Actually I meant to post another video, but am at work. It's David talking about all the musicians he worked with for this album.
― Turangalila, Thursday, 30 July 2009 17:02 (fourteen years ago) link
Finally something to look forward to.
I played that video and—what is it, a promo? it's hard to tell—I actually hope the album doesn't have too much of that granular, burbling Fennesz sound in it. It worked once, brilliantly, but the minute I started watching the video I caught myself thinking "that's a bit of a dated sound, eh?" Maybe I have absurdly high expectations here, but some of that melodic software improv stuff hasn't aged all that well to my ears.
Sachiko M, though, is basically the anti-Fennesz though so I'm sure it will all come out balanced. Pity Ami Yoshida—Sachiko M's old partner in the delightful Cosmos—isn't onboard. Her chirping and retching noises + Sachiko's hiss and crackle would have been a beautiful voice/electronic dual counterpoint to the Sylvian croon + the Fennesz syrup.
I'm going to go run around in the yard for a minute.
― VahRehVah (fields of salmon), Sunday, 9 August 2009 23:07 (fourteen years ago) link
fields of salmon, that video was fanmade. No clips from the album have surfaced online as far as I know.
― Turangalila, Sunday, 9 August 2009 23:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Search song: Burnt Friedman & Jaki Liebezeit – The Librarian (feat. David Sylvian) *aka* Nine Horses - The Librarian.
― Moka, Sunday, 9 August 2009 23:22 (fourteen years ago) link
did anyone hear When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima from 2007? one long ambient piece made up of field recordings made at naoshima. based on the collaborators alone i'm guessing it's pretty good
― damo tsu tsuki (r1o natsume), Sunday, 9 August 2009 23:33 (fourteen years ago) link
gahhhh when will Manafon LEAK goddamnit :(
― Turangalila, Sunday, 9 August 2009 23:38 (fourteen years ago) link
― damo tsu tsuki (r1o natsume), Sunday, August 9, 2009 11:33 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
Love it! Haven't dound a copy of it myself, so have to do it with my illegal mp3. But it's great ~ stretching his common 'song' sound and length for an entire album. It's quite blissful.
― young depardieu looming out of void in hour of profound triumph (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 10 August 2009 00:14 (fourteen years ago) link
dound=found
― young depardieu looming out of void in hour of profound triumph (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 10 August 2009 00:15 (fourteen years ago) link
"Sachiko M, though, is basically the anti-Fennesz though so I'm sure it will all come out balanced. Pity Ami Yoshida—Sachiko M's old partner in the delightful Cosmos—isn't onboard. Her chirping and retching noises + Sachiko's hiss and crackle would have been a beautiful voice/electronic dual counterpoint to the Sylvian croon + the Fennesz syrup."
ha! someone should do a mashup of Ami's part of Soba to Bara with the Manafon backgrounds, Sobafon.
anyway, sadly for your plan, Sachiko and Fennesz don't overlap here. the individual personnel for each track are listed in a post at the link below, the only track Sachiko is on is the one I'm by far the most excited about, mostly for the personnel but also for the title:
the greatest living englishman (10:55)music: akiyama/sachiko m/nakamura/yoshihide/sylvianlyrics: sylvianelectric and acoustic guitar (left channel): tetuzi akiyamano-input mixer: toshimaru nakamurasine wave sampler: sachiko m.turntables, acoustic guitar (right channel): otomo yoshihidepiano: john tilburyvocals: david sylvian
http://www.japansylvian.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1671&start=30
― jon abbey, Wednesday, 12 August 2009 04:04 (fourteen years ago) link
that lineup is all kinds of amazing.
― Turangalila, Wednesday, 12 August 2009 04:06 (fourteen years ago) link
@ [email address removed] (r1o natsume)
Been trying to get back to you, but the ILX-mail robot continues to fail on me. Could you drop me an e-mail at [another mail removed] ?
― young depardieu looming out of void in hour of profound triumph (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 12 August 2009 08:43 (fourteen years ago) link
I believe they're different versions, albeit not dramatically.
Sylvian's done some fantastic guest vocal appearances, search these recent ones:Tweaker - Pure GeniusFennesz - TransitBlonde Redhead - MessengerTakagi Masakatsu - Exit/DeletePunkt - AngelsArve Henriksen - Thermal
Also there's a recent Samadhi sampler called "The World Is Everything" with two great Sylvian tracks, "The World Is Everything" and "Sleepwalkers".
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 12 August 2009 20:32 (fourteen years ago) link
those two versions of the Librarian are actually pretty different, the one from Out in the Sticks has a much less straighforward rhythm, and the one on Nine Horses sounds more "normal". Although, the vocal track is identical in both.
― akm, Wednesday, 12 August 2009 21:39 (fourteen years ago) link
world citizen is a really good track as well, although not exceptionally "challenging" like other recent sylvian songs.
― akm, Wednesday, 12 August 2009 22:09 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.thewire.co.uk/images/artists/sylvian_david/cover307.jpg
― Joerg Hi Dere (NickB), Wednesday, 12 August 2009 23:29 (fourteen years ago) link
Gonna make a special point of buying the mag this month.
― cashew and green pea pulao (fields of salmon), Thursday, 13 August 2009 02:18 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah me too - i haven't bought it for 3 years or so.
― jed_, Thursday, 13 August 2009 08:52 (fourteen years ago) link
He looks like Sweeney Tood on that cover.
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 13 August 2009 09:08 (fourteen years ago) link
Todd, maybe.
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 13 August 2009 09:09 (fourteen years ago) link
or an RPG villain
― you will know mind blowing rest (gnarly sceptre), Thursday, 13 August 2009 10:04 (fourteen years ago) link
yes definitely getting a sephiroth vibe from that cover. great photo
― damo tsu tsuki (r1o natsume), Thursday, 13 August 2009 11:04 (fourteen years ago) link
damo, saw my msg upthread? drop me a line
― young depardieu looming out of void in hour of profound triumph (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 13 August 2009 11:35 (fourteen years ago) link
oh hey i just saw that thanks!
― damo tsu tsuki (r1o natsume), Thursday, 13 August 2009 12:06 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.thewire.co.uk/files.php?file=1166&action=streamsmall metal gods
― Turangalila, Friday, 14 August 2009 17:36 (fourteen years ago) link
I certainly didn't expect those harmonies at the end.
― Turangalila, Friday, 14 August 2009 17:40 (fourteen years ago) link
Awesome. Samples here (also awesome):
http://www.manafon.com/editions/
― toby, Friday, 14 August 2009 20:14 (fourteen years ago) link
That deluxe edition looks beautiful, but oof, $85 + shipping!
― Joerg Hi Dere (NickB), Sunday, 16 August 2009 22:26 (fourteen years ago) link
I just watched/listened to "Small Metal Gods" and my conclusion is: "Please, not ANOTHER 'divorce album'!" David - I love you, man - but come oooon! That'll be three already: Nine Horses, Blemish, this one.
― Marcus Brody Ta-Dow! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 17 August 2009 00:32 (fourteen years ago) link
$85?? Pass.
Divorce album? I vaguely remember "Blemish" being ascribed to that period but I didn't realize Nine Horses was as well.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 17 August 2009 00:45 (fourteen years ago) link
He looks like Momus again on the album sleeve.
― djh, Monday, 17 August 2009 06:43 (fourteen years ago) link
For anyone who missed it, there's a good interview with Sylvian in the September edition of Mojo. The feature includes a cherishable mid-70s photo of David, Steve and Mick rehearsing in what looks to have been the Batts' living room.It makes me sad that he now repudiates almost all his work with Japan. I for one still derive great pleasure from Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Tin Drum.
― Vast Halo, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 18:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Totally agree.
In other news I listened to the Manafon samples on the website and found them really irritating. Something about it just wasn't working for me. I have a feeling this album is going to divide opinions pretty severely.
― cashew and green pea pulao (fields of salmon), Wednesday, 19 August 2009 18:44 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, it seems like all the good parts are in the background... kind of marred by his aleatoric melodic humming.
― Turangalila, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 19:08 (fourteen years ago) link
The vocals on Blemish sounded pretty tuneless to me at first, 'little metal gods' is sounding more and more memorable as I listen again
― 60 watt, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 19:13 (fourteen years ago) link
I admired Blemish a lot, and there are some v good tracks on the 80s albums, but no matter how I try, the only one I really, really connect with is the Rain Tree Crow alb.
― Wee Tam and the lolhueg (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 19 August 2009 19:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah. It seems like he sits down and writes songs like everyone else, but then he subtracts all the musical information and leaves us with this elaborate vocal melody... and we have no idea what it's supposed to refer to. My ear naturally tries to ground the melody somewhere but it can't, and I guess I find that frustrating. It's as if Sylvian likes being the only one who knows what the melody actually refers to, and it sets up kind of an unpleasant power dynamic with his audience, like he's deliberately withholding information.
Yes, of course this is meant to be "difficult" music (and I like difficult music) but sometimes difficult music just doesn't work.
― cashew and green pea pulao (fields of salmon), Wednesday, 19 August 2009 19:31 (fourteen years ago) link
Thanks for the link to the samples. I loved Blemish, and I get the feeling this is going to be at least as good.
― Duke, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 19:48 (fourteen years ago) link
can't stream the other tracks because i'm on mac, but Little Metal Gods got me real psyched for this. the vocals seem very upfront in the mix but what else would you expect? also the making of-video of this could be really interesting.
― sonderangerbot, Thursday, 3 September 2009 14:35 (fourteen years ago) link
first listen -- vocals are awfully loudsecond listen -- really like to hear this without the vocalsthird listen -- great record, vocals are fine, not an eai/erstwhile record and you can't listen to it that way, it's its own thing, huge chunks of it are really beautiful
it helps that i like david sylvian's lyrics, singing, and approach quite a bit
anxious to hear what jon abbey thinks
― dan, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 17:47 (fourteen years ago) link
the second half of this, starting with the fifth track, might be the place to start if you're hoping to enjoy this based on prior enjoyment of erstwhile type stuff (keith rowe, polwechsel, etc).
― dan, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 19:56 (fourteen years ago) link
i've been absolutely loving this record.
― toby, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 23:58 (fourteen years ago) link
:-)
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 23:59 (fourteen years ago) link
"anxious to hear what jon abbey thinks"
well, one thing is that listening via MP3 exaggerates the balance between Sylvian and the musicians, so listening to the CD or a lossless rip is definitely preferable, especially if that balance is bothering you (a complaint I've seen a bunch already). beyond that, I need more listens, but I will comment on this:
"the second half of this, starting with the fifth track, might be the place to start if you're hoping to enjoy this based on prior enjoyment of erstwhile type stuff (keith rowe, polwechsel, etc)."
I'd actually just skip the first two tracks, track 4 is the one with the Tokyo crew, and probably the most interesting musically to me.
― jon abbey, Thursday, 17 September 2009 07:07 (fourteen years ago) link
small metal gods irritated me and I'm hardly every irritated by sylvian, I'm a huge fan. I fell asleep after that though, so I'll have to give it another listen tonight.
― akm, Thursday, 17 September 2009 13:48 (fourteen years ago) link
My review for the OC Weekly:
http://www.ocweekly.com/2009-09-17/music/cd-review-david-sylvian/
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 18 September 2009 04:09 (fourteen years ago) link
^^ nice description of how his voice is sounding.
― Charlie Howard, Friday, 18 September 2009 04:23 (fourteen years ago) link
I wanted to like this, but ugh.
While not particularly disrespectful of the musicians involved, it IS a David Sylvian album and it makes me wish David weren't... in it.
His vocals sound uncomfortably tacked on, frequently jarring. It's almost like he's parodying himself singing one of his vibrato-ey big ballads --- only without any real melodic variety to speak of. It may be his attempt to add an ~*improv*~ edge to the music, but imo it fails & the (many) beautiful moments never really get their chance to shine because of this.
I demand an instrumental version. kthxbye
― Turangalila, Friday, 18 September 2009 08:41 (fourteen years ago) link
Meantime a couple of folks noted errors with my AMM mentions so that'll hopefully be updated today!
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 18 September 2009 13:07 (fourteen years ago) link
well, while it's not strictly accurate to describe as "the amm saxophonist" (if anyone cld be called that it wld be lou gare) he has played with AMM every now and then, and he was generally thought to be a pretty gd fit w/ the group
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 18 September 2009 14:01 (fourteen years ago) link
...describe evan parker...
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 18 September 2009 14:10 (fourteen years ago) link
For those of us that don’t speak Japanese or have time to listen to 45 minutes, what is that?
― Naive Teen Idol, Sunday, 31 December 2023 20:57 (four months ago) link
It’s Sylvian on a Japanese radio show in 1984 playing some of his favourite music.
― Halfway there but for you, Sunday, 31 December 2023 21:20 (four months ago) link
Apologies, throughout the 1980s (and perhaps after idk) Ryuichi Sakamoto had a radio show called Sound Street, this is Sylvian guesting on the show with Peter Barakan acting as a translator.
― MaresNest, Sunday, 31 December 2023 22:48 (four months ago) link
He kind of fascinates me as a person. Isn’t he really into gurus and new age stuff like Carlos Santana?
― beamish13, Thursday, June 22, 2023 5:50 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink
I do spend a curious amount of time wondering what his living room looks like. (Apologies if I've mentioned this before).
― djh, Monday, 1 January 2024 16:01 (four months ago) link
probably not someone who eats cheetos on a white sofa while playing xbox but you never know
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Monday, 1 January 2024 18:29 (four months ago) link
I imagine a real but somehow *arty* fire. Not clutter. A large artwork - could be a painting, maybe a photograph - that might be construed as "slightly rude" but which he explains as an appreciation of "the female form"?
― djh, Monday, 1 January 2024 18:56 (four months ago) link
A couple of years back (before Ryuichi S. passed) I said something on the occasion of his birthday about how given his current wizard look I imagined him living in snowy Japanese mountains somewhere, occasionally sending Sakamoto messages via wild foxes.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 1 January 2024 19:02 (four months ago) link
i'm sorry but i'm dying at "a real but somehow 'arty' fire"
― ꙮ (map), Monday, 1 January 2024 19:17 (four months ago) link
I can't believe that there's not more speculation about Sylvian's lounge.
― djh, Wednesday, 10 January 2024 20:07 (three months ago) link
I’m assuming beamish meant Carlos Castaneda?? Can see Sylvian appreciating some Santana tho (and I can hear his vocal on “smooth”)
― Boris Yitsbin (wins), Wednesday, 10 January 2024 20:32 (three months ago) link
beamish was referring to Carlos Santana being a big follower of Sri Chinmoy
― sawdust lagoon, Thursday, 11 January 2024 00:00 (three months ago) link
LOL @ Sylvian in place of Thomas on "Smooth"--it's true, the hook melody would unfortunately work for him (but only if "or else forget about it" is followed by some tasteful shred-glitching c/o add'l guest cameo by Christian Fennesz)
― If I luge, if I luge, if I luge you on the track (Craig D.), Thursday, 11 January 2024 03:30 (three months ago) link