Tag: David Toop

I Swallowed Earth for This

‘a supernova on a petal’

Spoken word has provided a rich seam within David Sylvian’s work over the last decade or so. He has vocalised the writing of some fascinating authors, from the poems of Arseny Tarkovsky for Ryuichi Sakamoto’s performance at the Concert for Japan and ‘Life, Life’ featured on his master-work async, to an extract from In the Solitude of Cotton Fields by playwright Bernard-Marie Koltès for a collaboration with Mark Wastell and Rhodri Davies released as There is No Love; from the descriptions of a myriad of lesser gods by Paal-Helge Haugen on Uncommon Deities, to Japanese haiku and death poems written by Buddhist priests for the Twinkle³ album Upon this Fleeting Dream. Indeed, at the time of writing this article Sylvian has just added to the canon by reciting Emily Dickinson’s poem ‘I Measure Every Grief I Meet’ for a collaboration with Icelandic cellist and film-score composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (link in footnotes).

Continue reading “I Swallowed Earth for This”

Oil on Canvas

‘a moment of inspiration between the painter and the canvas’

On 1 March 1982, an album simply titled Japan was released in the US by the band of the same name. A deal with the Epic label gave the group a tilt at the American market. Japan’s members were on hiatus at the time, taking a break after the tensions of the Visions of China tour in late 1981, a chance to pursue solo and other projects or interests. There was a UK TV appearance for the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test on 4 March, with ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Cantonese Boy’ played live to promote the former’s release as a single (see ‘Ghosts – live’) but this was a brief reunion among other endeavours. Steve Jansen, Mick Karn and David Sylvian contributed to Akiko Yano’s album Ai Ga Nakucha Ne, sessions taking place in London in February ’82 with Ryuichi Sakamoto producing. Then Sylvian and Sakamoto headed into the studio to fulfil a long-held ambition for a joint project, the fruits of which were ‘Bamboo Music’ and ‘Bamboo Houses’.

Continue reading “Oil on Canvas”

The Good Son – She is Not

‘Singular, unique’

It was on 18 February 2003 that Derek Bailey entered the Moat recording studios in London’s North Kensington to record a session of solo acoustic and electric guitar at the invitation of David Sylvian. ‘I spoke to him for about fifteen minutes on the phone after which he was onboard,’ remembered Sylvian. ‘I told him I wanted to be challenged as a vocalist and he said, “that I can do for you”.’ (2011)

Continue reading “The Good Son – She is Not”

Playing the Schoolhouse

‘sensitivity to time within space’

From 30 November to 2 December 2016 a symposium entitled On the Edge was staged in Oslo, Norway. Whilst David Sylvian was not present at the event, his influence on the proceedings was significant. The programme was created by Ivar Grydeland, a musician who works in the field of improvisation and a member of the groups Huntsville and Dans les Abres, the latter’s eponymous debut album having been released on the ECM label in 2008.

Continue reading “Playing the Schoolhouse”

Blemish – Camphor

Stripped bare

The final phase of David Sylvian’s time as a Virgin records artist was marked by Dead Bees on a Cake – his celebration of love, human and divine – and then a series of releases that looked back across his career to that point. The Everything and Nothing compilation brought together highlights from his vocal work including some reworkings and unreleased material. Damage was remixed by Sylvian to reflect his take on the collaboration with Robert Fripp. Finally there was Camphor, the instrumental companion piece to Everything and Nothing. Amidst all of this there was the retrospective Everything and Nothing tour covering Japan, Europe, US and Canada.

Continue reading “Blemish – Camphor”