Tag: Mark Wastell

I Swallowed Earth for This

‘a supernova on a petal’

Spoken word has provided a rich seam within David Sylvian’s work over the last decade or so. He has vocalised the writing of some fascinating authors, from the poems of Arseny Tarkovsky for Ryuichi Sakamoto’s performance at the Concert for Japan and ‘Life, Life’ featured on his master-work async, to an extract from In the Solitude of Cotton Fields by playwright Bernard-Marie Koltès for a collaboration with Mark Wastell and Rhodri Davies released as There is No Love; from the descriptions of a myriad of lesser gods by Paal-Helge Haugen on Uncommon Deities, to Japanese haiku and death poems written by Buddhist priests for the Twinkle³ album Upon this Fleeting Dream. Indeed, at the time of writing this article Sylvian has just added to the canon by reciting Emily Dickinson’s poem ‘I Measure Every Grief I Meet’ for a collaboration with Icelandic cellist and film-score composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (link in footnotes).

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The Greatest Living Englishman

‘a creative act of erasure’

In 2003, Clive Bell (who would later feature with David Sylvian on recordings such as When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima and the Twinkle³ project Upon This Fleeting Dream) visited Tokyo for The Wire magazine to investigate a newly-emerged music scene, and to attend one venue in particular – Off Site. Bell’s in-depth report describes the location. ‘As you leave Yoyogi station in Tokyo, the 60-odd storeys of the NTT DoCoMo skyscraper loom high above you…Like the offspring of a thunderous mating between the Empire State Building and Big Ben, the tower features a spire, glowing green lights in recesses, and a colossal clock lit up in white.’ Incongruously, Off Site is just 50 metres away, ‘one of a row of old, highly ordinary houses somehow clinging on in the shadow of Shinjuku’s skyscrapers. These are flimsy constructions of wood and plaster. Inside, Atsuhiro Ito and his wife have converted their house into a spartan gallery and performance space on the ground floor, seating about 50 maximum, and, upstairs, a welcoming cafe which also functions as a book and record shop.’

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Nothing is Happening Everywhere

‘approaching an apocalyptic noir’

March 2012. Alerted by one of the online communities, it’s one of those moments when something appears totally out of the blue. For the most part, new material is advertised weeks or months in advance and there is opportunity for anticipation and some research into new musical partnerships. Not this time. There on soundcloud is a new account with just one track uploaded, ‘Nothing is Happening Everywhere’, credited to L A N D featuring David Sylvian.

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If I Leave No Trace – Empty Handed

‘visceral and compelling’

Early on the Twinkle³ album featuring David Sylvian and Kazuko Hohki, Upon This Fleeting Dream, a torrent of fizzing electronic sound tears from one speaker to another, followed by what seems to be the crackle of a spark leaping between contacts. Synthetic beeps and the fragments of a beat escape from a swirling mix. Soaking in the sounds that accompany Sylvian and Hohki’s readings of ancient Japanese poetry, it’s evident there is something distinctive happening in how synthesisers are deployed.

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Playing the Schoolhouse

‘sensitivity to time within space’

From 30 November to 2 December 2016 a symposium entitled On the Edge was staged in Oslo, Norway. Whilst David Sylvian was not present at the event, his influence on the proceedings was significant. The programme was created by Ivar Grydeland, a musician who works in the field of improvisation and a member of the groups Huntsville and Dans les Abres, the latter’s eponymous debut album having been released on the ECM label in 2008.

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