A re-recording, with Sylvian's lyrics, of Sakamoto's instrumental track written a few years earlier for the film "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence".

Delicately, poignantly beautiful; an exquisite piece (ok - song) which used to be available as the "extra" track on CD versions of Sylvian's most consistent album, "Secrets of the Beehive".

The final track from their superb album "A Secret Wish". Instrumental, apart from a spoken lyric at the end, this reworking of the opening track of the album uses both real strings and synths in combination with some catchy, moody chords to create real atmosphere.

Wonderful arrangement with lush string backing, great tune and sentiment, beautifully delivered, even a beautiful recording...just the blues exactly the way I like to hear it.

There are some disposable pop records that have certain things going for them which lift them above the norm and confer a kind of appeal which, though often temporary in nature, shines through in spite of their annoynances.

So it is with this one, which has a chord sequence that repeats over and over on the synth, and a rather annoying melody/rap sequence. It's also rather rhythmically unimaginative, and most western listeners will find that the Russian folk instrument (don't know what it is) will grate mercilessly. And if that wasn't enough, it ends unforgivably unmusically when an electronic beep simply cuts in suddenly.

However, because I am a such a sucker for this kind of minor key chordal writing, particularly when synths are involved, I enjoy the record, which at least does lack the merciless rhythmic hammering effect of their hit single "All the things she said".

The minor key, pedal bass, double-dotted theme, and piano and orchestra scoring create an atmosphere which I find very enjoyable. I only have an edit of the original, which I think was available as them adn variations and various suites, and would like to hear the rest to see how/if Legrand develops the material.