Manafon

David Sylvian | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 15, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: SAMADHI SOUND UK
• ASIN: B002GJ3OAG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,679 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Extremely limited edition two disc (CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD) box set comes in two separate hard back, cloth-bound volumes housed a cloth-bound rigid slip case with an accompanying black on white high quality print of a portrait by Atsushi Fukui, each individually signed by the artist and David Sylvian. Volume One (CD) includes a 40 page full colour printed, perfect bound book to accompany Manafon, featuring the complete lyrics plus artwork from Atsushi Fukui and Ruud Van Empel. Volume Two (DVD) includes a 24 page full color printed, perfect bound book to accompany the documentary Amplified Gesture and a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album mixed by Sylvian. Samadhi Sound. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you go out to the woods today, you'll get a big surprise !, September 17, 2009

By 

Paul Cartwright - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Manafon (Audio CD)

I'm sure there will be more opinions in the negative with David Sylvian's new album " Manfon ". This is definitely not for every Sylvian fan . If you want David's melancholic lilting ballads, you've got " Secrets of the Beehive " or " Gone To Earth ". If you want glam, you've got Japan's " Obscure Alternative " and " Adolescent Sex ". If you want perfectly manicure pop, you've got " Tin Drum " and " Gentlemen take Polaroids ". But if you want an artist such as David Sylvian to mature and find new ways to keep themselves true....you've got " Blemish " and now " Manafon ". If I may make a comparison to Miles Davis, a man who searched and strove towards forging new ways of expression, new ways of rebellion, and at times wrestled with his artistic and personal demons. He continually struggled with himself and the public to make new music almost everytime. This artist NEVER stood still, and I'm sure lost and found listeners along the way. And in this day and age where music is manufactured in little plastic cases, all looking and sounding the same, safe as houses....with pop singers too afraid to say how they really feel ( or if they have anything to say at all ). Well I'm happy knowing that David Sylvian is in charge of his own creativity and is not afraid to show what he is feeling and communicating at this given time. At no point did I find this album a " smooth ride down the Nile on a hot summer's day ". Rather I was shocked in the same way it's sister album " Blemish " did a few years back. But with repeated listenings, I found a way to understand and appreciate the work. Music can either be a part of your furniture ( no real listening required ) or it can grab you attention forcing you to listen to it in different way. Manafon does this. So if you are up for charting unfamiliar waters, this album is for you. If not 1978's " Sometime's I feel so Low " beckons you !

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mildly dissapointing work by David Sylvian, October 13, 2009

By 

Jose Artiles-Gil "José Leopoldo Artiles-Gil" (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Manafon (Audio CD)

There is no doubt that David Sylvian is one of the most creative musicians since the late nineties. His new album, "Manafon" bears out his rich imagination and daring pursuit of original experimentation. This time though his effort has not worked as expected. In spite of the huge talent of the musicians accompanying him, one does not get to feel that they do their best to deliver a good performance, and it seems that "improvising" turns out to be a license to make nonsense noise. No matter the content of Sylvian's lyrics, it does not seem that they cohere with the sounds created for the occasion. Hence my three stars, an expression of my mild dissapointment, something very unusual on my part when I engage Sylvian's works.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Egocentric Drivel, October 1, 2010

By 

Alex Broom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Manafon (Audio CD)

What's more difficult to swallow than this album is how seriously these guys take themselves. Alas, I am a completionist and purchased the deluxe edition for this album. What I got for my $70 was a couple of pictures and a 55 minute video of "intellects" pontificating about how important their services are to the musical community. Indeed my tastes are eclectic and my tolerance for the avante-garde greater than most, but for those of you who do not suffer from the "completionist gene" take some advice from someone who collects music, the effort put forth by these pimp artists is pathetic. Throughout the piece pompous grating is substituted for constructive ideas and esoteric dirge for thoughtful lyrics. Perhaps the ultimate insult comes in the form of David Sylvian's insistence to slap his name over this work when he himself claims the extent of his contribution was hash lyrics and vinyl static. But then again, he's probably doing his "collaborators" a favor.

Best Quotes (From Previous Reviews):

"it seems that "improvising" turns out to be a license to make nonsense noise" [Jose Artiles-Gil]

"just monotonous nasal ramblings over the sound of a hair dryer while a bassist tunes up" [James F. Mcdermott]

"quiet tracks are layered with pops and glitches and scratches - thus preventing the music from inhabiting its own space; This curtain of interference between the listener and the artist is, for me, off-putting" [Robert Carlberg] - and to think this album is offered in a $40 vinyl edition