DAVID SYLVIAN レコード& CD

Review: Manafon by David Sylvain of Japan fame is an underrated gem. The electroacoustic improvisation, complete lack of drums, coupled with Sylvain's voice right at the front of the mix, makes for an ambient, freeform and highly experimental sound. The art-pop sonics that saw him gain success in the 70s and 80s is left firmly in the past and he's doing exactly the music he wants hear - not what's expected of him commercially. Now, on vinyl for the first time, comes remixes by classical contemporary genius Dai Fujikura - he wrote the string parts - of six songs from said album. There's also new songs, heavily influenced by Fujikura and an 18-minute piece ('When We Return You Won't Recognise Us') culled from a much longer sound installation that Fukikura and Sylvain created together for the 2008-09 Biennial of Canaries in Gran Canaria. How music this sublime hasn't been on vinyl from the start is beyond us. Thankfully, that's now rectified.