David Sylvian-Brilliant Trees

I like "Pulling Punches" fine, but like its ancestor "Art of Parties" it's a constipatory version of funk -- it flails around, bloodlessly.

i guess "adult" relates more to the classy & sophisticated part of my sentence, rather than "funk". but don't doubt the authenticity of "Pulling Punches" -- it has Wayne Braithwaite on bass and Ronny "Head" Drayton on guitar! admittedly Steve Jansen's drums are kinda broken and angular, but the bass groove is undeniable

feel like "Weathered Wall" might be a contender here, the wistful verses into a gloomy bass pulse, Richard Barbieri's synths seem to breathe. it's maybe the highlight of side 2? i feel like he didn't really perfect that style of controlled improvisation until Gone To Earth

britishes who have no business approximating funk

dunno about this tho

How would you guys rank the post-1999 albums?

i think somebody on here called Blemish & Manafon minor classics and I tend to agree. Blemish is maybe his best album overall, imo

Dead Bees On A Cake I'm not massively into, though "Darkest Dreaming" is one of his best songs so I should give it another try

When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima is beautiful ambient field recordings

the samples I've heard of the new album sound pretty great -- Manafon vocals over Secrets Of The Beehive style arrangements. i wonder how much of his decision to release Manafon w/ new arrangements is an attempt to appease the section of his fan base who vehemently hate his 00s albums?

I voted for "The Ink In The Well". Such a beautiful album.

Went for 'Red Guitar" but it could of been any of them...I love the British White funk tracks...in fact it's one of my favourite genres...I agree 'Secrets Of The Beehive' is a fantastic even better than BT but I love the funk undertow of BT...

Which is superior – SOTB or Gone to Earth? I lean towards the latter.

As much as I love a lot of his work I find his solo work to be really frustrating and uneven. Secrets of the Beehive, Gone to Earth, Brilliant Trees and Dead Bees on a Cake are all pretty solid but others I've tried left me cold. I think the last one I actually bought was Blemish which I didn't get into at all apart from the last track A Fire in the Forest which is stunning. I think Dead Bees is really underrated, I'll definitely agree with the love for Darkest Dreamin,g that's one of my favourite songs of all time.

If anyone else can recommend any of his other albums to try I'd give them a go.

Also I'd like to add this as one of my favourite songs he's done. I know it from the excellent Everything & Nothing compilation.

http://youtu.be/MfBHZfuNEVc

Apparently he wrote in response to Virgin asking him to write a hit.

I haven't heard any other of his solo albums besides the ones you mention but I heartily recommend spending more time with Blemish, boy does it open up once you've found the door.

I heartily recommend spending more time with Blemish, boy does it open up once you've found the door.

Completely agree, that album bloomed like a gorgeous flower. David's voice is the anchor while the music is odd but not too far out there (like "Manafon", which I haven't connected with yet). The scratchy blips move from odd to soothing over time, and the entire work has a rainy, late night vibe.

Regarding his post-1999 work:
1999 - Dead Bees On A Cake: agreed that this is underrated, those expecting "Secrets Part II" were disappointed but approached on it's on it's very rewarding.
2000 - Everything & Nothing: compilation; a great introduction and the only thing a casual fan would need, chock full of rare collaborations and new versions.
2002 - Camphor: The sister compilation to "E&N", it's all instrumentals, enjoyable but I prefer his vocal work.
2003 - Blemish
2005 - The Good Son Vs. The Only Daughter: "Blemish" remixes, superfluous as far as I'm concerned
2005 - [Nine Horses] Snow Borne Sorrow: Excellent pop album
2007 - [Nine Horses] Money For All: A mini-album with some new tracks and remixes, the title track is superb
2007 - When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima: Haven't heard it, instrumental
2009 - Manafon
2010 - Sleepwalkers: A collection of his 21st century collaborations and guest appearances, a bit disjointed but full of outstanding material
2011 - Died In The Wool: Due out in a couple of weeks, new tracks and "Manafon" remixes

These are critical, in order of rank: 1) Blemish, 2) Snow Borne Sorrow, 3) Dead Bees On A Cake, 4) Sleepwalkers. "Everything & Nothing" is all 20th century material, and the rest of the releases listed are more for hardcore fans (yes, "Manafon" as well, I have high hopes that "Died In The Wool" will help me re-approach it).

Starting to regret selling Blemish a while back now, I will have to give it another go at some point.

Thanks for the round up of his other material Gerald. I wil give some of the albums you mentioned a listen. That Sleepwalkers collection sounds really interesting I might start with that.

I listened to the Everything & Nothing collection again today, there's some great stuff on there. I didn't realise songs like the Scent of Magnolia were outtakes, that really should have been on Dead Bees. Ride and Some Kind of Fool are also really great tracks.

manofon is the only one I have a hard time getting into, hoping to like dyed more. the nine horses album is sublime. lots of people disliked 'dead bees' but it was one of the most anticipated albums in my memory; those were the days before things leaked online months ahead of time. I checked back with the record store weekly until they got an import in. I think that anticipation shaded the actual record and led to some disappointment. it's overly long and there are definitely some kind of weak jazzy adult alternative moments on it. but over the years I've warmed to it, it's better than it's reputation.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Everything and Nothing's dog w/eyebrows cover still freaks me out

"It looks like his eyebrows are following me!"

There he goes..
http://www.leninimports.com/david_sylvian_everything_2_trk_cd_p.jpg

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

hey wow

Wow...didn't see that one coming...but great choice nevertheless...

y'all,

https://vimeo.com/575291448/1874bdcf17

oh now this is some good shit

JON HASSELL

!!!!!!

This is a real treat.

Interesting to see the use that Holger Czukay made of the Dictaphone, I was never certain about what sounds on the record came from that.

Just came across this on YouTube. Wow. And yes, seeing Holger doing Dictaphone stuff is so fabulous.

One thing that’s interesting: how David explicitly nudges Holger toward more melodic and emotional things and less towards “effects” (I think this also goes for Hassell’s contributions, which are much more melodic on this and the Words With the Shaman material than his own). Which also might explain why Plight & Premonition—a full on collaboration between equals where Holger is presumably doing what he wants—is such a different beast.

It might also be a case of Sylvian acquiescing to Holger's more open-ended concept, instead of steering songs in a specified direction. The genesis of that record was mostly Sylvian improvising aimlessly on a bunch of instruments in the studio.

NTI, you expressed something I had been trying to figure out - why I absolutely adore Hassell's work with Sylvian but struggle with his solo work outside of his collaboration with Eno (and also why I love the first Sylvian/Czukay album much, much more than P&P).

I think Hassell's collaboration / guest work is similarly enhanced by his partners focus on melody (e.g. Talking Heads).

Yeah, it's something I've thought a lot about over the years. My CD of Brilliant Trees has Words With the Shaman stapled onto the end of it -- I like it much better there than with the Alchemy material which is a bit more clinical. As a post-script to Brilliant Trees you get a very steady, but digestible dose of Hassell. I think it comes down to Sylvian, while a bit of an oddball, having some very romantic tendencies that I think he teases out of his collaborators in this era. Flux & Mutability is nowhere near as abstract as Plight & Premonition, but one side is chock full of Czukay's wonderfully emotive varispeeded guitar soloing.

There are times, BTW, where I feel like I could listen to Czukay do Dictaphone stuff for days. I suspect Sylvian was just as big a fan of "Boat Woman Song" as I am.

Good album.

i would go as far as to say 'great album'

definitely one that gets better with age.

bought 'blemish' today on the back of knowing fennesz was involved. lovely stuff. his voice is surrendering.

is that the right word? arresting? ya know.