David Sylvian - Manafon

[javier]

Based on something I posted a few days ago on the japan-pioneers list, my initial impressions of Manafon have remained quite consistent.

As an early response (after 5 listens) I must say Manafon is impressive indeed. But I do say that with considerable reservations.

In the same way I find it difficult to explain most gallery artwork which resonates deeper than the superficial and familiar, I find it difficult to explain exactly why and how Manafon works so well.

Contrary to a number of other reviewers/posters, I find the instrumentation on Manafon for the most part incredible - atmospheric and moody, filled with the unexpected, and of a wonderfully narrative nature. Filmic indeed.
I actually have a singular difficulty with the work - I find Sylvian's vocals to a great extent purposelessly intrusive.

The sheer prominence of his vocals in the mix demands one's attention, but this attention is often unrewarded - firstly there are far too many dull and uninspiring third party descriptions and commentaries. I understand from Sylvian's own comments in interviews that he currently finds third-person lyrics the most effective way to work, but from the context of a listener who wants to engage with the work, it blocks access.
Secondly, and for me more importantly, the vocal seems to me to consist of mostly near-tuneless dissonance or repetitive but uncatchy or simplistic motifs. The Greatest Living Englishman is a case in point - not only lyrically an unengaging essay/story/rant but also with a cold, elusive non-melody going on and on for almost 11 minutes, yet which can't be ignored. Certainly it's not random, but it's so untuneful that the listening experience is grating. I acknowledge that edgy music can be powerful sometimes, but only if the listener is left with some reward - one's thoughts provoked, or a lingering emotional atmosphere which one can dwell in for example. But in this case, the experience is wholly unrewarding.

I'm left with a similar feeling to when I sit in a bus, forced to listen to someone jabbering banalities into their phone for the world to hear:
"hello? hello?....yeah, it's me...sorry, what?....oh, ok, right....yeah, what happened...I dunno....is he going to be there?....yeah, that's what I said....yeah, later tomorrow....it's next to the door....no, no......she thought it was like Andrea's....ahhh, alright....did you talk to Rod? What did he say?.....when?....Tuesday's no good, I'm at the centre....yeah, but.....I told her already....did you see that? Good, eh!.....yeah, yeah tell them both too......hold on, let me look.....yeah, it's here.....".

Unignorably, unwelcomely intrusive. I'd rather he shut up so I can listen to the fascinating and engaging sounds of the street, or in Manafon's case, the music.

On Manafon, the vocals on the Rabbit Skinner - Senseless Violence - Englishman - Spheres sequence all fall into this category. In contrast, the vocals on the remaining tracks while certainly not catchy or entertaining, have enough of a hook to hold one's focus and allow one to wallow in the intense atmosphere of the soundscape, and to engage with the work.

Like an art exhibition which provokes thought and the imagination but one wouldn't want to hang on one's own wall, Manafon to me is something of a sonic equivalent.
About half of it is chin-strokingly interesting to have heard a couple of times but doesn't encourage repeated listening.

There really is some incredible stuff on Manafon, and Sylvian could have made a startlingly compelling 25 minute EP here, but to me (as the Derek Bailey pieces do on Blemish) too many tracks dilute and distract from the strength of the remainder.
And to me this time, it's an issue with the vocals rather than the music.

[javier]

HERE IS THE DEAL FELLOW SYLVIAN FANS. A JOURNALIST FRIEND HAS GOTTEN THE CHANCE TO ASK DS SOME QUESTIONS RE. THE NEW WORK. PLEASE HELP HIM OUT WITH THINKING OF A FEW NICE MEATY QUESTIONS ABOUT IT. HE WAS A FAN BUT IS OUT THE LOOP OF RECENT AND DOESN'T WANT TO ASK DUMB QUESTIONS. HERE IS OUR CHANCE FOLKS!!!!

Creating your vocals on Manafon as a spontaneous response to the music is an interesting method of working, but on many pieces has resulted in the lack of discernable vocal melody. The Greatest Living Englishman, for example, seems dissonant and tuneless (as compared to say Small Metal Gods). You've yourself described some of the vocals as "drawn out" and "complex", so what might enable listeners to engage with such work?

[Phil Lawton]

Phil, I had a gut feeling you would have a hard time with the album, and you did approach it with an open mind, so there you go. I am sure it is not for everyone, and I will not argue with your own take on it. I have yet to hear it, hope to be quietly slitting my wrists to Manafan by Friday evening. (Actually, personally, I will be surprised if I don't appreciate it, myself.)

Anyway, I am really only responding to your post because of the following, which gave me a wonderful, healthy, life affirming laugh over my morning coffee.

Cheers!

All around the house tonight, there's been the steady "thwack" sound of mice throwing themselves onto the traps.

Laughter is the best medicine...unless you've got asthma, in which case it's Ventolin.

[Simonp]

did you really find it that bad Phil? I'd give it a few more listens if i were you. On first hearing it's like one long indifferent nothingness. Repeated listenings reveals so much more..

[Phil Lawton]

did you really find it that bad Phil?

Verily, Sime, I did find it that bad.

The whole album smacks of someone who has run out of ideas. "Small Metal Gods" aside (which, as I feared, is to 'Manafon' what "Fire In The Forest" is to 'Blemish'), the dreary vocal performances and the (as I said previously) unimaginative, lazy and dull improvisations fail to ignite anything in me.

Not one track made me want to re-visit it (not even the aforementioned "Small Metal Gods") - even 'Blemish' could beat that (just about).

But hope springs eternal - I have to believe that his next album contains something which could be appreciated by someone other than his analyst or someone who doesn't have a degree in literary history.

I'd give it a few more listens if i were you. On first hearing it's like one long indifferent nothingness. Repeated listenings reveals so much more

I don't think I can, Sime. Really...life's too short.

[FlyingPig]

did you really find it that bad Phil? I'd give it a few more listens if i were you. On first hearing it's like one long indifferent nothingness. Repeated listenings reveals so much more..

It would be nice to judge this record without any mind masturbation,
I know we've been waiting so long for this, but for some it is a disaster, others must accept this.

All the ingredients were there, but silly David preferred to stay holed up in his ashram and spending 90% of his time alone (as mentioned in an interview), while conjuring dissonant vocals on top of superb music which has been dropped to an almost indiscernable whisper in the mix.
In this case, there isn't enough involvement from the main artist, the human touch seems absent.

If you want good improv with superb melody buy the last one from Patrick Watson, it is inspirational prodigy music.
P.

[Simonp]

did you really find it that bad Phil? I'd give it a few more listens if i were you. On first hearing it's like one long indifferent nothingness. Repeated listenings reveals so much more..

It would be nice to judge this record without any mind masturbation,

What exactly does this comment mean?

[digimarsh]

I would love to be able to add my views on the album ,but apparently there is a delay (amazon) with my order ,now its
due early october.Might cancel and just download from samadhi,

[FlyingPig]

did you really find it that bad Phil? I'd give it a few more listens if i were you. On first hearing it's like one long indifferent nothingness. Repeated listenings reveals so much more..

It would be nice to judge this record without any mind masturbation,

What exactly does this comment mean?

Don't feel threatened, I wasn't quoting you literally, but just how the Manafon lovers want us to really give it a try.
Music doesn't need to be intellectualized but perceived. If it really is your cup of tea you'll get it otherwise it's too bad, like in my case.
Cheers, P.

[baht habit]

Music doesn't need to be intellectualized but perceived.
Cheers, P.

Thankfully, such an opinion is not considered universal truth.

[John Trevethan]

Manafon turned up here yesterday and I've listened to it a couple of times. I listen very casually to new releases, mostly because I'm busy sitting in front of computers all the time. My procedure is to put something on and let it play while I'm working, which means that my attention drifts away from the music and then back again depending on what I'm working on. I've come to enjoy this fashion of discovering new music as I find sections of the music sneaking up on me and working their way into my brain. At some point I'll usually stop working and realize "This IS good!"

It's a bit like the difference between meditation and concentration, with meditation you relax and allow information to flow to you, while concentration is the act of grabbing or reaching for information.

So, Manafon... I thought that it worked well for casual listening. I can see where some could easily call it "Blemish 2" because on the surface it falls more in that camp than it does with Nine Horses for example. For me it's a lot less dissonant than Blemish - I find it more along the lines of the Mark Hollis solo release, which I love.

Basically I think it's an interesting album, and it's good to see David trying new things. Today is a dark rainy day and Manafon is really setting an appropriate mood, and I don't mean that in a depressing way!

Perhaps some fans are making too much of a deadly serious ordeal out of listening to this release, scrutinizing every detail, making comparisons and assumtions... concentrating on it too much. For me, it's not that kind of an album. If it seems to not be your cup of tea you might try putting it on and going about some other task like cleaning the house, cooking dinner or whatever. Manafon might just sneak up on you.

[pradakid900]

Those who are not into words might just want to skip this.

Well, the kid got his delivery from Samadhi yesterday, after having waited at home all day for the postman who usually arrives three hours earlier. I told him when he arrived, "Get your hands off my Manafon!" He just looked at me...like always. The delay made me laugh as it only happens when I am expecting something special, of course.

So, I must say I was actually prepared for it to be a rough first listen based on what I gathered from the samples on David's site. The CD went in...SMG - just gorgeous coming from full sized speakers and filling the room. Rabbit Skinner, Random Acts and Greatest Englishman seemed quite cool, frgmented and detached. Loved Spheres - considering it an intro to the second set (or the first track on side 2 if it were an LP). Snow White...stunning!! Had to listen twice before going forward. Emily Dickinson - totally cool. The instrumental and the song Manafon itself left me completely captivated.

Upon the second round of listening Rabbit Skinner, Random Acts and Greatest Englishman became so much warmer, and by the time I had made it to the end of the CD I was elated. It was during this second listening I began to notice many traditional musical queues that are there but may not be so obvious at first, such as repeating chords, sounds or musical phrase or even a pause. Contrary to what some might think, there is quite a bit of underpinning and organization within these loosly-pieced (anti)song structures. This is music like life - (appearing) totally random and chaotic while operating seamlessly along a plan of complete order.

Some listeners have indicated a complaint against the vocals, but I feel that they have been quite thoughtly laced within the soundscapes, and I do feel that the vocals, lyrics and music are indeed integrated to a certain degree, at certain times more than others, but this is the whole idea, as David said himself he wasn't exactly sure of every intended outcome. A continuous listen reveals also many passages where the vocals are not present giving free reign to everything else and space to contemplate, and I completely approve of the vocal level within the mix.

This is my kind of stuff, here. I appreciate the more progressive, less accessible, more challenging offerings, so maybe that's why the pieces spoke to me so quickly. At the same time I feel this really is something different like Cubism or the everchanging music of Miles Davis challenged listeners and widened the vocabulary in their respective times. I would call this work a sonic sculpture becasue of how three dimentional the sound is, and I definitely prefer this work to the more traditional sounding SBS. I also think those who say that Sylvian has run out of ideas shoud rephrase their words, saying perhaps that this particualr work has not (as of yet) spoken to them in a way that others have, rather than making judgements about David hitting a dead end on Idea Street. Maybe in time Manafor will come to resonate - there is that chance for growth, right? I believe this to be a work of great thought and merit.

To me this work represents to me the merging of Sylvian's best qualities - beautiful song structures, melodic, sweeping vocals and dry, atonal notes mixed with progressive, spacey, haunted, electronic, accoustic and often times stunning musical accompaniment. Right On! Time to pop open a bottle and get to celebrating the day, the Manafon way.

[Hawk]

HERE IS THE DEAL FELLOW SYLVIAN FANS. A JOURNALIST FRIEND HAS GOTTEN THE CHANCE TO ASK DS SOME QUESTIONS RE. THE NEW WORK. PLEASE HELP HIM OUT WITH THINKING OF A FEW NICE MEATY QUESTIONS ABOUT IT. HE WAS A FAN BUT IS OUT THE LOOP OF RECENT AND DOESN'T WANT TO ASK DUMB QUESTIONS. HERE IS OUR CHANCE FOLKS!!!!

Oh oh! I have a question...in fact, quite a lot of questions but it's quite hard to write them - I will try! Take your pick if they are useful!

I would be interested to know how much David plans his musical output, like Manafon was certainly very experimental and from reading his interviews he seems to have been wanting to do something like this for a long time. I would like to know whether he has any long term aims for his music collection as a whole, like a legacy, whether there are other elements of experimentation he is aware of but hasn't tried yet, or whether he doesn't really see it like this and just goes with 'what each day brings?' I think everything he has accomplished so far is remarkable, and just when I thought there was nothing else he could do, he comes up with something totally new, so I've come to see him as quite unpredictable. Hmm mind you the intelligent answer to this would probably just be to tap his nose and say 'wait and see...'

I would also like to know what he WANTS us, fans and neutral listeners alike, to think of his music/Manafon? Like, if he met a fan who recognised him and came up to him in the street (okay very unlikely and he'd probably try to hide hehe but IF!!) what would he be pleased for them to say? Sometimes I think just "I like your music" sounds a bit boring and generic...

Leading on from that, does he care what people think of Manafon and how many/what kind of reviews will he read?

Few random questions:

Is he wary of writing overly personal songs now or was writing in third person just a direction for Manafon?

What does the word 'collaboration' mean to him?

Will he enjoy listening back to Manafon or is he avoiding it in fear of wanting to change things?

The video for 'Small Metal Gods' is very ambiguous, minimal, entrancing.... Did he decide "I want to do at least one music video for Manafon" or did it just happen? What does he think are the best qualities for a music video and what is its purpose - to support/enhance/help explain the music, to set a mood or as a stand alone project?

Where is Manafon best played - in what setting/situation?

Does he still feel the heart knows better?


Okay okay I could go on forever!! And I STILL haven't listened to the album yet - waiting for my wages to go in!!

Wish your friend luck with the interview!

[Chet]

one answer:
the video for small metal gods was made several years ago by the artist Hiraki Sawa, long before the song was written.
I guess David liked the film and asked for permission to use it in a promotional way.

[FlyingPig]

Music doesn't need to be intellectualized but perceived.
Cheers, P.

Thankfully, such an opinion is not considered universal truth.

Oh really? since when?

Cheers, P.