"OK Computer" by RADIOHEAD – 2009 vs. 2017 2CD Reissues Comparisons - June 1997 UK Third Studio Album on Parlophone Records featuring Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway (March 2009 UK/EUROPE EMI/Parlophone Records 2CD Collector's Edition Reissue with The Album on CD1 while CD2 Contains Tracks from Three CD Singles and a BBC Radio 1 Session from 1997 – No Remastering – June 2017 UK XL Recordings 20th Anniversary 2CD Remaster with Three New Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Scrolling Up And Down The Neon Sign…"

Pretentious – Brilliant – Unique – Ludicrously Overrated. Radiohead do my brain in. 

When I worked at Reckless Records in both Islington and Soho (legendary used record shops that have been in business more than 40-years) - there was barely a few days went by without the unholy trio of "Pablo Honey" or "The Bends" or "OK Computer" going into shuffle play only to witness an entire shop of browsers groove and head nudge to the Art Rock noises of Thom Yorke & Co.

But I have always thought – and despite polls telling us that "OK Computer" is the greatest album ever made (which I believe to be absolute bollox) – that their second platter "The Bends" is far better. I also dug CD2 on the infuriating 2009 2CD Collectors Edition of "OK Computer" sometimes more than the album (call me zealot, arrange a beheading, public flogging etc). Then they did the June 2017 OKNOTOK 1997 2017 '20th Anniversary' Reissue – more bloody differences - more CD2s possibly better than CD1. Some history is needed here first... 

When Radiohead ended their contract with EMI – the label still owned rights to the previous three albums – so EMI naturally did what many believe was a 2009 cash-grab in the RHEAD CD3 two-disc reissue. Radiohead get their rights back years later (they are named after a Talking Heads song) and decide to do a proper band-sanctioned 20th Anniversary reissue of "OK Computer" in June 2017. This time they edit the song number on CD2 down from fifteen to eleven, add three outtakes at the beginning (three new, eight old is the new break-down), have top audio engineer BOB LUDWIG remaster the whole kaboodle (not done on the 2009 version) and add the wording "OKNOTOK 1997 2017" beneath the title on the front cover so you have a visual differentiation. So CD1 is OK and CD2 is cleverly NOTOK. 

Their new label, XL Recordings, also reissued the Double-Album in 2017 on VINYL – a very popular item indeed (there is a 3LP variant too). But in a staggeringly absent-minded move - the 20th Anniversary 2017 issue lost its 24-page booklet which left only a four-panel foldout gatefold card sleeve with no lyrics to an album that feels too dense to understand without them.

Booklet missing aside - as you can see from the listings below - CD2 of the 2017 version is a different listening beast to the CD2 of the 2009 issue. So, which is best? I own both frankly, because I feel there is advantages to each. Before I endanger my life any further with rabid head fans, to the details, OK or NOT…

2009 ISSUE:
UK/EUROPE released Friday, 23 March 2009 - "OK Computer" by RADIOHEAD on EMI/Parlophone Records RHEADCD 3 – 50999 6 93623 2 3 (Barcode 5099969362323) is a 2CD Collectors Edition Reissue that plays out as follows:

CD1 (53:29 minutes):
1. Airbag
2. Paranoid Android
3. Subterranean Homesick Alien
4. Exit Music (For A Film)
5. Let Down
6. Karma Police
7. Electioneering
8. Fitter Happier
8. Climbing Up The Walls
9. No Surprises
10. Lucky
11. The Tourist
Tracks 1 to 11 are their third studio album "OK Computer" – released 17 June 1997 in the UK on CD on Parlophone CDNODATA 02 – 7243 8 55229 2 5 (released 21 May 1997 in Japan and 1 July 1997 in the USA). It peaked at No.1 in the UK and No. 20 in the USA.

CD2 (60:42 minutes):
Paranoid Android (CD Single)
1. Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)
2. Pearly
3. A Reminder
4. Melatonin
Karma Police (CD Single)
5. Meeting In The Aisle
6. Lull
7. Climbing Up The Walls (Zero 7 Mix)
8. Climbing Up The Walls (Filla Brazillia Mix)
No Surprises (CD Single)
9. Pala Alto
10. How I Made My Millions
11. Airbag (Live In Berlin)
12. Lucky (Live In Florence)
BBC Radio One Evening Session 28.05.07
13. Climbing Up The Walls
14. Exit Music (For A Film)
15. No Surprises

2017 ISSUE:
UK/EUROPE released Friday, 23 June 2017 - "OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017" by RADIOHEAD on XL Recordings XLCD868 (Barcode 634904086824) is a 2CD 20th Anniversary Remastered Edition Reissue with Three New Outtakes on CD2 and a Remaster of all Material that plays out as follows:

CD1 OK (53:30 minutes):
Same Track List as CD1 above

CD2 NOTOK (39:12 minutes):
1. I Promise
2. Man Of War [features Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Ziegler Conductor]
3. Lift
4. Lull
5. Meeting In The Aisle
6. Melatonin
7. A Reminder
8. Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)
9. Pearly
10. Alto
11. How I Made My Millions

Which edition is better? There is no doubt that CD2 of the 20th Anniversary Edition Reissue works so much better than the 2009 issue – especially the way it feels like a sneakily brilliant companion album – ten coherent band songs - then the piano loneliness of "How I Made My Millions" ends the listen. But I still miss me those two Climbing Up The Walls mixes – maybe not so much the BBC stuff which feels ever so slightly dead for some reason (I can understand why Radiohead wanted to lose these, maybe they felt they were badly played or recorded even with great album cuts covered like "Exit Music (For A Film)" and "No Surprises"). 

The three new songs are slow and ponderous but feel magnificent nonetheless, of which "I Promise" and "Man Of War" must be the cream of the crop. The 2017 Ludwig Remaster gives subtle oomph to "Paranoid Android", the spacey "Let Down" and the otherworldly "Karma Police" wants to pulverise your stereo. You can feel its power when "Airbag" starts to go ape – the same when "The Tourist" shuffles the album out. I own both issues (pictured above) because I'm loath to lose anything off either!

The 2017 Reissue of "OK Computer" is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Rachel Owen (Thom Yorke's life-and-marital partner for more than two decades) who passed in 2016 after a brave battle with cancer, aged only 48. A lovely gesture.

Yes, for sure, the missing booklet or perhaps some new annotation would have lifted this up to the stratosphere as this groundbreaking album fully deserved. But as it is – the 2017 '20th Anniversary' 2CD variant of "OK Computer" just leaves the music to do the talking and that would be the one I'd go for coming into it now. 

It's a more honest yet even vaguer listen – how very Radiohead…

"Another Time, Another Place" by BRYAN FERRY of ROXY MUSIC - July 1974 UK Second Solo Studio Album of Mainly Cover Versions on Island Records (Atlantic Records USA) featuring Chris Mercer, Henry Lowther and Chris Pine on Horns with Ruan O'Lochlainn of Bees Make Honey on Saxophone, John Porter of Uncle Dog and Front with David O'List of The Misunderstood, Nice and Roxy Music on Guitars, John Wetton of King Crimson on Bass with Paul Thompson of Roxy Music and Angelic Upstarts on Drums (October 1999 UK Virgin HDCD Reissue with Bob Ludwig Remaster)

 

 

 

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"...I'm In With The 'ln' Crowd... " 

 

Common consensus has it that Bryan Ferry's second solo studio album ("Another Time, Another Place" from July 1974) outside of his day job as front man and songwriter for ROXY MUSIC was a disappointment. Another cluster of eclectically chosen cover versions (like its predecessor "These Foolish Things" from October 1973) - it wasn't as well received despite his stunning guitar-mad interpretation of "The 'In' Crowd" and I can understand why. 

The debut "These Foolish Things" hammered an unsuspecting Roxy Music fanbase with a record of cover versions - and in 1973! But despite that awkward game plan, the LP worked. So I suppose the follow-up with more of the same was always going to let down, but I would argue that with repeated listening, it's the one of the two I end up playing more. OK - it overstays its welcome as the Side 1 ender (6:46 minutes) - but I mean that combo of Blues Dobro, Haunting Organ, Tuba oom-pah and Girly Melodrama Vocal on the standard "You Are My Sunshine" - what genius. Ferry turns this overly done seaside town shanty into something new and brilliant. Please don't take my sunshine away indeed. I loved it. And it wasn't square (and I was there). To the details...

UK released October 1999 - "Another Time, Another Place" by BRYAN FERRY [of ROXY MUSIC] on Virgin FERRYCD2 (Barcode 724384760021) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of his Second Solo Album and plays out as follows (42:03 minutes:

 

1. The 'In' Crowd [Side 1]

2. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 

3. Walk A Mile In My Shoes

4. Funny How Time Slips Away

5. You Are My Sunshine 

6. (What A) Wonderful World [Side 2]

7. It Ain't Me Babe

8. Fingerpoppin'

9. Help Me Make It Through The Night

10. Another Time, Another Place

Tracks 1 to 10 are his second solo studio album "Another Time, Another Place" - released July 1974 in the UK on Island ILPS 9284 and Atlantic SD 18113 in the USA. Produced by BRYAN FERRY and JOHN PUNTER - it peaked at No. 4 in the UK (didn't chart USA). 

 

Excepting the last track on Side 2, the whole album is cover versions – original artists being Dobie Gray for Track 1, The Platters for Track 2, a Joe South song for Track 3, a Willie Nelson song for Track 4, a Traditional for Track 5, a Barbara Campbell song done by Sam Cooke for Track 6 (she was his wife), a Bob Dylan song for Track 7, an Ike Turner song done by Ike & Tina Turner for Track 8, a Kris Kristofferson song for Track 9 with Track 10 written by Bryan Ferry. 

 

Musicians: the album featured David O'List of The Misunderstood, Nice and Roxy Music with John Porter of Uncle Dog and Front on Guitars, Chris Mercer, Henry Lowther and Chris Pine on Horns, Ruan O'Lochlainn of Bees Make Honey on Saxophone, John Wetton of King Crimson on Bass with Paul Thompson of Roxy Music and Angelic Upstarts on Drums. Ann Odell arranged the Strings and Martyn Ford arranged the Brass. Bryan Ferry played Keyboards and Organ, Harmonica and all Lead Vocals. Many others contributed to the Backing Vocals.

 

The 8-page booklet is hardly the stuff of reissue wet dreams - the lyrics, musician and HDCD Reissue/Remaster credits and that's your lot. The inner artwork to the gatefold sleeve is AWOL, but what whomps big time is the BOB LUDWIG Remaster that uses the HDCD format (High Density CD). Having been so used to hearing the edited 7" single mix for the Dobie Gray cover "The 'In' Crowd" at 4:16 minutes - the full-on wallop and power of those amazing guitars by John Porter when you play the album cut at 4:33 minutes. It may only be 20-seconds or so, but man what a kick in the audio nuts. Unfortunately that single's unreleased B-side "Chance Meeting" is AWOL too and would have made for a cool and obvious bonus track on this CD. 

Spending cash and talking trash, the audio on "The 'In' Crowd" is fantastic and when that wailing and screaming guitar comes a marauding in - the impact is truly hair-raising. Vibe-wise Ferry then does a 360 with a version of The Platters 50ts smoocher "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" which he turns into a piano and strings jaunt - I like it. Many have said that his take on Joe South's Country Rock-ish "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" is the first of too many mistakes on the album and I can understand that criticism. But there's good in it too. Once again Ferry subverts and imbibes a sort of lounge-room lizard menace into "Funny How Time Slips Away" - only to go all Brass and Drums punch half way through. He ends Side 1 with what I think is one of the LP's great moments, the strangely nostalgia elegant "You Are My Sunshine". 

Over on Side 2 Sam Cooke's "(What A) Wonderful World" gets Ferry-ised and I it isn't the LP's greatest triumph for sure - a lack of Soul in a Englishman full of it. And although it starts out promisingly, his version of Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" somehow loses its way in ill-sounding Mellotron keyboards and shouted choruses. The last three are better - an unusual choice in Ike & Tina Turner's "Fingerpoppin'" which he funks up with Vegas Presley brass jabs - another slightly sinister interpretation in his Bass plucking "Help Me Make It Through The Night" - Kris Kristofferson's love song turned into an early-morning light strings-and-girls hungover pleader (let the devil take tomorrow) - and his own rather good title track "Another Time, Another Place" a slow Roxy-type Ballad with doubled-up vocals that somehow fits into the overall sound (dig that fantastic slide guitar burst).

For sure the 1973 Island Records debut "These Foolish Things" is a better overall listen, but I love the moments on this LP - and the Remaster is utterly brill. 

 

"Don't bid me adieu..." Ferry sang on the title track. Well, the dapper gent stuck around a tad longer (50-years plus and counting in 2023) and on the clever interpretations displayed here, it's obvious why he is still so rated. 

 

"If it's square, we ain't there..." - Bryan Ferry was and never has been, square...

"These Foolish Things" by BRYAN FERRY of ROXY MUSIC - October 1973 UK Debut Solo Album on Island Records (Atlantic Records USA) featuring Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music on Guitar, Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music and UK on Keyboards, David Skinner of Twice As Much, Uncle Dog and Clancy on Keyboards, Roger Ball, Malcolm Duncan and Henry Lowther on Horns, Ruan O'Lochlainn of Bees Make Honey on Saxophone, John Porter of Uncle Dog and Front on Bass with Paul Thompson of Roxy Music and Angelic Upstarts on Drums (October 1999 UK Virgin HDCD Reissue with Bob Ludwig Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...It's My Party...And I'll Cry If I Want To... "

 

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall!

 

Who would have thought it – in the year of 1973 - with its serious Progressive Rock breakthrough into the mainstream music charts - "The Six Wives Of Henry The VIII" by Rick Wakeman in January - "The Dark Side Of The Moon" and "For Your Pleasure" by Pink Floyd and Roxy Music in March – "Aladdin Sane" by David Bowie in April – "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield in May - "A Passion Play" by Jethro Tull in July and the double-album "Tales From Topographic Oceans" by Yes in December - Mister Sharp Suits of Leggy Models Inc., does an album of eclectic Thirties to Sixties cover versions and wins The Cool Dude of the Year Award – yet again!

 

With two attention-grabbing genre-redefining albums already in the Island Records bag for Roxy Music (June 1972 for the self-titled "Roxy Music" debut and March 1973 with "For Your Pleasure") - Lead Singer and Principal Songwriter for those Glam Rock darlings wasted no time in getting his solo album debut out into the marketplace. Ferry would set up something of a trend with such albums - following the October 1973 starter in September 1974 with another album of the same ilk – aptly called "Another Time, Another Place".

 

And yet from this most unhip and unlikely of concepts (an album of covers for Gawd’s sake) - Bryan Ferry came up with a Poptastic gem (more or less) that had Avant Garde types donning their Fedora Hats and stroking their satin scarves and feather boas with glee. And it’s good too – in fact 50-years down the line (here in 2023) - Ferry’s brilliantly arranged debut "These Foolish Things" has stood the test of time. It should not work – but with just a hint of Vivian Stanshall wit and tongue-in-cheek, sidling up to Peter Skellern Brass Band nostalgia – our fave uppercrust warbler pulled off an album that keeps you glued – a record filled with less obvious crafty song choices – all reworked to a place where they became something different altogether yet still recognizable.

 

But my real reason for the review is the SOUND. The Bob Ludwig HDCD-Format Remaster on this sucker is an absolute blaster – beautifully clear in a way the original VINYL LP I owned all those decades ago never was. The wallop of the girls giving it woo-woo as BF's session band builds and builds in his version of The Stones anthem "Sympathy For The Devil" is huge. They are clear again on the title track that plays out Side 2. It all sounds bloody glorious.

 

So much to discuss - to the reminders of You and I and our foolish things...

 

UK released October 1999 - "These Foolish Things" by BRYAN FERRY on Virgin FERRYCD1 (Barcode 724384759827) is a straightforward Reissue of the original 1973 album onto Remastered 1999 HDCD (High Density CD) that plays out as follows (43:51 minutes):

 

1. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall [Side 1]

2. River Of Salt

3. Don't Ever Change

4. Piece of My Heart

5. Baby I Don't Care

6. It's My Party

7. Don't Worry Baby

8. Sympathy For The Devil [Side 2]

9. The Tracks Of My Heart

10. You Won't See Me

11. I Love How You Love Me

12. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever

13. These Foolish Things

Tracks 1 to 13 are his debut solo album "These Foolish Things" – released October 1973 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9249 and Atlantic SD 7304 in the USA. Produced by BRYAN FERRY, JOHN PORTER and JOHN PUNTER – it peaked at No. 5 in the UK (didn’t chart USA).

 

The whole album is cover versions – original artists being Bob Dylan for Track 1, Ketty Lester for Track 2, a Jerry Goffin and Carole King song done by The Crickets for Track 3, a Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns song by Erma Franklin for Track 4, a Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller song by Elvis Presley for Track 5, Lesley Gore for Track 6, a Brian Wilson song by The Beach Boys for Track 7.

 

Side 2 is a Mick Jagger/Keith Richards song by The Rolling Stones for Track 8, a Smokey Robinson song by The Miracles for Track 9, a John Lennon and Paul McCartney song by The Beatles for Track 10, The Paris Sisters for Track 11, an Ivy Jo Hunter and Stevie Wonder song by The Four Tops for Track 12 and the American Standard from 1935 is the album’s Title song (Track 13).

 

Musicians - the album featured Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music on Guitar, Eddie Jobson of Roxy Music and 'UK' on Keyboards, David Skinner of Twice As Much, Uncle Dog and Clancy on Keyboards, Roger Ball, Malcolm Duncan and Henry Lowther on Horns, Ruan O'Lochlainn of Bees Make Honey on Saxophone, John Porter of Uncle Dog and Front on Bass with Paul Thompson of Roxy Music and Angelic Upstarts on Drums. 

You could not say that the 8-page booklet is anything to write home about – lyrics – musician lists and reissue credits - and that's it I'm afraid. The spine has the DIGITALLY REMASTERED wording but the disc and tray beneath reflect a generic spiral look for the series that is boring and unimaginative. But the BOB LUDWIG Remastered Audio is truly amazing and I have found it to be so on all these Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music HDCD releases. To the music...

 

Ferry stamps his authority and grabs you by the lapels when he turns Dylan's Freewheelin' song "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" into an altogether angrier and more sinister attack and even at 5:20 minutes – it works like a charm (not many cover version 50-years old sound this contemporary still). Other highlights include the teen-tearfulness of "It's My Party" that Lesley Gore brought to her 60ts original and "I Love How You Love Me" – like Ferry is channeling his inner Girl Group. The Wall of Sound treatment appears for the Side 1 closer "Don't Worry Baby" – Ferry lifting The Beach Boys up into Phil Spector territory. Funnily enough, he remains most faithful to the two formerly Soul cuts of Erma Franklin's personal devastation anthem "Piece Of My Heart" and coquettish Motown classic "The Tracks Of My Tears" – brass fills and girly vocals – but not much else. And why he chose "You Won't See Me" as his Beatles representation on any album anyone's educated guess, but you have to say that the Fabs 1965 original is way better.

 

Only weeks after his ushered out the Solo Debut, Roxy Music itself would return to Avant Garde Art Rock with their third platter "Stranded" in November 1973 – an album that hit No. 1 in Blighty and its catchy opening Side 1 track "Street Life" would go up to No. 9 on the singles chart too.

 

For sure "These Foolish Things" is not all genius and when I worked at Reckless Records in Soho, it was a regular sell-in when guys were culling their collection excesses. But there is good stuff to be had here and that Audio is worth tracking down the tears of any clown for...

"Everything And Nothing" by DAVID SYLVIAN - Album Tracks, Single-Only Mixes, Alternate Versions and Previously Unreleased Outtakes from 1980 to 1999 and completed in 2000. Includes songs by Japan, Rain Tree Crow and Collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alesini and Andreoni, Robert Fripp of King Crimson and Mick Karn of Japan and Rain Tree Crow. Guests include Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe, Bill Frisell, Keith Tippett, Trey Gunn, Ingrid Chavez, Mark Isham, Danny Thompson, John Taylor, Steve Tibbetts, Phil Palmer, Marc Ribot, David Bottrill, Anne O'Dell, Holger Czukay and many more (October 2000 UK Virgin 2CD Compilation with Bob Ludwig Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Every Colour You Want..."

I've been a monster admirer of ex JAPAN front-man and left-field singer-songwriter DAVID SYLVIAN for four-plus decades now - loving albums like "Brilliant Trees", "Secrets Of the Beehive" and "Dead Bees On A Cake". 

 

I've always looked forward to where his adventure with soundscapes would go to next - brilliant and myriad excursions into collaborations with quality types like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alesini and Andreoni and Robert Fripp of King Crimson - never mind his stints with JAPAN and RAIN TREE CROW. However, in my addled and aging disgracefully mind, our whole-foods wholesome DS has also made cack - some albums and heavy sounds I can't actually play (I collected them anyway). 

 

But there's just something about this utterly brilliant and perfectly compiled retrospective from 2000 that hits every marker and I go back to it so often. Great song choices, altered versions that feel better, beautiful Bob Ludwig mastering. When I worked at Reckless in Berwick Street in Soho (a busy joint) - we only had to play outtakes like "The Scent Of Magnolia" or "Ride" on CD1 and hungry punters would be grapple-hooking the elevated serving counter wanting some of that speaker caviar we were just playing. 

And the list of exceptional collaborations/contributions Sylvan has done in his solo career stretches back with abandon - Guitarists Robert Fripp of King Crimson, Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe, Bill Frisell, Phil Palmer, Steve Tibbetts, David Torn, Marc Ribot, Trey Gunn and Rob Dean - Keyboardists Keith Tippett, John Taylor and Tommy Barbarella with Horn Players Mark Isham, Mel Collins and Kenny Wheeler. Also in the mix is Pentangle's Double Bass player Danny Thompson, Can's Holger Czukay, arrangements by Anne O'Dell, duets with Keyboardist, Arranger and songwriter Ryuichi Sakamoto, Euro programming with Alesini and Andreoni - and all of it with the vision-achieving assistance of Engineers like David Bottrill and Steve Nye (to name but a few).

 

Fans will know that there is a 3CD variant of October 2000's "Everything And Nothing" on Virgin CDVDX2897 (Barcode 724385019524) that offers a further 4-Track Bonus Disc of Rarities and all of it presented (unsaid) on lurid 24-carat gold digital chariots. But for now I want to concentrate on the standard 2CD variant in a mere jewel-case - a forgotten compilation that in January 2023 I've seen online for under three quid (talk about 'big dids for small quids'). 

 

There's a whole mess of new and old on here that's been mightily tinkered with, so some manly explanation is needed. Let's have at our Ambient Hero...

 

UK released 9 October 2000 - "Everything And Nothing" by DAVID SYLVIAN on Virgin CDVD2897 (Barcode 724385001727) is a 29-Track 2CD Compilation that plays out as follows: 

 

CD1 (72:00 minutes):

1. The Scent Of Magnolia 

(Previously Unreleased "Dead Bees On A Cake" album outtake from 1999, completed in 2000, Spoken Vocals by Ingrid Chavez)

2. Heartbeat (Tainai Kaiki II) 

(Collaboration, from the Ryuichi Sakamoto album "Heartbeat" on Virgin Records America in 1992, Bill Frisell on Lead Guitar, Ingrid Chavez on Vocals)

3. Blackwater 

(From the 1991 "Rain Tree Crow" album by Rain Tree Crow on Virgin Records, featuring Steve Jansen, Mick Karn and Richard Barbieri of Japan - Lead Guitar by Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe)

4. Albuquerque (Dobro No. 6)

(Previously Unreleased "Dead Bees On A Cake" album outtake from 1999, completed in 2000)

5. Ride 

(Previously Unreleased "Secrets Of The Beehive" album outtake from 1987, completed in 2000, features Phil Palmer and David Torn on Guitars, Danny Thompson on Double Bass with Mark isham on Trumpet, Paino by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Drums/Percussion by Steve Jansen)

6. The Golden Way 

(Collaboration, from the album "Marco Polo" by Alesini & Andreoni (Nicola Alesini and Pier Luigi Andreoni), released by Materiali Sonori in 1995)

7. Ghosts

(With Japan, from their fifth album "Tin Drum" released by Virgin in Nov 1981)

8. Pop Song 

(Single Version from the October 1989 UK 3" CD-single on Virgin VSCD 1221)  

9. Every Colour You Are

(From the 1991 "Rain Tree Crow" album by Rain Tree Crow on Virgin Records, Slide Guitar by Phil Palmer)

10. Wanderlust

(From the 1999 album "Dead Bees On A Cake", featuring Tommy Barbarella)

11. God's Monkey 

(From the collaboration album "The First Day" by Robert Fripp (of King Crimson) and David Sylvian on Virgin Records in 1993)

12. Let The Happiness In

(From the album "Secrets Of The Beehive" released by Virgin Records in 1987)

13. I Surrender

(From the 1999 album "Dead Bees On A Cake")

14. Thoroughly Lost To Logic

(Previously Unreleased 1991 recording, co-write and featuring Keith Tippett on Piano, finished 2000) 

 

CD2 (67:38 minutes):

1. Jean The Birdman 

(From the collaboration album "The First Day" by Robert Fripp (of King Crimson) and David Sylvian on Virgin Records in 1993)

2. Cover Me With Flowers 

(Previously Unreleased "Dead Bees On A Cake" album outtake from 1999, completed in 2000, features Steve Tibbetts on Guitars)

3. The Boy With The Gun

(From the 1999 album "Dead Bees On A Cake", features Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Torn and Danny Thompson)

4. Riverman

(From the Japan 2LP set "Gone To Earth" on Virgin Records in September 1986, features Robert Fripp of King Crimson on Guitars and Mel Collins on Saxophone)

5. Apama And Nimisha (Dobro No. 5) 

(Previously Unreleased "Dead Bees On A Cake" album outtake from 1999, completed in 2000, features Bill Frisell on Dobro)

6. Midnight Sun 

(From the album "Secrets Of The Beehive" released by Virgin Records in 1987, features Marc Ribot on Guitar, String Arrangements by Ryuichi Sakamoto)

7. Orpheus 

(From the album "Secrets Of The Beehive" released by Virgin Records in 1987, features Mark Isham, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Phil Palmer and danny Thompson)

8. Some Kind Of Fool 

(Previously Unreleased, taken from Japan's sessions for their fourth album "Gentlemen Wear Polaroids" released Nov 1980 on Virgin, finished in 2000, Violin by Simon House and Vocals by Ingrid Chavez)

9. Cries And Whispers
(From the 1991 "Rain Tree Crow" album by Rain Tree Crow on Virgin Records, featuring Steve Jansen, Mick Karn and Richard Barbieri of Japan)

10. Godman

(From the 1999 album "Dead Bees On A Cake", features Mark Ribot on Guitar, Steve Jansen on Loops with Ingrid Chavez on Vocals)

11. Laughter And Forgetting 

(From the Japan 2LP set "Gone To Earth" on Virgin Records in September 1986, features John Taylor on Piano and Kenny Wheeler on Flugelhorn)

12. Buoy 

(Collaboration, from the Mick Karn solo album "Dreams Of Reason Produce Monsters" released 1987 on Virgin Records, also featuring Steve Jansen of Japan)

13. Weathered Wall

(From David Sylvian's debut solo album "Brilliant Trees" released June 1984 on Virgin Records, features Jon Hassell on Trumpet, Ryuichi Sakamota and Barbieri on Keyboards with Holger Czukay of Can on Recorders)

14. Bamboo Houses 

(Original Version by Ryuichi Sakamota and David Sylvian released 1982 on Virgin Records, features Steve Jansen)

15. Come Morning 

(Collaboration, from the album "Marco Polo" by Alesini & Andreoni (Nicola Alesini and Pier Luigi Andreoni), released by Materiali Sonori in 1995)

 

The 16-page booklet acts a pictorial for our photogenic musical troubadour (and wife Ingrid) with full track-by-track credits across the centre pages and beyond. It's kind of hard to read the thick and fast small print, but the BOB LUDWIG Mastering is the star here. This 2CD set sounds gorgeous even when the music is deliberately grunged up or programmed to bleed. But what gets me (for someone so closely associated with King Crimson and even Roxy Music Prog and Indie of old) - is the musicality that seeps through the softer stuff - "Every Colour You Are", "Heartbeat" and even the beautiful simplicity of the 'Dobro' snippets/numbers. 

 

There's something for everyone here - Japan fans getting a newly turned out songs from the "Gentlemen Wear Polaroids" period of 1980 and the now forgotten 1986 double "Gone To Earth" - later lovers being treated to the seemingly endless creativity that surrounded both "Secrets Of The Beehive" (1987) and "Dead Bees On A Cake" (1999). I didn't (admittedly) have the two Euro CD cuts with Alesini & Andreoni on CD1 and CD2 - so nice one there. And I can never get enough of "I Surrender" and "Weathered Wall". 

 

I dare say, David Sylvian and his (almost) non-songs will not be for everyone. But those who love their songsmiths penning the pretty side of leftfield and ambient mood will be making tea, dunking the digestives and planning another 'Everything And Nothing' deep dive. I love it. Prada indeed...