Much like Javier, I am not thoroughly convinced regarding the merits of these re-interpretations. Just as I personally concluded that the Blemish remixes and Burnt Friedman's remixes of the material from Snow Borne Sorrow were entirely unnecessary, I feel that this exercise of fleshing out the Manafon tracks in some attempt of making them a bit more accessible in some manner was equally needless.
As for the new material, here are a few of the aspects I am most impressed by...
DIED IN THE WOOL : The melding and weaving of Kate Romano's clarinet and John Butcher's saxophone are eerily appropriate for creating the basis for this dark and foreboding track - which sets a sinister tone for the remainder of the new cuts. Sylvian's lyrics seem to focus on the scene of some odd homicide and the immediate aftermath. Being that the victim was wearing a wool coat, the usage of the pun 'Died' In The Wool is quite clever...yet obviously, clever in a macabre sort of way.
ANOMALY AT TAW HEAD : This track remains my personal favorite. Evidently it was created from random performances leftover from the three recording sessions for Manafon. To my ears, the result sounds somewhat close to a strong mixture of The Rabbit Skinner and The Department Of Dead Letters . The delicate interplay between Sylvian's acoustic guitar, Tilbury's piano, Mattos' cello and Parker's sax is holding steady as my own personal highlight of the disc.
(A HAUNTING) : I can't help but tend to feel that this alternate version may have benefitted from the excision of Sylvian's brief vocal part. The sound of the bass flute gently floating over the cushion of the string quartet is especially appealing.
Question - Does anyone else detect some type of conversation taking place far off in the background of this track, or am I simply hearing voices?
THE LAST DAYS OF DECEMBER : A beautiful yet simultaneously chilling piece of music...filled with pointed allusions dealing with a dark subject such as the mindset behind suicide and its subsequent effects. Sylvian's vocal melodies soar, dip and drop over a brilliant bed of strings. I personally find the overdubbed vocals on 'the cape and coast line' section to be nearly reminiscent of the background vocals on 9Horses songs like The Banality Of Evil or Atom And Cell, and that's a nice touch in itself. This one runs a close second to Anomaly at Taw Head as a favored track of mine.
By the way, if or when you hear or read some naysayer making the blatant claim that DITW lacks melody, feel free to brand them tone deaf. Just as it was the case on Manafon, Sylvian takes great liberties with his melodies --- as he has been afforded a greater opportunity by the sparseness of these intriguing arrangements. Surely, he is creating just as many if not more memorable melodic vocal lines than he was able to do when presented with the densely filled music of 9Horses. I still marvel at how some cannot recognize the depth of melodic content on these releases.
I have yet to give a concentrated listen to the lengthy When We Return You Won't Recognise Us, as I have only had it playing while getting things together at the shore house. I know that it will need a greater attention to fully appreciate it.