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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Instrumental companion to Everything&Nothing compilation, 17 Aug 2003
Camphor showcases the instrumental side of David Sylvian's oeuvre, being a compilation of various instrumental directions from 1986 to 2000 (when he parted company with Virgin) As with all compilations, there are many tracks left off, fans will have the majority of tracks here & the various stand-alone albums (Plight&Premonition, Alchemy, Flux&Mutability, Approaching Silence, the second disc of Gone to Earth etc) all work completely...but Camphor does hold together well and showcases Sylvian's ambient-credentials.As with Everything&Nothing, there are a few new tracks- the title track and Song Which Gives the Key to Perfection- both lovely and probably worth the cost of admission alone (along with the lovely cover, the tinkering Sylvian did as he was about to lose control of his masters & the way Sylvian tries to fashion something new from the catalogue of nostalgia) Perhaps this compilation isn't long enough- nothing from Approaching Silence, The First Day (eg Bringing Down the Light), Words with the Shaman, Bamboo Music, Flux&Mutability, The Stigma of Childhood (Kin) or the wonderful Ingrid Chavez-collaborations on the I Surrender singles...(& it would have been nice to have tracks like Zero Landmine & Linoleum also...) To repeat myself, the compilation does work very well- perfect ambient music with hints of jazz and world music; Big Wheels in Shanty Town sounds like Peter Gabriel's Passion meets Japan (from the Japan-reform album Rain Tree Crow), while opener All of My Mother's Names is extremely Bitches Brew. There are alternate takes on such songs as Mother&Child and Wave & the rare Pop Song b-side A Brief Conversation Ending in Divorce (which has now found a permanent home on the upcoming Alchemy reissue) We get an edited part of Czuckay/Sylvian's Plight, which merely serves as a taster for the whole thing from 1988; the selections from Gone to Earth (The Healing Place, Answered Prayers, Upon This Earth) feature such great musicians as Robert Fripp & Bill Nelson- though now the original double-set is available once more, perhaps sidestep these selections? Camphor is a very pleasant compilation, though probably not necessary like Approaching Silence, the new Alchemy, or the brand new Blemish. As mood music it's wonderful and has a lot more thought put into it than the glut of obvious Japan/Sylvian compilations that will follow now he's left Virgin! Personally I'd plump for the limited edition (if you can still get it) or the Japanese version, if you are going to buy this. The kind of music they should play in coffee shops...
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~ David Sylvian
~ David Sylvian
~ David Sylvian
~ David Sylvian
~ David Sylvian
