Before And Afterlife

[baht habit]

Anyone familiar with the spoken piece of music that Sylvian contributed to this project? It appears to have gone under the radar of Sylvian fans.

Dec 2007 various artists 5x12"/2-CD box Visionaire #53 - Sound
David Sylvian: Before and Afterlife
www.visionaireworld.com
"Visionaire 53. SOUND consists of five 12-inch vinyl records, imprinted with images (picture discs), containing approximately 100 minutes of sound content featuring audio experiments, unreleased songs, samples, and spoken word pieces. The 5 records are packaged inside a domed case that also houses a custom-made MINI Clubman "Vinyl Killer" Record Player: a battery-operated toy car containing speakers and a needle. As the little car drives along the record's groove, it plays each track, acting as a fully portable record player and sound system. The issue also includes 2 CD's with all the sound content, and a booklet of credits and instructions. Sound is a limited edition of 4,000 numbered copies and retails for a starting price of $250. However SOUND is included in a standard subscription to Visionaire at no additional cost."

[proggrl]

Not to everyone. Someone on here has it.

[Astronaut]

I remember the guys over at Pioneers talking about this a few months ago and complaining bitterly about how much it cost etc ...

[alex2222]

disc one
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U4CWVYRO

disc two
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D4NRIFAA

[untitled]

A very big thank you for this Alex2222! Only listened to the DS piece so far, but looking forward to many of the tracks.

Before and Afterlife is fantastic. A hint of what's to come on the new album? I'll be very happy if it is.

[Stoobie]

yeah ! cheers buddy i did the same, planning to give it a good listen to tomorrow.

cant wait
Stoobie

[baht habit]

I've been listening to Before And AfterLife back to back with 'Angels' (Sylvian's collaboration with Punkt from 2006) and both pieces seem to compliment each other very well. Obviously, both include Sylvian's spoken word, as well as both containing the trumpet work of Arve Henriksen. In my opinion there's a similar sensibility.
I am not quite sure when this piece was actually recorded nor can we be sure that it would be representative of what is to follow. I know that Sylvian had been intermittently working on his next solo album since mid-2004, but he has recorded and released a good deal of material in that same timespan and much of that work seems so disparate in sound and content. I still am of the opinion that the Sleepwalkers track available on last year's tour book cd sampler holds the truest clue as to what we should expect from his forthcoming cd.

[sonic_chronicler]

Sorry. I've been meaning to upload the track for a while, but never got round to it. I like it a lot.

The actual set is a thing of beauty.

[godisinthesilences]

thanks so much for that download. I was hoping someone would eventually treat us with it.

[iledef]

well, you know that English is not my language, so I need help! Is there someone so kind to write down the lyric of Before and Afterlife pleeeeaaaase? I know that it's much easier for you to understand what he's saying than for me: actually I find it a bit hard because his voice is, how can I say, "distorted?filtrated?"...
Thank you!

[untitled]

The treatment of the vocal means some sections of this track aren't easy to pick up, even if English is your first language - but here is my first attempt:

--------------------

we started in the suburbs of smaller cities
and as we followed the nomadic call our nobler instincts led us further from society's centre
Westward, to a cabin hoisted aloft on faulty foundations far above the Napa Valley
where the rain-soaked earth shifted beneath us and trees caught like kindling
smoke clouds ripening in the vintners sun [not sure about “in the vinters sun”, it's quite hard to make it out]

but part of us refused to follow
interior distractions beckoned, rallied
snagged we'd return to the cities on day trips and long weekends
self perversion
anonymity found only in the midst of bricks and mortar
the hustle of strangers
we were worldly people after all
but the haze of the rural and the agents of pollination clung to us
sparked like hayseed halos in the western sunlight
no one let on they'd noticed
but we saw, we knew

I watched my parents as they stood in a crowded Euston station up fresh from the country
suitcases at their sides, waiting on my arrival
illuminated in an otherwise sea of grey
not at this moment

we were tempted back repeatedly until the lure of the cosmopolitan lay beyond reach
we moved East in to the forests and the mountains where life's desires tore us apart
how cruel to find oneself alone at that altitude
at what point did the fear of numbers set in
and the recognition of internal isolation place us outside of belonging?
but then wasn't that always the case?
weren't we simply allowed to forget?

on temple mountain I threw down a rope that others might follow
no one came

-------------------

Amendments most welcome!

[iledef]

wow, great! thank you so much! It'd have been impossible for me!
Alex

[inkinthewell]

Thanks for the links, the lyrics and most of all for talking about this.
I'm very angry with DS. How come, in the age of the internet, when you check out an artist's site for the latest news, you don't get to know nothing at all?!?!?
He's working at a new album, he's on a song on Joan As Police Woman's new album that will be out in less than a month, and there's this song out of nowhere. Damn! Tell us!!
David, you naughty boy, you'd better not cross my path these next days ... or I might be so bold to ask you your autograph!