The First Day

Following the one-off reunion of Japan as Rain Tree Crow, David Sylvian responded to a proposal by a now regular collaborator, Robert Fripp, that led to their first full release together as a duo, building on their striking efforts from Sylvian’s earlier solo albums. The First Day sounds almost like nothing else that was out in 1993 and is all the better for it, touching on everything from the opening mellow but always compelling groove of “God’s Monkey” to the nearly twenty-minute long “Darshan,” a surprising and exultant piece of improvisational dance music.