JACK OR JIVE LIGHTS " A Solo Exhibition " (JAP, 1994)

The minimalistic/ethereal sound paintings of  Jack or Jive could have attracted more attention if they  were out sometime in middle to late eighties, on the 4AD's catalog, for example. Nevertheless the duo doesn't adopt the tried atmospheric pop fragility without blending it with the quiet, allusive art of the japanese landscape... 
"A Solo Exhibition" -that finds the band changing its name to Jack Or Jive Lights- flows perhaps a bit more presumably than its predecessors, it uses though the same elixirs: The dream-awaking voice of Chako is far enough to hold itself the "exhibition" still worth visiting.

More Jack Or Jive at LaFolieDuJour: "Prayer" + "Expatriation"

A Solo Exhibition

RAIN ON BAMBOO "Sleep & Poetry" (GER, 1994)

ghosts of Japan go...ingognito

German sound engineer/musician INGO ITO, co-founder of 80`s synth pop band BAMBOO INDUSTRY and also session musician of less unknown CAMOUFLAGE, formed in 1992 RAIN ON BAMBOO, a project for cooler, art, and atmospheric explorations. They made two romantic, ambient artpop LPs, ("SLEEP & POETRY",1994 & "SUBURBAN SKIRMISH",1996) bathed in the leisure of gazing at dreamy far-east landscapes and highly obsessed with JAPAN and (mostly) DAVID SYLVIAN. But who would dare to accuse INGO for faking, when the supposed imitations equal the best of the prototypes, not to talk about seduction expanded beyond the originals?

"SLEEP & POETRY" reissued recently, remastered by INGO ITO in a quite different version of the original 1994 Strangeways Records release you get here.

SLEEP & POETRY (111mb) (first issue)

Ingo Ito: voice, guitars, electronics,
Gabriel Le Mar: bass, guitar
Susan Lie: vocals, bass
Lorenz Allacher: sax, flute
Hans Schumann: drums