Bamboo Houses - Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Sylvian

 

The double A-side single "Bamboo Houses"/"Bamboo Music" (1982) was the first solo project by Sylvian, released while he was still a member of the band Japan. It was the second collaboration between Sakamoto and Sylvian, the first being the track "Taking Islands in Africa" on the 1980 Japan album Gentlemen Take Polaroids which featured Sakamoto on keyboards. The "Bamboo Houses" single in turn featured drums by Japan member Steve Jansen, who also appeared in the promo video, and was co-produced by Steve Nye. Similarly, Sakamoto was still a member of the band Yellow Magic Orchestra at the time, though he had already done some previous solo work. In 1983 Sylvian and Sakamoto would team up again on "Forbidden Colours", the theme song to the Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, along with several other projects in later years.