The shape of things to come

[Blemished]

So, according to his interview with The Quietus, David has three album releases on the cards:

1. Bang & Honore's Punkt poetry work
2. Duets - Joan & David
3. A new solo album

I guess it's not too hard to figure out what to expect from the first two. I imagine the first will be an extension of the poetry'n'ambience type material that B&H have already produced with David (Angels in the architecture...etc).

I'm not that familiar with Joan As Policewoman, so not too sure what to expect here. But I'd imagine it'll be similar to the Ballad of a Deadman material, and certainly more conventional than most recent output.

But as far as a solo album goes - and probably the most eagerly awaited as far as I'm concerned - I have to admit I've got absolutely no idea what to expect. He has talked about returning to more traditional songwriting for contrast, but with the album with Joan on the way, I wonder if that will be the expression of that urge?

Personally speaking, I'd be very pleased if he explored more of the improv / electro-acoustic side of things, but given his loathing of repetition, it seems more likely that he'll take a different tack again. Maybe a return to something more electronic is overdue? A very happy medium for me would be if he could produce more work with Fennesz / Brandlmayr / Dafeldecker. Or maybe he'll return to the Blemish method and work completely on his own?

Anyone care to speculate?!

[silentwings]

The interview said he was collecting together some material, which made me think that perhaps this would be more 'composed' than 'improvised'...

Also, perhaps the songwriting with Joan was a stimulus to getting back to more structured songwriting. In the past, the work with Robert Fripp seemed to 'unlock' something for David and allow him to move forward.

Just some thoughts.

[Blemished]

Think you may be right about being more 'composed' material.

I guess he'll take his musical cues from what he comes up with. Given how varied his releases have been in the last decade it's hard to predict the sound it'll have - though I guess that's always been the case with David.

It's eerily quiet on this forum at the moment!

[silentwings]

Ryuichi Sakamoto's management have tweeted that Ryuichi and Yoshihide Otomo have a session for David today.... ...so maybe this offers us a clue as to direction?

[dconnery1966]

Great find there silentwings, hope this is true i have always liked his work
with Sakamoto
all the best Dougie

[silentwings]

A further update by tweet

"@skmtmgr 2nd day w Otomo & Taylor Deupree for David Sylvian in NY"

[baht habit]

Thanks for the info. I would think that these certain contributors would make perfect sense as to what Sylvian is planning for his next release. We should probably have taken note that he mentioned in the interview that he is 'gathering material' - I take that to mean that he is once again having musicians either compose or improvise for him, to which he shall make his contributions at a later time, as he had done on Manafon and Died In The Wool. Yoshihide, Sakamoto and Deupree have been improvising their shows that they have performed together. Therefore, we could conclude that they are improvising for Sylvian's next project as well. The material could possibly be a little more rhythmic in nature compared to Blemish, Manafon or Died In The Wool - mainly due to Sakamoto's presence and Deupree's involvement...but undoubtedly, it will be highly experimental nonetheless.
I don't quite know why but I'm still slightly hopeful for some sort of expanded project with Fujikura and a string ensemble at some point - as Sylvian had claimed last year - but it seems more likely that Sylvian is moving in yet another direction already.

[Blemished]

Very interesting indeed - thanks for the heads=up, slientwings.

I've often wondered if DS might work with Taylor Deupree. I don't know his work particularly well but he does seem part of that Alva Noto / Fennesz / Sakamoto glitchy electronic sound world. He's also a big Japan/DS fan I think and lives in the backwoods of NY State, not a million miles away from David.

As Baht suggests, it almost sounds like a re-run of the Manafon approach. A couple of days of improv input here and there and presumably David starts to run with it. It's also really nice to see Sylvian and Sakamoto back together again.

If anyone here went to any of the performances it'd be great to hear what kind of material emerged. I suppose David's brief might be quite different, but it must surely offer clues.

[baht habit]

it'd be great to hear what kind of material emerged. I suppose David's brief might be quite different, but it must surely offer clues.

Found this on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyfA5XSp5d0

[Blemished]

Hi Baht. Thanks for posting that. Not overly keen on that sound - a bit twee to my ears. But I could imagine a far more interesting 'Sylvianised' version.

Taylor Deupree mentioned working on a "very, very special collaboration" on his Twitter feed back in June, and for some reason I'm convinced this may be work with David.

We must be getting nearer at least one of the three planned releases now.

[Stephenf]

Has anyone got any idea as to when the new work/s are coming to fruition?
Are there any murmurings or whispers etc??
Surely someone has info that can wet the appetite and keep sites like j/s more relevant due to the dedication of those involved on here.
I hope that David realises that even snippets are gold dust and sites like this and the one that Paul runs over at nightporter have helped to create a strong core of people dedicated to his music.

[Simonp]

It's all gone very quiet at Samadhisound hasn't it? Sylvian talked about new releases coming out in the spring of this year (which has now passed)...only a few weeks and we'll be heading into autumn. Has anyone heard ANYTHING????

[hitch]

still waiting for LAND album
http://l-a-n-d.com/

[Simonp]

yeh what's happening with that release? Supposed to be out this month yet amazon are saying September?

[Blemished]

Re LAND - looks like end of the month - I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but I'm sure it was originally listed as coming out mid-month.

I guess the Punkt album must be next of the Samadhi slate, as Dai Fujikura has tweeted about hearing his contribution.