David Sylvian
Dead Bees on a Cake
(Virgin)
David Sylvian's music reminds me of Paul
Bowles' writing. The language is familiar, but it transports me to a totally different, foreign
place. Sylvian's songs stretch to seven, eight, nine minutes long with minimalist lyrics
describing his broad spirituality that is part shamanism, part Zen. The sound on Dead Bees
is the familiar pastiche of East and West across most of the record as longtime collaborators
Steve Jansen and Ryuichi Sakamoto appear on nearly every track and Kenny Wheeler fills the Mark
Isham horn spot almost too closely. Additional guests include Knitting Factory regular Marc
Ribot, au courant producer and tabla player Talvin Singh and guitarist Bill Frisell. Dead Bees is Sylvian's first studio album in six years, a cause for a certain amount
of rejoicing. Yet even though, I've listened to this album more than anything else over the past
month, I'm left disappointed. I never thought I would say this in conjunction with Sylivan's work
, but at times I was bored listening and there are some truly banal lyrics. 1993's collaboration
with guitarist Robert Fripp (The First Day) left me astounded. It's a musical
tour-de-force that was highlighted by the epic "Darshan," an 18-minute exploration of
the path to enlightenment. Nothing approaches that in terms of length, depth or beauty on Dead
Bees. There are some outstanding tracks, namely the opening cut "I Surrender" and
"All of My Mothers Names," but they're too few and far between. Not a place to start
for those unfamiliar with Sylvian's work, really for completists only.
Rating: 4
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