Now that Ambient music is in danger of becoming to the 90's what Progressive rock was to the 70's, it's about time that the A-tag was recognised for the double-edged thing that it is. Ambient music is, presumably, ambient - which is to say it floats around without impinging in any sustained way upon one's consciousness. It's beauty is its egoless nature; it's polar opposite is music which wants to be noticed. Jansen and Barbieri, the drum and keyboards brothers who first sprang to glory with Japan, probably describe Other Worlds as Ambient, although it's a shrewd guess that the balm of attention would not be considered an unwelcome guest.
To be kind; there is much that is ambient here: the transient echoes, the vaguely resonating textures that pervade the album. It is, to a great extent, a product of its time. With the exception of three new tracks, Other Worlds was originally made in 1984 (the year after Eno's Apollo) to accompany a video of NASA footage. Its lineage is clear: Eno, Fripp, some of the quieter moments of 60's Minimalism and, in one place at least, what sounds like a curiously submerged Satie desperately trying to surface. The exotic renders itself in the form of recurrent twangy Japanese string things and the odd muffled drum. With so much happening, Other Worlds becomes impossible to ignore - which removes it from any Ambient classification in favour of what might be termed a thoughtful Electronica category. And so, the verdict? More thought, less Electronica. Both Jansen and Barbieri are capable, imaginative musicians, as their strong track records show. This - and this includes all the album's previous track titles - is a little too exquisite for anyone except the untempered fan.
The Wire - UK
Recorded in 1984, a commission from multi-media company JVC, this was designed as a soundtrack to an ambient video. Jansen and Barbieri had teamed up after the disbanding of Japan, and Other Worlds In A Small Room gave them the chance to explore, free of the distinctive voice of David Sylvian. Original recordings from 1984 are combined with three new instrumental pieces, and it's difficult to get excited about any of it. But perhaps that's the point. The music washes over you, as delicate and difficult to hold as one of the titles, The Way The Light Falls. Harmless is the adjective that springs to mind, which while superior to harmful, is the mark of a minor pleasure.
Q Magazine - UK
Nel Novembre 1984 Steve Jansen e Richard Barbieri (rispettivamente batterista e tastierista dei Japan) incisero a Tokyo Worlds In A Small Room, disco etereo costituito da otto magnifici strumentali, dove veniva finalmente dispiegato il loro talento compositivo, fino a quel momento messo in imbra dal carisma di David Sylvian e dal virtuosismo bassistico Mick Karn. Oggi i due rielaborano quell Lp ormai introvabile e il risultato e estrumamente suggestivo. Tre brani nuovi di zecca (circa trenta minuti di musica) incisi a Londra nel 1995 vanno cosi a sovrapporsi ad una equilibrata scelta di quattro titoli del precedente lavoro (Breaking The Silence, Blue Lines, The Way The Light Falls, e Distant Fire). I due devono aver lavorato con bilancino e goniometro, alternandosi nel cd alla firma dei singoli brani e concludendo, come dodici anni fa, con Distant Fire realizzato a quattro mani. Simili geometrie interne conducono l'ascoltatore attraverso melodie ipnotiche in cui le percussioni cesellano sofisticati ritmi per accompagnare le liquide alchimie sonore di Barbieri.
La Republica - ITALY
