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Manafon by David Sylvian

• Message 1. 

  Posted by jasonaparkes (U3653332) on Saturday, 19th September 2009

  Any fans of David Sylvian around the Freak Zone? His new one Manafon is quite odd stuff, improvised jazz/semi-classical music with input from Christian Fennesz and Sylvian moaning over the top in a style that avoids melody or song-based performance. All topped off with lyrics concerning religion, poetry, suicide, and terrorism - an emphasis on R.S. Thomas. I do hope we get something from it...it's even further out than Blemish (which featured the late Derek Bailey and Fennesz).
  
  Would be nice to hear Sylvian stuff from yore - Japan were too mainstream really (Holger Czukay described them as "a haircut in search of a hit single"!), but Sylvian solo and in collaboration should feature on the Zone.
  
  Apart from singles 'Pulling Punches' and 'Red Guitar', debut Brilliant Trees is a more cerebral affair featuring Danny Thompson, Holger Czukay, and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
  
  Hassell and Czukay hook up for 1985's Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities with Sylvian and brother Steve Jansen. Very 4th World Music meets 60's Miles...the cd has 'Steel Cathedrals' with Robert Fripp on and the b-sides from 1989's unpop 'Pop Song'
  
  The double LP Gone to Earth is split into vocal and instrumental parts with guest spots from Robert Fripp and Bill Nelson.
  
  Secrets of the Beehive is very Scott Walker and probably too pleasant and song-based - so either Plight & Premonition or Flux & Mutability with Czukay?
  
  I always though the Rain Tree Crow LP was great and a definite relative of Talk Talk's Laughing Stock...
  
  King Crimson fans might dig either version of Damage or the LP The First Day - a strange blend of prog-rock, funk and Sylvian crooning.
  
  & then there's Blemish, or Manafon...
  
  

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Adrianp40 (U14144248) on Monday, 21st September 2009

  Yes, I am also a fan of David Sylvian and Japan too, Jason. I emailed Stuart to request something from 'Manafon' this week. Surely Japan's 'Ghosts' or 'Night Porter' would be prime FZ material?
  
  I particularly like 'Snow borne Sorrow', although he appears to have taken a further left-field turn since then. The link to R S Thomas sounds intriguing.

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• Message 3

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  Posted by Psychedelic Goth (U14137191) on Monday, 21st September 2009

  My work mate is very a big fan. I'm more into his ambient stuff: Approaching Silence sort of thing.
  
  ^_^

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• Message 4

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  Posted by jasonaparkes (U3653332) on Tuesday, 22nd September 2009

  I like the report from Christian Fennesz that DS took exception to the perception of him as singer-songwriter on the last tour (and the idea that 'Snow Borne Sorrow' was his most POP release since 'Brilliant Trees). Plus he interrupted SBS with Blemish and that pointed elsewhere...Manafon appears to be that elsewhere...
  
  I do wonder if Mr M, like a few other DJ's (John Peel) wasn't that enamoured with Japan - Holger Czukay did amusingly say they were "a haircut in search of a hit" (though ironically the hit was lyrically Beckettian and musically Cageian!).
  
  Sylvian wasn't too positive about 'Nightporter' in that recent Mojo interview (despite playing a jazzy version of it on the 'Everything & Nothing' tour)- I think something like that or 'The Tenant', 'Life Without Buildings' or 'A Foreign Place' would be as freaky as they got...
  
  I think the Zone should avoid most Japan, the rock/funk stuff on 'Brilliant Trees' and 'The First Day' and the Walkeresque 'Secrets of the Beehive' and go for the odder stuff. Perhaps 'Alchemy - An Index of Possibilities' was too dependent on late 60's Miles and the 4th World Music of Jon Hassell (plus Czukay's Movies or On the Way to the Peak of Normal, or Hassell's Power Spot warrant LP of the week over that).
  
  The double LP 'Gone to Earth' could be an interesting choice for LP of the week, as Bill Nelson and Robert Fripp pop up and it's a balance of that Eno-ambient ideal and proggy/divine ballads like 'Before the Bullfight' and 'Wave'...
  
  Don't think Sylvian has featured in any of his forms - though as the poster above points out, something like 'Approaching Silence' would fit the bill...
  
  Manafon gets better each time I hear it; I think the link to RS Thomas is taking biography as a symbol and the poetry as an idea of art - am thinking Sylvian is a bit Van the Man circa 'Common One' here...

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by c-nility (U14152473) on Sunday, 27th September 2009

  Manafon has GOT TO BE the best thing he's done. If you give it a few listens the tunes start to appear a bit like them there Magic eye pictures!!!

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• Message 6

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  Posted by The_Purple_Gooroo (U14143748) on Sunday, 27th September 2009

  I admit I haven't listened to any Sylvian at all. I meant to buy his collab with Fripp (is it "The First Day"?) - but haven't yet. I've heard a few Japan tracks here and there, I thought they were alright.
  
  Where's a good place to start with his solo stuff?

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 6.

  Posted by jasonaparkes (U3653332) on Thursday, 1st October 2009

  Everything and Nothing is a good, if not comprehensive primer of his solo material - that and the LP/tape (but not cd which omits several tracks) of Japan's Exorcising Ghosts are the best primers (Assemblage collects their early Hansa-material that DS disowned).
  
  The First Day was a bit divisive - I think it's quite different and stands up, though DS and Fripp did leave off some great tracks like Earthbound/Starblind, Endgame, Damage, The First Day, Blinding Light of Heaven, and Tallow Moon. Several of these featured on live LP Damage, of which there are two versions - one mixed by Fripp, another by Sylvian. Probably more rewarding than The First Day, the blend of Michael Brook and Fripp, with Trey Gunn & Pat Mastelotto (who would feature in later versions of King Crimson) is a good one. It's about five quid on *mazon at mo...
  
  1984's Brilliant Trees is many a person's fave, it features Mark Isham, Holger Czukay, Ryuichi Sakamoto, the other members of Japan who weren't Mick Karn, Danny Thompson, Jon Hassell etc.
  
  You probably can't go wrong with double LP Gone to Earth (Bill Nelson and Fripp feature) and the LP many consider Sylvian's finest, Secrets of the Beehive. They're all mid-price on Virgin..
  
  Rain Tree Crow was the return of Japan under a different name, it stands up well and fits somewhere between the stranger works of Peter Gabriel, the Czukay-solo material, and Talk Talk's later work. It was all improvised, though in the end Sylvian took control of the project and the other three parted company with him...definite hint of prog as well as ambient/world music climes.
  
  To conclude: the ideal primer is Everything and Nothing, but I'd start with:
  
  1. Brilliant Trees
  2. Rain Tree Crow
  3. Gone to Earth
  4. Tin Drum
  5. Damage
  6. Secrets of the Beehive
  7. Gentlemen Take Polaroids
  8. Snow Borne Sorrow
  9. Exorcising Ghosts
  10. Blemish

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• Message 8

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  Posted by The_Purple_Gooroo (U14143748) on Sunday, 4th October 2009

  Cool, thanks for the tips, Jason.
  
  I'll buy a few of those and check 'em out!

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• Message 9

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  Posted by jasonaparkes (U3653332) on Thursday, 8th October 2009

  I do try not to force Sylvian etc on folk - there are not many folk I'm an utter fanboy for. Sylvian's back-catalogue pretty much all works for me, some of it not so much, but I dug Steel Cathedrals, Blemish, and the other records that not all his fans seem to dig...
  
  I like the fact he was/is pretentious, is a bit of an auteur, makes heady literary references, collaborates with many musicians, is not in fear of prog/jazz/ambient/classical, stepped sideways from pop, always moves onto the next record etc...
  
  I was having a chinwag between insults from the general public and social workers today and the subject of Pavement's reunion came up. A friend went and saw The Pixies play their not very good 3rd album...this whole reunion malarky is getting a bit much. I like the fact Sylvian is 50-something and making new music and going out there (rather than reforming Japan and playing Quiet Life, Visions of China etc). Was reminded of Jah Wobble on Maconie and Radcliffe who said he wanted to do PIL again if it was something new - Lydon apparently just wants to cash in, ruin old PIL songs and all that jazz.
  
  Always great when people do new stuff regardless of the past and it's strange that fave acts include Sylvian, TG, The Fall, Wire, Miles Davis, Cabaret Voltaire, Swans/Angels of Light, The Melvins, etc...
  
  Do hope you enjoy the world of Sylvian, though I guess if you don't like his vocals, have heard folk like Eno, Jon Hassell, Miles etc already, he might seem a bit...affected.

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• Message 10

  , in reply to message 9.

  Posted by jasonaparkes (U3653332) on Sunday, 25th July 2010

  
  
  free download of DS doing an Emily Dickinson poem here...
  
  There's also sad news regarding Sylvian's early collaborator Mick Karn (Japan/Rain Tree Crow):
  
  
  
  There is some suitably freaky stuff with MK on it - e.g the epic 'Heaven Taste' with No Man, which features 3 Japan/RTC members and one half of Porcupine Tree. The Dalis Car LP is more miss than hit, but does sound strange.
  
  There's plenty of ambient-prog joys on the sole Rain Tree Crow LP - not much of a surprise that Robert Fripp approached Sylvian to form a new version of King Crimson (their First Day/Damage collaboration has much fine stuff on). RTC shpuld probably be LP of the week sometime, if so, I'd love to hear A Pocketful of Change , Blackcrow Hits Shoe Shine City, & Big Wheels in Shanty Town...
  
  The Sound of Waves from MK's Titles is suitably odd as is the title track to 1987's Dreams of Reason...
  
  & there was some freaky Japan-stuff too - 'The Tenant', 'A Foreign Place', 'Burning Bridges', 'Life Without Buildings', 'Voices Raised in Welcome, Hands Held in Prayer', 'Sons of Pioneers', 'The Experience of Swimming'...
  
  & has any Yellow Magic Orchestra been played?

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• Message 11

  , in reply to message 10.

  Posted by LJJsPlectrum (U14169939) on Thursday, 29th July 2010

  That is very sad news about Mick Karn. He is a great nusician and I recall him doing some fine work with David Torn and Terry Bozzio?

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• Message 12

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by fortunate son (U14623879) on Friday, 24th September 2010

  I agree that Japan were mainstream and that certain members of the public would scorn them for this.
  However,I still meet people who rate them highly.
  I recently bought Sylvians 'Brilliant Trees' album which is very fine.You can find excerpts of his new album on a certain well known website.(which I won't mention.)Just a little publicity and a few concerts would thrust him into the limelight.After all,we all need a pension plan.

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• Message 13

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  Posted by jasonaparkes (U3653332) on Friday, 24th September 2010

  Japan did that thing of growing up in public - moving from a Simon Napier-Bell managed band who blended pub-rock with glam and heavy metal to something completely different. It's weird that a band like Radiohead did the same kind of thing, but people let them off...
  
  I guess Japan were obviously indebted to Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry, Bowie, and Eno and it took a few albums to find their own identity. Always thought Quiet Life was the transition and Gentlemen Take Polaroids/Tin Drum the pay off. & then they split!
  
  Though not much Japan could find a place on the Freak Zone. The only ones I think that would fit are Voices Raised in Welcome Hands Held in Prayer, The Tenant, The Experience of Swimming, or Burning Bridges...they were kind of song/band orientated. & their sound was kind of diluted by others, e.g. Duran Duran...
  
  A few years ago I had to choose between Sylvian playing Nine Horses' material at the Symphony Hall and Psychic TV/2. I went with PTV as I was in quite a TG/PTV phase...not many people attended (they were great). Apparently Sylvian god quite a good turnout...though I saw him at the Hammersmith Odeon (I think it was the Labbatt's Apollo at the time) and Bristol Colston Hall on the Everything & Nothing and Blemish tours and found it a bit...dry.
  
  I'd imagine Sylvian does OK - he was the main songwriter in Japan and wrote most of his material before getting into collaborations. Seems quite canny selling special editions, utilising the net, making music when you don't have Virgin's budgets and live in the digital age...
  
  I've loved his stuff for years and feel that the period from the initial works with Sakamoto (Bamboo Houses/Music, Forbidden Colours) and on to Brilliant Trees through to Secrets of the Beehive is still very strong.
  
  Am very enamoured with Gone to Earth, which I think is a FZ LP as Bill Nelson and Robert Fripp are on it and it's very ambient. ...Beehive is very Walkeresque and song-based...far too tuneful; though the odder stuff from Brilliant Trees could get played on the FZ, e.g. Backwaters with Czukay rapping on, the Jon Hassell-tracks, or The Ink in the Well with the great Danny Thompson on...
  
  The ambient side project stuff has always been enjoyable, the two albums with Holger Czukay are great and Approaching Silence is some of the best night time music (& surely one track is worthy of the FZ!).
  
  Despite the slightly compromised double LP 'Dead Bees on a Cake' - which pitched him somewhere between Van Morrison and Sting (some good stuff on there, granted) - DS is one of those souls like Mark Hollis, Julian Cope, and Kate Bush who had hits but opted to pursue their muse regardless. Blemish and Manafon are quite hardcore - as you might expect from glitchy improvised jazz with lyrics about dead poets, divorce and terrorism and featuring folk like the late Derek Bailey, Christian Fennesz, John Tilbury, Keith Rowe, Eddie Prevost, Evan Parker etc.
  
  Sylvian's frequent collaborations/appearances with other artists have created some interesting material, particulaly his stuff with Fennesz.
  
  Here's my review of his recent Sleepwalkers-compilation:
  
  
  
  ...Japan may not fit the FZ bill, but the Rain Tree Crow LP should - ambient/jazzy/world music styled improvisations and not the continuation of Japan's Tin Drum. If picking RTC's sole album I'd love to hear Blackcrow Hits Shoe Shine City, Red Earth (as summertime ends), and Big Wheels in Shanty Town...
  
  Apologies to anyone not interested in Sylvian/Japan. I was asked what my specalist subject on Mastermind would be and responded Sylvian/Japan to glazed eyes. Though I'd rather go on Only Connect really...
  
  

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