Life Without Buildings

‘an exciting shift’

‘One of the main influences for me is travelling. I really enjoy travelling and it stimulates the imagination,’ shared Mick Karn in a 1996 interview with Anil Prasad for his Innerviews website. ‘I think a lot of the way I write is actually to think of a place and to imagine that place, what pictures come up. It’s an old trick that we used to use a lot in Japan actually, where we would just give each other a name of a country and we would all go away and think about this country and then get together and try and write a piece.’

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World Citizen (I Won’t Be Disappointed)

‘a conscience that will keep me wide awake’

In 2002 Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi joined forces to form a new duo outfit which they dubbed Sketch Show. It was a surprise move that delighted fans of Yellow Magic Orchestra. In particular, the project tempted Hosono back into pop territory that he had rarely inhabited since the intense but relatively brief YMO heyday from their 1978 eponymous debut to 1983’s Service.

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Answered Prayers

‘more than a fascination’

Eight Days a Week was an arts review programme broadcast on BBC2 on which host Robin Denselow discussed the latest music, movies and books with a small invited panel. The show had a relatively short run in 1983 and 1984, but that timing allowed for the release of David Sylvian’s debut solo LP, Brilliant Trees, to be a subject of discussion. Among the guests that evening was former Be-Bop Deluxe front-man and guitarist, Bill Nelson.

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Late Night Shopping

‘a comfort tool’

‘It’s rather a low-tech recording,’ said David Sylvian of Blemish, ‘although there are certain elements to the record which were developed with software, particularly Christian’s track [‘A Fire in the Forest’] and ‘Late Night Shopping’.’ The burbling electronic undertone and accelerating oscillations of the latter distinguish it from the Derek Bailey guitar improvisations that form the basis of the tracks either side in the album’s running order.

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Silver Moon – Silver Moon over Sleeping Steeples

‘Just glorious. Transporting. Mesmerising.’

Gone to Earth draws to a close with its most musically up-beat track. Probably the first radio play of ‘Silver Moon’ was on London’s Capital Radio at the close of a disappointingly brief interview with David ‘Kid’ Jensen, who had indulged in much more in-depth discussions with David Sylvian during his prior stint as evening host on BBC Radio One. Speaking a few weeks before the release of the album, Sylvian introduced the track saying, ‘I think it’s quite a romantic piece. It’s almost a love song… It’s the nearest I’ve got to writing one for a while anyway…’

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