DAVID SYLVIAN / FRIPP - 1993 Damage

DAVID SYLVIAN

A few words :

It is difficult to describe David SYLVIAN’s music. It is ambient, dark, although not heavy with sombre vocal and very experimental playing. David SYLVIAN was born as David Batt in Kent, England on February 23, 1958. In 1974 he formed Japan, initially a glam rock band, which eventually evolved into a stylish synth-pop group. After a quite successful career, Japan was dissolved in 1982. SYLVIAN’s first solo album “Brilliant Trees” was released in 1984 featuring besides others Richard Barbieri (ex-Japan) and Holger Czukay (ex-CAN). “Brilliant Trees” is a very atmospheric record, mixing funk, jazz, and ambient in beautiful although eclectic music.

After this record everything changed for David.

"The details are what always interested me. And so I just began to spend more and more time on those details, until they came to the forefront of the material-textures and atmospherics. I began to elaborate on those more and more and push the rhythmic element a little bit further back"

David did collaborations with giants like Ryuichi Sakamoto , Robert Fripp , Derek Bailey and Christian Fennesz and also formed a Japan looking band to start exploring again.

Sylvian continues to confront the challenges, both personal and global, that have enriched his work for three decades. And he continues to follow this path – with patience, perseverance, and beauty.

DAMAGE is derived from the closing shows of the 1993 Road to Graceland tour, which heralded the collaborative reunion of King Crimson's Robert Fripp (guitar) with David Sylvian (guitar/keyboards/vocals), the former leader of Japan. This hour-plus set finds Sylvian in tremendous voice and Fripp sonically enveloping spaces and respecting silences in a bout of well-manicured fretwork. The pair is augmented by soon-to-be Krim members Pat Mastelotto (drums) and Trey Gunn (Chapman stick/vocals) as well as former Martha & the Muffins axeman Michael Brook (guitar). The contrast in styles from Fripp's ethereal Soundscapes and edgy guitar inflections to Sylvian's smoother and refined demeanor is reminiscent of Brian Eno's early collaborations with Roxy Music. The fact that both know how to manipulate the spaces between the notes unites them further. Damage is full of those moments; so many, in fact, it is amazing that Fripp and Sylvian do not make the time to work together more often. "Firepower" contains a premier example of exactly how each craftsman is able to compliment the other. Fripp's extended solos at the end of the piece are definitive and singularly his own, yet the context in which he approaches his role as soloist yields an overwhelmingly palpable symbiosis between music and musician(s). Likewise, listeners who consider Fripp a calculated and overtly technical guitarist might be shocked by his cerebrally funky additions to tracks such as "God's Monkey" and "20th Century Dreaming (A Shaman's Song)." The syncopated nature of the melodies allows for a great deal of interplay and collaboration between Gunn and Mastelotto — a trait they'd further incorporate into the mid-'90s version of King Crimson.

Take a look in David's entire interesting Bio. and work:.

http://www.davidsylvian.com/discography/albums.html

Track Listings
1. Damage (4:31) - 2. God's Monkey (6:42) - 3. Brightness Falls (6:29) - 4. Every Colour You Are (5:40) - 5. Firepower (7:02) - 6. Gone to Earth (2:28) - 7. 20th Century Dreaming (A Shaman's Song) - (8:03) -8. Wave (6:11) - 9. Riverman (5:01) - 10. Darshan (The Road to Graceland) (10:47) - 11. Blinding Light of Heaven (4:15) - 12. The First Day (4:44)

Total Time: 71:53

Line-up/Musicians
David Sylvian / guitar, keyboards, vocals

Robert Fripp / guitar, frippertronics

Trey Gunn / chapman stick, vocals

Michael Brook / infinite guitar

Pat Mastelotto / drums

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Link : Damage