Vista blog

[javier]

Great article, and fantastic to finally understand the context of "The Church Bells Strike".

Thank you so much for your regular articles. They're the best new Sylvian-related things to come into existence in recent times.

[silentwings]

Thank you, javier, for your generous words which are truly appreciated.

I've just published an article on 'Pulling Punches', the opening track from Brilliant Trees. I feel this track is sometimes a little under-appreciated, maybe because of the video which is a firmly 1980s type affair and doesn't compare well with Anton Corbijn's work on 'Red Guitar' and 'The Ink in the Well'. I enjoy it both musically and lyrically.

Sadly the New York musicians brought in by David Sylvian, Wayne Braithwaite and Ronny Drayton, are no longer with us. Before Ronny passed in 2020 he talked extensively about how he became involved in the project and the experience of recording at Hansa by the Wall in Berlin.

There is also a very significant Jean Cocteau influence in the artwork for the single.

Here's the link: https://sylvianvista.com/2021/02/05/pulling-punches/

Thanks for reading.

[silentwings]

The track 'Before and Afterlife' is the subject of the latest article.

First released as a short solo piece in the Visionaire 53: SOUND vinyl box set, it was then developed for inclusion on Arve Henriksen's superb ECM album 'Cartography'.

Sylvian contributed to two of the tracks on that release, also taking responsibility for naming each track.

Jan Bang was co-producer and created a tapestry of sampled sounds to underpin Arve's uniquely sensitive trumpet and Sylvian's poetry, which in this case traces his moves across the States with Ingrid.

Here's the link: https://sylvianvista.com/2021/02/26/bef ... afterlife/