending! Been playing Frank on loop… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Bassy Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 On 22/01/2024 at 20:59, Linus27 said: Probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I'm not a huge fan of Mick's playing Two possible answers to that: A: That's absoluetly fine, everyone has different tastes. Jaco was also an incredible player, but musically never hit the spot for me, whereas Mick Karn did. I could listen to Mick Karn all day. Jaco about 3 minutes. B: That's absoluetly fine, your are perfectly entitled to be wrong!😄 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linus27 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 26 minutes ago, Count Bassy said: Two possible answers to that: A: That's absoluetly fine, everyone has different tastes. Jaco was also an incredible player, but musically never hit the spot for me, whereas Mick Karn did. I could listen to Mick Karn all day. Jaco about 3 minutes. B: That's absoluetly fine, your are perfectly entitled to be wrong!😄 Well, in return I can offer you two responses, A: I am not a massively huge Jaco fan either and only discovered him probably mid to late 90's and way after Mick Karn so I am unbiased on both despite being more receptive to Jaco's playing. B: When there's Pino and Giblin to listen to, why would you listen to Karn, it's like drinking water when you could drink Whiskey 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 8 minutes ago, Linus27 said: B: When there's Pino and Giblin to listen to, why would you listen to Karn, it's like drinking water when you could drink Whiskey 🤣 C. Because he had more originality than both Pino and Giblin put together?* *just my personal opinion of course 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linus27 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 10 minutes ago, Frank Blank said: C. Because he had more originality than both Pino and Giblin put together?* *just my personal opinion of course How dare you say that, I am officially sulking now for 14 minutes 🤣 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 57 minutes ago, Linus27 said: B: When there's Pino and Giblin to listen to I listened to Pino on Gary Numan's, I Assassin, because I'm a massive Pino fan. Prior to this album, Numan had used Mick Karn. On I Assassin, Pino sounds very much like Mick. As that album was pre Pino's more widespread notoriety via Paul Young's No Parlez, I wonder if Mick was an influence on the blossoming Pino? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 38 minutes ago, Linus27 said: How dare you say that, I am officially sulking now for 14 minutes 🤣 Oh I'm sorry Sir, I was only aiming for nine minutes maximum 🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) 26 minutes ago, ezbass said: I listened to Pino on Gary Numan's, I Assassin, because I'm a massive Pino fan. Prior to this album, Numan had used Mick Karn. On I Assassin, Pino sounds very much like Mick. As that album was pre Pino's more widespread notoriety via Paul Young's No Parlez, I wonder if Mick was an influence on the blossoming Pino? I am sure Karn was an influence on Pino, no bad thing obviously, it's how most of us start out, listening to and emulating, to some extent, players who inspire us. I have maybe overstated my case because both Pino and Giblin are superb. I personally prefer Karn but that's down to all sorts of stuff to do with Japan and the times when I was listening to them. Karn seems (to my ears at least) to have developed a very unique style that I cannot hear in anything that precedes him (perfectly happy to be directed to anything that might be an influence on him, apart from Jaco, who I can't stand for more than thirty seconds). Edited January 24 by Frank Blank 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 From the vid in the OP, I get the new-to-me impression that Karn: - laid out the essence of the whole song in the bass part (making me hear complete songs when listening to isolated bass only), - left ample space for the other instruments. New to me, and I may have to reconsider, but my respect for him grew even larger now. Tmade me think of Bach's crafty and defining bass parts, but Karn took it up several notches as to the bass part itself. Luvverly stuff, and now I'll have to dig deeper into Japan and his solo output. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 1 minute ago, BassTractor said: From the vid in the OP, I get the new-to-me impression that Karn: - laid out the essence of the whole song in the bass part (making me hear complete songs when listening to isolated bass only), - left ample space for the other instruments. According to an interview I read (from years ago) with other members of Japan, Karn would turn up at rehearsals, usually late, when the band had worked out a new song. Karn would respond with a bass line that would often have very little to do with the music. Apparently he would often just read the working title of the song and write his bass line in response to that. It infuriated the band because they would often have to rewrite or start from scratch to build the songs around Karn's bass lines because they were so good. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diskwave Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 18 hours ago, Linus27 said: When there's Pino and Giblin to listen to, why would you listen to Karn Eh?. Placing the wonderous Mr Giblin to one side for a mo. Karn is equally as good as Pino he just didnt get the commercial exposure Pino got with Paul Youngs hugo massivo hits. Equally superb workers of the fretless animal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misdee Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 (edited) 31 minutes ago, diskwave said: Eh?. Placing the wonderous Mr Giblin to one side for a mo. Karn is equally as good as Pino he just didnt get the commercial exposure Pino got with Paul Youngs hugo massivo hits. Equally superb workers of the fretless animal. I think a significant difference is that Pino and John Giblin both had a much more formalised and conventional approach to playing bass than Mick Karn. That made them much more suited to mainstream session work than Mick Karn, who's style was probably just a bit too idiosyncratic for some artists and producers. Edited January 25 by Misdee 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 15 hours ago, Frank Blank said: According to an interview I read (from years ago) with other members of Japan, Karn would turn up at rehearsals, usually late, when the band had worked out a new song. Karn would respond with a bass line that would often have very little to do with the music. Apparently he would often just read the working title of the song and write his bass line in response to that. It infuriated the band because they would often have to rewrite or start from scratch to build the songs around Karn's bass lines because they were so good. Which not only makes me like Karm even more but demonstrates just how strong his inflienve in the band and their music was 👍 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 This is brilliant: https://jbkmusic.bandcamp.com/album/playing-in-a-room-with-people Jansen/Barbieri/Karn with Theo Travis and Steven Wilson. Includes live tracks from Bestial Cluster, The Tooth Mother among others 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linus27 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 35 minutes ago, diskwave said: Eh?. Placing the wonderous Mr Giblin to one side for a mo. Karn is equally as good as Pino he just didnt get the commercial exposure Pino got with Paul Youngs hugo massivo hits. Equally superb workers of the fretless animal. I'm not putting Karn down, if you look at my original reply, I say he's a fabulous player and I am a fan. My comments are just tongue in cheek towards Frank Black. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 To me, Mick Karn and Percy Jones have similar styles, both out of the ordinary whilst still very melodic, having tried to listen to Mick several times, I would always go back Percy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 2 hours ago, toneknob said: This is brilliant: https://jbkmusic.bandcamp.com/album/playing-in-a-room-with-people Jansen/Barbieri/Karn with Theo Travis and Steven Wilson. Includes live tracks from Bestial Cluster, The Tooth Mother among others Thanks for this, an excellent listen. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 I love Karn and Pastorius and see no need to pitch one against the other. It's like arguing over What's the best curry down the local tandoori. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 5 minutes ago, White Cloud said: It's like arguing over What's the best curry down the local tandoori. King prawn jalfrezi, everyone knows that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linus27 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 20 minutes ago, toneknob said: King prawn jalfrezi, everyone knows that. I'll have you know it Chicken Rogan Josh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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