More Everything, Less Nothing (Everything And Nothing - David Sylvian)

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Product:	Everything And Nothing - David Sylvian
Date:	17/12/06 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plenty of pop catchiness and experimentation from one of the most important musicians of his generat

Disadvantages: A slight unevenness of tracks

Everything and Nothing is a rather unusual album, containing two CDs of music spanning David Sylvian's entire career. Yet this is no ordinary best of album, if anything it's not a best of album at all though it does contain some of his best work. The album is constructed out of many of his best work but intriguingly it also contains a great many songs that have previously only ever been released as singles or had never been released at all. It is these unreleased tracks that if anything are the highlight of Everything and Nothing, and often as not of such quality that you wonder how they had never previously been released.

The problem has always been, with so many David Sylvian albums, that the quality has been indifferent. The quality on Everything and Nothing is not quite as varied though not all of it is to my taste. Nevertheless, if one wants to explore the music of David Sylvian, Everything and Nothing is the perfect place to start at, as it gives an excellent overview of his songwriting career. I say songwriting as Everything and Nothing has a companion album, Camphor, containing his more instrumental work.

Neither CD has any particular order to it, listening to Everything and Nothing there is no obvious sense of musical progression as you listen to the music, though you can often work out which period of Sylvian's work the music comes from. Nevertheless, even on the earlier work Sylvian's voice is as powerful as always and of course Sylvian's voice is very much the linchpin of his music, having one of the most remarkable voices in pop music. That is if you can accuse Sylvian of making pop music, as the breadth of his music so often takes him outside of any normal pop or rock vocabulary.

The first CD starts with an unreleased track, The Scent of Magnolia, which is possibly one of the most impressive songs on the album - if not one of the most impressive songs I've ever heard period. It is one of those remarkable songs where Sylvian's voice is perfectly matched by the invention of the music. Unlike so much of Sylvian's work The Scent of Magnolia is entirely upbeat, containing some fantastic drum programming (the Amazon review is correct in as much it says it is part electronica part rock and puts most practitioners of both to shame) but moreover Sylvian's voice soars magnificently in a song that becomes both energetic and stylish. It's one of those songs which just stay with you. Sylvian is obviously attached to The Scent of Magnolia as on the original version of Everything and Nothing there was a bonus CD that also included two different versions of the song, both of which were as beautiful as the original. In terms of choosing a song to open an album, any album, then The Scent of Magnolia is perhaps the perfect introduction.

After The Scent of Magnolia the album becomes a little more indifferent. Admittedly, I think this is down to my own personal taste rather than any lack of quality in the music, as with all of David Sylvian's work I find myself a little at odds with the music. The second track, for instance, Heartbeat is a Ryuichi Sakamoto track, which though not a bad song isn't one of Sylvian's best. Nevertheless, it's slightly abstract popiness is quite good fun when you're in the mood.

Skipping over Blackwater (it just does nothing for me), we come across Albuquerque, worthy of mention because of the presence of Bill Frizzell, also because in terms pop music it is way outside the usual boundaries. With Frizzell only playing very sparse dobro that complements perfectly Sylvian's deep and emotional vocals. Also, the song lasts barely 2 minutes; it's never dragged out but rather a testament to simplicity and a triumph of musical and vocal skill over excessive embellishment.

Again, Ride, another track otherwise unavailable on a Sylvian album, is a superb piece of music. And as you expect from David Sylvian the vocals are magnificent and emotive, but the music is also elegant, combining catchy melodies with Sylvian's trademark soft horns.

Other gems on the first CD include a rerecorded version of Ghosts and Pop Song. As somebody once commented Ghosts is perhaps the strangest song ever to become a top 10 hit, which it was for Japan, the band in which David Sylvian made his name. Ghosts is one of those marvellous songs that just somehow works, it's all ethereal, though sometimes jarring, electronics (which in some ways presages his album Blemish) that flow and stutter beneath Sylvian's haunting vocals. Pop Song is very similar, though whilst the electronics of Ghosts perfectly mirror the title of the song, the electronics in Pop Song are more bouncy and reflect the early to mid-80s when it was recorded, though it is still in many ways thoroughly unrepresentative of a pop song - nevertheless, it is a remarkably catchy if minimalist song.

Every Colour You Are comes from the album Rain Tree Crow, which represented the reformed Japan's attempt - mostly failed - to once again show their originality. Every Colour You Are is perhaps the one great song from the album. It is exceptionally melodic, with a superbly understated guitar introduction and Sylvian's mellifluous vocals. My only regret is that Sylvian did not use the version from Damage (the live album he produced with Robert Fripp), which is a superior version; nevertheless the original is still a beautiful and haunting song, which shows how superior musicians and songwriting can turn what should be either bland or turgidly emotional music into gold. It's almost alchemical.

The first CD contains two other great songs, the thoroughly underrated Wanderlust, which is again a song that could so easily collapse into mediocrity and tediousness, though instead is a beautifully laid-back, slightly loungy, rambling song. The other great track - though not the greatest on the album - is God's Monkey, which comes from Sylvian's collaboration with Robert Fripp: The First Day. It's a decidedly funky affair, but in an unusual way, and illustrates that Sylvian is even better when matched against musicians equal to his vocal skills.

The second CD begins with Jean the Birdman, which is quite possibly the weakest song from The First Day. I would rather a more interesting song such as Firepower. Nevertheless, it is a good introduction to the second CD and as rock goes it's certainly out of the ordinary.

Following on is one of those gems which Everything and Nothing throws up all too often. Cover Me with Flowers, is a song that grows on you with every listen. Again there's considerable use of electronics, which complement Sylvian's vocals, emphasising their strength. The music is often jagged and a little dissonant and the effect, overall, is distinctly pleasing.

Cover Me with Flowers is followed by two early to mid-period Sylvian masterpieces. The Boy with the Gun and Riverman. The Boy with the Gun is a beautifully fluid song, graced by David Torn's haunting ambient guitar loops, telling the story of the titular boy with the gun planning to take revenge on those people he feels has done him harm over the course of his life. It's one of those songs where Sylvian manages to perfectly marry the effortless grace of the music and the power of his voice. Riverman does this equally as a beautifully, and possibly represents one of the most evocative songs I've ever heard. It's a beautiful piece of music and somehow the sound manages to perfectly mirror the lyrics in tone, as well as being stunningly imagistic. The music conjures up the serene yet troubled beauty of the Riverman's floating world. Unlike the Boy with the Gun, where most of the emotion is on the surface, Riverman is song filled with tension, with emotions boiling up under the surface.

Following Riverman is Aparna and Nimisha, another melodic short musical experiment with Bill Frizzell's minimalist dobro playing against Sylvian's potent vocals. Whilst not my favourite track, it nevertheless highlights the breadth of Sylvian's musical range and refusal to conform to any stale musical formula.

Next up are three of the greatest tracks on the album. Midnight Sun is the best track from his Dead Bees on a Cake album. It is also one of Sylvian's most accessible songs. His throbbing vocals are quite magnificent but the true strength of Midnight Sun is the inspired sampling of John Lee Hooker's guitar, which provides the rhythmical back bone to the song. In something of counterpoint the next track, Orpheus, is a more abstract work featuring David Torn's swirling ambient guitar. Like most mid-period Sylvian, Orpheus is a quietly tense work, yet with an ethereal quality. There are plenty of muted horns, swelling textures, abstract ambience and always Sylvian's potent vocals. The last track of the three, Some Kind of Fool, is an old Japan track that never made it to Gentlemen Take Polaroids. It's a curious mix of lush strings and scaled-down, bare electronica that really shouldn't work but for some reason it does. The rhythms are catchy, and stick in the brain, whilst the vocals and the strings bring a heightened emotion to the song. It is songs like Some Kind of Fool that best emphasise David Sylvian's vocal strengths. Here, as so often in his music, the emotion conveyed in his vocals manages never to become saccharin or maudlin, though a less talented singer would sound flat or else hideously over perform and thus collapse into emotional slush.

The remainder of the CD is for me a bit of a mixed bag. Godman has a catchy loop and a strange almost dirty sound and is certainly worth a listen. Again, it's rather unusual but fun. Laughter and Forgetting is a slightly sombre abstract early work from Gone to Earth. It's short and sweet and again highlights Sylvian's powerful vocals, even if musically there is little beyond the swirling ambience in the background. Similar is Weathered Wall, though this is not track I like and skip. There were two remaining great tracks on the CD. The first is Buoy, an early single, which is very early 80s in sound and once again should be a little crass and a bit tacky but is somehow incredibly catchy and fun. It is similar in sound to Pop Song, coming from the same era. Bamboo Houses, a collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto, is an absolute gem, and a real favourite of mine. It has a sense of energy and liveliness that is not always obvious in Sylvian's work. Sakamoto's synths really carry the song, providing the energy, though the song really comes into its own as Sylvian's vocals slide over the Japan-tinged music. You have the feeling of two musicians enjoying the fruits of their collaboration. Unfortunately, this doesn't end the CD rather Come Morning does, which is another one of those songs I don't particularly like and skip. In that sense Bamboo Houses always finishes the album for me.

As an overview of a musical career, Everything and Nothing covers a remarkable amount of ground, features some of the best musicians you're likely to come across, and in general makes you realise just how important David Sylvian is: his consistent refusal to conform to any genre or stick to a tired routine like so many artists do means he, quite simply, enriches musical culture. You can't help but wish there were more like him.

For this reason I would recommend Everything and Nothing to almost anyone. There is enough pop catchiness for most people to enjoy, whilst more than enough experimentation for those that wish a little more of the unusual in their music. In the final analysis, one can but hope that Sylvian continues to produce more for the same - meaning of course, producing works of an eclectic and intriguing difference.

Sadly, you can no longer buy the three CD set which included some interesting extra tracks, including both a shorter version and a remix of The Scent of Magnolia.

Summary: Sylvian proves his artistic credentials and his refusal to confirm, good or bad, shines through.