David Sylvian

where to start?

solo stuff? japan? recommend please my ears are empty.

my exposure so far is the fennesz track and one solo track 'i surrender' which reminded me to find more. i like his voice alot

The only album I have by him is "Secrets of the Beehive". It's a little...twee, for the lack of a better term.

Though I do like his label, samhadhisound. Akira Rabelais, Harold Budd, Derek Bailey etc. Good stuff.

Sorry to not answer your question at all.

I love this track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROSbpno52Rs

Also one of my favorite voices. There's a lot of ground to cover, stylistically.

I definitely recommend the stuff he recorded with Robert Fripp, including Gone to Earth. The production is definitely... of its time period, but it's still gorgeous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en8Ivh03rvY

Fennesz pops up on his later albums, Blemish and Manafon, which are sparse and dark and beautiful.

WISP I KEEL U

japan:

tin drum

gentlemen take polaroids

solo:

brilliant trees

secrets of the beehive

right lets do this

go go ears

What kaini said.

Saw this when I was 11...woah

then saw this as a 38 year old on CSI...woah

So tempted to go see him at the Royal Albert Hall, though I know fuck all of his solo work.

things get a little strange from 2000 onwards (Blemish). I do like Blemish though. I think Gone To Earth is a good place to start, it's really a double album with one half pure ambient, the other his more romantic stuff. Nine Horses is a great album too, it's more of a side project on samdhisound... sounds amazing and ha a lot of electronic bits and bobs.

Secrets of the Beehive is good but.... tame. I do not like Manafon

check out that amazing prophet synth action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSqNhwvvjDs

total proto-IDM

  On 12/20/2011 at 12:20 AM, verticalhold said:

things get a little strange from 2000 onwards (Blemish). I do like Blemish though. I think Gone To Earth is a good place to start, it's really a double album with one half pure ambient, the other his more romantic stuff. Nine Horses is a great album too, it's more of a side project on samdhisound... sounds amazing and ha a lot of electronic bits and bobs.

 

Secrets of the Beehive is good but.... tame. I do not like Manafon

i was SO disappointed with dead bees on a cake (and maybe worst album title ever)

i expected great things from it.

also check out this awesome early jungle track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df06orauLaA

I really like this one for some reason

First three solo albums from the eighties were his best, IMHO.

His Fripp collaborations in the early nineties were also not bad but half way through that decade, something happened to Sylvian in both his writing style and his subject matter and it's been the same ever since.

I think a great deal of his fans deserted him once he began moving into stark minimal landscapes. With Sylvian's music, there's been a lot of gloom in the last fifteen years.

An album like Manafon is very difficult to listen to if you grew up with his earlier output.

Personally, I wish David would realise that surrounding himself with all these experimental jazz types and letting them create frankly unlistenable music doesn't make him a better artist.

Having said that, I do admire him for following his own path artistically and doing what he enjoys (even if it seems very few others do).

This was an interesting one:

[youtubehd]cP-_dnKf8GM[/youtubehd]

Also, my daughter's fan forum:

http://www.japansylvian.com

Again, 'Secrets of the Beehive' is a fantastic record. I haven't really given Japan a proper listen, but I do like the Rain Tree Crow release.

I dug up this little pearl some time ago, it's absolutely fantastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8pLSeJJQ5Q

I only have Secrets From the Beehive, but it's really great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8RxNeHKgNU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YuvdDPYEy0

My dream album would be Sylvian reuniting with all the musicians he used on the first three albums and letting Eno produce it.

oh, also the japan reform album under the name 'rain tree crow'. that's a great album.

  On 12/19/2011 at 9:55 PM, kaini said:

japan:

tin drum

gentlemen take polaroids

 

solo:

brilliant trees

secrets of the beehive

This. Gone To Earth (solo) and Oil On Canvas (Japan live) are also pretty damn good.

beautiful song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-TGPXF31mg

i think dave might have been listening to quite a bit of talk talk.

I really loved Secrets of the Beehive and Blemish back in the day. I bought one album since, listened once and thought perhaps I had had my fill of David Sylvan. This was in 2006, so perhaps it is time to have another go of it. He has the smoothest voice in the known universe.

  On 12/21/2011 at 8:24 PM, futureimage said:

Oil On Canvas (Japan live)

Solid recommendation, takes me right back. I feel I should've followed David Sylvian's output over the years.

I like his songs better than his singing, if that makes any sense?

  On 12/27/2011 at 11:59 AM, Gocab said:

I like his songs better than his singing, if that makes any sense?

I think it does. But I've always loved his voice; I can imagine it might be something of an acquired taste though.