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| 1. Words With The Shaman - Part 1 (Ancient Evening) (2003 Digital Remaster) |
| 2. Words With The Shaman - Part 2 (Incantation) (2003 Digital Remaster) |
| 3. Words With The Shaman - Part 3 (Awakening (Songs From The Treetops)) (2003 Digital Remaster) |
| 4. Preparations For A Journey (2003 Digital Remaster) |
| 5. The Stigma Of Childhood (Kin) (2003 Digital Remaster) |
| 6. A Brief Conversation Ending In Divorce (2003 Digital Remaster) |
| 7. Steel Cathedrals (2003 Digital Remaster) |
Words With The Shaman (tracks 1-3) is a three-part EP recorded with John Hassell in 1985. The first section is rhythmic, mysterious, and features wailing female vocals in a foreign tongue. The shorter second section is much like the first, but when the rhythm shifts, horns and an electric guitar kick in. The third and final section starts as a gentle Gamelan piece but grows more intense, like the fall of spring rain on tin rooftops. Words With The Shaman has been available for years as three bonus tracks on the Caroline Records edition of Brilliant Trees.
Preparations For A Journey (track 4) was originally recorded in 1984 with Seigin Ono for a Japanese documentary about Sylvian's life. Characteristically, the film eventually aired on Japanese television with no accompanying music. It is the most East Asian sounding song on this collection. Its electronically treated melody is enchanting, exotic, and sublime.
The Stigma Of Childhood (Kin) (track 5) is a ravishing fragment of a longer piece written for Gaby Agis' modern ballet of the same title back in 1987. It sounds like a long, ambient, arabesque outtake from the instrumental half of Gone To Earth. Sylvian refuses even now to release the entire score, saying only that this song represents the strongest material from the project.
A Brief Conversation Ending In Divorce (track 6) is a curiously ludic and clever, jazz-inflected b-side from Sylvian's 1989 Pop Song single.
A skeletal version of the final song on this compilation, Steel Cathedrals (track 7), was written for the Japanese documentary mentioned earlier. Finishing touches were added in London with the help of Ryuichi Sakamoto (of YMO), King Crimsoner Robert Fripp, Masami Tsuchiya (Japan's tour guitarist), and Kenny Wheeler among others. This long, atmospheric, composition sounds New Agey but slightly unsettling. It reminds me of the albums Sylvian would do later on with Holger Czukay, though the horn section clearly anticipates "Laughter and Forgetting" on the vocal portion of Gone To Earth.
The tasteful packaging and crisp sound quality will do these songs justice for Sylvian completists, but this is not a good choice for people new to Sylvian's work. Find out why Sylvian has been called the last romantic and the most beautiful man in the world by beginning with Brilliant Trees, Secrets of the Beehive, or Japan's swansong: Tin Drum. Once you're hooked you'll make it to this disc sooner or later.
Words With The Shaman (tracks 1-3) is a three-part EP recorded with John Hassell in 1985. The first section is rhythmic, mysterious, and features wailing female vocals in a foreign tongue. The shorter second section is much like the first, but when the rhythm shifts, horns and an electric guitar kick in. The third and final section starts as a gentle Gamelan piece but grows more intense, like the fall of spring rain on tin rooftops. Words With The Shaman has been available for years as three bonus tracks on the Caroline Records edition of Brilliant Trees.
Preparations For A Journey (track 4) was originally recorded in 1984 with Seigin Ono for a Japanese documentary about Sylvian's life. Characteristically, the film eventually aired on Japanese television with no accompanying music. It is the most East Asian sounding song on this collection. Its electronically treated melody is enchanting, exotic, and sublime.
The Stigma Of Childhood (Kin) (track 5) is a ravishing fragment of a longer piece written for Gaby Agis' modern ballet of the same title back in 1987. It sounds like a long, ambient, arabesque outtake from the instrumental half of Gone To Earth. Sylvian refuses even now to release the entire score, saying only that this song represents the strongest material from the project.
A Brief Conversation Ending In Divorce (track 6) is a curiously ludic and clever, jazz-inflected b-side from Sylvian's 1989 Pop Song single.
A skeletal version of the final song on this compilation, Steel Cathedrals (track 7), was written for the Japanese documentary mentioned earlier. Finishing touches were added in London with the help of Ryuichi Sakamoto (of YMO), King Crimsoner Robert Fripp, Masami Tsuchiya (Japan's tour guitarist), and Kenny Wheeler among others. This long, atmospheric, composition sounds New Agey but slightly unsettling. It reminds me of the albums Sylvian would do later on with Holger Czukay, though the horn section clearly anticipates "Laughter and Forgetting" on the vocal portion of Gone To Earth.
The tasteful packaging and crisp sound quality will do these songs justice for Sylvian completists, but this is not a good choice for people new to Sylvian's work. Find out why Sylvian has been called the last romantic and the most beautiful man in the world by beginning with Brilliant Trees, Secrets of the Beehive, or Japan's swansong: Tin Drum. Once you're hooked you'll make it to this disc sooner or later.
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