I recently rescued a Kawai K5 from a local Goodwill - I had lusted over one of these as a trapped-in-small-town teenage music geek, listening to its Keyboard magazine demonstration flexidisc more than I'm sure either Keyboard or Kawai would've originally fathomed possible. Purchasing one at the time was in the running, though eventually I settled for a new Roland D50, bought with the earnings of mowing a few hundred thousand, calf-building lawns. The D-50 was eventually traded for a Casio FZ1 - bought purely to get its 16-bit (albeit mono) sampling capabilities, including buggy software that randomly places clicks and pops throughout each sample. KINDA like sampling off vinyl if you use your imagination, I suppose.
The funniest part of the K5, at least from a 2005 perspective, is that it's generally referred to as one of the most 'digital-sounding synthesizers ever made. These words haven't been considered complimentary since around 1993 or so, when the analog revival kicked in hard, and annoying, apochryphal 'I once bought 15 Minimoogs for $1.99' stories started surfacing. Good for you, ma'am, 'cause while I love old analog kit and own enough of it, I tend to focus these days on the neglected, over-digital, still oft-dirt cheap gear of the late 80's / early 90's.
Eric was over at the studio last week for an 'LMP 2005 goals session' (more on that at a later date), when I introduced him to the K5. Lots of tinkly stabs, ala '85 Scritti Politti left him curious but blank-faced (albeit that's much more my world than his). Then I pulled up a dreamy pad and overdosed the sound on reverb, and he was instantly hooked. 'So THIS is how Bill Nelson made 'Chance Encounters'', he said, and in turn was probably the first person to have uttered that sentence in 14 years.
This eventually digressed to one of our more favorite conversation topics, 'Will mid-to-late 80's new age ever be fashionable/respected'? I say that Boards of Canada/laptop electronica kids will eventually find their way down this glassy path, and while Eric didn't necessary disagree, his argument that that subculture is ultimately so small that outstanding, tasteful and masterful 80's new age (yes, it exists) like Mychael Danna & Tim Clément, early Kitaro, or the genius & supposed recluse Richard Burmer would take a much bigger boost to rise to their deserved ranks. Make as many stock 'relaxed yuppie' cracks as you want, Senor Rock Critico - the fact is is that some of this music, as is in almost any genre - is superlative and lasting and truly beautiful. Looking at recent out-of-print CD prices for some of these titles, maybe the comeback is underway. That, or maybe there's more unexpected, left-field, oddball thirtysomething nostalgia out there than we had planned.