Metamatic Forums Socialising The Green Room David Sylvian

The new David Sylvian album Manafon is listed as coming soon in the new issue of Wire magazine.

No other details as yet

That's interesting news. Cheers Rads

Cool, cheers. Interesting title: "Manafon" is in Powys, Wales, apparently.

Cool. Not far away from my own Heimat. Wonder if our Dave has got a house there or something.
RadioB : must speak to you urgent about this BTW.

Probably emulating his childhood heroes Led Zeppelin and their Bron yr Aur stomp (Last Mid Wales locality to inspire music as far as I can remember) I'm having weird visions of Sylvain having abandoned his androgyneous Princess Di look and now sporting long shaggy greasy locks and wearing a psychodelic waistcoast over his bare torso Heaven forbid
"Life can be so cruel Life in Machynlleth "

Ha!ha!ha!ha! Hilarious!

Afternoon Gazza (It is here anyway) Dem Krauts still not in das Haus yet so I await them with eager anticipation Something winging its way towards Radler Towers , Spammerville , Missouri as a token of my gratitude In time honoured Una Stubbs/Michael Aspel fashion
*Mimes "You can't listen to it *
RE Mid Wales ace cycling country you probably know that anyway

Let us not forget Mike Oldfield's "Hergest Ridge" England / Wales borderline hill as inspirational look-out point for eponymous post-Tubby Bells opus.
The Red Book of Hergest is in proper Welsh mind boyo.

Interesting that there's been nary a peep from Samadhisound about this impending release. Usually the label sends out emails about upcoming material long before the product 's artwork or track listing is even finalized.

If indeed the report is true and David Sylvian has a CD entitled "Manafon" in the offing, I suspect that the choice of title has nothing to do with the well-known location in Wales. Instead, it's probably some kind of esoteric, prehistoric Ainu term for "undocumented states of spiritual transcendence from corporeal boundaries established by rare animist cults of outsiders with flashing eyes who wear goat skins in tranquil rain" or something equally pretentious and unfathomable.

On the other hand, it could refer to a surrealist dream in which a hybrid creature is born of the love of a manatee for a telephone. . . Now, that would be fun!

Excellent description, Lele. The one about the Manatee has cheered me up this early morn.

Ha! HA! full circle ... ! That comes from the original post by RadioBeach on THIS FORUM which I passed on to David Sylvian.it together with the scan which Garry kindly sent to me. ...

small world..

Oopsy.

It came to me via the Japan-Pioneers Yahoo group.

Small world indeed!

www.metamatic.com the official website for David Sylvian

Latest news is that 'afon' is just Welsh for river so Manafon is another way of saying River Man?

Possibly a Welsh language re-purposing album?

I make you right Membs You cunning linguist !! It says so here

Daffyd Sylvian (ex Siapan) discu newywdd siarad cymraeg yn Manafon "Buchedd yn Tokio (Remics) Pentref a phlwyf gwledig yng ngogledd Powys (yn yr hen Sir Drefaldwyn) yw Manafon. Fe'i lleolir 2 filltir a hanner i'r de o bentref Llanfair Caereinion ac 8 milltir i'r gorllewin o'r Trallwng ar lôn y B4390.

Saif Manafon ar lannau Afon Rhiw mewn ardal o fryniau isel coediog a ffermydd. Mae'n rhan o esgobaeth Llanelwy. Mae'r eglwys yn bur hynafol.

Bu'r bardd a golygydd Gwallter Mechain (Walter Davies) yn ficer Manafon am gyfnod o 30 mlynedd, o 1807 hyd 1837, a chynhyrchodd rhan helaeth o'i waith llenyddol yno. Bu Evan Evans (Ieuan Fardd) yn gurad yma ynghanol y 18fed ganrif.

Treuliodd y bardd enwog R. S. Thomas gyfnod o ddeuddeg mlynedd yn rheithor Manafon (1942-1954). Cafodd yr ardal ddylanwad dwfn arno. Yno yr aeth ati i ddysgu'r Gymraeg ac mae rhai o'i gerddi mwyaf adnabyddus, sy'n ymwneud â chymdeithas amaethyddol y fro, natur, a hanes Cymru yn deillio o'r amser hwnnw. Ceir pennod ddifyr ar ei brofiadau yn y fro yn ei hunangofiant Neb. Dyma un o'i ddisgrifiadau bachog o Fanafon o'r gyfrol honno, a ysgrifennir yn y trydydd berson:

'O'r braidd fod Manafon yn bod. Doedd yno ddim pentref, dim ond eglwys, ysgol, tafarn a siop. Gwasgarwyd y ffermydd hyd y llethrau yn fân-ddaliadau ar y cyfan gydag ambell fferm mwy sylweddol. Saes-Gymry oedd y bobl, gydag enwau Cymraeg ac acen Sir Amwythig. Daethant yn destun ei farddoniaeth.' (Neb, tud. 42)2009

Cymru am Byth!

A lot of that is from cy.wicipedia but what about the first bit??? Made it up?

PS mind how you say 'cunning linguist'..

Right!

Prynhawn Da Membs !
Sut wyt ti ? wyt ti'n siarad Eidaleg y Allmaenadd Dimm wyt ti'n siarad Cymraeg ?
Dafydd

Don't forget "Boneddigion maen nhw'n cario Polaroidau !"

Sion Cadno am byth !

Sorry but your Scouse banter is lost on me ... boyo.

Galw'r heddlu!

Good lord I never knew PUBLIC ENEMY were big in Aberystwyth bit naughty that I know heddlu means the police but I didn't realise that galw'r meant Fook da !
You learn a new thing every day

I suspect it’s just David’s continuing "undocumented states of spiritual transcendence from corporeal boundaries” (to quote Lele), and he’s come up with a new term relating to Shamanism or magical states of being.

spirit/fool:

http://www.websters-dictionary-online.org/definition/mana

http://www.websters-dictionary-online.org/translation/Fon/fon

He should re-enlist the services of Amanda (Alchemy/Words with the Shaman) Faulkner, to draw Lele's sleepy aquatic dog and bone hybrid, now that would make a really cute album cover, and would also help to raise wider awareness about these vulnerable creatures

Thanks Naps . .hadn't thought of the obvious .. or has it just come up??

Some news from the recently regenerated Trophies site;

'There are no official names known who will be included on the album, but it was noted that in December 2007 sessions took place in London with Evan Parker, Christian Fennesz, a couple of string players and John Tilbury.

Being involved is no guarantee to be included on the final album. That happened before with Robert Fripp in a session with David and Steve for a ballad to be included on the Nine Horses album'

http://www.davidsylvian.net/the-news/433-manafon.html

Got an email from Samadhi Sound about the upcoming release today. This is all it had to say:

"David Sylvian ‘Manafon’

We’re preparing for the release of David’s new album ‘Manafon’. It’s a powerfully bold, uncompromising work featuring contributions from Evan Parker, John Tilbury, Keith Rowe, Christian Fennesz, Otomo Yoshihide, and many more. We’ll be sharing more information on the release shortly."

Blimey I wish I'd thought of that one first.

Oh, hang on, I did: :p

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/japan-pioneers/message/17930

Oh well done. I didn't read it there tho. :rolleyes:

Just noticed this bit in the D'Agostino bio - http://www.singlecycle.co.uk/bio.html ;

Steve mixed in surround sound with David Sylvian his forthcoming album...Recording sessions continue on various John Foxx projects.

Sylvian in 5.1 Surround Sound!? Here's hoping! And more Foxx stuff in the future!? Blimey!

Excellent! So much to look forward to. And not wishing too much, but maybe a Sylvian/Foxx collaboration? Oh I wish.....

Many thanks to Member D for passing on the following news on Manafon;

Small Metal Gods

It is absolutely not certain but if there is going to be a single than that's probably the title of the track taken from the long awaited album Manafon.

SamadhiSound claims they haven't thought about a single yet because Manafon is not that type of album. But if it would be the case, Small Metal Gods is the most accessible song from Manafon.

David himself describes it as:
“a completely modern kind of chamber music. Intimate, dynamic, emotive, democratic, economical.”

It's almost certain that the following contributors will be inculded on the final cut: Keith Rowe, Sachiko Matsubara, Evan Parker, Christian Fennesz, members of Polwechsel, Otomo Yoshihide and John Tilbury.

From good sources it is told that there are no percussionists! The basic arrangement is improvised backdrop with spare overdubs supporting Sylvian’s singing. Lyrical themes concern the loss of faith, life as a quixotic and isolated individual, and creativity.

Fact & Rumours

It seems that Manafon will be a Sylvian/Erstwhile project. A lot of artists inolved with the Manafon sessions are from Jon Abbey's Erstwhile label. Sessions started way back in late 2005/early 2006. Being involved is no guarantee to be included on the final album. That happened before with Robert Fripp in a session with David and Steve for a ballad to be included on the Nine Horses album.

The sessions

Vienna
Werner Dafeldecker and Martin Brandlmayr were involved in the Austria sessions with Christian Fennesz, Keith Rowe and Burkhard Stangl.

Tokyo
Guitarist/violinist Tetuzi Akiyama, cellist Taku Sugimoto, Otomo Yoshihide and Sachiko Matsubara have taken part in one of the sessions in Tokyo. Sources mention that it is very uncertain if these have made the final cut

London
John Tilbury, Keith Rowe and Evan Parker were mentioned as the artists involved in recording sessions in London.

Manafon sessions DVD release?
The recording sessions have been filmed while in progress. There is a small possibility that these will be released later on DVD.

Back in December 2007 Christan Fennesz was interviewed on a Belgian site (01-12-2007)

“I am recording again for David Sylvian in London. His new album will be really incredible. It is a real masterpiece.

Sylvian wants to get rid of his straight-forward image of singer-songwriter for good. He was not so happy with his last tour. His new work is much better. He is working with radical, experimental jazz musicians like Evan Parker, Burkhard Stangl and Keith Rowe.”

http://www.davidsylvian.net/component/content/article/433/433.html

Very intriguing news, I hope it really sounds as good as the expectation for it appears to be.

Am I the only one who thought of the words 'The and 'Drift' when they read the description of the album? I am just as intrigued by the description of the ideas too;

Lyrical themes concern the loss of faith, life as a quixotic and isolated individual, and creativity...

It's exactly 10 years since the 'Love' album that was Dead Bees On A Cake. On paper and rumour alone - this new one sounds like he's taken a Napalm policy to all that like he did with Blemish.

Manafon release date set for Sept 14th ...

...will be available in two editions: a regular CD/digipak edition and a twin volume deluxe edition with CD and DVD featuring the film 'Amplified Gesture'. Details and new website to follow soon.
http://www.davidsylvian.com/

Wo-hoo! Cheers D!

What with the forthcoming Foxx collaboration with Paul Daley and now this - it's all shaping up to be a great autumn!

Got this news from his website yesterday. Fantastic news. He's my all time favourite artist (should I mention that on another artists pages lol).

He has a new demo song out just now called "Jacqueline". It's available in a u.s magazine called "Believer". A 1 minute clip is available here.

http://www.brokensky.net/

thanks for the tip-off Scott

Thanks Scott - I hope the track becomes available at a later date as I think tracking down that magazine in the UK will be a pain.

Me too. Its a really nice song and typical of David's vocal style.

great news, something to look forward to this Autumn

If I get an mp3 of the full version of "Jacqueline" I'll post a link.

Borders have plenty copies of the magazine. I bought a copy even though it was £8. There are a few other good tracks on it too but I really wanted to hear the Sylvian track in full. It sounds like some of his recent work though not as good as Exit/Delete.
If I had any idea how to share this track I would but I'm totally hopeless with things like that.

After you rip the cd to a pc music programme such as windows media or itunes, then just join a file share site such as 'rapidshare' or 'megaupload', and upload it to that site. Then simply take the link for the track from your account on that site and link it back to the forum. Hope that gives you an outline to it.

Here is a link to the "Jacqueline" song. I'm afraid it can only be downloaded 10 times so would really appreciate it if someone else copies it & then puts a better share of it up. Sorry it's taken so long but I've never done this before & it's a bit alien to me.


http://rapidshare.com/files/261085203/11_Jacqueline.m4a.html

thanks Scott. I've downloaded an put it somewhere else - if anyone's interested send me PM.

Cheers guys!

Sylvian is interviewd this month in MOJO magazine - and I can EXCLUSIVELY REVEAL...

....erm...it's a really rubbish interview

The journalist manages to ask every question Sylvian has been asked a million times before and Sylvian manages to answer every question without saying much at all.

Yeah, not really worth £4.50. I was interested to read that 'Dead Bees' was originally intended as a double-album but that's about it.

Sylvian's SamadhiSound label has agreed a world-wide distribution deal with EMI for the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize nominated album by Sweet Billy Pilgrim Twice Born Men

A more in-depth interview with Sylvian will be in the September issue of The Wire magazine.

The Wire are also running a competition to attend the premier of Amplified Gesture at the ICA;

http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/2896/

There’s also a trailer of the film and the video Small Metal Gods

Manafon is now available to order at samadhisound.

Can't believe that if you want the deluxe edition you have to fork out $89 which is about £53. I'll probably buy it but it means putting back orders for other new alums & I don't think I'll buy the new deluxe edition of the new Porcupine Tree album which comes in at £60. Why do artists do this rather than release the extra dvds separately?

It's the new business model. Downloads for the kiddies, CDs for the casual fan and Deluxe Whatnots for the hardcore.

I am slightly ashamed to say that I have ordered the PTree deluxe edition and will also order the Sylvian one.

Manafon and re-vamped davidsylvian.com sites now well and truly up and running.

Small Metal Gods is brilliant... (sound + vision)

Bloody Hell! Altogether it came to $106.35/£64.46!!!

Well...it was either that or pay double for it on EBay at Christmas
:rolleyes:

It's bread and water in my house only now...I'm reintroducing rationing!

Beautiful Van Empel painting, and cover design, but financially it would have to be the digipak for me, and still a bit unsure though from what I've heard if this album will really grow on me.

Of course ‘the voice’ is the music here, and I do really like a few of the tracks previewed on davidsylvian.net: Snow White In Appalachia, Emily Dickinson, and the title track Manafon, but think I will have to listen to the album more completely in a store on its release.

Holy Moly. $85?
I found this out AFTER I watched Small Metal Gods. I was not moved at all by the music or video, so you can imagine the tone of the language when I found out the price.
I persevered and was listening to the MP3 samples, but...
Minimalist? Sometimes it works, and works well. But I have always preferred more balance, and more...something....!!
Similarly for Blemish, but at least you get what is in the packet "An emotionally raw, minimal work" - unfair of me to paraphrase, I know!

Ah.... no chance of a "Japan" reunion tour I guess?

I'll buy regular 'Manafon' CD and save the money for 'Der Katalog' by mighty Kraftwerk.

Yeah my calculations were wrong. I only added in the surcharge & didn't include the $17.35 shipping. Now as Gary says it's over £64 , I'm hesitating to buy it.

"A remix version of Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Dai Fujikura can be found on the Japanese version of Manafon, to be released on September 23rd 2009 on P-Vine Records Japan (PVCP-8616)"

Price will be ¥2,730 (= £17.55) - and that's not including postage and packing!

A serious Sylvian fan could end up forking out approx £100 before the album's been released!

Hopefully it'll be on the japanese itunes. Cheaper option for me lol. I decided to buy the deluxe edition of Manafon. I paid £50 for Weatherbox 20 years ago , granted that was for 5 cds & £30 for Ember Glance so I decided to go for it as I have all his releases (I think) & would probably regret it if I didn't buy it..

Interesting review on Manafon in this Octobers Wire magazine on page 63.

More reviews here - seems like this release is quite an event.

http://www.davidsylvian.net/the-news/441-manafon-reviews.html

Just ordered mine. If it is anything like Blemish (and I hear from you guys and other sources that it is at least something like Blemish) then this could be the end-of-year list topper (along with My Lost City, Orpheus in Exile, Further Complications, No Line On The Horizon and others). There aren't enough hours!

I think it's better than Blemish

I'm really enjoying it too. It doesn't have the beautiful 'wtf?' effect of Blemish but it's no where near the hard work that people have made it out to be. I'd say it was an easier listen than Dead Bees On A Cake even - the syrupy muzak of which really grated on my ears.

Ian Penman reviews it in the October issue of The Wire. He's been a Sylvian fan for 30 odd years but found Manafon very underwhelming. I got the impression from the review though that Penman was listening to the album as an improv album first - with Sylvian tacked on top, and not listening to it as bona-fide Sylvian album. Each to his own I guess.

Like Blemish though, Manafon will become a 'Marmite Situation' for many fans for years to come.

Another interview with Sylvian on Manafon, from the Welsh newspaper Western Mail.

For his latest album David Sylvian, the former frontman of seminal ‘80s band Japan, takes inspiration from the life and work of Welsh poet RS Thomas. Long-time fan Hannah Jones exchanges emails with him to understand the meaning behind Manafon

Q: Let’s start with the word, Manafon. Tell us about the connection of your new work to this one word, which is a place in Powys.

A:I came across the word in relation to the life and work of RS Thomas. It was the location of his first parish and the place where he wrote his first three volumes of poetry. Over time the word became for me a metaphor for the poetic imagination, the creative mind or wellspring, hence the cover art of the CD depicting an implausible idyll if you will. A place where the intuitive mind taps into the stream of the unconscious.

Q: When did you first come across his work?

A: A dear friend introduced me to his work back in the ’80s. She’d loved the title of the volume of poetry she’d stumbled across and knew that the fact that he was a priest would interest me, particularly as his poetry struggled with issues of faith.

Q: In the title song, Manafon, you refer to Thomas as a “man down in the valley, who doesn’t speak in his own tongue”… a man who “bears a grudge against the English”. The song doesn’t paint him as an attractive individual, which I guess he wasn’t for some. What is it about him that inspires you?

A: I don’t feel the piece paints him in an unflattering light. It’s a bare bones character study which, if anything, presents a man for whom there are no easy answers. There have been books written about the man since his death that can better pinpoint the contradictions he embodied. It’s not a matter of what inspires me so much as what he represents for me. In some ways this austere, cantankerous old man is my grandfather, a man out of time. Rigid, damaged, wounded, immovable. On another level it’s the ideals he tried to live by, the discipline and austerity he adhered to and imposed on others. His desire for self betterment, for answers to life’s big questions, but also the role he might personally play in the uplifting of his people, society. His over identification with a nation to which he, in a sense, didn’t fully belong. So there was this quixotic element to his personality, it seems to me, a tragicomic element that wouldn’t look out of place in one of Beckett’s plays or novels. In fact he’d fit in beautifully. Then again, there’s the poetry which can be idealistic in its praise of the working man but can be profoundly beautiful and moving too. His own questioning of God’s silence. Well, he railed against it at times as if faith had abandoned him. There’s such a rich complexity there and we’re only scratching the surface. These contradictions, the multifaceted character, although something of an anachronism in his own time, in some ways anticipates a contemporary predicament.

Q: Thomas was a man with a strong but complicated personal faith. Does that resonate with you?

A: It’s a matter of defining for oneself what gives one’s own life its shape and form. What are its defining characteristics, its sense of purpose? With Thomas, the poet and the priest are inseparable but for me it’s the poetry which best gives his life its true definition. The freedom, ability, and the process to openly question aspects of his own faith, which I can only assume helped his personal growth in some manner, must’ve acted as a considerable release for him. As a man of faith, as rector, his approach might have been too austere, out of touch, to the degree that it alienated people but his poetry expresses his humanity which, at its best, rises above the specifics of faith and national identity to speak of the universality of the human condition. He dug deep into his own soul, as corroded and damaged as it might’ve been, and spoke with as true a voice as he could muster.

Q: Thomas isn’t an “easy” poet. He and his wife hardly ever spoke to each other, and only met at meal times. Yet after her death, all these amazing poems started pouring out. Does love, or the notion of it and its difficulties, influence your work?

A: I would say the necessity and desire for love is an important underlying theme for me. This issue lies at the heart of a piece such as Emily Dickinson (on the album). It’s a fact of life that not everyone experiences unconditional love, finds themselves or others unlovable, aren’t willing to give, to sacrifice for the sake of love. Some simply cut themselves off from it. Withdraw. Yes, the theme of love or its absence is a constant preoccupation.

Q: How did you musically approach this new work? It certainly feels more easily experimental, picking up where your album Blemish left off.

A: I used the same approach that I developed when working on Blemish. This involved improvisational performances accompanied by a process of automatic writing. I expanded this approach by embracing the input of larger ensembles recorded live in studios in Europe and Japan. At the outset, I wasn’t sure if or how this was going to work in practice but after the first sessions, which were recorded in Vienna in 2004, and which resulted in a number of the pieces you’ll find on Manafon, I knew I had unearthed an exchange which could yield fascinating results.

Q: The music is kind of free form, or at least that’s my impression. The melodies come from the voice. Is this a deliberate device?

A: Yes, the music is entirely free form. From my vantage point the melodies are suggested by what I hear in the improvisations. Whereas the musicians were playing with enormous restraint, I worked against genre if you will, and developed the lines that I heard suggested or alluded to. I used atonal sounds as punctuation, queues, a suggested key. Where necessary, I added my own musical contributions in the form of guitar and electronics.

Q: What are the stand out tracks for you?

A: The greatest challenge was presented by what became The Greatest Living Englishman, so that’s the centrepiece of the album for me. Melodically I’m fond of Snow White In Appalachia. The Rabbit Skinner is possibly the most autobiographical lyric on the album. It is an album that is conceived as a single entity though. A “song” should stand up alone just as a poem, removed from the body of a book of poems, should do also. But to understand and benefit from the full resonance of the poem it’s best read in the context of that body of work. Of course, this is a decision each individual is free to make for themselves but it should be remembered that the album is a meta composition composed by the artist.

Q: Do you consider the listener in your work, if they will like it?

A: To create a work of any kind is an act of communication, therefore the aim is to lend the material as much clarity as is possible without compromising it in any way. You work in service of the composition. It makes demands and you do your best to adequately respond. Of course one cares what listeners take away from the experience but what you can’t do is anticipate a specific audience’s response to it or have one in mind while creating it. The strength of a piece comes from its internal logic, that it is true to itself. That the piece might speak to a very small number of people isn’t its concern. The main consideration is that the essence of the work is uncompromised and communicated to the best of your abilities. As to whether people like it or not, I’d prefer to think that with a work like Manafon, they’re possibly having an audio experience unlike one they might’ve had before. There’s no intention to repeat an experience someone might’ve had, say, with Brilliant Trees. We’re saddled with our past for better or worse but each individual release should rise or fall on its own merits. I’ve always had to deal with the fact that, whatever I produce, I will upset or alienate a proportion of my audience, occasionally to the point of losing them altogether. Some might complain the work is too “out there” while others complain that the work isn’t experimental enough, that I’m merely repeating myself. I guess I’m one of those infuriatingly “inconsistent” artists who don’t tailor the work to any specific market therefore there will always be dissenters regardless of what I produce. Having said that I am incredibly grateful to those who’ve stuck with me and taken pains to understand the reasons and the possible benefits for the, sometimes radical, changes in my output.

Q: Some people would still like a less experimental Sylvian album; dare I say it, Secrets Of The Beehive II. Can you see there ever being more work in this vein or is the process of exploring new creative avenues more important?

A: On hearing Manafon for the first time, a friend and musician by the name of Jan Bang told me that, for him at least, Manafon served the same purpose as Secrets Of The Beehive – it was its contemporary reflection. I was grateful to hear that. It’s an observation I wouldn’t disagree with. I’d also point out that, at the time of Beehive’s release, the critics were not kind but openly dismissive or downright brutal. Consequently, it initially sold quite poorly. It’s easier to see things clearer in hindsight perhaps. Manafon doesn’t sound wildly experimental to my ears. Nor do I personally hear it as being a difficult album but I’ve always known the experience would be different for others. Time will soften its edges. It may sow the seeds for what might develop into a new genre for vocal music perhaps. Or maybe it’s simply a passing glitch on the digital face of popular music. I don’t know. But what I am sure of is that over time its abstractions will become much easier to embrace. After all, Debussy was considered impossibly avant garde in his time. It’s hard to credit such a response to his music today. Similarly, Brahms’ Piano Concerto No 1 was reviewed in its day as “noise”. We need to grow into modern works. We shouldn’t ask that things be made too easy for us. Having said that, I haven’t abandoned form entirely. I may make a return to it at some point. For now, I’m leaving all possibilities open.

http://www.japansylvian.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1818

Ta Rads. Interesting reading.

On searching for the source I also found this one from 2003 re. Blemish:

Wales Online 2003

Cheers D - not seen that one before, inbetween the waffle you've read a hundred times before there's a few moments in there.

Someone is looking at making quite some profit.


http://www.amazon. co.uk/gp/ offer-listing/ B002MUBU4Q/ ref=sr_1_ olp_2?ie= UTF8&s=gateway& qid=1254903068& sr=8-2

Scott, your link wasn't working, so I've posted this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Manafon-Deluxe-D...54909660&sr=1-1

jeebus! don't you just hate those people that do this, I just hope all the fans who really wanted this got it at a fair price.

and RadioBeach, MemberD, thanks for posting the interview links.

Manafon, for me its been very much on my mind over the last few days, and happy to report that I can now see 'some of the trees through the woods' and those trees that I see are very beautiful indeed!

On the whole I think this album will ultimately become a flawed beauty for me, The Kingdom of Manafon may feel uninspiring in a few areas, but some of its Hamlets are very gorgeous and I am eager to return and visit them.

WTF!? I love it but it's not worth THAT much! That's just stupid.

I watched Amplified Gesture last night - it's very worthy. I got the feeling I was listening to great men talking about great things that they, the great, do. But, blimey was it boring. I realise the Manafon sessions were recorded prior to the film, but I was hoping you’d see some of the improvisors performing together to give you an idea of the chemistry/electricity generated from such performances – alas, it’s just a lot of talking heads...talking about the chemistry/electricity generated from performances.

I was a tiny bit miffed that that beautiful film for Small Metal Gods wasn't on there – if I want to see it I have to watch it on some pokey little computer screen. Ah well – at least it’s got Manafon in 5.1 surround sound…and if I ever get a surround sound system I bet it’ll be great!

ooh, theres now another one up there, and at £2999.99 its slightly cheaper!


oops, typo alert, I meant to write £299.99, but who knows, 10 years from now with rates of inflation similar to the bonkers housing market of the last decade applied to rare music collections then that figure could just be correct

Got my copy of the box set last week, can,t say that i,m a great fan of the cd keep trying just can,t get into it.I have never been the greatest fan of sylvians solo work,but after this release i, think i will stop buying.

I gave it a try after hearing all the positive comments on it here, but I personally found it unlistenable.

I think the extent of my interest in Sylvian's music will remain Everything and Nothing.

I’ve only just noticed this so apologies if you’ve all spotted it before, but buried way down the blah and waffle on the official Manafon site is this;

“In 2009, Sylvian collaborated with composer Dai Fujikura and a small ensemble on the audio installation “When we return you won’t recognize us,” located on Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands. The work was inspired by a 2003 genetics research article focusing on the Canary Islands, which discovered that despite Spanish colonization and the slave trade, fully half to three-quarters of the population retains its aboriginal genetic lineage.

As Sylvian writes, “My interest lay in the connection between the physical or scientific reality of our biological make-up, the links to lineage (genetic genealogy), location and, to move beyond the realm of science into intuitive logic, the interior life of a community or people. An implied cultural heritage.”

I’ve had a look on the net but can’t find anymore info on this project

http://www.manafon.com/everything_and_nothing/

...any excuse for a free holiday in the sun.. :p

Heh!

More Sylvian news - David Sylvian's track Jacqueline, available with last month's issue of The Believer magazine, is now available at Samadhi as a free download;

http://www.samadhisound.com/

Really glad I forked out £8 for that now though there are other good tracks on the cd.

As well as interviewing Foxx the Quietus have also published an interview with Sylvian regarding Manafon;

David Sylvian Quietus Interview

Gazza

More Sylvian shenanigans - if you go to http://www.manafon.com/manafon/ and go down to the bottom, on the left hand side there's a little fox - click on the fox and you end up in a 'foxhole'.

Member D suggests you then press refresh…

or even : http://www.manafon.com/images/foxhole/random.php

then refresh

(..as you can tell we are all very busy at work...)

Manafon vinyl release

From Samadhisound;

"We are also in the process of producing a strictly limited vinyl edition of 'Manafon'. A double album that will include the Japanese only released remix of 'Random Acts of Senseless Violence' by classical composer Dai Fujikura.
Updates on these and further releases in the new year."

From Samadhi Sound;

SLEEPWALKERS
David Sylvian recently completed work on a compilation cd featuring some of the best of his collaborative work of the last decade or so. Entitled 'Sleepwalkers' it contains fresh remixes and a new composition with classical composer Dai Fujikura. More information on this release very shortly.

thanks for posting!

I'm looking forward to checking it out

Sylvian has released further info about the "sortabestofishthingy" coming soon...

The new compilation by David entitled Sleepwalkers featuring recent collaborative work will be released Summer 2010.
It features a number of remixes by David and a new composition with Dai Fujikura entitled 'Five Lines'.

01. Sleepwalkers
02. Money for all
03. Ballad of a deadman
04. Angels
05. World citizen - I won't be disappointed
06. Five lines
07. The day the earth stole heaven
08. Playground martyrs
09. Exit/delete
10. Pure genius
11. Wonderful world
12. Transit
13. The world is everything
14.Thermal
15. Sugarfuel
16. Trauma

Hmmmm

I'm a bit surprised that after the ground-breaking Manafon this is the next release...oh well...

Its a bit of an intermission before the next act arrives, probably to get some of the old faithfull who were less than enchanted with Manafon back on board. Manafon had inspiring and some uninspiring moments for me, and I'm more of a casual fan myself, but I'll likely get this album.

I'm annoyed that the Random Acts of Senseless Violence (Dai Fujikura remix) track isn't on it.

I wish they'd done that

There are a few Samadhi Sound adverts in this months Wire magazine - Jan Bang's ... And Poppies From Kandahar gets a whole page, Toshimaru Nakamura's Egrets and Akira Rabelais' Caduceus also get half a page - there's also a good review Toshimaru Nakamura's Egrets by Clive Bell in the same issue.

Bell worked with Sylvian on When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima and provided notes on Amplified Gesture.

As mentioned in the Roundhouse thread - there's also a half page ad for the John Foxx Short Circuit performance on page 77 of this months Wire magazine as well.

Cool, thanks for that! I wondered when our John would make it into The Wire. Perhaps they should send a reviewer along on 5th June?

Thatnks to Member D for passing this info along. News blurb on the vinyl of Manafon;

The Manafon Vinyl Edition will be released on the 26th July. It will only be available as a pre-order from samadhisound.com initially, and then from specialist retailers from 26th July.

This two-disc deluxe vinyl version of Manafon is produced to the highest standards in a heavy, rigid card gatefold sleeve with design by Chris Bigg and featuring artwork by Ruud Van Empel and Atsushi Fukui. This release is limited to a one time pressing of 1200 units, and will be priced at $40.00 (US)

Both vinyl discs are manufactured in the UK using 180gm heavyweight vinyl, the album was mastered at Metropolis Mastering, London. Each disc comes in a printed card slip-case, and the entire package was manufactured by the same team that produced the Deluxe Manafon edition.

Spread over four sides, the album comes with a bonus track, a remix of "Random Acts of Senseless Violence" by acclaimed contemporary classical composer Dai Fujikura, which was previously unavailable outside of Japan.

A Certain Slant of Light

In what appears to be a quiet plea to donate to the Mick Karn fund, Sylvian has released a free download recording of an Emily Dickenson poem;

http://www.davidsylvian.com/news/a_certain_slant_of_light.html

As a response to the david sylvian installation, this piece was mastered and authored by Steve D'Agostino.

http://singlecyclereorder.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

Little Girls With 99 Lives

The four songs written and recorded by David Sylvian and Ingrid Chavez in the mid to late 90's, which were previously only available on the B-sides of various singles released by Virgin Records, are collected here for the first time. Available in a new digipak designed by Sylvian and, in keeping with some of the intimate themes addressed in the material, the artwork features images of Ingrid as a young girl. Each copy is signed and numbered by both Sylvian and Chavez and the pressing is strictly limited to 1000. There will be no reprinting of the edition once it has sold out.

http://www.davidsylvian.com/news/little_girls_with_99_lives_by_ingrid_chavez.html

Our Dave’s been busy;

“…Dai and myself are currently putting the finishing touches on a radically reinterpreted version of Manafon that features original orchestration by Dai and a number of fresh compositions which extend the themes of the original album … to be released early 2011.”

He’s built a microsite too;

http://www.davidsylvian.com/sleepwalkers/

MORE Manafon! Blimey!

Cryptically at the end he says “I miss your company”…he can’t be considering touring again…can he?

mmm . .nice personal message from the man and all . .can't be bad, even though it's obviously to "promote" Sleepwalkers more than anything.

More importantly however i am pleased to learn you can get a Sleepwalkers basketball cap ..
http://www.samadhisound.com/shop/index.php?cPath=12

Wow...a very rare lapse in taste Samadhi! They are AWFUL!

OMG! Those hats are appalling — but I am almost tempted to order one just for the sheer ludicrousness of it (and I do not wear baseball caps under any circumstances). Maybe David is trying to appeal to the more rustic element of his neighboring New Englanders. What's next — Samadhisound tractor-seat cushions?

Hahahahahaha! Hiya Lele! Hope you're well!

I want a Samadhi Sound checked shirt to go with my Samadhi Sound baseball cap - if it had one of those name badges above the pocket that said 'DAVE' that'd be cool too