A 52 Week Autobiography Through Music – Week 34 – David Sylvian
David Sylvian is a songwriter, musician, artist for whom I have deep respect and admiration. His music feels so honest and has always had a real emotional impact on me. Thanks to my commitment to this series I have discovered some music of his that I had not heard and I have been reacquainted with the albums I knew.
I had a nice experience of discovery leading up to this post: The other day my friend Bret was telling me about a Trumpet player from Norway he likes named Arve Henriksen so I looked him up and listened to some of his music - which is really great and deserves attention maybe in a separate blog post - then just a few days later doing research for this week's episode I discovered that he has played on a handful of David Sylvian projects that are more recent albums I was not familiar with such as this one:
Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorrow
Here are some links to follow for more info about David and his music:
https://www.davidsylvian.net
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sylvian
and Here is a blog I came across recently which is devoted to the Music of David Sylvian as well as that of the many musicians who collaborate with him: https://sylvianvista.com
Here is a Spotify list that touches on a variety of Sylvian's catalogue:
I really have to be in a mood to listen to post Bees Sylvian. It’s a lot of work, demanding attention. I feel that way about certain works… Laurie Anderson’s Bright Red comes to mind. . As if I’ve finished a novel after listening to a full album. Gone to Earth remains for me top 5 all time.
Indeed the Later work is not at all for Passive listening. I’ve been revisiting Blemish, Manafon and Died in the Wool lately and find that at the right moments those records are amazing. Also I never listened to Nine Horses before last week and I really like Snow Borne Sorrow.
Gone to Earth though… Top 5 for me too without a doubt.
Thanks for watching and interacting/commenting! I really appreciate it.
Thanks for introducing me to David Sylvian. And thanks for allowing me to keep tabs on your cds which has a nice David Sylvian collection. The variety is impressive indeed. I’d run across Arve Henriksen somewhere but I don’t know when or where. Again very impressive. I can relate to the comments about passive listening vs active listening. As for myself, there have been a number of albums that I have brought home and found that it took the time and mood before I could connect with the album. Cale’s Paris 1919 was one of those. I could tell that something important and of quality was going on, so I just waited until the right time and ‘bingo’ it got me.And I got it. I’ve Stones albums that took a few spins and the right mood before recognizing the all-time greatness there. Most of the music I have tends to need listening to. Being retired helps in that regard. I’ll sometimes put a book down to listen. Then again, there is a lot of Eno/ambient/Hearts of Space stuff that gets played while I ponder. Lights out.