October 2018 2LP 'Black Vinyl' Reissue - Black Sleeve Artwork
"...Praise..."
When the album "Dead
Bees On A Cake" was released by David Sylvian towards the tail end of
March 1999 on compact disc (Virgin CDV 2876) - vinyl wasn't the order of the
day. Man how things change...
The first LP outing for his
9th solo album (after fronting Japan in the 80ts) came in April 2018 on White
Vinyl as a 2LP-set with four Bonus Tracks and altered artwork - Virgin 671
524-6 (Barcode 602567152460). A Record Store Day exclusive, the 'white' front
cover featured photos of Sylvian hugging his then wife Ingrid Chavez, both in
white shirts (she took the classy snaps).
What we have here is
technically a reissue of that. For this October 2018 2LP Expanded Edition
'reissue' on 180-Gram Black Vinyl (standard coloured vinyl for the first time)
- Virgin 671 524-3 (Barcode 602567152439) takes the hugging pose and flips it
over to the rear sleeve (this time in black coats) and puts a face-profile
photo of just Sylvian on his own (in black) on the front along with a 'hype'
sticker.
The running order for both
issues of the double-album (over the CD) has also been altered with four Bonus
Tracks slotted in - "The Scent Of Magnolia", "Albuquerque (Dobro
#6)", "Cover Me With Flowers" and "Aparna and Nimisha
(Dobro #5)" - all of which first appeared as DB outtakes on the October
2000 Virgin Records 2CD retrospective "Everything & Nothing".
For those of us used to the
playing order of the 14-track 1999 CD - this 'Expanded Edition' 18-Track
"Dead Bees On A Cake" double vinyl album is a shocker in that it
feels so damn right - the extras having made an already great album even
better. For instance the CD ran "I Surrender", "Dobro #1"
and "Midnight Sun" as the first three tracks - here a brilliant
"The Scent Of Magnolia" slots in as Track 2 and works magically -
like it was always meant to be there.
The same applies to the newly configured
Side B with the Up-period Peter Gabriel-ish "Cover Me With Flowers".
The playing with his children song "Aparna and Nimisha (Dobro #5)" is
admittedly only one-minute long, but it's gorgeous nonetheless and acts as a
fabulously delicate lead-in to the heavy-heavy "Pollen Path" track
that now ends Side C. Here are the 2LP track details (* denotes Bonus Track)...
Side A:
1. I Surrender
2. The Scent Of Magnolia *
3. Dobro #1
4. Midnight Sun
Side B:
1. Cover Me With Flowers *
2. Krishna Blue
3. Albuquerque (Dobro #6) *
Side C:
1. Thalheim
2. Alphabet Angel
3. God Man
4. Cafe Europa
5. Aparna and Nimisha (Dobro
#5) *
6. Pollen Path
Side D:
1. The Shining Of Things
2. Wanderlust
3. All Of My Mother's Names
(Summers With Amma)
4. Praise (Pratah Smarami)
5. Darkest Dreaming
The new gatefold artwork is
gorgeous, there are two inner sleeves with track-by-track musician credits
(Ryuichi Sakamoto, Marc Ribot, Steve Jansen, Talvin Singh, Kenny Wheeler, Steve
Tibbetts, Bill Frisell to name but a few) and the inner gatefold gives further
recording and guest info. There is also a one-time Download Redeem Card with
exclusive code to get your digital copy from The Sound Of Vinyl website.
I got my copy for twenty-two
quid and it sounds beautiful – even something as quiet and serene as
"Praise (Pratah Smarami)" is so sweet audiowise - the Mother Earth
ethereal vocals of guest singer Shree Maa aching over a lone Sylvian guitar –
his treated notes slipping in and out of the soundscape like shimmering water.
The album ends on the equally peaceful stay tonight hold me close song
"Darkest Dreaming" – an alternative sounds love song.
As a reissue, this is the
way to go, beautifully done...
The artwork for the 1999 original CD issue of "Dead Bees..." on Virgin CDV 2876
The artwork for the 1999 original CD issue of "Dead Bees..." on Virgin CDV 2876
