Protopunk – Brightness Falls

‘live in lightness’

Trey Gunn knew that he wanted to pursue a life in music and, despite the prevailing spirit of contemporary culture, was keen to develop an understanding of the fundamentals. ‘I went to the University of Oregon and I studied composition. I had played classical music as a kid, like from 6 or 7, and played Bach or Bartok or whatever you did back then on piano, and transitioned to bass and acoustic guitar. I was in punk rock/new wave bands in the late ’70s and it was counter to the culture to study music. It was, “I’m going to go my own way,” and, “I’m NOT going to learn!” – I’m talking about the punk culture – and sometimes that was cool, sometimes that would produce unusual things…but I still felt like if I was going to be a professional, whatever that meant… basically on track to get really good at something, then I should learn about the materials, even though it was counter to everyone I knew… I thought, if I was a writer, I would want to learn how a sentence is structured; it just makes sense, even if you are going to be deviant… I wanted to learn more stuff and get exposed to more things.’

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Jean the Birdman – Weathered Wall – live

‘a real rapport’

I was living some four hours’ drive from London in the mid-1990s. There was nobody I knew in the West Country of England who had heard of David Sylvian, yet alone followed his musical activities. Discovering news was difficult and I was always concerned that I’d miss something significant. Bamboo magazine had finished, its Winter 1992 edition being the last. For nearly a decade this fan-run labour of love had been a much-valued source of information and insight, its closure marking the start of Medium – an excellent official newsletter and label concentrating on the activities of Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri and Mick Karn.

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Darshan (translucent remix by The Grid)

‘atmospheric, ambient and electronic’

It was at The Royal Albert Hall in London in December 1993 that I became aware that there was to be a mini-album release by Sylvian/Fripp, Darshan. This would be the only occasion that I would see David Sylvian and Robert Fripp share the stage, their earlier touring incarnation in a trio with Trey Gunn never having visited the UK. As we took our place in the stalls, full of anticipation for the first of two London shows on The Road to Graceland tour, set on each seat was a postcard announcing the new release – which would be in the shops the following week!

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God’s Monkey

‘the blindness, the absolute darkness’

For the music of Sylvian/Fripp there would be a move away from the vocalist’s long-standing studio partner. Steve Nye had been involved as producer, engineer or mixer from Japan’s Tin Drum, throughout Sylvian’s trio of solo albums and onto Rain Tree Crow’s eponymous release in 1991. ‘I had a desire to go into another sonic area,’ explained the singer. ‘I love the warmth and beauty of the tones that Steve gets. Steve also used to give me a lot of feedback on the way I arranged things. But as I have continued to develop, it just seemed natural to move away. We’d exhausted our relationship to some degree. We might work together again, but for now I enjoy working with different engineers and co-producers.’

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Damage

‘a healing of sorts’

London’s Royal Albert Hall is a spectacular venue for any kind of event. You alight from the underground at South Kensington station just a few streets away from Stanhope Gardens in whose elegant white-washed apartments Messrs Sylvian, Jansen, Barbieri and Karn lived during the height of Japan’s success, and where Steve Jansen photographed the lead singer on the rooftop by night as part of the shoot for the ‘Ghosts’ single. Heading north, past the grandeur of the National History Museum and V&A, you reach the magnificent concert hall opposite the memorial to Prince Albert in Hyde Park. With its rotunda construction, terracotta mosaics and imposing roof of glass and wrought iron it really is like nowhere else.

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