A victim of stars - alternate versions

[soundofwaves]

Hi everybody,

So, we’ve all now seen the tracklist for ‘A Victim of Stars, 1982-2011’ and of course we all have a point of view on what should / should not be included.

IMHO, it’s quite a strong compilation, although it seems to me that the first CD is basically an unimaginative collection of singles, neglecting other tracks from that period that have stood the test of time far better.

My question to you, then, is very simple: What tracks would YOU pick for a double Sylvian CD - maximum running time 74 minutes per CD (so 148 in total)?

Trust me, it’s a tricky task. However, I believe there should be 4 ground rules:

It should be entirely free of record label interference (eg. Irrespective of which tracks are on Virgin vs Samadhi Sound. Just pick the tracks you love most)

It should be entirely free of commercial concerns (eg. Simply picking the best-known tracks to drive more sales. So Red Guitar doesn’t have to be included just because it’s one of the best-known tracks).

Previous compilations are entirely irrelevant. Whether a track has or hasn’t been included on Everything & Nothing / Sleepwalkers / Camphor is of no importance whatsoever.

So, it’s just about the Sylvian tracks you love most that you think will work together as a compilation. It can be ordered chronologically or in any other way you see fit.

My humble offering is:

CD 1

Wonderful World
The Scent Of Magnolia
Ride
Every Colour You Are
Ballad Of A Deadman
September
Laughter and Forgetting
Before the Bullfight
Big Wheels In Shanty Town
Pure Genius
The Ink In The Well
The Boy With The Gun
Midnight Sun
Wanderlust

CD 2
Words With The Shaman, Pt. 2: Incantation
Heartbeat (Tainai Kaiki II)
When Poets Dreamed Of Angels
Money For All (Version)
Nostalgia
Orpheus
Pocket Full of Change
The Day The Earth Stole Heaven
Some Kind Of Fool
Waterfront
Thalhiem
Sleepwalkers
Godman
Pop Song
I Surrender

Firstly, I much prefer a mixed-up track list rather than a chronological one as the latter feels to me like a rather unsatisfying series of mini-albums (i.e. some tracks from Brilliant Trees followed by some tracks from Alchemy followed by some tracks from Gone To Earth, etc). Having said that, for me, Laughter & Forgetting and Before The Bullfight flow beautifully into each other so I have sequenced them as per Gone To Earth.

Secondly, as this is a personal selection, I prefer to leave off some of his best-known tracks (Forbidden Colours, Red Guitar, Taking The Veil, Silver Moon, etc) simply because I find them a little overblown, overplayed, and in some instances, simply not his best work. Like I said, this is just about the songs I want to hear most. Nothing more, nothing less.

Similarly, although I like Blemish and love both Manafon and Died In The Wool, I haven’t included any tracks from those albums, just because I prefer to give space to other things. Sorry purists, but there you are. If you disagree, don’t get angry at me. It’s just my taste. Make your own compilation to right my ignorant wrongs.

Still amazed he couldn’t find room for Some Kind Of Fool on Gentlemen Take Polaroids or Ride on Gone To Earth. However, since they are still relatively fresh to me, I have included both, despite Some Kind Of Fool being a Japan - rather than a Sylvian – track.

Rain Tree Crow and Nine Horses are absolutely fair game in my eyes. Both generated some outstanding tracks so why not?

Honourable mentions to Brilliant Trees, World Citizen, Jean The Birdman, Let The Happiness In, A Fire In The Forest, The Banality Of Evil and many others, but I just couldn’t find space for them.

So there you have it. Would be intrigued to see your suggested compilations…

And remember, love’s my only guide

x

[humanracer]

To be honest I would make only make minor changes. Anyone can make a personal best off using itunes etc but I think every artist needs a good singles collection. I think the chronological track listing allows the listener to see how Sylvian has developed as an artist over time. The only thing I would do was replace Waterfront with Buoy and Pulling Punches with Words Of The Shaman part 3. Also for an artist who was most prolific during the 80s, I find your track listing mostly focuses on work from the 90s and the most recent material. Fair enough but everyone has different tastes. My all time favourites from DS is his first two albums so I can easily listen to these two over any compilation.

At the risk of sounding like I am stuck in the 80s (I am only 30), I would have this track list (expecting a backlash).

1.Red Guitar
2.Bamboo Houses
3.Bamboo Music
4.Forbidden Colours (1984 version)
5.Ghosts (Japan version)
6.Nightporter (Japan version)
7.The Ink In The Well
8.Backwaters
9.Taking The Veil
10.Wave
11.Before The Bullfight
12.Upon This Earth
13.Gone To Earth
14.Words with the Shaman part 1
15.Words with the Shaman part 2
16.Words with the Shaman part 3
17.Steel Cathedrals

CD 2
1.Pop Song
2.Let The Happiness In
3.The Boy With The Gun
4.Orpheus
5.Maria
6.Buoy
7.When Love Walks In
8.Living On The Front Line (with Sandii)
9.I Have Waited For You - W/ Andrea Chimenti
10.A Victim Of Stars
11.Blue Of Noon
12.Darshan
13.Blinding Light Of Heaven
14.Wonderful World
15.Nostalgia
16.Woman At The Well
17.Where's Your Gravity

[Chet]

I would make one Vocal and one Instrumental disc, in chronological order.

CD1
1. Ghosts
2. Bamboo Houses
3. Red Guitar
4. Forbidden Colours 2
5. The Ink In The Well
6. Taking the Veil
7. Silver Moon
8. Orpheus
9. Let the Happiness In
10. Pop Song
11. Blackwater
12. I Surrender
13. Darkest Dreaming
14. A Fire in the Forest
15. I Should Not Dare
16. Where's Your Gravity

CD2
1. Oil On Canvas
2. Weathered Wall (Instrumental)
3. Ancient Evening
4. Preparations for a Journey
5. Steel Cathedrals
6. Premonition
7. Upon This Earth
8. Wave (Version)
9. Blue of Noon
10. The Stigma of Childhood (Kin)
11. Blemish
12. Trauma

[javier]

I'm not a fan of the first CD of Victim Of Stars. Seems far too full of early work from well before Sylvian hit his peak.
I mean honestly, Bamboo Houses and Bamboo Music? A total of 6 tracks up to his first solo album, but nothing from Alchemy and only 2 from Gone To Earth?

I like Chet's idea of one vocal, one instrumental disc, but would probably find myself listening to the vocal tracks far more often. Therefore I'm including a few instrumentals on my compilation but due to time constraints have to leave off Steel Cathedrals, Plight, Premonition, Flux and Mutability.

01 The First Day
02 Earthbound (faded at 4:30 to cut the Frippertronics)
03 God's Monkey
04 September
05 Orpheus
06 Wonderful World
07 The Banality Of Evil
08 Firepower
09 Brightness Falls
10 Every Colour You Are
11 Silver Moon
12 Wave (Damage version)
13 Riverman (Damage version)
14 The Golden Way (Everything and Nothing version)
15 Damage
16 Blackwater
17 Darshan (The Road To Graceland)
18 Ride
19 Taking The Veil
20 Laughter And Forgetting
21 Before The Bullfight
22 I Surrender
23 Praise (Endlessness 2009 remix)
24 For The Love Of Life
25 Wave (Camphor version)
26 Answered Prayers

And sorry, but CDs? Haven't bought CDs for years so the 74 minute constraint feels a bit bogged down in the past.
Consider this a FLAC download which overruns the time limit by 9 minutes! But if the limit is absolutely necessary, I'd remove Wonderful World and God's Monkey.

[soundofwaves]

Nice compilations guys. Was interested to see that you left Silver Moon off too, humanracer. Not a fan? Or just done it to death?

Also saw that you and Chet both had Upon This Earth on your compilations, which sent me scuttling back to the 2nd disc of Gone to Earth – but I still don’t feel it that much, I’m afraid. Not a patch on some of his other instrumental work in my view. Just find it a bit directionless compared to great stuff like Alchemy.

Not sure the Sandii and the Sunsetz track has aged that well But on the other hand, many thanks for the Andrea Chimenti track – I had never heard it before so it’s a lost gem for me. Thanks humanracer.

Chet, like the idea of a vocal / instrumental split. But like Javier, I love his voice so much, I’d inevitably play that more frequently

Javier, like your selection. Much more 90s than others, with Darshan still sounding really strong. Wouldn’t worry too much about the format – it was just a device to restrict time and encourage selectivity. I see you’ve left off a few early biggies too (Forbidden Colours, Red Guitar, Pulling Punches)– just played them too often? Good call on For the Love of Life and Earthbound too.

Interesting that there aren’t too many tracks selected overall from Blemish or Manafon. Maybe people prefer the warmer, less stark tracks???

[Blemished]

Here's a bit of beautiful starkness...

1. September
2. Every Colour You Are
3. When Poets Dreamed Of Angels
4. Wave (Damage version)
5. The Shining of Things
6. Blackwater
7. Nostalgia
8. Let The Happiness In
9. Brilliant Trees
10. Waterfront
11. Forbidden Colours (84)
12. Damage

13. For The Love Of Life
14. Late Night Shopping
15. Wonderful World
16. Linoleum
17. World Citizen - I Won't Be Disappointed
18. The World Is Everything
19. Transit
20. Emily Dickinson
21. Manafon
22. A Certain Slant Of Light
23. The Only Daughter (Bang/Honore remix)
24. A Fire In The Forest
25. Darkest dreaming

[javier]

Javier, like your selection. Much more 90s than others, with Darshan still sounding really strong. Wouldn’t worry too much about the format – it was just a device to restrict time and encourage selectivity. I see you’ve left off a few early biggies too (Forbidden Colours, Red Guitar, Pulling Punches)– just played them too often? Good call on For the Love of Life and Earthbound too.

Interesting that there aren’t too many tracks selected overall from Blemish or Manafon. Maybe people prefer the warmer, less stark tracks???

I'm thinking more in terms of listenability than being a comprehensive sample of his work from all periods.

Until Gone To Earth I don't think so much of his work - he made some great tracks but if I have to choose between the likes of Red Guitar/Pulling Punches/Forbidden Colours and Riverman/Blackwater/The Golden Way it's a no-brainer for me.

I feel his late 80s - 90s period has the most heart, the most gut-wrenchingly beautiful melodies (Damage...what a song...), smoothness, maturity, expansive production, as well as some of the rockiest Fripp-laced grime.

Aside from Snow Borne Sorrow, his later works sound rather cool to me. In the right mood I can really dig Manafon and Blemish, but more often than not it's the smoother more ethereal work I return to.

[dylan kerr]

wow give me a chance with a company to put out the best david sylvian tracks and my choice would be
CD 1
1. Darshan
2. Messenger
3. Nostalgia
4. Midnight Sun
5. i surrender
6. before the bullfight
7. Wasn't i joe
8. fire in the forest
9. Snowe borne sorrow
10. September.
11. World citizen
12. ballad of a dead man

CD2
1. Scent of magnolia
2. For the love of life
3. exit/delete
4. when the poets dream of angels
5. the first day
6. Damage
7. the boy with the gun
8. come morning
9. blemish
10. i have waited
11. Maria
12. serotonin

now my room no lights the cd playing loud would be ideal for me with a cold guinness
my choice would be a bonus disc of 2 RTC tracks Pocketful of change, Blackwater

[soundofwaves]

Many thanks for the latest set of alternate compilations – much appreciated.

Blemished, your collection of ‘beautiful starkness’ would be a real treat – interesting that you’ve not selected anything from Gone to Earth (other than a later version of Wave). Are you not a fan or does it just not fit stylistically with your theme, being too warm and lush?

And plenty of material from Manafon and Blemish. Many artists produce their best work when they’re going through times of personal stress. My personal opinion is that I prefer Sylvian when he’s content and in love. I hope he finds love again soon and gets back to making music that is more beautiful than stark. I’m with Javier on this one – Snow Borne Sorrow (and Money For All) stand out like a beacon to me among all his other work this, er, century.

Dylan, thank you so much for your selection. ‘Wasn’t I Joe?” was new to me, and a real ear-opener. Love Jansen’s drumming and the glitchy techno feel, while the lyrics are typically penetrative and perceptive. You also made me check Exit / Delete again – which when it comes down to it is all this exercise is really about so thanks.

Digging the setting too. Although I might exchange the Guinness for a few bottles of Tanglefoot

[after the bullfight]

Some fascinating selections - I like the idea of the instrumental cd as well. My Sylvian playlist is:

1. The Song that gives the Key to Perfection
2. Come Morning
3. Wanderlust
4. Orpheus
5. Buoy
6. Forbidden Colours (original)
7. Earthbound (edit)
8. Dobro 1
9. Before the Bullfight
10. When Poets Dreamed of Angels
11. The Ink in the Well
12. Manafon
13. Nostalgia
14. The Devil's Own
15. The Heart Knows Better (remix)
16. Waterfront
17. Weathered Wall
18. September
19. Promise
20. Laughter & Forgetting
21. Shining of Things
22. Transit
23. I Should Not Dare
24. Cries and Whispers
25. Wave (Damage version)
26. Brilliant Trees
27. Darkest Dreaming
28. A Fire in the Forest
29. Messenger
30. The Librarian
31. It'll Never Happen Again (Slowfire live)
32. Damage