Rain Tree Crow cover

Rain Tree Crow

Recorded
Released

Rain Tree Crow is at once a reunion, an experiment and a one-off, with the original members of Japan, minus Rob Dean, convening some years after their breakup to see if it was at all possible to work together again — which perhaps makes it not so surprising that after David Sylvian made it clear he didn’t want it released under the Japan name nothing further ever resulted. Setting aside the tight structures of their early 80s peak for more flowing grooves and reflective, sparer singing on Sylvian’s part, it’s a striking listen, if ultimately a path not taken.

Ned Raggett

Suggestions
Lingua cover

Lingua

In the Nursery
Context cover

Context

Hotel Neon
Milk & Kisses cover

Milk & Kisses

Cocteau Twins
The Road Eternal cover

The Road Eternal

Erik Wøllo, Steve Roach
War Babies cover

War Babies

Daryl Hall & John Oates
The Moon and the Melodies cover

The Moon and the Melodies

Cocteau Twins, Simon Raymonde, Harold Budd, Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie