Brilliant trees

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brilliant trees
Studio album by David Sylvian
Cover

Publication
(s)

June 25, 1984

admission

1984

Label (s) Virgin

Format (s)

Genre (s)

running time

39:37 min

Studio (s)

Hansa Studios, Berlin

Location (s)

Berlin

chronology
- Brilliant trees Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities (1985)
Single releases
May 1984 Red guitar
August 1984 The Ink in the Well
October 1984 Pulling punches

Brilliant Trees is theBritish singer-songwriter David Sylvian's first solo album , released in 1984. The album peaked at number 4 on the British Albums Chart and wasawarded goldby the British Phonographic Industry for sales of more than 100,000 copies.

Emergence

It was the first release after his band Japan split up in December 1982. The album was recorded with former Japan band members, Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri . AllMusic called the album "eclectic stuff in which funk , jazz and ambient merge". Other musicians on the album were Danny Thompson on double bass , Jon Hassell on trumpet , Holger Czukay on French horn and dictaphone as well as Ryūichi Sakamoto on keyboards and Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn . It was recorded at the end of 1983 in the Hansa Tonstudios in Berlin with producer Steve Nye. The recording was of considerable importance to Sylvian's work. The new working method in the studio and the emotional range of his compositions and fellow musicians radically expanded the scope of his work on the album. Sylvian and Sakamoto had already worked together on the singles Bamboo Houses and Forbidden Colors and wanted to continue the collaboration.

Publications

Brilliant Trees reached number 4 in the UK, the highest chart position in Sylvian's career to date, and contains his biggest solo hit, Red Guitar , which landed at number 17 on the UK singles chart . In 1994, ten years after its release, the album was awarded gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of more than 100,000 copies.

In 1991 the album was re-released in the US as Brilliant Trees / Words with the Shaman . The album now contained three singles from Words with the Shaman 1-3 of the previously only available on compact cassette album Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities .

In 2003 the CD Brilliant Trees was remixed and released as a limited digipak version. In 2006 a new edition appeared in a standard CD case. The album art for both releases has been replaced with a cropped photo of Sylvian from the original album with new fonts in the title.

In February 2019, Brilliant Trees appeared as a new edition with a monochrome vinyl fold-out cover, again with new fonts in the title. No new audio mastering was performed for this; The 2003 remaster was used.

criticism

Brilliant Trees has been well received by the British contemporary music press. “Sylvian has come of age,” wrote Caroline Linfield in the British magazine Sounds , “He left art school, went through the gray and comes out in a spectrum of pastel tones that captivate us. Gone are the clichéd images that haunted the band Japan ... he became a solo artist who deserves more respect than his handsome face allows. ”Steve Sutherland, who never liked the band Japan, came to Melody for an enthusiastic review Maker concluded: “Brilliant Trees takes on the actual shape that Sylvian always sought in music; It is a masterpiece. "

Track list

No. , Title length
1. Pulling Punches (Sylvian) 5:02
2. The Ink in the Well (Sylvian) 4:30
3. Nostalgia (sylvian) 5:41
4th Red Guitar (Sylvian) 5:09
5. Weathered Wall (Sylvian, Jon Hassell ) 5:44
6th Backwaters (Sylvian) 4:52
7th Brilliant Trees (Sylvian, Hassell) 8:39
Length: 39:37

occupation

production

  • David Sylvian - Producer for Klangfarben Productions , sound assistant
  • Steve Nye - producer for Klangfarben Productions , sound engineer , sound engineer , titles: A1, A3 to B1, B3
  • P. Williams - sound engineer
  • Nigel Walker - Sound Assistant, Title: A1, B2
  • Yuka Fujii - cover photo by David Sylvian

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ OFFICIAL ALBUMS CHART RESULTS MATCHING: BRILLIANT TREES. July 7, 1984, accessed July 7, 2020 .
  2. ↑ OFFICIAL SINGLES CHART RESULTS MATCHING: RED GUITAR. June 2, 1984, accessed July 7, 2020 .