Hey, so
So hey, it’s been a while. I’m not ditching this blog. (Though Twitter is easier to keep up with.) I’ve just been busy – real, real busy. I’m wrapping up a freelance project that has consumed my life, especially for the last couple months. My work’s almost done now, which has sent me through at least twelve stages of grieving and feelings of loss, confusion, frustration, and finally, relief. If the NDA ever runs out, I’ll be sure to come back and tell y’all all about it.
So, what else have I done that I can actually talk about?
- I interviewed Mark Essen, aka Messhof, for Edge Online.
- I questioned whether film people know anything about making games on KCRW’s The Business – I’m on around 17 minutes in, after Jerry Bruckheimer.
- I wrote a feature on the New Hampshire music scene for NH Magazine. The issue hit stands this week and the article should be online soon. (Update: it was.) Meanwhile, in case you were crass and cruel enough to say, “What New Hampshire music scene?”, check out this free sampler of 12 great tracks by area bands, including a few I suggested.
- I have an interview with the Dirty Projectors.
- Steve Bissette, too. I’m hoping that runs in July, because we spoke for hours and he was really fascinating.
- I just learned my press release for David Sylvian’s Manafon is live (scroll down a little past the track listing and personnel). Really pleased with how it turned out, and David said he liked it as well – and yeah, that made my year.
- I reviewed Velvet Assassin, The Path, and Blueberry Garden for the Onion AV Club. Blueberry has taken some real knocks lately, as many folks play it and discover they hate it – or at least, find it horribly lightweight. I found it lightweight too, but it works on atmosphere, and on creating a particular kind of character and setting him in a word that fits his pace, attitude, and capabilities. I got a couple nice surprises out of it, and yes, the review was scaled for value (the pricetag’s only $5). But I will admit that maybe I shouldn’t have given it the same grade I gave Knytt and Knytt Stories – which you can still play for free.
- And I finally reviewed Sister Suvi’s Now I Am Champion, which is fan-fucking-tastic. Check them out now.
Like I said, I’m done with a major project and I’ve been blowing the last few nights playing games and watching The Mighty Boosh. But breaktime’s almost over, so I hope to get cracking again real soon and tell y’all all about it.
(UPDATE: I added some links here over the past month.)
Chris Sister Suvi is awesome! Good find. Also can’t wait for the DP interview, maybe you can ask them about that crazy crash.
-Matt
Voyno
June 30, 2009 at 11:06 pm
So, uh, welcome back!
Man – that messhof interview was brilliant! Actually, anything that man does is brilliant. I’m kinda glad that you’re so busy because it means you’re doing so well, but it’s also sad not seeing more regular stuff from you here.
Do let us know what all the NDA fuss is about!
Ben Abraham
July 1, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Matt – Glad you dug ‘em! And unfortunately my interview dates back to April, so they hadn’t even done the Bjork concert yet at that point. In fact, when I talked to Dave he was still busy writing the music for that … I understand everyone’s recovered from the crash. Bassist Nat Baldwin lives here in Portsmouth/Kittery and has a lot of friends here, and we’re all relieved that the accident wasn’t more serious.
Ben, thanks, and thanks for the Twitter praise when I first ran that interview. We’ll see if I use this space very much – I just landed a column which, if all goes well, starts late July, so that and Twitter might be my regular homes. But who knows.
savetherobot
July 2, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Love love love The Mighty Boosh. Glad to hear things are going so well with you. Hope to get together soon-ish for beverages. I’m Old GREG!
Mark
July 15, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Very, very glad to see you back, Chris! And on the day I walked my 880th, and last, kilometer!
Tom Bissell
July 20, 2009 at 11:54 am
Hello Chris,
It seems as though your press release for Manafon has finally made it’s way on to the internet…This is your press release, right?
David Sylvian is a man apart. In a thirty-year career that spans the New Romantic movement, ambient works and progressive rock, and mature and esoteric pop, Sylvian has tested popular styles and bent them to his own vision. But the ‘00s have seen a more extreme side of his work. While 2003’s ‘Blemish’ startled long-time fans with its emotional rigour, Sylvian has taken the next step with ‘Manafon’ (his first solo album in 6 years) – a work of nuance and stern musicality, that is also intriguing, suspenseful, and horribly beautiful.
On ‘Manafon’, Sylvian pursues “a completely modern kind of chamber music. Intimate, dynamic, emotive, democratic, economical”. In sessions in London, Vienna, and Tokyo, Sylvian assembled the world’s leading improvisers and innovators, artists who explore free improvisation, space-specific performance, and live electronics. From Evan Parker and Keith Rowe, to Fennesz and members of Polwechsel, to Sachiko M and Otomo Yoshihide, the musicians provide both a backdrop and a counterweight to his own vocal performances – which, minus one instrumental, are nakedly the center of each piece.
Sylvian’s voice has never been so dominant or so striking, and his resonant tenor and deliberate vibrato captivate the listener from the start of ‘Small Metal Gods’. “It’s like a one-man monologue in which every change of light and backdrop is crucial to the carrying of the central performance. It’s an ensemble work even though there is a central performance”.
Intuition drew Sylvian to these pieces and these players, and the surprises they bring: a cello visiting like a warm hand on a forehead, the unpredictable use of unadulterated sine waves, the brassy path of Evan Parker’s soprano sax solo. ‘Manafon’ has a forbidding core, but aesthetically, each piece is an engrossing discovery.
Presented as ever in a beautiful digipak featuring exquisite artwork from Ruud Van Empel and designed by Chris Bigg.
Tracklisting
1. Small Metal Gods
2. The Rabbit Skinner
3. Random Acts Of Senseless Violence
4. The Greatest Living Englishman
5. 125 Spheres
6. Snow White In Appalachia
7. Emily Dickinson
8. The Department Of Dead Letters
9. Manafon
Brian
July 23, 2009 at 11:31 am
That’s most of it, but I just noticed it’s abridged – the full one is here, along with the track list and personnel:
http://www.davidsylvian.net/the-news/433-manafon.html
savetherobot
July 23, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Thanks so much for the full press release. I see that certain sites selling the product are unfortunately taking the liberty of chopping up your excellent work in order to fit neatly within the space they’ve allotted for the item they are selling. But all of these sites will undoubtedly be sure to use this line: ‘Manafon’ has a forbidding core, but aesthetically, each piece is an engrossing discovery.
I grow more and more anxious to hear this and that line made the anticipation of the arrival of September seem even longer. So bravo, ….Thanks
Brian
July 29, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Brian, thanks – and thanks again for the heads up that it’s out there!
Can’t wait to hear what you think of the disc. The DVD is also really good – it’s a documentary, Amplified Gesture, featuring interviews with the free improvisers who worked on the album. The interviews don’t focus on Manafon so much as get at the working methods and life-long practices of all the players – Evan Parker, Fennesz, Keith Rowe, Eddie Prevost, John Tilbury, and others. People often say that it’s imposible to talk about this kind of music or put it in words, and yet I find that every time I hear musicians at that level talk about their work, it’s endlessly fascinating. So, that’s a terrific addition to the whole package.
David’s cut for the new Believer music issue is also really good, and totally unlike the Manafon sessions. So that’s definitely worth checking out.
savetherobot
July 30, 2009 at 6:52 am
Thanks so much for the description of Amplified Gesture – I think that Sylvian’s decision to enhance the product with such a DVD is a wise one. It seems as though it should give a deeper explanation behind the project and hopefully assist in bringing appreciation from certain fans who may not be accustomed to listening to EAI.
Yet there are always going to be the narrow minded types who close their ears to any sort of experimentation or deviation…which is hard to believe if they have been Sylvian fans for the past few decades, but this sort does very well exist. An example of closemindedness happened to have occured when I posted your description of the DVD on a certain forum (which I hope is okay with you), and within a day or so, I received a slew of e-mails pretty much focused on the idea that since the DVD didn’t include Sylvian on it, then they have no interest in it at all. I can’t quite fathom their line of reasoning.
And I did get a copy of the Believer issue – thanks for the recommendation.
Brian
August 2, 2009 at 7:31 pm