"New" work? Beautiful Country

[Foales Arishes]

Maybe nothing will be next and this is his way of saying thank you and sayanora...I really hope not!

I can see why Baht doesn't like it - and it is not my normal kind of thing - but it just has something joyous about it which I'm enjoying and find that it's stuck in my head.

After those hospital photo's you have to wonder a little I fear he may be clearing the cupboards and giving things away before the end... how gloomy is that? ......... Seriously though, there seems to have been debate and rumors regarding his health for years, and he's still here. I think (hope) it's more in a period of transition, rather than anything more sinister, but I do fear this may be an end to David the musician

I can see/hear why he's not keen as well, and I agree with some of his points, but, like you I find the track joyous and can simply enjoy it for what it is... a nice slice of melodic pop, and there is nothing wrong with that!

With a different mix and properly mastered this could sit well with a lot of his output... and with some different musicians it could be something of a classic....

[lukasgardiner]

I choose to believe that Mr. Sylvian is simply revisiting some of his past work as part of an evaluation for future work or releases... delusional? Perhaps but I live in hope.

[javier]

[color=#008000]After those hospital photo's you have to wonder a little I fear he may be clearing the cupboards and giving things away before the end... how gloomy is that?

Um...could you please elaborate? Are you actually implying that DS is very sick and about to die?

[Foales Arishes]

Um...could you please elaborate? Are you actually implying that DS is very sick and about to die?

No!

But, he did publish a series of photo's from a hospital on twitter, including a portrait of him in a medical gown (which seems to have been removed)... some were under the title 'what's happening'. They do have a gloomy, sinister air about them, but I think the one of him was titled 'Nothing to worry about' or he commented that he was ok.

There has been rumour and speculation regarding his health since the cancelled shows some year back.

Personally I like to think he's fine

[chlorine]

A number of years ago, it was reported that DS had back trouble. This commonly reoccurs depending on the severity of the original injury. Perhaps he exacerbated an earlier injury? This could certainly warrant a hospital visit. Just a speculation.

[Foales Arishes]

So this track and the other two on SoundCloud have been removed, as have all reference made to them on Twitter and FB

What is the man doing?

[Blemished]

Dear oh dear...well I hope he's not reading this forum and taking umbrage at our idle speculation...

Maybe this is what happens when your manager retires and it gets harder to keep track of things? Perhaps there have been issues with publishing rights etc?

I suppose the only comfort is that he has done this kind of thing before hasn't he - taking down his Facebook account and then bringing it back after a while.

[javier]

Unless it's something to do with rights, there would be no need to remove them.

But I respect his putting them up, even though briefly. Let's hope he continues to do such account creation/uploads for further tracks, even if they too are only there for a short time.

[Foales Arishes]

Maybe this is what happens when your manager retires and it gets harder to keep track of things? Perhaps there have been issues with publishing rights etc?

That is the most likely scenario... who knows, maybe he's having a bit of a publishing battle, and putting them out like that was an 'up-yours'... or perhaps he's just fickle and decided he didn't want them in the public domain after all... or, maybe he's just gone mad

I wish he would say something... occasionally

[Blemished]

Was interesting to see that he commented on Twitter that he has been banned from Soundcloud for breaching copyright. I find this quite strange in that he is clearly the writer of the lyric and melody. Maybe there was some joint publishing agreement between him and Joan Wasser / other musicians involved. Seems such a pity not to ever release material for such reasons - even if a label own the material having paid for studio time etc, you would think it in everybody's interest to get it out there, even as an EP or as download-only.

[javier]

Was interesting to see that he commented on Twitter that he has been banned from Soundcloud for breaching copyright.

I didn't see this. Do you have a link? I agree that it's a pity that material remains hidden because of "copyright issues".

In fact I'd go a bit further and say that it's a completely bullshit reason not to let people hear work. It's a terrible form of censorship which prioritises money and legal technicalities over art, dwelling in a spirit of fear and intimidation rather than love and kindness.

I admire David's choice to put these tracks out there regardless of the legalities. It's his work, he should be able to decide who hears it.

[Foales Arishes]

Was interesting to see that he commented on Twitter that he has been banned from Soundcloud for breaching copyright.

I didn't see this. Do you have a link? I agree that it's a pity that material remains hidden because of "copyright issues".

In fact I'd go a bit further and say that it's a completely bullshit reason not to let people hear work. It's a terrible form of censorship which prioritises money and legal technicalities over art, dwelling in a spirit of fear and intimidation rather than love and kindness.

I admire David's choice to put these tracks out there regardless of the legalities. It's his work, he should be able to decide who hears it.

It does seem bizarre that a lot of artists basically do not own their own work, or at least the publishing rights to it *.... but, at some point they have signed on the dotted line to allow this to happen. Back in the day if an artist wanted to have any sort of success then the options were limited and they had to sell themselves into these deals, and a lot did well from these arrangements... of course, a lot didn't as well, and some were frankly ripped-off. In this case there are other parties/artists involved, so its not all his own work, and maybe its those individuals that are not happy with DS putting these tracks out in this manner... I guess we'll never know, but its a shame nonetheless.

* look no further than the bitter and continuing battle with McCartney and the rights to the Beatles catalogue.

[Blemished]

I didn't see this. Do you have a link? I agree that it's a pity that material remains hidden because of "copyright issues".

Unfortunately, he seems to delete a lot of his posts - miss them and they're gone. You can get something via google cache if you search david sylvan twitter soundcloud.

He replied in relation to some questions about the photo he posted of himself, Sakamoto, Otomo, Deupree and Verlaine from 2012. Craig Hamlin asked if he could post some samples - David responded "I've been banned from SoundCloud. They apparently respect copyright while knowing anyone can download from their site. YouTube syndrome." He was also asked if material was recorded with Mr Verlaine - he replied in the affirmative. Clive fetafunk (who provided the cover photo for Richard's recent album) suggested a release on Taylor Deupree's 12k label. David replied "Taylor's label is wonderful but this material isn't right for 12k's aesthetic. besides its not world ready. may never be."

So a slight possibility of some improv-based music with these musicians. While I'm at it, recently I was able to ask Rupert Coulson about his work with David. He couldn't say anything more than David had taken away the material they had recorded together to work on in his own time. I guess this all adds to there being a body of unfinished work out there - whether he ever gets a following wind to complete it is anyone's guess.

[silentwings]

Thanks for sharing about your conversation with Rupert Coulson - I'd been looking for the right time to ask him that question myself.. .. I really hope some of this unreleased material sees the light of day sometime..

[javier]

Who is Robert Coulson and what was he working with David on?