Biography Discographies Live History Television Polaroids Articles Carrier Bag Links Yahoo! Group Contact Includes "After a Fashion" and "Textures" with Mick Karn   The DVD above includes footage of Yellow Magic Orchestra in the recording studio.

Nightporter Japan Club Night - Saturday 24th July - Mick Karn fundraiser Click here for more photos. Photo above by Dom Agius. The night went extremely well, people were very generous and we raised well over the 4 figure target I had set  - with much more to come because people donated items on the night to sell or auction to raise money for Mick (eBay links coming soon). Thankyou to everyone who helped out - and many people did who couldn't be there in person. Mick has also posted a thankyou message on his site. Mick Karn's friends and fans rally 'round to raise awareness and cash for his cancer treatment: Dirk Tholenaar is auctioning a set Mick Karn prints - visit his site here Bill Nelson and Martin Bostock are auctioning signed art prints of Bill on eBay. The auctions are here and here. There are a couple of recording projects underway - Masahide Sakuma (ex-Plastics), Masami Tsuchiya, Gota (ex-Melon and Simply Red) and Vivian Hsu are making new recordings with the plan for proceeds to benefit the Mick Karn Appeal. Sakuma has uploaded several works in progress on his blog that you can access here. For the benefit of non-Japanese readers, if you click into the links on the main column of the page, you will navigate to a new page with sound clips. Sugizo has posted a lengthy tribute to Mick on his MySpace page. A new track "Missing Link", including Mick on bass, has been released to promote the Appeal. This is available from mickkarn.net. Suzanne Barbieri has been very active online encouraging people to donate to and publicise the Mick Karn Appeal, while Richard has been busy with touring committments with Porcupine Tree the group have made a live album available and have been auctioning rarities on eBay. Click here for more information on the live album "Atlanta". Suzanne has made a contribution to a new EP that will contribute to the Mick Karn Appeal with Gavin Harrison, Markus Reuter and 05Ric. There is a YouTube clip of the work in progress here. The EP "BubbleBurstFlow" is available to buy from burningshed.com David Sylvian has uploaded a new track, an interpretation of the Emily Dickinson poem "A Certain Slant of Light", to raise awareness of the Mick Karn Appeal. More information and the download is here. Midge Ure is planning benefit show - date to be confirmed but possibly 31st August: http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20100611_midge.shtml Steve Jansen is contributing to the Mick Karn Appeal through the sales from his ImageShop Many other people have contributed to the Mick Karn Appeal and have raised awareness - Mick has posted thankyou messages on his site 4/6/2010 Mick Karn Appeal "With great sadness we regret to inform you that Mick has recently been diagnosed with advanced stages of cancer. Mick is currently in positive mood and undergoing further tests and treatment. His family and friends are close with him, supporting him in practical ways, and surrounding him with their love, friendship and care. Mick has been struggling financially for some considerable time now and we are hoping that this appeal may help to raise funds for any necessary treatment and perhaps go some way towards providing a small degree of financial support whilst Mick's immediate family provide the care and comfort we would all wish for him. We are hoping that his friends, fans and musical colleagues will, over the coming months, offer any support they feel capable of giving. Quite aside from the sheer brunt of daunting medically-related costs, Mick's clear and major concern is for the security and well being of his wife and young son. If you would like to make a donation whether as an individual or as a group, you can do so via the paypal link at http://www.mickkarn.net/ which has been set up for this sole and express purpose. Any support you are able to give, no matter how small, could make a difference in helping Mick cope during this difficult period. His friends will be looking at a variety of ways to raise funds. If you would simply like to leave your kind messages of support for Mick, please do so at http://www.mickkarn.net/Pages/Message.htm We will keep you all updated as often as we can. Please do note that news is released with Mick's full approval." 27/05/2010 Furiku "Knights of the Opium Moon" featuring Mick Karn Check out this great new track on Furiku's album "Like a Freak", available from Amazon, iTunes and their website. Hope to have some more information soon on how this collaboration came about, but in the meantime check out the Furiku website and MySpace page. Furiku are a group from South London, comprising Aruan Duval, Dom Agius and Mick Guihen. Their music is electronic pop in the broadest sense; but with solid song-writing, witty lyrics and a cool sensibility I hope they don't mind me saying their material reminds me of Eurythmics circa "Sweet Dreams", the best early Pet Shop Boys b-sides and the invention of Blancmange. I would also recommend the Beloved Aunt album "From Indian Head to Ashland" - an astounding album telling the story of UFO abductees Betty and Barney Hill, using archive recordings of their voices. I bought the album last week and had a very enjoyable (for a change) train ride to Derby listening to the album, reading about the case at the same time. The music perfectly compliments the otherworldly feel of the voices; often uptempo and engaging as well as scarily atmospheric. I'll be playing tracks from this, and of course the Furiku track featuring Mick at the next club night. See below for more about this project from Suzanne Barbieri. 21/05/2010 Last night saw Porcupine Tree's "Anesthetize" film premier take place in London's Leicester Square.  The Prince Charles Cinema was packed out with fans, all of whom had the opportunity to meet Richard and the rest of the group after the screening. Gavin Harrison introduced the film, with a few jokes at the expense of his bandmates and director Lasse Hoile, who received a well deserved round of applause. I would highly recommend the film; as a new Porcupine Tree fan (I just got into them with The Incident last year) it was an opportunity to see what they might be live. As a Barbieri fan it was good to see how he plays more than in any other footage I've seen. Overall, the director chose to give equal time to all band members, and a variety of shooting styles was used to make it a very vibrant experience e.g. there was some deliberate camera shake on some shots of Gavin Harrison that fitted with the music at the time. I only spotted a cameraman once in the footage, amazing considering that 16 were used. The sound quality in the theatre was good, though I suspect about half as loud as seeing the group live would be. No distortion (except where deliberate); clear vocals throughout, and although I'm not familiar with all of the material, it seemed to be well balanced so you could hear all of the instrumentation very well. Highly recommended, worth getting if you are new to Porcupine Tree as it's a good introduction to the band, and judging from what people were saying afterwards, it really delivers for people that are already fans of the group. Anesthetize is available from 24th May on DVD and 7th June on Blu-Ray at all good retailers. 19/05/2010 David Sowerby at the Yahoo! Group reports that  there's an Interesting interview with Richards better half Suzanne Barbieri in this months Fortean Times. Her latest project is an album based upon the infamous Barney and Betty Hill UFO abduction case. Recorded under the name 'Beloved Aunt' Suzanne uses actual footage of the Hills' under hypnosis as part of the vocal. Suzanne is a subscriber to FT and a keen follower of the unexplained... From Indian Head To Ashland by Beloved Aunt is available by download from burningshed.com 17/05/2010 Another new YouTube clip of Masami with Ippu-Do and Japan, rehearsing for the Sons of Pioneers tour. Watch to the very end of the clip because Steve and David talk briefly about Masami's contribution to the tour. 16/05/2010 Have updated the Japan Live page to include dates given in Mick Karn's book "Japan & Self Existence" and also additional detail on the 1979 European tour from Henk.  The Complete Discography index has had a total makeover too, which hopefully makes it easier to navigate and looks a lot better. I am still working through the discography, adding more items as I go and grouping formats (LP, CD, tape etc) together to make them easier to compare. 04/05/2010 Correspondent Keith Phillips attended a performance by Evan Parker in London this weekend Keith had the opportunity to talk to Evan who explained what it was like working with David Sylvian on the Manafon album: "he said David Sylvian was "a very nice man" and that he had really enjoyed working with him - he said Sylvian put all the improvised music in Pro Tools and cut and pasted bits around his vocal to create the finished album". The new compilation by David Sylvian entitled Sleepwalkers featuring recent collaborative work will be released Summer 2010. It features a number of remixes by David and a new composition with Dai Fujikura entitled 'Five Lines'. 01. Sleepwalkers 02. Money for all 03. Ballad of a deadman 04. Angels 05. World citizen - I won't be disappointed 06. Five lines 07. The day the earth stole heaven 08. Playground martyrs 09. Exit/delete 10. Pure genius 11. Wonderful world 12. Transit 13. The world is everything 14.Thermal 15. Sugarfuel 16. Trauma 01/05/2010 YouTube clip of a Toyota commercial featuring "Fait Accompli", a Steve Jansen and Yukihiro Takahashi co-written track from the late 80s. Great song. 29/04/2010 Japan's "I Second That Emotion" available now at the Sony PlayStation SingStore! Yes, Japan are now among the greats such as ABBA, Queen and Lady Gaga to have a song available for competitive karaoke enjoyment at the SingStore. Now, at long last I can beat the other half at something other than "Life on Mars?" And on the first go, yes I "won"! I have to say, it's not easy singing like Sylvian. 21/04/2010 Interview with Richard in Total Soccer magazine - great article - scroll to page 53 and then click on the page to read the article. Thankyou to Siobhan for sending in this photo of the mixing desk at Air Studios, where much of Japan's best work was recorded. 13/04/2010 YouTube clip of "Sumire, September Love" by Ippu-Do with footage of Japan rehearsing for the "Sons of Pioneers" Tour in 1982. Great to see that "new" footage is still out there to be found. 11/04/2010 Porcupine Tree News: New live film to premiere at London's Leicester Square Thursday May 20th – limited number of tickets on sale now. Anesthetize, a new live film from Porcupine Tree is to be premiered at a special screening in the Prince Charles Cinema at London's Leicester Square on Thursday May 20th at 7pm. The screening will be introduced by the band and filmmaker. Members of the band will also be available to sign copies of the film, which is being released on Kscope as 2disc set (DVD + Blu-Ray), following the screening. A limited number of tickets for this special evening are available to purchase from the cinema (www.princecharlescinema.com / 0870 811 2559) for only £10 (plus 75p booking fee). Anesthetize follows the band’s latest album The Incident which was released last year to massive critical acclaim. The album marked another step forward in the incredible journey of the band from a solo studio project created by Steven Wilson in the late eighties to a grammy nominated act and one of the world’s most revered live bands, currently selling out arenas across the globe and wowing fans with their incredible performances. This 130 minute film captures the power of band’s live show. Directed by long-time collaborator Lasse Hoile, the film was recorded in high definition on multi-cameras over two nights at 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland in October 2008. The concerts featured tracks from throughout the band’s career until that point including a complete performance of the Fear of a Blank Planet album. Anesthetize collects the highlights from the two shows and presents them on both DVD and on Blu-Ray. It is only the band’s second DVD release and will be available on Kscope in May 2010 as either a 2-disc set (DVD + Blu-Ray) or as a single disc (DVD) release. Click here to watch a trailer of the Anesthetize film www.kscopemusic.com/porcupinetree/ Pages updated: I am attempting to tidy up the discography pages, adding images and updating information as I go. This weekend I have revised pages for Japan's 1978 and 1979 releases. Please visit the Complete Discography page. 07/04/2010 Alice live album "Lungo La Strada Live" featuring Steve Jansen Released in Italy on EMI, featuring Steve on drums and percussion. The album originally came out in 2009 but is being re-issued now and is receiving some press attention. The CD includes 12 tracks and was recorded in Milan in 2006. 04/04/2010 Link - Andy Warhol interview by Fiona Russell Powell where he mentions a project to write a lyric for Japan - something that sadly did not happen. Updated information about "Repetition" Bowie tribute album featuring Mick Karn Manimal’s anxiously awaited tribute to David Bowie will be available on September 6th, 2010. 100% of the net profits will go to War Child UK. This album will be available as a limited CD, limited double LP and download with extra tracks unavailable anywhere else. DISC ONE: EXITMUSIC “SPACE ODDITY” DURAN DURAN “BOYS KEEP SWINGING” MEGAPUSS (devendra banhart) “SOUND + VISION” WARPAINT “ASHES TO ASHES” CHAIRLIFT “ALWAYS CRASHING IN THE SAME CAR” A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS “SUFFRAGETTE CITY” ALL LEATHER “FAME” WE ARE THE WORLD “AFRAID OF AMERICANS” CARLA BRUNI “ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS” VOICESVOICES “HEROES” CORRIDOR “BE MY WIFE” VIVIAN GIRLS “JOHN, I’M ONLY DANCING” LIGHTS (NYC) “WORLD FALLS DOWN” KEREN ANN “LIFE ON MARS?” GENUFLEX “SOUL LOVE” EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS “MEMORY OF A FREE FESTIVAL” DISC TWO: MGMT “TVC 15″ ASKA & BOBBY EVANS (feat. MOON + MOON) “AFRICAN NIGHT FLIGHT” TEARIST “REPETITION” POLYAMOROUS AFFAIR “THEME FROM CAT PEOPLE” HALLOWEEN SWIM TEAM “LOOK BACK IN ANGER” JESSICA 6 (ex-Hercules & Love Affair) “I’M DERANGED” RAINBOW^ARABIA “QUICKSAND” SWAHILI BLONDE “RED MONEY” AQUASERGE “THE SUPERMEN” MARCO BENEVENTO “ART DECADE” SISTER CRAYON “THE BEWLAY BROTHERS” LEWIS & CLARKE “CHANGES” MECHANICAL BRIDE “SOUND + VISION” ZAZA “IT AIN’T EASY” ARIANA DELAWARI “ZIGGY STARDUST” MICK KARN “ASHES TO ASHES” XU XU FANG “CHINA GIRL” 01/04/2010 Japan mentioned in NME! Ira Wolf Tuton from Yeasayer lists Ghosts as 'Right now I'm loving'... in a feature on his favourite music. "I got this 5 years ago in Baltimore - they're a band I want to get more into. They go straight from crazy orchestration into straight pop. I like them more than say Duran Duran and other bands they get compared to. They're a hidden jewel". West End Musical "Despair!" based on the songs of Japan to open April 1st 2011 This story was an April Fool of course. Seemed like a good idea at the time. 31/03/2010 Rob Dean is featured in the May 2010 issue of "Mojo" magazine in the regular "Hello Goodbye" feature. Rob gives his side of the Japan story including some nice details I didn't know before. He also reveals that he is still in touch with Rich and Mick, and that although he has lost contact over the years with David and Steve, there is no bad feeling. The feature also includes a couple of photos of Japan and a recent one of Rob. Richard Barbieri's album "Things Buried" is re-issued this week on K-Scope, housed in a Super Jewel Case and at budget price. If you haven't picked up the CD now is a good opportunity. The music is a good link between the more experimenatal edge of Japan and the rock/pop side of Porcupine Tree - with some wicked beats and large soundscape. Atmospheric and accessible experimental synth music. For more information on the album click here. For a Q&A with Richard from the time the album first came out click here. Rob Dean video clip on YouTube - Rob talks about his favourite guitars and what he's been up to in Costa Rica. The video is from 2008, so not that new, but I thought some of you might enjoy it. 28/03/2010 At long last the Compilations featuring Japan tracks page has been updated. Contrary to Mick's impression (shared in his book "Japan & Self Existence") that Japan are rarely included when these things are put together, we have evidence in the form of 230 releases that proves this is not the case!  Many thanks to everyone for sharing information to help put this page together. Added a page about a Japanese cassette recently unearthed by one of the contributors to the site. 27/03/2010 Richard Barbieri writes about Microscopics Gas 0095  New Mick Karn album "The Concrete Twin", Bowie cover "Ashes To Ashes" and book! Mick's new album "The Concrete Twin" is available now on download and CD. It includes 10 brand new tracks, more information and download available from Mick's website. My favourite track on the album is "Antisocial Again?", which tells its story through music and sound effects - love it! The CD version is packaged in a 6 panel digipack and features new artwork by Mick.  The release of the David Bowie tribute album on Warchild featuring Mick's cover of "Ashes To Ashes" has been postponed until May 2010 due to some of the artists schedules not permitting an earlier release. Featured artists include Duran Duran, Radiohead, Carla Bruni and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Mick's autobiography "Japan & Self Existence" is available by mail order from Lulu and is a must buy for any Japan or Mick Karn fan. While this website gives you facts and figures about Japan's releases, Mick's book tells you about what life was like as a member of the group, revealing inside information about the recordings, life on the road, the good and the bad times. Mick is very open about his own life; his girlfriends and wives, his depression, money troubles, passions and hatreds. Although sometimes brutal, the book includes plenty of amusing anecdotes and chapters featuring characters such as David Torn, Gavin Harrison and John Punter will make you smile. If you want to know more about Mick's bass playing, his sculpture, solo recordings, work with Steve, Rich and Dalis Car - it's all there. Oh, and Mick also shares fascinating photos with us the likes of which you will never have seen before (unless you were a member of Japan) - BUY IT!  Porcupine Tree update from Richard Barbieri: Porcupine Tree will play 2 special shows to close the Incident tour cycle, one in the UK and one in the US. The UK show is now confirmed to take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 14th October 2010. These shows will be evening-with concerts with PT playing an extended set - although we can't tell you exactly what the evening will hold at this moment, the band are planning some very special things that will make these 2 shows unique experiences for everyone. Tickets for the Royal Albert Hall show will be on sale from 29th December, but please note that the bands are also putting together a special VIP package for Residents of a Blank Planet members - more news on this soon, as well as confirmation of date and location of the US show. For older news please visit the archive page here

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