Dead Bees on a Cake

Last updated

Dead Bees on a Cake
David Sylvian-Dead Bees on a Cake-cover.jpg
Studio album by
David Sylvian
Released29 March 1999 – 9 April 1999 (Japan)
RecordedRight Track Studios, New York – Real World Studios, Box, Wiltshire – Sound House Studio, Seattle – Atma Sound, Minneapolis – Seedy Underbelly, Minneapolis – Synergy Studio, Napa
Genre Art rock, jazz fusion, world music
Length69:46(CD)
83:42 (vinyl)
Label Virgin
Producer David Sylvian
David Sylvian chronology
Damage: Live
(1994)		Dead Bees on a Cake
(1999)		 Approaching Silence
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [3]
NME 8/10 [4]
Pitchfork 7.3/10 [5]

Dead Bees on a Cake is the fifth studio album by British singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released in March 1999 on Virgin Records. It was his first solo album in 12 years since Secrets of the Beehive. The album peaked at no. 31 in the UK Albums Chart at release and contained his last UK Top 40 single to date in "I Surrender" (no. 40). [6]

Contents

In 2018, the album was released on double vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day. This pressing included four songs originally intended for the album (and previously released as part of Everything and Nothing ), and a restructured track order. [7]

Background

Sylvian started out working with Ryuichi Sakamoto in New York and they did three weeks work together. Initially Ryuichi was co-producing the project with Sylvian, and after three weeks work they had about three days work down and it was obvious things weren't working as well as they usually were between the two; thus, they decided to retire the project. They captured some exceptional moments from the sessions in the string arrangements, the brass and some piano work of Ryuichi's but they were way behind where Sylvian expected to be at that point.

They did a few other sessions in New York and Sylvian then set up a second set of sessions in the Real World Studios in England and the same thing happened to him. He had a series of musicians, and the material wouldn't take shape. The musicians couldn't find their way in the work and it was completely surprising to Sylvian because this had never happened to him before and he didn't think the material was that difficult, so it was baffling. But there he was going through drummer after drummer, bass guitarists, percussionists and really coming away with very, very little.

So Sylvian returned to Minneapolis where he was then living and just basically started sampling the material that he had and reconstructing the arrangements to try and put together a basis from which to get working on the album. Three months and there was very little to show for it. That was the beginning, until he found himself just taking on roles that he hadn't really initially foreseen himself taking on: being the sole producer, taking care of engineering, becoming the maintenance guy, his own studio, anything that just gets down to the basic work of being creative and recording. He reconstructed the pieces through using various samples from a multitude of performances. The challenge really was to keep the whole thing feeling very organic, like there was a group of people playing together, that sonically it sounded very much a part of a whole, which was quite a challenge actually. Probably a greater challenge than actually putting the arrangements together. [8]

Sylvian said about the album 2012: [9]

"I just came up with so many problems with producing it. So many avenues just ended in a kind of a dead end. Using a great deal of new technology this time, a lot of files were lost along the way, but that wasn't the only problem. Certainly working with different musicians, a couple of producers, I just put a halt to the project numerous times. And at the same time I'd moved to the United States, I'd got married, I had my first child and I was very much involved in that life. I was just so involved in the bringing up of my first daughter and following a far more intensely spiritual path and a spiritual discipline, and that was kind of leading me away from a concentrated focus on music. And every time I returned to the work I liked what I heard, but again every time I got re-immersed in it I would come up against an obstacle of some kind. I just thought it did not want to be completed and thought that maybe this was it. I was happy with the work. It was poorly received, but it did bring my relationship with Virgin Records to an end. I didn't realise how much that would mean to me, but it really did liberate me, and I only recognised that fact once I was in the studio recording Blemish and realising that I really didn't have to go round to sell this idea to anyone. It really opened things up for me, moving away from a major label like that".

Track listing

CD pressing

All tracks are written by David Sylvian, except as noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Surrender" 9:24
2."Dobro #1"Sylvian, Bill Frisell1:30
3."Midnight Sun"Sylvian, Johnny Moore, Charles Brown, Eddie Williams4:00
4."Thalheim" 6:07
5."God Man" 4:02
6."Alphabet Angel" 2:06
7."Krishna Blue" 8:08
8."The Shining of Things" 3:09
9."Café Europa" 6:58
10."Pollen Path" 3:25
11."All of My Mother's Names (Summers with Amma)" 6:11
12."Wanderlust" 6:43
13."Praise (Pratah Smarami)"Shree Maa, Sylvian4:02
14."Darkest Dreaming"Sylvian, Djivan Gasparyan 4:01
Total length:69:46
2018 vinyl pressing

All tracks are written by David Sylvian, except as noted

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Surrender" 9:24
2."The Scent of Magnolia" 5:36
3."Dobro #1"Sylvian, Bill Frisell1:30
4."Midnight Sun"Sylvian, Johnny Moore, Charles Brown, Eddie Williams4:00
Total length:20:30
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cover Me with Flowers" 6:33
2."Krishna Blue" 8:08
3."Albuquerque (Dobro #6)"Sylvian, Bill Frisell1:21
Total length:15:32
Side C
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Thalheim" 6:07
2."Alphabet Angel" 2:06
3."God Man" 4:02
4."Café Europa" 6:58
5."Aparna and Nimisha (Dobro # 5)"Sylvian, Bill Frisell0:56
6."Pollen Path" 3:25
Total length:23:34
Side D
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Shining of Things" 3:09
2."Wanderlust" 6:43
3."All of My Mother's Names (Summers with Amma)" 6:11
4."Praise (Pratah Smarami)"Shree Maa, Sylvian4:02
5."Darkest Dreaming"Sylvian, Djivan Gasparyan 4:01
Total length:24:06

Personnel

Production

Art work

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryuichi Sakamoto</span> Japanese composer (1952–2023)

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Japanese composer, pianist, record producer, and actor who pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto influenced and pioneered a number of electronic music genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Sylvian</span> English musician (born 1958)

David Sylvian is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly electronic sound made them an important influence on the UK's early-1980s New Romantic scene.

<i>Secrets of the Beehive</i> 1987 studio album by David Sylvian

Secrets of the Beehive is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter David Sylvian. The album was released on 19 October 1987 in Europe and the United States. The album peaked at #37 in the UK album chart. The album was released in Japan on 21 November 1987.

<i>Brilliant Trees</i> 1984 studio album by David Sylvian

Brilliant Trees is the debut solo studio album by the English musician David Sylvian, released on 25 June 1984 by Virgin Records. The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales in excess of 100,000 copies.

<i>X∞Multiplies</i> 1980 studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra

×∞Multiplies is a mini-album and the third studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra released in 1980. It contains a mixture of songs and instrumentals by YMO, interspersed with comedy sketches. These sketches are performed by Snakeman Show in both Japanese and English, with YMO participating in some of them.

<i>Gentlemen Take Polaroids</i> 1980 studio album by Japan

Gentlemen Take Polaroids is the fourth studio album by the English band Japan, released in November 1980 by Virgin Records.

<i>Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities</i> 1985 studio album by David Sylvian

Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities is the second solo studio album by David Sylvian, first released in December 1985 on cassette only as a limited edition. Alchemy is an intermediary album, released between his first solo album Brilliant Trees and his next solo album Gone to Earth, made up of two entirely separate projects recorded 1984 and 1985.

<i>Everything and Nothing</i> 2000 compilation album by David Sylvian

Everything and Nothing is a compilation album by David Sylvian. Released in October 2000, the album contains previously released and unreleased, re-recorded, and alternate versions of tracks from Sylvian's twenty years with Virgin Records. The record peaked at no.57 in the UK albums chart.

<i>Snow Borne Sorrow</i> 2005 studio album by Nine Horses

Snow Borne Sorrow is an album by Nine Horses, released in October 2005. Nine Horses is a collaboration between David Sylvian, Steve Jansen and Burnt Friedman.

<i>Camphor</i> (album) 2002 compilation album by David Sylvian

Camphor is a David Sylvian compilation album released in 2002 as a companion to Everything and Nothing. The focus is on his instrumental work.

<i>Money for All</i> 2007 studio album by Nine Horses

Money for All is an EP released 2007 by the band Nine Horses, featuring David Sylvian, Steve Jansen and Burnt Friedman. The EP includes three new songs: "Money for All," "Get the Hell Out," and "Birds Sing for Their Lives." The others are remixes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bamboo Houses</span> 1982 single by Ryuichi Sakamoto & David Sylvian

"Bamboo Houses" is a song by Japanese musician-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and English singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released on Virgin Records in 1982. It reached number 30 in the UK charts in the second week of August 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forbidden Colours (song)</span> 1983 single by David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto

"Forbidden Colours" is a 1983 song by David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The song is the vocal version of the theme from the Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. It appears on the film's soundtrack album and was released as a single on Virgin Records in 1983.

<i>World Citizen</i> (EP) 2003 EP by David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto

World Citizen is an EP by Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian. It was originally released in 2003 in Japan before being released in the UK the following year on Sylvian's label Samadhi Sound; the two editions have different track lists and different covers. The EP was created as part of a project called Chain Music instigated by Ryuichi Sakamoto. A remix of "World Citizen " was later included on Sakamoto's 2004 solo album Chasm and Sylvian's 2010 compilation Sleepwalkers; the 2022 reissue of the latter additionally adds in "World Citizen".

<i>Sahara Blue</i> 1992 studio album by Hector Zazou

Sahara Blue is a 1992 concept album produced by Hector Zazou. The album commemorated the 100th year of the death of French poet Arthur Rimbaud and included collaborative musical works by John Cale, Khaled, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tim Simenon, and David Sylvian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Guitar</span> 1984 single by David Sylvian

"Red Guitar" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Sylvian. Released in May 1984, it was his debut solo single and taken from his first solo album Brilliant Trees. It peaked at no.17 on the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Let the Happiness In</span> 1987 single by David Sylvian

"Let the Happiness In" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Sylvian. It is the first single from his album Secrets of the Beehive.

<i>Beauty</i> (Ryuichi Sakamoto album) 1989 studio album by Ryuichi Sakamoto

Beauty is the eighth solo studio album by Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. Both a Japanese and an international version were released by Virgin Records in 1989 and 1990, respectively. The international release contains the track "You Do Me (Edit)" featuring singer Jill Jones, a song previously released as a single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visions of China</span> 1981 single by Japan

Visions of China is a song by English new wave band Japan, released in October 1981 as the second single from their 1981 album Tin Drum, which was released on 13 November. The single reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart.

<i>Sleepwalkers</i> (David Sylvian album) 2010 compilation album by David Sylvian

Sleepwalkers is a compilation album by David Sylvian, released September 2010 by Samadhi Sound.

References

  1. ↑ Dead Bees on a Cake at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
  3. ↑ "Dead Bees on a Cake". Ew.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  4. ↑ "NME.COM – David Sylvian – Dead Bees On A Cake – 30 March 1999". NME . 17 August 2000. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "David Sylvian: Dead Bees on a Cake". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  6. ↑ "DAVID SYLVIAN | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  7. ↑ Snapes, Laura (6 March 2018). "David Bowie, Prince and Courtney Barnett among Record Store Day exclusive releases". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  8. ↑ In conversation with David Sylvian by John Sakamoto, Executive Producer: JAM!, Thursday, 25 March 1999
  9. ↑ "david-sylvian-interview". 1 April 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.