JapanSylvian.com

Ithink DS is well aware how much his post blemish change in direction has divided his fans. I think a lot of it had to with his personal uphevals. He also says several times in the interview that he may one day return to his old way of working. I would not rule out another Beehive album or even a Japan reunion, it just might take a little time..........

@ScottR: Sylvian has never been more relevant - go away somewhere, to bleach your hair (it rhymes, what more do you want).

Indeed, Sylvian's music has never been more relevant, but this interview puts you to sleep.. What a load of crap. I agree with you people who say it's pretentious mumbo jumbo. And let's make clear I do love Manafon very much..

to those who are so negative about this interview..how would you like to see sylvian respond to these questions? I think the days of him being asked "what is your favourite food" a la Smash Hits are well in the past. It must be difficult to come up with interesting questions (and responses) when you have been interviewed hundreds of times over the years. Read the interview again and I think you'll find there's a lot of good stuff in there.

I think part of the problem with these interviews is the fact that as fans of DS we all tend to read all interviews he conducts and after a while the same line of questioning reappears and thus similar responses. David as we have noted gives long and fairly considered answers, thus making trawling thru another interview sometimes mundane.I personally don't believe he is pretentious as such ,i honestly believe it's just the way he is ,deep ,thoughtfull and articulate.
When he said he thought David Sylvian is "dead" ,i think he was referring to the artist he once was (secrets, brilliant trees ,ect) being no longer relevent to who he is today and what he is seeking to achieve.He has now re invented himself and probably feels slightly disconnected from his previous output, therefore no longer able to live up to the expectations that being David Sylvian were.
It is always sorry to hear that someone feels they need to 'move on' as if being a fan is some how inhibiting them, whilst Manafon was not everybody's cup of tea ,it was without doubt a striking and bold record,stick around maybe his next release will surprise you .

I love his work dearly still. I will wait how long it takes for another record. However, the problem is in interviews that he is self taught. The auto didact seeks knowledge and answers their entire life and DS is very much in this camp. It becomes a one man circus. We read the same answers because the interviewers insist upon asking the same questions. I think they scan old interviews and merely reword old questions; questions that interest DS and thus we get the reworded answers. I don't want the inane questions of Smash Hits or the ego driven drivel of NME type interviewers. But these Spanish Inquisition type tortuous lectures he resorts to are making my butt sore. I squirm in my seat reading as fast as I can.

It's not the most easily digestible interview. But as I've dipped in and out of it, I've found it really very interesting. David's put a lot of thought into his responses and there's actually an awful lot on substance in there. It's less of a conversation and more of an email debate. Just don't read it through as if it's a conversation or you'll think both he and interviewer went a bit loopy in the woods...

I agree with neonico and think David was talking about his persona being dead. I didn't find the interview pretentious at all. I thought it was very insightful and it answered a number of questions I had. I thought David came across as very intelligent and eloquent. All in all I enjoyed it.

Fans of Sylvian accusing him of pretentiousness is deeply ironic.

Anyway, thinking of Mick.

natsume wrote:Fans of Sylvian accusing him of pretentiousness is deeply ironic.

Anyway, thinking of Mick.

Yes, given the recent news this debate about pretentiousness seems highly insignificant. David is what he is. The interview is what it is.

The interviewer had never heard of Sylvian when getting the interview until a few months ago. See her twitter account where she is asking who he is. http://twitter.com/talialien

opiate wrote:The interviewer had never heard of Sylvian when getting the interview until a few months ago. See her twitter account where she is asking who he is. http://twitter.com/talialien

Does anyone know who David Sylvian is? Or is mine some kind of parallel universe with him in it?
1:12 PM Dec 14th, 2009 via web

I think this means she is asking if anybody but her knows of him. Seems she felt alone in her admiration of DS.

That's entirely possible. Hmm, just seems strange to bother writing an article if she thinks he is in obscurity. Her choice of questioning didn't really help in that case then.

I think it's possibly made the interview far more interesting given that she knew nothing of him beforehand. If she was aware of his previous work/Japan it would have possibly resulted in the usual questions that Sylvian has to relentlessly have to respond to

missouriman wrote:
I think this means she is asking if anybody but her knows of him. Seems she felt alone in her admiration of DS.

That is entirely correct. She was asking if any of her followers on twitter are familiar with Sylvian's music. I noticed that Chris Dahlen makes references to Sylvian on his twitter account from time to time as well and more often than not, his followers are unaware of who Dahlen is writing about. Natalia also seems to like Massive Attack, so in my opinion, that is good place to start on deliberating her fine taste in music.