David Sylvian - Manafon

[Phil Lawton]

Does anyone know when we'll be able to pre-order from Samahdisound?

I want to get my nose in for the deluxe edition.

I just pre-ordered the standard version from those nice people from Amazon, who send me lots of lovely CDs if I just tell them what the numbers are on the front of this plastic card.

That's all they ever ask for.

Golden, they are.

[Simonp]

Not sure when they'll have it up for sale Phil. I'm presuming the limited edition will only be available through Samadhi direct. The whole website is being revamped too so that should be online shortly. I definitely want to get hold of the film. Does anyone have any idea about content, running time, who produced it??

S

[Halloway]

and yes i find john abby great thanks for the information john

it's spelled 'Jon Abbey', it's right there in my user name. I get that English isn't your first language, but there's no reason to repeatedly spell my name wrong when it's right there.

Fucking hell, it is true what they say about this forum.

[Simonp]

and yes i find john abby great thanks for the information john

it's spelled 'Jon Abbey', it's right there in my user name. I get that English isn't your first language, but there's no reason to repeatedly spell my name wrong when it's right there.

fudging Jersey, it is true what they say about this forum.

and what is it exactly that they say about this forum?

[baht habit]

Not sure when they'll have it up for sale Phil. I'm presuming the limited edition will only be available through Samadhi direct. The whole website is being revamped too so that should be online shortly. I definitely want to get hold of the film. Does anyone have any idea about content, running time, who produced it??

S

Simon, I can't help with running time or producer yet below is the information which I posted a few days ago on this thread. I apologize if you had previously read what I wrote and were actually looking for new info. But this is all I was given from a writer who has seen the DVD:

The DVD is also really good – it’s a documentary, titled Amplified Gesture, featuring interviews with the free improvisers who worked on the album. The interviews don’t focus on Manafon so much as get at the working methods and life-long practices of all the players – Evan Parker, Fennesz, Keith Rowe, Eddie Prevost, John Tilbury, and others. People often say that it’s impossible to talk about this kind of music or put it in words, and yet I find that every time I hear musicians at that level talk about their work, it’s endlessly fascinating. So, that’s a terrific addition to the whole package.

[Phil Lawton]

Simon, I can't help with running time or producer yet below is the information which I posted a few days ago on this thread. I apologize if you had previously read what I wrote and were actually looking for new info. But this is all I was given from a writer who has seen the DVD:

The DVD is also really good – it’s a documentary, titled Amplified Gesture, featuring interviews with the free improvisers who worked on the album. The interviews don’t focus on Manafon so much as get at the working methods and life-long practices of all the players – Evan Parker, Fennesz, Keith Rowe, Eddie Prevost, John Tilbury, and others. People often say that it’s impossible to talk about this kind of music or put it in words, and yet I find that every time I hear musicians at that level talk about their work, it’s endlessly fascinating. So, that’s a terrific addition to the whole package.

Cheers, B - even more reason to get the deluxe edition.

Any idea what the cost of it will be?

[Simonp]

Simon, I can't help with running time or producer yet below is the information which I posted a few days ago on this thread. I apologize if you had previously read what I wrote and were actually looking for new info. But this is all I was given from a writer who has seen the DVD:

The DVD is also really good – it’s a documentary, titled Amplified Gesture, featuring interviews with the free improvisers who worked on the album. The interviews don’t focus on Manafon so much as get at the working methods and life-long practices of all the players – Evan Parker, Fennesz, Keith Rowe, Eddie Prevost, John Tilbury, and others. People often say that it’s impossible to talk about this kind of music or put it in words, and yet I find that every time I hear musicians at that level talk about their work, it’s endlessly fascinating. So, that’s a terrific addition to the whole package.

Cheers anyway Baht...I guess I'm just getting a little impatient!

[jebe68]

Found this on the Uncut magazine music blog in the comments section which provides a slight bit of info from someone who has heard “Manafon”:

Comment from: Daniel Paton [Visitor]
Not sure I can second guess your view on David Sylvian John, but I'm pretty excited about Manafon. Any album featuring Christian Fennesz and Evan Parker will at least be interesting,. Good to see there's another Lou Barlow solo album too.

Comment from: Goran K. [Visitor]
I'm also excited by the release of new David Sylvian album. If it's on level of quality as Blemish and that Nine Horses collaboration, I would be very happy man.

Comment from: John Mulvey [Member]
On one listen I found "Manafon" totally embarrassing, but my similar reaction to Scott Walker's "The Drift" suggests I've grown out of a tolerance for this sort of stuff. We put a load of old Japan tunes on after "Manafon", which still sound good - a relief since some of these records by people I liked in the '80s - and the Prefab Sprout album is a very good case in point - point up to me now the problems of their canonical stuff. I'm now more and more convinced that the only Sprout album I'll ever listen to again is "Swoon". Suspect there's still something for me in a few Sylvian solo albums but God, after that, I'm really not in the mood to find out.

Comment from: Daniel Paton [Visitor]
There's certainly a real similarity in the paths pursued by late Scott Walker and David Sylvian, so it's understandable that intolerance for one would lead to the same reaction towrds the other! I think 'The Drift' and 'Blemish' are both very striking, but I rarely actually want to listen to them. 'Blemish' strikes me as a more personal, less pompous work, so I had high hopes for 'Manafon'. I'll make my own mind up when I hear it though. Totally agree that a lot of the Japan stuff still sounds great - 'Ghosts' must be one of the weirdest songs to have made the UK top ten. Never did get Prefab Sprout at all though really - always something about them I found boring.

Comment from: John Mulvey [Member]
I think there's something interesting to be said about how much easier it is for me to enjoy instrumental 'art' music than that where the vocals and lyrics are so aggressively foregrounded. For all the interesting people on "Manafon", they're working very minimally, and a very long way down the mix behind Sylvian, who just sounds excruciatingly laboured to me.

Granted, this particular reviewer didn't care for it (and I'd imagine there will be plenty who line up with him, accuse Sylvian of pretension, etc.). Keep in mind that this person also does not like Scott Walker’s recent works which are a guidepost in Sylvian’s later career (I found a wealth of riches in Walker’s “Drift”, “Tilt”, etc. and had my artisitic faith in Sylvian renewed w/“Blemish” but plenty of other folks didn’t; I can understand that). I believe this “Manafon” exchange confirms that there will once again be no fence-sitting on this one and the divide that started with“Blemish” will likely widen. Everyone is certainly entitled to his/her opinion. To Mulvey's discredit, he seems to have only given the release a first listen, in the office at that, and for any work of art that challenges, that’s just not enough of an investment nor the best environment for a thorough evaluation. Those willing to join Sylvian on his adventure are likely to be rewarded, especially if they will invest the necessary time and come with an open mind/heart. In this fast-paced culturescape we live in at this point in history, with a plethora of music blogs out there and a pile of new releases every day, it is easy to be caught up in immediate gratification based on broad points rather than dig in and immerse oneself in a work of art. For those who don't want the challenge, Sylvian said it best in “Sleepwalkers”: “…go on and sleep…”. To each their own.

I’d really love to read something (anything) a bit more substantial from someone who’s heard it besides the Press Release and the purported “review” from Amazon Germany; I’ve read them both over dozens of times. Anyone out there who can shed some more light?

[Simonp]

"On one listen I found "Manafon" totally embarrassing, but my similar reaction to Scott Walker's "The Drift" suggests I've grown out of a tolerance for this sort of stuff.

For all the interesting people on "Manafon", they're working very minimally, and a very long way down the mix behind Sylvian, who just sounds excruciatingly laboured to me"

oh dear...this doesn't bode well. The comment about his vocals is also concerning me.I've felt that about him for some time now.

[Phil Lawton]

Oy vey.

Still, the proof of the pudding and all that.

[Simonp]

You're right. I'll wait until I've heard it myself until I pass judgement. I just hope it doesn't sound like Scott Walker's "The Drift" - horrible depressing album

[Phil Lawton]

Scott Walker's "The Drift"

Is that the album where he throws a pork chop onto a snare drum over and over or some such?

[natsume]

I am not deterred by that short "review". I don't know, I really appreciate Blemish, and Naoshima, for that matter, but they are just not albums I listen to very often. I imagine (and will not be surprised if it becomes so), that Manafon may receive a similar fate in my own listening history. I hope that it is not necessarily the case. I am just always interested in what Sylvian puts out, period.

Along the lines of what jebe mentioned, (ty, btw) I was thinking, reading that, "who would listen to an album like this (what Manafon will probably be) with other people, at work? I know I have never sat in a room and listened to Blemish with anybody else around.

"How to Lose Friends and Alienate People!"

[Simonp]

Scott Walker's "The Drift"

Is that the album where he throws a pork chop onto a snare drum over and over or some such?

The very one.

[Phil Lawton]

Along the lines of what jebe mentioned, (ty, btw) I was thinking, reading that, "who would listen to an album like this (what Manafon will probably be) with other people, at work? I know I have never sat in a room and listened to Blemish with anybody else around.

I totally agree - some albums fare quite badly if played in company, rather than in solitude.

I'm going to give 'Manafon' a fair crack of the whip. I'm not bursting with optimism, but one man's meat is another man's tofu, etcetera.