The fourth, and to date last, of the main David Sylvian related compilations featured in this series – two versions, side-by-side, of the ‘Sleepwalkers’ CD, which compiles collaborations with other artists from the early 2000s onwards.
First released in 2010, there was a re-mastered version in 2022 and on this occasion a micro-site to promote the 2022 release (an updated variant of the page for the original September 2010 release) presents some very useful detail spanning both versions. The notes from the site nicely encapsulates the spirit behind the compilation with the following summary;
in the 00s, DAVID SYLVIAN produced two of his strongest and most solitary statements, BLEMISH and MANAFON. but those records don’t tell the whole story. during that the same period, SYLVIAN created an alternate body of work: a series of collaborations and side projects with leading talents of pop and improv, electronic and contemporary classical music. the best of these recordings are gathered here on SLEEPWALKERS, meticulously sequenced and remixed: the fruits of one-off meetings and lifelong partnerships, they jump from bliss to intrigue, romance to sensuality, as arch experiments lead into the lushest pop.
The compilation isn’t a be all and end all – David Sylvian has collaborated on many other occasions not compiled here and in some cases the tracks selected provides a taster of further work that can be sought out (e.g. the Nine Horses and Tweaker works).
Nevertheless, let’s take a look at the compilation to hand and the variants between the two editions.
I had quite a few of the featured tracks already – the releases from the Nine Horses project were obvious ones, but I was fortunate enough to see David Sylvian live a number of times and one of those included the 2007 ‘The World Is Everything’ tour – which led me to purchase the accompanying tour book/CD of the same name. Three of the tracks on this compilation also appear on ‘Sleepwalkers’. Many of the other one-off collaborations were new to me and are good to have gathered up in the one place though.
Sleepwalkers (SamadhiSound SOUND CD SS020) – 2010 original release
What is/was unique to this compilation?
- On its original release, ‘Five Lines’ was a previously unreleased track.
- The web page to promote the original release of ‘Sleepwalkers’ notes “I hope you enjoy the work presented here, personally selected, remixed and sequenced and entirely remastered”. I’m just not familiar enough with some of the originals to comment on how much they may or may not have been remixed – one of those close-listening projects I will get my teeth into as I come across more and more of the originals, I expect.
Tracklisting:
| Track: | Act: | Original Release: | Duration: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleepwalkers | David Sylvian | 2007, SamadhiSound compilation ‘The World Is Everything’. | 5’16” |
| Money For All | Nine Horses | 2006, ‘Money For All’ EP by Nine Horses. | 4’08” |
| Ballad Of A Deadman | Steve Jansen | 2007, ‘Slope’ album by Steve Jansen. | 5’31” |
| Angels | Punkt | 2001, ‘Crime Scenes’ album by Punkt. | 4’00” |
| World Citizen – I Won’t Be Disappointed | David Sylvian / Ryuichi Sakamoto | 2004, ‘Chasm’ album by Ryuichi Sakamoto. | 6’06” |
| Five Lines | David Sylvian | Previously unreleased. | 3’52” |
| The Day The Earth Stole Heaven | Nine Horses | 2005, ‘Snow Borne Sorrow’ album by Nine Horses. | 3’17” |
| Playground Martyrs | Steve Jansen | 2007, ‘Slope’ album by Steve Jansen. | 2’39” |
| Exit / Delete | Takagi Masakatsu Featuring David Sylvian | 2004, ‘Coieda’ album by Takagi Masakatsu / 2007, SamadhiSound compilation ‘The World Is Everything’. | 3’28” |
| Pure Genius | Tweaker Featuring David Sylvian | 2004, ‘2AM Wake Up Call’ Album by Tweaker. | 4’02” |
| Wonderful World | Nine Horses | 2005, ‘Snow Borne Sorrow’ album by Nine Horses. | 5’59” |
| Transit | Christian Fennesz | 2004, ‘Venice’ album by Christian Fennesz. | 4’52” |
| The World Is Everything | David Sylvian | 2007, SamadhiSound compilation ‘The World Is Everything’. | 1’43” |
| Thermal | Arve Henriksen | 2008, ‘Cartography’ album by Arve Henriksen | 2’19” |
| Sugarfuel | Readymade Featuring David Sylvian | 2001, ‘Bold’ album by Readymade | 4’15” |
| Trauma | David Sylvian | 2003, Bonus track taken from the limited original vinyl pressing of ‘Blemish’ album by David Sylvian. | 5’40” |
Sleepwalkers (Grönland Records CDGRON256) – 2022 ‘Alternate edition’ re-release
In 2022 a revised and remastered ‘Alternate Edition’ version of the album was released on CD and (for the first time) vinyl. Musically, the changes to be aware of are as follows;
- The two Steve Jansen tracks from the 2010 version are removed.
Three tracks are added;
- ’Do You Know Me Now?’ single A side by David Sylvian.
- ‘Modern Interior’ by David Sylvian (in collaboration with Jan Bang and Eivind Aarset.
- ’World Citizen’ (Long Version) by Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian.
What is/was unique to this compilation?
- ’Modern Interior’ was previously a download-only release in 2011, this was its first physical format release.
Tracklisting:
| Track: | Act: | Original Release: | Duration: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleepwalkers | David Sylvian | 2007, SamadhiSound compilation ‘The World Is Everything’. | 5’16” |
| Money For All | Nine Horses | 2006, ‘Money For All’ EP by Nine Horses. | 4’08” |
| Do You Know Me Now? | David Sylvian | 2013, ‘Do You Know Me Now?’ single by David Sylvian. | 4’21” |
| Angels | Punkt | 2001, ‘Crime Scenes’ album by Punkt. | 4’00” |
| World Citizen – I Won’t Be Disappointed | David Sylvian / Ryuichi Sakamoto | 2004, ‘Chasm’ album by Ryuichi Sakamoto. | 6’06” |
| Five Lines | David Sylvian | Previously unreleased. | 3’52” |
| The Day The Earth Stole Heaven | Nine Horses | 2005, ‘Snow Borne Sorrow’ album by Nine Horses. | 3’17” |
| Modern Interior | David Sylvian | 2011, Previously unreleased | 2’40” |
| Exit / Delete | Takagi Masakatsu featuring David Sylvian | 2004, ‘Coieda’ album by Takagi Masakatsu / 2007, SamadhiSound compilation ‘The World Is Everything’. | 3’28” |
| Pure Genius | Tweaker Featuring David Sylvian | 2004, ‘2AM Wake Up Call’ Album by Tweaker. | 4’02” |
| Wonderful World | Nine Horses | 2005, ‘Snow Borne Sorrow’ album by Nine Horses. | 5’59” |
| Transit | Christian Fennesz | 2004, ‘Venice’ album by Christian Fennesz. | 4’52” |
| World Citizen (Long Version) | David Sylvian / Ryuichi Sakamoto | 2003, ‘World Citizen (I Won’t Be Disappointed)’ Single by Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian. | 6’47” |
| The World Is Everything | David Sylvian | 2007, SamadhiSound compilation ‘The World Is Everything’. | 1’43” |
| Thermal | Arve Henriksen | 2008, ‘Cartography’ album by Arve Henriksen | 2’19” |
| Sugarfuel | Readymade Featuring David Sylvian | 2001, ‘Bold’ album by Readymade | 4’15” |
| Trauma | David Sylvian | 2003, Bonus track taken from the limited original vinyl pressing of ‘Blemish’ album by David Sylvian. | 5’40” |
Amongst the notes of explanation from David Sylvian himself on the webpage about the album were the following;
‘as many of you will already be aware, despite relatively continuous work on solo albums, i’ve maintained strong ties with a number of musicians throughout my life in one context or another. on this new collection, let’s call it SLEEPWALKERS 2.0, a selection of collaborative work produced over the period encompassing blemish through to manafon, i’ve included compositions by nine horses as well as more fleeting flirtations and one-offs. neglected offspring. represented also is long term friend and writing partner, RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, as well as more recent but potentially equally productive partnerships such as CHRISTIAN FENNESZ, ARVE HENRIKSEN and contemporary classical composer DAI FUJIKURA.
i hope you enjoy the work presented here, personally selected, remixed and sequenced and entirely remastered. these are the orphans, abused, estranged, exotic, migrating from diverse corners of the globe, brought together under one roof which they’re learning to share despite their differences.
It is well worth checking out in more detail for the background on some of the tracks across both versions of the album. For example, ‘Five Lines’, originally an exclusive to ‘Sleepwalkers’ is noted thus;
‘five lines’ marked the start of a new partnership with acclaimed young composer DAI FUJIKURA, who at the time of recording was also working on remixes of MANAFON for what became DIED IN THE WOOL. the string quartet was performed by the celebrated ICE ENSEMBLE and written for SYLVIAN.
Similarly, one of the additional tracks added to the 2022 edition, ‘Modern Interior’, is detailed with the following;
there’s one further new addition to this collection, the first official release of a track composed in response to the tsunami in fukushima, ‘modern interiors’, featuring SYLVIAN once again in collaboration with BANG and AARSET.
The download was released as part of the Kizunaworld Project, to raise donations in support of those affected by the earthquake and tsunamis which hit Japan, 11th March 2011. David Sylvian is also noted with the following comments re the track:
“modern interior was composed exclusively for Kizuna with the recent suffering and sacrifices of the Japanese people uppermost in mind. I’m an advocate for a nuclear energy free world and disasters, such as the one we’ve witnessed this year in Fukushima, only go to reinforce how volatile these kinds of facilities are with the inherent dangers far outweighing the potential good. These sentiments are echoed, somewhat obliquely, in the song itself”.
The ‘Sleepwalkers’ 2022 micro-site text signs off noting;
in the meantime, we hope you enjoy the work presented here, personally selected, remixed and sequenced and entirely remastered. these are the orphans, abused, estranged, exotic, migrating from diverse corners of the globe, brought together under one roof which they’re learning to share despite their differences.
One other point of note on the 2022 re-issue is the inclusion of ‘World Citizen’ – so that as well as ‘World Citizen – I Won’t Be Disappointed’ are now represented. It’s worthy of a post on its own investigating the various versions of those tracks that have appeared – David Sylvian himself wrote about the history of the tracks and it is online here: David on World Citizen.
No idea of why the two Steve Jansen collaborations were dropped though.
Reflecting on the many tracks included across the two versions of this release, the following work best for my tastes…
- Nine Horses: ‘Wonderful World’. The deceptively brooding opening track to the ’Snow Borne Sorrow’ album, as fine a selection as any from the Nine Horses project.
- Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian: ‘World Citizen – I Won’t Be Disappointed’. After the difficult to navigate ‘Blemish’ album, this was a return to more conventional song writing territory.
- Takagi Masakatsu featuring David Sylvian: ‘Exit / Delete’. This is a really quite beautiful and melodic piece.
- Tweaker featuring David Sylvian: ‘Pure Genius‘. The notes state “he sounds like he’s walked into a heist flick, singing the part of a delusional, dangerous bedroom genius” – more than many on this compilation, this does indeed sound darkly playful and an open doorway glimpse of a different world, lyrically and sonically.