Vista

A History of Holes

The stories we create to tell ourselves

Snow Borne Sorrow by Nine Horses is an album that emerged from a strange origin of creative alchemy. Two projects were underway: collaborations between David Sylvian and Steve Jansen, and between Sylvian and the German composer/programmer Burnt Friedman (initially featuring Jaki Liebezeit). Nine Horses arrived in 2005 but the Jansen/Sylvian collaboration began much earlier, indeed some pieces pre-dated Sylvian’s startling 2003 solo album Blemish. The latter exhibited a quite different approach to the material under development with Jansen, displaying a pared back approach to instrumentation and with improvisation at its heart in both music and lyrics.

I Surrender

The joy of love, human and divine

‘I Surrender’. The track that broke a long silence. In the previous five years only a handful of collaborative tracks had been released and indeed David Sylvian admitted that at times the happy circumstances of his life may have resulted in him leaving music behind altogether.

The soundtrack of discovery

Many years ago, in the sixth form at school, I was introduced to the music of the band Japan. I was captured. This was the time of the album Tin Drum, and that most weird of singles – ‘Ghosts’. I listened to the music of the band intently, loving the craft of it – music and lyrics. Continue reading “The soundtrack of discovery”