A Victim of Stars, 1982-2012 [Double CD]

A compilation will always be a compilation.
But on this one, the delightful thing is that David Sylvian chose himself which of his most well known pieces could represented him best to fit this 2CD format.
The songs are in chronological order, and the whole pack feels like as if it could be a cd of originals -in its own right, there's a quite cohesive, constant flow in this journey through 3 decades of material. All songs feel suddenly new when set together in this way.
With "Victim of Stars", David Sylvian proves that he still remains as one of the most visionary, innovative, talented British/European artists working today.
Un-baroque, cleansed musical style, stainless, compelling poetry (also in all of his best known pieces) throughout a quite admirable, uncompromising, consequent career.
Definitely, an absolutely outstanding wrapping of a remarkable 30 year long musical journey.
And the only original "Where's your Gravity?, simply soberb...
Thank you sooo much for all these years of inspiration, for all your words, for all your music, Sylvian.

This is superb compilation that includes the more accessible tracks of his brilliant latter work. Some find his last few albums too much in their entirety, but the tracks selected here showcase what an astounding and refreshing songwriter Sylvian remains. Breathtakingly good!
It must be increasingly difficult for artists of this nature to make a living. He is an artist who has never compromised when it comes to the integrity of his music and that extends to the physical product. It is the same for this compilation. I strongly disagree that this compilation is unaccessible, it combines his most commercial work (singles) with the more accessible tracks from his last three albums, it manages this whilst still sounding powerful and interesting. I for one have not been "milked" and such an accusation is ludicrous!

I did wonder if 'A Victim of Stars' was really necessary given that 10 tracks previously featured on 2000's compilation 'Everything and Nothing' , 'Wonderful World' was also compiled on the brilliant 'Sleepwalkers'-compilation, and there's only one new song (the rather excellent 'Where's Your Gravity?'). But I couldn't resist this compilation when I saw the cover featuring a brilliant photo of DS at the height of his beauty taken by former partner and long-term associate Yuka Fujii...

Perhaps it was the disappointment of Sylvian cancelling his 'Implausible Beauty' tour due to health reasons, so this compilation a surrogate for that lacking - though I doubt he'd have played much of disc one with the projected tour being played by jazz/classical/improv sorts with various electronics. I think it would have been more like the 'Blemish' tour; since its release I've been playing this lots and pretty bowled over.

The second disc is probably more impressive - especially the material from 'Died in the Wool' which improves on the 'Manafon'-originals ('Snow White in Appalachia' the sole track from 'Manafon') and a sublime take on an Emily Dickinson poem, 'I Should Not Dare.' I was expecting that to be like another E.D. poem Sylvian adapted, 'A Certain Slant of Light', which was spoken word and close to the earlier 'Thoroughly Lost to Logic', but instead Sylvian has added a gorgeous blend of classical and electronic music and a wonderful vocal. Anyone who says D.S. sounds like he's singing a phonebook should listen to this track...

There are three songs from Nine Horses' 'Snow Borne Sorrow' which was the most commercial L.P. Sylvian recorded since 'Brilliant Trees' - nice to see Sylvian collaborate with Steve Jansen (& I hope they play together again in the near future). I've never really liked all of 'Darkest Birds' and probably would have picked 'A History of Holes', 'The Librarian', or 'The Day the Earth Stole Heaven' instead. 'Wonderful World' featuring Stina Nordenstam, Keith Lowe, and a string arrangement from Ryuichi Sakamoto remains a classic, seeming to fuse post 9/11-War on Terror dread with life after Sylvian's divorce charted on 'Blemish.' 'The Banality of Evil' is great stuff and advances on earlier songs like '20th Century Dreaming' and 'World Citizen' - though is much darker and has a title that refers to Hannah Arendt's classic book on the trial of Eichmann.

The 'Blemish' selections are quite bold - selecting the glitchy despair of 'The Only Daughter' (which caused many to return the LP as faulty) and the ironic 'Late Night Shopping' (a relative of the earlier 'Pop Song') does seem a bit obtuse. 'A Fire in the Forest', recorded with Fennesz alternately is an obvious selection being one of the most affecting songs Sylvian has recorded...this covers the Samadhi Sound material - but not in complete detail. I'd definitely recommend picking up a copy of 'Sleepwalkers' which includes 'World Citizen', 'Ballad of a Deadman', 'Money for All', 'Sleepwalkers', 'Playground Martyrs', 'Transit' and many other fine collaborations....

The rest of disc two devotes itself to three songs from the epic double 'Dead Bees on a Cake' - the gorgeous 'I Surrender' which blends 'Astral Weeks' influences, zen-bliss, Marc Ribot's guitar, earlier lyrics from 'Earthbound', and a Mahavishnu Orchestra-sample. 'Alphabet Angel' is a lovely inclusion and quite unexpected, as is 'Darkest Dreaming' - probably a good thing that lacklustre late Virgin singles like 'Godman' and 'The Scent of Magnolia' were left off this compilation. Sadly there's nothing from either version of the Fripp/Sylvian live LP 'Damage', nor 'The First Day' out-take 'Blinding Light of Heaven', or the collaboration with Hector Zazou from which the compilation takes its title. 'Jean the Birdman' sounds brilliant, I'd have also included 'Endgame', 'Earthbound/Starblind', 'Damage', 'The First Day', and 'Brightness Falls'...still, space may dictate.

Disc one is an odd one - not sure why the E&N version of 'Ghosts' is used - would have made more sense to pick the original as that was really where Sylvian wrote Japan out of the mix and indicated the direction he would go in. Nice that both 'Bamboo Houses' and its flipside 'Bamboo Music' are included - the Sakamoto collaboration sounding more like Y.M.O. and a more minimal take on late Japan tracks 'Still Life in Mobile Homes' and 'Life Without Buildings.'

The re-recording of 'Forbidden Colours' that featured on the original c.d. of 'Secrets of the Beehive' is included - I always thought this was better than the original from 'Merry Xmas, Mr Lawrence.' E&N was a bit absurd as it included several unreleased songs which meant that certain records weren't very well represented - just 'Weathered Wall' was included from 'Brilliant Trees' (though a re-recording of the title track was on the third bonus disc). This seemed odd as Sylvian had said around 1999 that the Rain Tree Crow LP and 'Brilliant Trees' were the two records he was most proud of. So this compilation sets things right with the inclusion of hit single 'Red Guitar' and the other two singles from the great 1984 album, 'The Ink in the Well' (Cocteau and Picasso referenced; lovely performances by Jansen, Mark Isham, and Danny Thompson) and 'Pulling Punches' (which is like a more organic take on 'The Art of Parties' and the last time Sylvian would rock till his work with Fripp in the early 90's).

The two singles from 'Gone to Earth' are included - 'Taking the Veil' was always a mood-piece, but 'Silver Moon' a bit too bland for me and the presence of B.J. Cole a too obvious attempt at the Walkers' 'No Regrets.' I'd have gone with 'Wave', 'River Man', 'Laughter & Forgetting' or my fave Syvlian song, 'Before the Bullfight.' & nothing from the instrumental side of 'Gone to Earth', which reminds me that the whole instrumental/experimental side of Sylvian isn't represented here. See: Alchemy/Words with the Shaman, GTE disc 2, Approaching Silence etc

Sadly the brilliant single 'Buoy', where Sylvian collaborated with Steve Jansen and the late Mick Karn is not included nor their other great song 'When Love Walks In' - I'd have preferred that to the sub-Peter Gabriel single 'Heartbeat (Tainai Kaiki II)' included at the end of disc one. The selections from 'Secrets of the Beehive' are perfect and three of Sylvian's finest songs - though they were all on 'E&N.' Stand alone single 'Pop Song' was also on the 2000 compilation, but is worth revisiting here as it debuts the ironic side of Sylvian and showcases Cage/Stockhausen influences. In fact, I think it sounds like the Czukay albums that preceded it put into a pop song form. Great stuff.

Finally there's the Rain Tree Crow material - just two tracks including single 'Blackwater' and the highlight of that record, 'Every Colour You Are' - I think that LP is a highlight of Sylvian's brilliant career and works really well as a whole. I might have liked 'Pocketful of Change' - but you can't have everything...

'A Victim of Stars' is a pretty fine compilation of Sylvian's long and brilliant career - I think it's better than E&N as it doesn't include a bunch of leftover material that should probably have been released seperately. Hopefully he will get well again and the projected tour will happen, as well as the projected LP of duets with Joan as Police Woman...Certainly a perfect introduction to the world of David Sylvian...