Browse by Label: SAMADHISOUND

Artist:	SYLVIAN, DAVID
Title:	Blemish
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 001CD

A new solo album from David Sylvian, featuring guests Derek Bailey & Fennesz! Mainly intended as a mail-order only release, this will have limited distribution... "His first since Dead Bees on a Cake. It is the debut release for his own Samadhi Sound label. David set aside a month to write and record the album while taking a break from the project that he and his brother, Steve Jansen, are currently working on. He has created an impromptu suite of songs for guitar, electronics and voice. The compositions were crafted from improvisational sessions captured live in the studio. Working almost entirely alone David has created an emotionally raw, minimal work, of immediacy and stark beauty. Although there are elements in his previous body of work that hint at the direction taken here the CD, entitled simply Blemish, appears to cover new ground in style, content, intensity of emotion, and in the seemly open ended nature of the compositions themselves. Adding to the intensity and air of experimentation is the presence of Derek Bailey. Three of the pieces included on Blemish were written with, and feature, the legendary free-jazz guitarist. The final track of the CD features a haunting electronic arrangement by Christian Fennesz."

Artist:	SYLVAIN/RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, DAVID
Title:	World Citizen
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 002CD

"Some months back Ryuichi instigated the chain-music project. A chain letter in musical form, anti-war in origination. He originally asked me to write a set of lyrics for the project. Initially I felt apprehensive about taking on such weighty subject matter lyrically. In a very real sense this approach to lyric writing is the antithesis to my own. I also happened to be travelling at the time the request reached me so, reluctantly, I felt I had to turn it down. However, as the week wore on I found myself pacing the streets of London with the beginnings of an idea for a piece called 'World Citizen'. On my return to the US, I found the chain-music composition waiting for me. My immediate response to the piece was to repeat two lines at the heart of the composition, one of which was the phrase 'World Citizen'. The title resonated in a simple way. A necessary redirection of focus away from the national towards the global. That evening I penned the song 'World Citizen'. I recorded a one-take demo a week later and sent an MP3 file to Ryuichi to see if, in his opinion, the piece was worth pursuing. The initial response was muted. A few days later Ryuichi said that he liked the concept of World Citizen and wondered if we couldn't write a more pop orientated piece with the same title. After a few false starts Ryu sent a loop of a sampled piano. To this I composed and recorded the lyric and melody of the song and returned the files to Ryuichi. He passed them onto Harumi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi (Sketch Show) who made valuable contributions to the piece. It was at this time that Ryuichi called and suggested we record the version of 'World Citizen' I'd originally sent to him. We spent a week putting the piece together in NY with Skuli Sverrisson (Laurie Anderson) on bass, Amedeo Pace (Blonde Redhead) on guitar and Steve Jansen on drums. Ryuichi and I mixed the piece together in NY. The following week Ryuichi returned to the composition now known as World Citizen (I won't be disappointed)', finally making a connection with the song, completing it with rhythm, melody and producing the final mix." -- David Sylvian September 2003. "Sylvian and Sakamoto collaborated for the first time in 1982 when they wrote the double A side 'Bamboo Music / Bamboo Houses', but it was in 1983 that they scored a Top 20 hit with 'Forbidden Colours'. Since then both David and Ryuichi have forged successful ground-breaking careers which have left in their wake such album's as Brilliant Trees and Dead Bees On A Cake for Sylvian, and the score to The Last Emperor and most recently a Morelenbaum tribute album for Sakamoto. There are five tracks included on World Citizen, in a different running order and with completely different artwork to the package that was released late last year by Warner Music Japan. The final track of the CD features a remix by acclaimed remixer Ryoji Ikeda. The songs were recorded in New York and New Hampshire, USA in the summer of 2003. Sylvian and Sakamoto have not released a record together for 21 years, which makes this a very special release. World Citizen, with its powerful lyrics and excellent melody, is a must have for all Sylvian and Sakamoto fans."

Artist:	RABELAIS, AKIRA
Title:	Spellewauerynsherde
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 003CD

"Spellewauerynsherde: Spell. Wavering. Shard. Spell as in speaking, incantation, a digitally constructed matrix of words and voices, summoning up a strange, distant past. Wavering: the shivering of those voices as they dissolve and recombine in Rabelais... rich filtering systems, turning into pulsating, frequency rich drones. Shard: fragments, of voices, of ideas, of memories, of the past, brought back to life again. Spellewauerynsherde is built up from found sounds, field recordings of traditional Icelandic a cappella lament songs recorded in the late 1960s or early 1970s on Ampex tapes and then forgotten about. After discovering the neglected tapes, cleaning them up and digitizing them for a library, Rabelais became fascinated with the heartbreaking sadness of the voices and began to think of them as source material for a series of compositions."

Artist:	BUDD, HAROLD
Title:	Avalon Sutra
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	2CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 004CD

"Avalon Sutra is to be California-born American minimalist composer and pianist Harold Budd's last recorded work. Best known for his collaborations with Brian Eno, contributing his stunning piano work to key recordings such as 1980's Ambient 2: Plateau of Mirror, Budd has produced a series of remarkable minimalist compositions and recordings, including Pavilion of Dreams, The Pearl and The Room, which have earned him worldwide respect. Budd has collaborated with the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, Daniel Lanois, XTC's Andy Partridge and saxophonists Marion Brown and John Gibson amongst many others, and has been a major influence on the development of contemporary ambient and electronic music. Avalon Sutra (released as a 2 disc set) is a suite of short, heartbreaking ambient pieces, featuring Budd's delicate piano improvisations, lush string arrangements and warm electronic drones. The second disc ('As Long As I Can Hold My Breath') features a startling remix by LA based electronic composer Akira Rabelais, sending Budd's arrangements into Feldmanesque eternities of sound."'Avalon Sutra is Budd at the pinnacle of his creativity, a master of meditative beauty.' Marcus Boon.

Artist:	SYLVIAN, DAVID
Title:	The Good Son vs. The Only Daughter
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 005CD

"David Sylvian personally commissioned remixes of material from his critically acclaimed album Blemish, which was released in 2003. This album of remixes entitled The Good Son Vs. The Only Daughter includes innovative contributions from Burnt Friedman, Yoshihiro Hanno, Ryoji Ikeda, Akira Rabelais, Readymade FC, and more. One of the top 2 'Albums of the Year' for The Wire magazine in 2003, Blemish was heralded by many as an extraordinary work that cemented Sylvian's reputation of always challenging himself as well as his audience. The remixers involved in this project include some of the most creative and globally respected individuals at the forefront of musical experimentation and sound manipulation. Presented in a digipak, with artwork by Atsushi Fukui and design by Chris Bigg this release continues Samadhisound's commitment to creating beautifully packaged, stunning music."

Artist:	NINE HORSES
Title:	Snow Borne Sorrow
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 006CD

"Nine Horses' Snow Borne Sorrow is a collaboration between David Sylvian, his brother and frequent collaborator / drummer Steve Jansen (also formerly of Japan) and electronic composer / remixer Burnt Friedman. Lyrically and vocally, Snow Borne Sorrow continues the maturing darkness of Sylvian's last solo release Blemish -- songs of struggle, doubt and resolve, Bergman-like glimpses of the realities and difficulties of intimate relationship, flashes of light and humility and caustic words about the excuses our leaders manage to find not to 'love thy neighbor.' Snow Borne Sorrow was made with a cast of contributors, including Norwegian trumpeter and Supersilent member Arve Henriksen, Swedish vocalist Stina Nordenstam, who adds marvellously elliptical responses to Sylvian's vocal on the opening 'Wonderful World,' and Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano. On the title for the album Sylvian says: 'Winter provokes introspection. Even more so the long hard winters surrounded by that cushioning, muted, numbing whiteness. It can also be a time of enormous creativity, of resolutions, resoluteness, clarity and conviction.'"

Artist:	BAILEY, DEREK
Title:	To Play: The Blemish Sessions
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 008CD

"Derek Bailey's final studio recording session, parts of which were used throughout Sylvian's acclaimed solo album Blemish. Derek Bailey died on Christmas Day, 2005, aged 75, leaving behind a lifetime of collaborations, friendships, and a vast treasure hoard of recordings accumulated in fifty years during which he was one of the principle figures responsible for the rise of improvisation in music in the West. 'As fate would have it this was to be the last solo studio session Derek was to record before the onset of illness,' recalls Sylvian. 'That might make the session valuable in itself but it's the quality of the work that's outstanding.' Those familiar with Bailey's angular, spiky, minimal lines on Blemish will be surprised by the lush, melodic richness and density of Bailey's performance here, which has the same beauty and playfulness found on Bailey's most popular and accessible recent disk, Ballads. Presented in a digipak featuring the beautiful and poignant photography of Derek, designed by Chris Bigg, this release continues Samadhi Sound's commitment to creating beautifully packaged, stunning music."

Artist:	TOOP, DAVID
Title:	Sound Body
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 009CD

"David Toop's Sound Body hums and glows with life, five gorgeous morphing electronic tracks that continue Samadhisound's exploration of quiet, minimal, melodic music worlds created by the likes of Harold Budd, Akira Rabelais, Fennesz, Derek Bailey, David Sylvian and others. These remarkable soundscapes have only become possible in the twenty-first century, when improvisation, digital composing and mixing, and traditional music forms from around the globe all mutate and fuse in ways that surprise and delight. Journalist, musician and author, Toop has also recorded shamanistic ceremonies in Amazonas, appeared on Top Of The Pops with the Flying Lizards, worked with musicians including Brian Eno, John Zorn, Prince Far I, Jon Hassell, Derek Bailey, Talvin Singh, Evan Parker, Scanner, Ivor Cutler, Akio Suzuki and Jin Hi Kim, and collaborated with artists such as theatre director/actor Steven Berkoff. In 1998, he composed the soundtrack for Acqua Matrix, the outdoor spectacular that closed every night of Lisbon Expo '98. His first album, New and Rediscovered Musical Instruments, was released on Brian Eno's Obscure label in 1975; since 1995 he has released seven solo albums, including Screen Ceremonies, Pink Noir, and Black Chamber. He has also written four groundbreaking books on music, currently translated into seven languages including Ocean of Sound, Exotica and Haunted Weather. Sound Body is presented in a digipak with artwork and design by Chris Bigg, continuing Samadhisound's commitment to creating beautifully packaged, stunning music."

Artist:	NINE HORSES
Title:	Money For All
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 010CD

"This mini-album is the follow-up release to the highly acclaimed debut album from Nine Horses Snow Borne Sorrow. Nine Horses is a collaborative project that brings together David Sylvian, his brother Steve Jansen (ex-Japan), and the well-respected Burnt Friedman. They have created a suite of remarkably poignant songs that are part social commentary and part self-analysis. Sylvian and his collaborators have never sounded better nor the material more immediate. Money For All is a mini-album that includes two brand new tracks ('Money For All' and 'Get The Hell Out'), one track previously available in Japan featuring Stina Nordenstam and reinterpretations of previous Nine Horses tracks remixed by Burnt Friedman."

Artist:	JANSEN, STEVE
Title:	Slope
Label:	SAMADHISOUND
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SAMAD 012CD

"Former Japan band member and regular David Sylvian collaborator Steve Jansen releases his astonishing solo album on Samadhisound this Autumn. On Slope, tension underlies the crisp rhythms and intricate programming, while a collection of distinctive vocalists draw out the sentiment and expression in his songwriting. As Jansen explains, 'with this album I approached composition attempting to avoid chord and song structures and the usual familiar building blocks. Instead I wanted to piece together unrelated sounds, music samples, rhythms and 'events' in an attempt to deviate from my own trappings as a musician.' The album features guest contributions from Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Thomas Feiner, Anja Garbarek, Nina Kinert, David Sylvian, Theo Travis and Joan Wasser (Joan As Policewoman). Presented as ever in a beautiful digipak featuring exquisite artwork from Australian artist Dan McPharlin and designed by Chris Bigg."

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