David Sylvian

你會怎樣解讀David Sylvian這位人物？
前英國New Romantic/Art Rock樂團Japan的靈魂人物？顛倒眾生的天下第一美男子？唯美音樂詩人？還是簡單直接地稱他為一名藝術(shù)家？也許這些已彷佛是老掉了牙的說法，但在我們這輩樂迷心目中，他的而且確有著不可多得、無法磨滅的地位。
畢竟他的Brilliant Trees、Gone To Earth、Secrets Of The Beehive等個人專輯，都是八十年代一眾文藝青年必聽的唯美派音樂經(jīng)典──如今這樣寫起來也倒覺得有點兒肉麻啊。
或許這是我們的八十年代集體回憶，然而David Sylvian的音樂創(chuàng)作卻從沒有停留在八十年代，請不要將他Nostalgia起來。只是打後他的作品，都并非為迎合樂迷所需而來，而是只朝著他的「自我」方針而前行——直至1999年，他推出了Dead Bees On A Cake專輯，才是他自Secrets Of The Beehive後足足十二年來的另一張Song-Based著作，重投樂迷最熱切期待到Sylvian的縈繞心頭優(yōu)美Avant Ballad聲音。
又正如踏入廿一世紀，Sylvian成立了他的自家獨立廠牌Samadhi Sound。正當舊公司Virgin在2003年間相繼把Japan及其個人專輯以新封套設計兼Remastered形式作舊酒新瓶再版發(fā)行，同年Samadhi Sound廠牌及Blemish專輯的出現(xiàn)，正標志著他展開了其音樂征途的新一章。
後維珍時代
2000年一張雙CD歌曲精選專輯Everything And Nothing，再加上2002年的純音樂精選專輯Camphor，正正為他的Virgin時代作出了圓滿的總結(jié)，也象征丁自Japan時期的80年專輯Gentlemen Takes Polaroids起跟Virgin廠牌維持了超過二十載的合作無間賓主關(guān)系，亦已告一段落。
Virgin老早已不再是昔日那所甚具領(lǐng)導性的英倫新音樂品牌，但這所主流唱片集團到了後來仍能有空間容納到Sylvian，讓他發(fā)表談不上有何商業(yè)元素的作品，已簡直是奇跡且難能可貴。Sylvian脫離Virgin，其實是早可預料的事，然而他卻沒有蟬過別枝，而是選擇獨立自主地在美國新罕布什爾州開設他的Samadhi Sound廠牌。
Samadhi Sound是Sylvian的自家廠牌，也是他由一間古老農(nóng)莊倉房改建而成的錄音室，似乎他意圖就此大展拳腳。
而Samadhi Sound的創(chuàng)業(yè)作，是他的2003年度個人專輯Blemish，縱然這是他繼Dead Bees On A Cake之後的另一歌曲作品專輯，但所打造出卻是一種簡約而寂靜的音樂美學，沒有悅耳窩心的歌曲旋律，有的卻是荒涼的疏離感。
秉承過往Sylvian唱片的精英陣容，在Blemish里亦同樣有精銳的樂手助陣，但這次卻只有僅僅兩人為他伴奏而已，一位是英國Avant-Jazz結(jié)他手Derek Bailey，而另一位則是維也納前衛(wèi)電音制作人Fennesz——禮尚往來，去年Fennesz推出的Venice專輯，又邀請了Sylvian為他主唱了一曲Transit──他難得在別人的唱片里客串。
瑕疵再造
Following the 1982 dissolution of Japan, the groups onetime frontman David Sylvian staked out a far-ranging and esoteric career that encompassed not only solo projects but also a series of fascinating collaborative efforts and forays into filmmaking, photography, and modern art. Born David Batt in Kent, England, on February 23, 1958, Sylvian formed Japan in 1974 and served as primary singer/songwriter throughout the groups eight-year existence. Just prior to Japans breakup, Sylvian began working with composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, with whom he released the single Bamboo Houses in 1982, marking the beginning of a longstanding musical relationship.
After 1983s Forbidden Colours, another joint effort with Sakamoto composed for the film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Sylvian released his 1984 solo debut, Brilliant Trees. The first step in his musics evolution from Japans post-glam synth pop into richly textured, poetic ambience, the album featured contributions from Sakamoto as well as Jon Hassell and Can alumnus Holger Czukay. That year, Sylvian also published his first book of photographs, Perspectives: Polaroids 82/84; in 1985, he released Preparations for the Journey, a documentary filmed in and around Tokyo, as well as the EP Words With the Shaman.
Gone to Earth, an ambitious double LP recorded with assistance from Robert Fripp and Bill Nelson, followed in 1986, while 1987 marked the release not only of the beautiful Secrets of the Beehive album but also the book collection Trophies: The Lyrics of David Sylvian. At the same time, he began composing the score for modern dancer Gaby Abis Kin, which premiered at Londons Almeida Theater that September; another collaboration with Abis, Dont Trash My Altar, Dont Alter My Trash, bowed in November 1988. Also in 1988, Sylvian reunited with Holger Czukay for the instrumental LP Plight and Premonition; the duo re-teamed in 1989 for Flux + Mutability. Ember Glance: The Permanence of Memory, an installation of sculpture, sound, and light created by Sylvian and Russell Mills, was staged in Tokyo Bay, Shinagawa, in 1990; a year later, he and the other members of Japan, who had briefly reunited under the name Rain Tree Crow, issued a self-titled album.
In 1994, Sylvian emerged in tandem with Robert Fripp for both an album, The First Day, and Redemption, another sound-and-image installation exhibited in Japan. The superb Dead Bees on a Cake followed in 1999; Approaching Silence, a collection of instrumental material, appeared later that fall. In fall 2000 Sylvian returned with the double-disc Everything and Nothing, which made for an excellent introduction to some of Sylvians projects that had finally taken shape after composition completion, financial settlements, and time constraints throughout his solo career. He reappeared in 2003 with Blemish, an unsettling disc of new material featuring appearances by avant guitar legend Derek Bailey and electronica experimentalist Christian Fennesz.