David Sylvian
 

As in a thread on his post-Japan work (all that deserves a thread of its own). Anyway, fess up, who else is a fan? I don't think I've seen this guy mentioned around here by members other than my good self, so it'd be nice to know I'm not totally out on a limb here!

Anyway, this man, the former lead singer of Japan, has his fingers in a lot of stylistic pies so to speak, such to the extent that I couldn't really think where to put this thread at first. The albums of his that I've heard incorporate jazz, new wave, ambient and even the odd dash of folk, but when it comes to sticking labels on the guy's work, avante-garde is the one that comes up most often, so this'll have to do (at least for now).

The discography as a whole (whether or not we're talking about his work with Japan as well) is pretty bloody vast, as not only are there scores of bona fide solo albums to David Sylvian's name, but also a host of collaborations with the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Holger Czukay and Robert Fripp. As far as my collection goes, I can only account for a few of the solo albums myself. In a nutshell, these are my two favourites of his solo albums...


...and that's not accounting for the other little gems in back-catalogue like Dead Bees On a Cake and his latest, very jazzy and avante-garde offering, Manafon (one of my favourites of 2009). Anyway, anyone who's wondering what the hell I'm on about, have some sneakily-hotlinked songs...


As for me, I've gotta get back to work pretty soonish, so I guess I'm finished.

Only heard Secrets Of The Beehive.
I seem to remember thinking it was ok, don't remember anything standing out though.

Pretty sure I have one of his collaborations too somewhere although I can't remember who with.

I remember rediscovering that album about a month back and going through this phase of playing it something like 5 times a day. It's the man's voice that sets the whole thing apart for me.

Brilliant Trees is a lot jazzier and well worth a shot too. His reunion album with Japan under the Rain Tree Crow moniker's probably my favourite that I've heard him singing on. As I say, I've still got bucketloads of his albums to get hold of myself though.

Forgot to say in the OP, if anyone's up for links, feel free to drop me a PM and I'll rustle one up...

I still have yet to hear a Japan album in full :( Where to start before I give his solo stuff a listen?

Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Quiet Life are the Japan albums I've got, and both are pretty fantastic. I've heard good things about Tin Drum before as well, but I'm yet to get that myself so couldn't tell you much about it. Rain Tree Crow is technically a Japan album too, and as I said earlier it's probably my favourite album with Sylvian's name on it, but you might wanna start with the earlier stuff first. I'll see if I can hook you up with a link or two soonish if you like.

Tin Drum is a must listen.
Also, a thread about David Sylvian shouldn't exist without a mention of Japan bassist Mick Karn. Equally, if not more talented.

Yeah, LastFM keeps recommending me his solo work. I'll definitely snoop around some blogs for what I can find when I've got a bit more spare time later in the week. No doubt I'll be coming back to this thread and hailing whatever I find as a classic pretty soon after :D

After Japan he did a collaboration album with Peter Murphy of Bauhaus (Dali's Car) along with a load of other stuff including Kate Bush (that's right Lee) of all people.
Karn is considered by many bassists as a genuine and important influence.
It's a pity he hasn't got the same kind of recognition amongst most music fans as he does with musicians.
A bit like the Johnny Marr of bass playing. A bassist's, bassist...so to speak.
Throw in his talent for keyboards and the oboe and you have one brilliant and influential musician.

Oh yeah Dali's Car

That was the other one.

Oh yeah, I remember Dali's Car. I think my brother was telling me about them only the other day. This Mick Karn sounds like quite a bloke. I had Secrets Of the Beehive for quite a while beforehand, but properly getting into the work Sylvian (and/or Karn) has been involved with is a fairly recent thing for me. It's weird, because I think it was Life In Tokyo I saw on the Old Grey Whistle Test DVD, and an old friend of mine sent me a Sylvian solo track many years ago, and I hated them both with a passion. Goes to show how some of them are well worth a second chance.

This reminds me to dig out that vinyl again. I bought Tin Drum a long time back and found it to be a very good listen.

I also agree that Karn is, was, and always will be one of the best influences on Bass playing ever. I'm not a big fan of the Dali's Car album besides a couple of tracks, but it's the Bass playing that saved it.

I have to get into Sylvian's work more to fully join in this thread, but I will admit what I have heard from his earlier solo albums has been very good and well worth checking out.

I have absolutely no idea how it charted either side of the Atlantic, but a lot of us may have heard this merry little ditty from Sylvian before...



At least I think it's one of his more popular songs anyway.

Either way, as I say, Brilliant Trees and Secrets Of the Beehive (the latter being one of the addictive albums I've ever heard) are where it's at for me regarding the man's solo work. As I say though, there's a lot of the stuff I don't have, so I'll probably be coming back to this thread over time once I've got some more albums.

This is off the album Tin Drum. If you haven't heard Tin Drum you must have heard this. (whether or not it's a great chance to post the vid :D )
One of my all time favourite records.
Like the album it's got a strong eastern influence.

Ghosts

Dali's Car was a missed opportunity. I don't think Karn or Murphy ever collaborated properly with this project for it to be a success.
If I remember right they never met during the making of the album and instead sent each other tapes. (unsure)
Even so it's an interesting and hugely original album that deserves a serious listen.

Yeah, I've heard that one here and there before. Bloody ace song that.

This is awesome - I've added about 5 albums to my to-do list from this thread. That's my weekend sorted then :D

I have Brilliant Trees from a while ago, haven't listened to it yet. This thread has reignited my interest, though.

Good stuff :thumb: He hasn't lost it over time either - his 2009 effort Manafon is pretty damn cool stuff. Very difficult though, and by no means something that clicks on the first listen, so best to get a feel for his other works first.

Just cranking this again at the moment...

http://img12.nnm.ru/5/7/8/0/4/5e18e0...a81dad4575.jpg

...and it's bloody amazing. I think I've said that quite a few times here and there lately, so I'll stop rambling and post some videos from it!




Fabulous album, and fast becoming one of my all-time favourites.

As far as other Sylvian projects go, he did the one album (I think) under the Nine Horses pseudonym, Snow Borne Sorrow. I've only listened to it once as I keep coming back to albums such as the above like the little junkie I am, but it's well worth checking out. Sounds something like his work with Rain Tree Crow, only slightly more conventional (if that makes any sense).

Secrets of the Beehive is my favorite of his more conventional music albums. Approaching Silence is my favorite DS ambient album. Havent heard his new album yet.

I've not heard Approaching Silence myself, but I've come across the name before. As I say though, there's a ridiculous amount of this man's work that I still need to get hold of.

And I agree wholeheartedly, Secrets Of the Beehive is terrific. Probably the best place to start with Sylvian's solo work by my reckoning.

Sadly, I think that the only time anything Sylvian related made any charts in the States was a brief time in the Bubbling Under chart with Epic's collection of songs and that was about all I think.

Sylvian has a whole other side to him that is primarily ambient, avante garde and instrumental. He's done a couple albums with Holger Czukay of Can and collaborated with former YMO member, Riuichi Sakamoto on many projects.

Approaching Silence , Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities and Flux and Mutability are good examples of this. Also Blemish which is very free form.

I had a look around for Alchemy a while back, but to no avail. I've heard a little of his work with Czukay and Sakamoto before, all of which is pretty impressive judging by what I've heard, but I'm yet to properly look for any of the album-length stuff. His new album's somewhere between the two - very sparse, jazzy and not really very melodic at all, but still with the vocals having a good share in it all. Definitely worth having if you can get hold of it.

Amazon has Alchemy reasonably-priced. I've bought most of Sylvian's stuff from there.

Just a bump to say that...

a) I still haven't listened to Tin Drum just yet
b) I think that this man is still one of the most overlooked talents in British music regardless of that
c) I've since got hold of a whole bunch more of his albums
d) I've been listening to the said ambient side parts of his discography

And these two are the best I've heard;


^ Plight & Premonition with ex-Canman Holger Czukay and...


^ ...something he did all by himself, namely Approaching Silence.

Both of them are pretty immense to tell you the truth. Plight & Premonition there has a lot in common the minimalist, spacey atmospherics of Brain Eno's Ambient series, and probably not such a safe bet if you're not into that kinda thing. That's not to say that Approaching Silence is bubblegum pop by comparison, but the changing musical passages are lot more noticeable, and there's the odd spoken-word vocal from Sylvian in there too - a lot more proggy, certainly to these ears anyway.

I'll find an excuse to review one them someday, you can be sure of that :D

Approaching Silence is my favorite Sylvian's ambient works.

I've listened to quite a lot of his music recently. While I do enjoy a lot of the music he is involved with, the experimental as well as the more melodic stuff, I do have difficulties with his singing. While he is a good singer and has a unique and pleasant voice, his singing is always the same. Same pitch, same articulation, same melodies. And during the course of a whole album this tends to get a little tiresome.

Rain Tree Crow :love:

This is essential IMO.

http://www.davidsylvian.com/images09..._first_day.jpg

I prefer the live album, although both are great.