WEST TO EAST

21. Berntholer – Japanese Garden

WEST TO EAST

Drita Kotaji. Berntholer band/Philippe Carat/last.fm

Qalam strives to explore the interpenetration of different cultures. To this end, we have decided to launch a series of playlists in which music mediates between different geographical and ideological spaces. Our first playlist is called ‘West to East: One Hundred Best Songs’. It will be updated several times a week, and its curation will focus on how Western pop culture has reflected the realities of the East, whether they are musical, geographical, religious, or political. (The terms ‘West’ and ‘East’ should be taken as broadly and arbitrarily as possible.)

This exquisite and mysterious specimen of Belgian new wave resonates remarkably tangibly – as if you are actually strolling through a Japanese garden amidst stones and waterfalls. Released in April 1982, this little song encompasses, among other merits, all the techniques of the future ontological

(based on nonexistent memories) musical wave of the zero years. One wonders, why bother with the garden.