When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima

From Brilliant Trees through Died In The Wool...

When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima

Postby baht habit on Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:30 am

I have sporadically been adding info on other threads regarding Sylvian's contribution to the Naoshima Standard... this project deserves it's very own thread:

In February 2006, David Sylvian visited Naoshima and walked around. Sylvian created a sound installation using natural sound that he recorded in various locations of Naoshima. The sound that Sylvian created was inspired by strong wind at a seashore in the mid winter. It can be called a “sound landscape.” It conveys intensity and loneliness, and at the same time, a love for life.
duration:
70 minutes 17 seconds
ensemble:
David Sylvian, Clive Bell, Christian Fennesz, Arve Henriksen, Akira Rabelais

If one wishes to walk through the exhibition while listening to the piece, one is expected to deposit an ID (passport, student ID and or driver's license) at the reception to experience.
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Postby Simonp on Thu Nov 09, 2006 1:25 pm

Sounds fabulous. Does Sylvian recite any text during the piece or anything?
MANAFON MANAFON MANAFON MANAFON MANAFON MANAFON MANAFON MANAFON MANAFON
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Postby godisinthesilences on Sun Nov 12, 2006 12:19 pm

baht have you visited the site and experienced this?
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Postby baht habit on Wed Nov 15, 2006 8:00 am

No, unfortunately I have not. I am attempting to provide secondhand information from a source who has been to the exhibit. Yet in our e-mail communications, there seems to be a language barrier and so I'm doing a bit of deciphering and translating. :)
What humors me the most is the lengths that Naoshima is going to in order to prevent patrons from swiping a copy of Sylvian's recording. Somebody of a determined nature is going to find a way to get around the security, maybe using a fake id or something of that sort and then making a getway through some alternate area of exit. Not that I am trying to give anyone any ideas :)
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We Have Been Expecting You Mr Sylvian

Postby Bern on Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:56 pm

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Postby sonic_chronicler on Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:12 pm

Hmmm wonder what has happened to this limited edition release?

More news later in February according to Davidsylvian.com. It's now nearly May :roll:
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Postby baht habit on Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:37 am

Yeah, I've been checking the Samadhi Sound website almost daily, just to read nothing new. One would think that we'd all learn our lesson by now. I wouldn't claim this for sure, but I think that nearly all of the releases on Samadhi Sound to date have been delayed from their originally expected release date. This is understandable, being that it is an independently run company and so you can't fault anyone when unforeseeable obstacles occur. I'd guess that this time, the label is waiting for certainty until they announce anything more.
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Postby natsume on Mon May 28, 2007 3:51 pm

My brother was in Japan last month with his wife, who is Japanese, and they were staying at her parents house in Himeji. He was showing me pictures of the trip, and it came to a point where they went with her parents on a drive, and took a ferry to this crazy artists colony island, Naoshima.

I asked him the obvious question, and although he knew Sylvian had done something there, he didn't look for it! And he knew about it!!!

I didn't know what to say...

Naoshima looks like a pretty awesome place.
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Postby javier on Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:08 am

I took a trip to Naoshima during the Standard 2 exhibition specifically to hear the Sylvian piece.

What a beautiful location - a small island with a couple of villages, and the artworks scattered in various locations. Shuttle buses were running regularly all over the island but I instead opted to hire a bicycle and cycle for a few days. One could thus travel anywhere anytime, and a brisk circuit of the island could be made in less than an hour. However the island invites slow and contemplative exploration rather than velocity.

Some wonderful artwork - the James Turrell and Tatsuo Miyajima installations were powerful indeed. But I digress.

The Sylvian work is by far and away the most "ambient" track I've ever heard by him, a soundscape of fragments rather than a piece of music. Various sounds advance and recede between long silences or the faint sound of wind. Wooden shutters closing, distant seagulls, metallic scrapings, creaking boards, boat horns, birdsong and tinkling bells, shuffling sounds, crows, and haunting voices reminiscent of Akira Rabelais' "Spellewauerynsherde"....

The track was designed to be listened to on earphones while walking around the island.
To put it bluntly, I found the experience staggering. The piece, being constructed to a great extent of many sounds recorded on the island, blended perfectly with the ambient sounds surrounding me as I walked and cycled - I would hear a wooden impact to my left and turn to see a local Naoshima resident sliding shut an old door. Minutes later I'd hear a similar sound and turn round only to realise it had come from the iPod....seagulls would drift in and out, sometimes real gulls flying overhead, at other times part of the soundscape on the earphones. I would hear strange creaking noises as I passed through a forest filled with birdsong and then later recognise it as the creaking of wires and ropes on moored boats as I cycled along the waterfront. It was a wonderfully disorienting and immersive experience....an intertwining of memory with the present, of reality with the not-yet-experienced ....and never before in living memory have I felt so incredibly aware of every small detail of my immediate environment.

A most enriching journey. Inspiring and thought-provoking.

I can also say this - listening to it as a standalone recording captures none of the power of that experience. The work was most definitely a site-specific piece of art. Heard elsewhere it would be a completely different beast, perhaps interesting as an example of the art of soundscaping, but detached from its true essence. Akin to observing an animal in a zoo rather than in its natural environment.

Blessings to all.
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Postby baht habit on Thu Jun 07, 2007 11:42 am

Thanks so much for that information, Javier. Finally we have a chance to read some coherent observations from someone fortunate enough to experience the exhibition. Thank you.
Though you obviously described the soundscape in great detail, I feel compelled to ask you a question regarding the content: Was it the case that what you listened to was completely environmental or did you happen to detect the sounds of a trumpet (as possibly performed by Arve Henriksen), a flute (as possibly played by Clive Bell), or an electronic guitar (as possibly manipulated by Christian Fennesz)? It's been noted that these musicians took part in recording the Naoshima track and yet your vivid description seems not to indicate the presence of any typical musical instruments.
And thanks again.
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Postby javier on Fri Jun 08, 2007 4:18 am

Yes, there are also sounds which come from more conventional musical instruments in the mix, however not "musical" as such.
Waves of fuzzy electronic buzzes, occasional bells, a distant drone for a few seconds, a couple of isolated notes from a horn here and there - in terms of sonic and melodic content a bit like the shuffling sounds of players tuning up (although in terms of their presence in the soundscape they worked beautifully).

But while moving round the island, their presence merely formed sporadic points of "instrumental" reference - it was by far and away the environmental sounds that made the experience.

If you compare to any other Sylvian pieces (e.g. Approaching Silence, The Beekeeper's Apprentice etc), the instruments here are far more sparsely scattered with plenty of space in between during which only silence or environmental noises or voice can be heard. The overall impression is of silence with occasional sounds, although there is in fact very faint sound for most of the duration.
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Postby sonic_chronicler on Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:06 pm

I just hope Samahdisound are still planning to release it - it seems a long time ago since it was 'supposed' to go on sale.

Maybe it's going to be a tour merchandise item?
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Postby proggrl on Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:44 pm

Shhhhhh..... Now everyone is going to be asking you to pick one of those up for them. :-D
Trust the proggrl.
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Postby baht habit on Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:23 pm

Thanks Javier for the reply. your observations were very enlightening and I appreciate it.
Since Sylvian took the time to mix and master the Naoshima recording for a cd release, then it's probably only a matter of logistics with packaging and manufacturing quantities that are possibly holding up production and release. It could be suggested that Samadhi Sound offer the disc exclusively through their site and take pre-orders to determine just how much to manufacture and keep their costs down.
Another artist I admire quite a bit named Philip Aaberg, who also has his own website and independent label, sometimes offers what could be considered his more 'experimental' recordings on his website with no packaging...just the disc of music with the title printed on it. This is a great way to cut costs on packaging and still bring his more obscure renderings to his listeners.
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Postby javier on Sat Jun 09, 2007 4:48 am

Here's a low-quality scan of the postcard that was given to each person as they borrowed the iPod.

Front and back of card are shown here.

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