This is not new territory for Mr Sylvian, the “Ember Glance” box set from 1991 was also born out of a multi-media installation. This one, as the name implies was written for an exhibition on the Japanese island of Naoshima and features not just Mr Sylvian but also the wonderful glitch artist Fennesz, Akira Rabelais (Whose last album was released on Sylvian’s Samadhi Sound label) Clive Bell (who has worked with such artists as Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble and Jeff Beck) and Arve Henriksen (Norwegian trumpeter). It is in the same style as “Approaching Silence” and “Ember Glance” itself, a very long piece of atmospheric sounds (waves, wind chimes, etc.) mixed with ghostly vocals, atonal instrumental music all blended together to create the sonic impression of loud weather buffeting Naoshima.
I personally love “Approaching Silence” and living in the middle of London find pieces like this and some of Brian Eno’s ambient pieces are excellent for escaping the dash and the rush of the city for the peace and atmosphere of the countryside or the coast without actually having to leave my home. The only thing that stops it from being a five star album is that unlike “Approaching Silence” it does not have the same drama but as it was written for an installation it was designed to work in a different way than “Approaching Silence”. By the way if you are thinking of getting the latter album go for the US version, which is a different and superior mix to the UK version.
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Originally posted August 11, 2007
