[Davey]

I've been listening a lot the last few days to his new one under the group name of Nine Horses, which is a collaboration between Sylvian, his brother Steve Jansen and electronic composer Burnt Friedman. It's called "Snow Borne Sorrow" and is a return to the lush and accessible sound of "Dead Bees On A Cake", but with a bit more electronics and more of a jazz feel, especially on the amazing third track called "The Banality of Evil" that goes on for 8 minutes and sounds very exotic and polyrhythmic, somewhat reminiscent of Peter Gabriel, with some enchanting backing vocals, and then the ending comes along with some soft but skronky horn soloing somewhat akin to Ornette Coleman's work with Joe Henry on his great "Scar" album. Wonderful song that is a real standout for me right now. Could probably listen to it on constant repeat. But it's only one of many. Really a nice album. First track is pretty nice too. Great vocals traded between David and Swedish vocalist Stina Nordenstam. Think I might have to check out one of her albums too. Like much of his work, it gets kind of intoxicating with that deep and subtle voice playing against the oftentimes complex arrangements and textures. Always surrounds himself with excelent musicians. Anyone else heard this yet? Probably the best thing he's done in recent times. On the same label as that excellent Harold Budd "Avalon Sutra" album that came out the beginning of last year too... http://www.samadhisound.com/catalogu...ne_sorrow.html

 

[pframe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davey Anyone else heard this yet?

No, but give me 24 hours.

Thanks for the mini-review and the esp. for the heads-up, Davey. I have most of Sylvian's work, and have been waiting for something new. It's like "Dead Bees on a Cake" you say? Coolness.

 

[Masonjar]

sounds great.. I didn't even know this existed.

I can't recall if you have that Rain Tree Crow cd. I know that thing is like what, 14 years old now or something but I still go back to that one all the time, what a great work. How to describe it? Somewhere between post-rock and post-jazz.. weird alien soundscapes with Syvian's haunting voice floating over the top. For those unaware, this was a project done by the former members of Japan, though from what I can tell, it sounds nothing like Japan.

-jar

 

[Masonjar]

It may be that the secret of the project lies in part in Steve Jansen’s presence: Snow Borne Sorrow bears a musical relationship both to Japan’s penultimate album, Gentlemen Take Polaroids and the group’s shortlived reformation, Rain Tree Crow.

http://www.eleventhvolume.com/review...ne_horses.html

 

[BillC]

Glad to see someone else has found Nine Horses. I mentioned "Snow Borne Sorrow" in a "Top Albums of 2005" thread and got no response. It really is an intoxicating album. I liked "Blemish" and "Good Son vs the Only Daughter" but those albums are just so stark and pained that I can't listen repeatedly. On "Snow Borne Sorrow" Sylvian seems to have integrated the pain of his divorce into the music so that there's just this haunting sorrow throughout the songs. And the music is amazingly complex and beautiful. Jansen and Friedman both bring a lot of texture to the arrangements and the other musicians who contribute on individual tracks add depth and diversity to the album.

In fact, I think I'll listen to it right now.

 

[en480c4]

I'm intrigued...
I'm only familiar with his work collaborating with Chris Vrenna's Tweaker project. I'm a big fan of his work on 2 A.M. Wakeup Call's "Pure Genius," so I'll be checking this out.
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masonjar sounds great.. I didn't even know this existed. I can't recall if you have that Rain Tree Crow cd. I know that thing is like what, 14 years old now or something but I still go back to that one all the time, what a great work.

I don't have it but I do have a few of the songs. A couple on your many comps and about three or four on that great 2-CD collection he put out after Dead Bees On A Cake. It's called Everything and Nothing. Covers his whole career from Japan to Dead Bees.

http://www.discogs.com/release/287798

BTW, I think this "Snow Borne Sorrow" CD is gonna be released in the US at the end of this month. Maybe already. It's a low cost UK import on the samadhisound label right now. Picked up my new copy from one of the sellers in the amazon marketplace for about $11 but doesn't look like there's any copies quite that cheap anymore. Oh well, snooze ya lose

 

[BillC]

Strange synchronicity. I went to lunch at an "Asian Cafe" just off the Georgia Tech campus a few minutes ago where I've been several times. Today for the first time I noticed the cover art from Japan's "Tin Drum" on the wall probably 8ft by 8ft. Oh yeah, the place is called "Tin Drum Asian Cafe". Never connected the name with the album before.

DOH!

 

[BillC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by en480c4 I'm intrigued... I'm only familiar with his work collaborating with Chris Vrenna's Tweaker project. I'm a big fan of his work on 2 A.M. Wakeup Call's "Pure Genius," so I'll be checking this out. Thanks for the heads up.

I wasn't aware of Sylvian's work with tweaker - I'll have to check that out. Be forewarned that Sylvian's music takes a lot of twists and turns and includes Glam Rock with Japan, Electronic Minimalism on "Blemish", Progressive Rock with Robert Fripp, Ambient with Holger Czukay, etc.

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillC Glad to see someone else has found Nine Horses. I mentioned "Snow Borne Sorrow" in a "Top Albums of 2005" thread and got no response.

Yeah, I didn't even know about it until a couple people I know well on another board mentioned it as one of their favorite albums of the year. I'm on the road to concurring with that notion right now. Guess I missed your mention too, Bill. Sometimes you need to talk a little louder, but always good to see such great and timeless music getting some recognition, even if it does take a little while for some of us to catch up

 

[en480c4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillC I wasn't aware of Sylvian's work with tweaker - I'll have to check that out.

I had forgotten he lead off Tweaker's The Attraction To All Things Uncertain with "Linoleum" as well, so he has a track on both albums, as well as multiple versions on the Linoleum single.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillC Be forewarned that Sylvian's music takes a lot of twists and turns and includes Glam Rock with Japan, Electronic Minimalism on "Blemish", Progressive Rock with Robert Fripp, Ambient with Holger Czukay, etc.

Thanks for the warning... However this just makes me more likely to check it out as there's little that beats adventurous music!

 

[BillC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by en480c4 Thanks for the warning... However this just makes me more likely to check it out as there's little that beats adventurous music!

Sylvian's great if you like adventure. I really like most of the stuff in his catalog but some of it takes more time to get into than others. And if you go in expecting the Glam Rock of early Japan and get the pained, electronic minimalism of Blemish, you might come out a bit shocked.

Not that there's anything wrong with being confronted with something different than you expected, but I'd hate for someone to hear one album and think, "I don't like him" when there might be a lot of his other work that you'd love.

 

[pframe]

Snow Borne Sorrow and Rain Tree Crow arrived yesterday. They are both tremendous! Thanks for the recs, Davey and Masonjar.

Coming up: The David Sylvian vs. Harold Budd smackdown for listening room supremacy.

 

[markl]

OK, finally got it. IMO, it's quite good, certainly a lot better than Blemish. But so far, on first listen, it sounds like a pretty standard David Sylvian outing; in a body of excellent work, it's yet another excellent addition to the canon. But his best ever?

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl But his best ever?

Don't think anyone here said that, did they? Maybe I missed it. I said that it was probably the best thing he'd done in recent times, but it would be hard to judge it against his best work since that was really a different time in music and his sound was very novel. To me it sounds a bit like Dead Bees part 2, which is OK with me at this point.