It's all gone quiet on the Manafon front...

[Adrian]

exactly. The only way this could work, is if we could compare Manafon to either Nine Horses or Blemish, and get sales ratings for those albums two months after release and compare them to Manafon.
Don't forget that David Sylvian might have been mainstream sales wise, but he hasn't been for nearly two decades now. Also, of the music people that I follow, David (along with Porcupine Tree and Marillion) are the most mainstream I listen to.
Doesn't matter if an artist doesn't sell many copies (and what is many anyway? Manafon has 2.000 Lim.Ed + the repress, plus the normal edition - most of SS releases come nowhere near I'm sure), but that I like the music.
I try to support the artists and/or their labels as directly as possible, to try and help make sure that they can continue to release their amazing stuff. Samadhi haven't released a dud yet tot these ears, so I buy all their discs blind. Anyway, two cents and imho of course.

[ScottR]

the point is you have no idea how many copies Samadhi Sound is selling directly. the limited edition alone likely made this project instantly profitable, not that Sylvian probably cares too much about that.

yep... those numbers mean absolutely nothing.

What they tell me is it has gone quiet on the Manafon front. There is no buzz for this at all. I am sure he is making more off of past royalties then he is this. If weren't for me bugging the piss out of you guys, there would be no activity on this forum at all.

Time for me to go quiet on the Manafon front.

[baht habit]

Manafon surely has not run its course with me. Just yesterday I listened to :
Sleepwalkers / Small Metal Gods / The Rabbit Skinner / Random Acts Of Senseless Violence / The Department Of Dead Letters / The Greatest Living Englishman / Snow White In Appalachia / Emily Dickinson / Manafon
I am also determined on keeping up a somewhat fervent search for any information regarding When We Return You Won't Recognise Us. And I am hopeful that I will have something to share with you soon.
But please understand that my skills to spark and rile up debate are needed on another battlefront right now. With the release of Sting's If On A Winter Night, there is a uncivil war going on between obnoxious and ignorant Police fans vs pompous and pretentious Sting fans. Any back and forth over Manafon is child's play compared to the polarization that Sting's pensive new release has caused.
Besides, this place has not been all that well known for delving deep into the specifics regarding Sylvian releases. Once it becomes heard, most fans just listen and find enjoyment without the need to keep analyzing every little detail, and that is why I mostly refrain from doing so. I find that many Sting listeners are very different. Plenty of the sophisticated fans who are able to competently engage in musicspeak will choose to dissect every little bit and discuss the topics of lyrics, melody, accompaniment and overall musicianship to the point of ad nauseum. And I eat that kind of thing up.
Ok...break's over....

[ScottR]

Why Baht... I thought were surely kidding about the Sting thing.

I would like to hear it. I have most of his stuff and have seen him many times. It just comes across a little cheesy thats all. I will have to check him out on the Today Show this holiday season

[Hawk]

Oo it has gone quiet.... why is my timekeeping so rubbish? I just posted a big review on the Manafon thread but it feels like *weeks ago big discussions going on EVERYONE talking about manafon - loveithateitloveitlikeitwhatisdaviddoing - then silence....more silence.................tumbleweed............then Hawk goes HEYYY!!! ISN'T MANAFON SOO COOL?!" Maybe I buy next album on time...

[Foales Arishes]

Foales, i am very jealous and happy that you are discovering Davids work. I am sure it will all be rewarding for you and some will please you more than others but thats the beauty of music.

Thank you ob8 - Its all rewarding so far, but as you say, some pleases more that others... I am finding it hard to pull myself away from Manafon and Naoshima at the moment - Blemish is wonderful too, though I do find the Derek Bailey tracks far more 'difficult' than anything on Manafon...though I am warming to them. I am certainly not one to cast a work aside based on my opinion of one play, I give things a chance and this, in most cases, proves to be fruitful.

One of my favourite artists [if not my current favourite] - Richard Skelton - would have been banished to the void, had I not given his work some time to digest... upon my first listen I considered it no more than the noise of an orchestral warm-up, but, oh how wrong I was. His work is as deep and wide as the ocean; wonderful, intence, moving stuff, that clearly and genuinely means the world to him.

I have bought more music this year than at any point in my life before - at least thirty albums, so far - and have discovered a wealth of brilliant and inspiring music, that informs my own work and gives me immense pleasure... and I'm very pleased to say DS is right at the top of the pile...



Best wishes - Mark / Foales Arishes

[sisterlondon]

I just hope he ignores the grumbling reactionaries...

No need to call anyone reactionary because doesn't like Manafon! It's a matter of taste. Some fans loved it, some don't. To me: bored me to tears. Listened to it 3 or 4 times and thought I preferred being listening to stuff I enjoy better. I have tons of new cds to listen to, why losing my time with something I don't like? I prefer listening again to Porcupine Tree's The Incident.

But that's just my opinion... I respect whoever that liked it. Just don't accuse us of being reactionaries or have no taste cause we didn't I just moved on to other stuff and that's it.

[baht habit]

I just hope he ignores the grumbling reactionaries...

No need to call anyone reactionary because doesn't like Manafon! It's a matter of taste. Some fans loved it, some don't. To me: bored me to tears. Listened to it 3 or 4 times and thought I preferred being listening to stuff I enjoy better.
But that's just my opinion... I respect whoever that liked it. Just don't accuse us of being reactionaries or have no taste cause we didn't I just moved on to other stuff and that's it.

Obviously you have taken the reasonable and mature approach, sisterlondon. But I figure that Blemished is referring to those who have taken a much different approach. On the thread 'trauma therapy', I suppose I have documented these 'grumbling reactionaries' as Blemished has opted to name them.
Let's not pretend they don't exist. These are the fans who have decided to vehemently express that Sylvian is wrong to follow a musical path which interests him yet does not appeal to them. And they have expressed that with anger and disdain toward Sylvian, the musicians involved with the project, even the fans who happen to be intrigued with the product they've created by following such a unique process. These disgruntled fans sometimes choose to direct their vitriolic comments personally to Sylvian on message boards - which comes across as delusional and irrational. It appears as though these fans tend to feel that their opinions are much more valid than any others and sometimes even give the impression that their opinions should be shared by all - which is equally delusional and irrational.
Yet it would be illogical and not fair minded in any way to assume that every Sylvian fan who has been disappointed with Manafon fits this criteria. But there surely are a portion who do. Let's not pretend they don't exist.