[CD Review] David Sylvian

[cramakrishnan@xxxxxxx]

I learned of David Sylvian's new recording, "Blemish" (on Samadhi
Sound), when I heard on the radio what was unmistakably Derek Bailey
on guitar... but he was accompanying a singer. I had to call up the
radio station to find out what it was. It turns out that Bailey is on
a total three tracks, and that Christian Fennesz appears on one.

The album more or less alternates between tracks where Sylvian sings
over electronics and ones where he sings to Bailey. Sylvian's vocal
style would not be out of place on a pop song, but on every track the
accompanyment is anything but pop. The combination works.

It's the best mixture of electronics and pop I've heard since Anja
Garbarek's "Smiling and Waving" (though "Blemish" is more experimental
that that album).

- sekhar

--
C. Ramakrishnan        cramakrishnan@xxxxxxx

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