Log #170 - What Was The Secret Of David Sylvian's Beehive?

Built on noir balladry, instrumental abstraction, and an abiding sense of distance.

...So Pitchfork describes David Sylvian's sumptuous 4th solo album Secrets Of The Beehive. It's a far cry from his pop work with chart topping new wave band Japan in the 80s.

Al Stewart Year Of The Cat
Nucleus Plastic Rock

Nils Frahm All Melody

Jeff Buckley Grace
David Sylvian Secrets Of The Beehive

Floating Points Elaenia

Probably only half a dozen times or so I've heard something so unique and different and significant and new to me it has left an indelible impression on my life - when I heard Can for the first time (taking a chance on a 2nd hand record - their Spanner fronted one, closely followed with Tago Mago and Hallelujah in particular), Black Dog by Led Zeppelin (possibly on TV?), Van Morrison (I bought Astral Weeks and Moondance together when I was about 19 and feel lucky I took that plunge relatively early in my music listening career!), discovering The Cocteau Twins (hearing Heaven Or Las Vegas and Four Calendar Cafe on a long journey in a friend's car), the coda to Mr. Blue Sky (Out Of The Blue being my first ever LP purchase), Re-ac-tor by Neil Young (borrowed on cassette tape from someone), Epitaph by King Crimson (my school friend Guy was moving on all his King Crimson albums in favour of Neil Young incidentally - come to think of it he probably lent me the Re-ac-tor tape), Captain Beefheart (not Trout Mask Replica but Clearspot), and The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld.

There have probably been lots more life changing moments actually although the experience is less frequent than once was. Anyway the point is Secrets Of The Beehive was one such experience. It was one of the most beautiful records I'd ever heard, the experience was no doubt enhanced by the setting - 1987, late one cold winter night, in a smokey student room (where it was so cold I had to put my coat on to come indoors). It was also an utter surprise, coming from the bloke in Japan of course. I remember the crystal clear acoustic guitar, the tender piano, the horns, swirling strings, and Sylvian's slow easy going baritone. It's an album that flows from start to finish, one of atmosphere. Like Astral Weeks.

Oddly like a number of classic albums (and the similarly brilliant Grace by Jeff Buckley is another - what a voice that gentleman had) it is not one I play that often any more - I wonder why. Maybe it belongs to that time when I first heard it. Maybe I remember it too well.  But nevertheless if it is a record you've never heard I recommend you do and see if it leaves a similar impression.

David Sylvian released a number of other solo albums and ambient collaborations with the likes of Holger Czukay and Robert Fripp. They vary from minimalist experimentation to more traditional rock music but all are of a consistently high standard. 

Checkout the other records in this week's playlist here>>:

Elaenia

Year Of The Cat

All Melody

Plastic Rock

All four excellent albums, three will be near my Album Of The Year shortlist.

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Log #169 - The Other Side Of God's Favorite Customer

As I come to the end of the year and thoughts turn towards my year end review there are two or three albums in this list this week that will probably make the short list for Album Of The Year. They are the Tord Gustavsen, the Father John Misty, and the KLF.

KLF Chill Out

Father John Misty God's Favorite Customer

Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water

Bill Laswell Imaginary Cuba

Tord Gustavsen The Other Side

Ketil Bjornstad and David Darling Epigraphs

Taking each in turn we have The Tord Gustavsen Trio's The Other Side which is a simply beautiful album of wistful chilled jazz piano. Gustavsen takes a minimalist approach yet the melodies are Debussyesque. Themes repeat and return throughout the album's 12 tracks, something I did not notice before I had fully absorbed the album several times.

I don't know where this sort of music sits in the jazz pantheon (jazz experts may consider it easy listening or light weight?) but I know I love it and find it much more satisfying than the often too frantic classical solo piano (see Log #166 ) or even the minimalist chamber piano of Bjornstad and Darling's Epigraphs album. It's effortless flow is closer to Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert and Philip Glass's Solo Piano album.

Father John Misty's God's Favourite Customer (English spelling there) album could also be considered slightly on the light weight side but the sheer brilliance of the melodic songs pulls it through. Father John Misty is a cross between Elton John and John Grant.

I can't decide if KLF's Chillout has nothing going on or a helluva lot. Whatever, it remains a fascinating and atmospheric listen - one where you hear more the more you listen. Save for a jumpy number towards the end, the album is essentially a concept piece played out over one continuous 45 minutes of ambient sound effects and samples.

One timeless classic and a pretty nondescript non event make up the numbers this week and we have our 6.

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Log #168 - Rumours Going Down

I came late to Rumours as explained here but its charms have grown on me, particularly on the more rock orientated numbers like the excellent The Chain which is so much more than that slightly annoying bass riff used for that very annoying car programme. It was a video I caught this week on youtube of a live performance of The Chain that encouraged me to give the album another spin.

Fleetwood Mac Rumours

Neil Young Hitchhiker

Foals What Went Down

Edgar Froese Epsilon In Malaysian Pale
John Martyn Solid Air

Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps

Hitchhiker was an album by Neil Young recorded in 1976. For some reason it was not released then...

- actually the reason I believe was the record company thought the solo acoustic songs should be recorded as a band.

- indeed some like Powderfinger were later re-recorded with a band and appeared on a subsequent album (Rust Never Sleeps and others).

Anyway Hitchhhiker, like Chrome Dreams and some others, became one of those legendary lost albums of Young's - until last year when the original was released.

It is indeed a shame this album did not see the light of day for so long as, despite it having an air of demo about it, it is actually one of Young's best. There are ten excellent songs, 9 on guitar, one on piano. Eight have appeared on other albums, usually in a differing version / two are previously unreleased. I do believe it may be Young's only entirely solo album??

[By the way any Neil Young fan should check out his Archives website - this is a subscriber service but there is always a free to stream featured album available].

Excellent stuff from the Foals on this, their fourth album. It is a pretty heavy album but still demonstrates their excellent musicianship.

'What Went Down' is unbelievably aggressive, a bold return so to speak, combining a fierce pulsating drumbeat with erratic overdriven guitars that lend a real intensity.

Clash Magazine

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Log #167 - Young Doves Old Streets

Albums one and two from young Paolo Nutini and four from old Neil Young.

Paolo Nutini These Streets

Paolo Nutini Sunny Side Up

Neil Young Mirror Ball

Neil Young Hawks And Doves
Neil Young Tonight's The Night Live At The Roxy

Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps

More consistently excellent soulful rock from Scottish singer Nutini. I'm surprised at the number of catchy tracks in both these albums. But not only catchy, but brilliantly constructed and superbly performed. Very impressed.

Much more to come from Neil Young as I continue work on an album ranking. Here we have four albums all at the excellent end of the variable Young scale released between 1973 and 1995 (actually the live Tonight's The Night wasn't released until 2018 but was fundamentally a 1973 album):

Mirror Ball - a surprisingly excellent collaboration with Pearl Jam.

Hawks And Doves - one of Young's lesser known albums which nevertheless contained two or three of his greatest acoustic songs.

Tonight's The Night Live - very similar to the original studio album with in-between track banter and an encore of Walk On from On The Beach.

Rust Never Sleeps - half acoustic, half heavy, all classic Young.

The strong finish to the year from Neil Young will secure his place once again at the top of my appearances chart in the upcoming Year End Polls. Will anyone ever catch him?

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