2009年 09月 3日 木曜日 16:43
A conversation with my younger self…
(Aged 17) "Sylvian does jazz? Good poppy stuff on side 1, but what's this on side 2? Only three tracks? Long(ish) instrumentals.That rhythm on Backwaters is a bit weird. Brilliant Trees is melodic again, but the end instrumental goes on a bit…"
(Aged 42) "Absolutely classic album. Side two lasts the test of time. Vocals are immense."
Alchemy - An Index of Possibilities
(Aged 18) "Only on cassette? What's that about? Sound quality is crap on some pieces. Great long impro pieces, can't see me listening to this too often. Nice idea but where are the songs?"
(Aged 42) "Thankfully we got it on cd eventually. The poor sound quality in some parts just adds to the character and ironically was way ahead of its time - how many current hi fidelity cds have crackly noises on them? Beautiful meandering pieces. Probably listen to this more than Brilliant Trees now"
(Aged 19) "Disc one is brilliant - some great poppy numbers. Bill Nelson and Robert Fripp - respect. The track "Gone to Earth" is a bit atonal for me. But what's disc 2? Some self-indulgent instrumentals? It's a sin not to use that voice"
(Aged 42) "Disc one is still brilliant. Wave is one of my all-time favourite Sylvian tracks and the title track is again way ahead of its time. The melodic vocal cpntrasts brilliantly with the jaggy guitar. The quiet second disc stands up well to its poppier brother in terns of listenability."
(Aged 20) "Here we go, a new Sylvian album. The single, Let the Happiness In wasn't what I was expecting but it's starting to grow on me. Some lovely acoustic guitars and Ryuichi on piano. Some unusually violent lyrics are creeping in to Sylvian's works."
(Aged 42 "I started off thinking this was better than Gone to Earth, but I've reversed that opinion. I probably only really listen to Let the Happiness In now - lovely brass! Some of the other tracks are a wee bit samey. Still like the harsher imagery of some of the lyrics."
(Aged 21) "What the hell is this? It goes on for hours and goes nowhere! Don't think I'll be listening to this much!"
(Aged 42) "Well, I was right, but I have listened to it more than I thought I would!"
(Aged 22) "See above, although I was starting to 'get it' a bit more"
(Aged 42) "I think there's a bit more variety in F&M than P&P, but it's not a great album for iPod!"
(Aged 24) "Jeez, what a price! Beautiful packaging and great concept, but not very listenable."
(Aged 42) "For once I agree with my 24 year old self"
(Aged 26) "Woah. Sylvian does a rock album. After a few listens I am well into it. Some of the Fripp sections are a bit self-indulgent."
(Aged 42) "I over-listened to this album. Probably only listen to Darshan these days."
(Aged 32) "Six years since a Sylvian album? Hope it's got lots of melodic vocals on it… oh, half the songs have melodic vocals, and the other are, well, disappointing."
(Aged 42) "Some great highs a and low lows - Darkest Dreaming and Praise among two of my favourite Sylvian pieces and Praise doesn't even have him singing on it! All of My Mother's Names sounds like it's been chucked together."
(Aged 32) "Nothing for Six years then two come along at once! However, this is just a filler album. Might listen to it once."
(Aged 42) "Don't know if I even listened all the way through once!"
(Aged 36) "This is difficult to listen to. Lots of crackles and beeps and more angry harsh lyrics. Not sure about this."
(Aged 42) "I have come to regard this album as one of Sylvian's finest. It shows a desire to push the limits of his creativity.It's challenging, damn right it is, some of the music is atonal and difficult, but behind it all are those songs, heartfelt and personal, that betray his frustration and despair at the time."
The Good Son vs the Only Daughter
(Aged 38) "Some fine remixes but not a patch on the original"
(Aged 42) "Agreed"
(Aged 38) "This sounds quite pleasant. I might get into this."
(Aged 42) "My least favourite Sylvian album. The vocals all sound similar. I'm not a fan of Friedman's contributions.It reminds me of coffee table music - have it lying around with a copy of Cosmo or whatever the bright young things are reading these days for show, but don't play it for goodness sake!"
When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima
(Aged 40) "This is a bit like Ember Glance - probably works well in the exhibition but not really one for regular listening."
(Aged 42) "Agreed"
So what's the point of all this? To show that Sylvian often does what we don't expect and it can take us a wee while to work out whether or not we like it, but often it grows on us and takes us over.
Which brings me to Manafon. I've only listened (and watched) the video for Small Metal Gods but I'm excited. I can understand people wanting a return to the days of Sylvian's "proper songs", I was probably in that camp myself in the past. But Blemish and Manafon promise to have much more longevity than traditional pop records. Blemish is rich and deep and Manafon promises more.