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On the Periphery: David Sylvian - A Biography: The Solo Years
At last, the definitive biography of David Sylvian is available. This book — which has taken 3 years to complete — tracks the period of Sylvian’s solo career from 1982 to 2015. As well as being one of popular music’s most innovative and influential composers, Sylvian is an enigmatic and complex man, and the musical, personal, and spiritual journey he has undertaken over the last three decades is profoundly fascinating. The book begins as Japan — the band that Sylvian fronted in the late 1970s and early 1980s — broke up. As Sylvian embarked on his solo career, few would have appreciated the extent to which innovation and improvisation would become the central focus of his work. From popular music icon to respected free improv performer, the journey has been anything but linear, and the book shows how all aspects of Sylvian’s life, his personal development, his spiritual growth, and his musical evolution all inform each other, and knit together to make for a rich and complex story. The book unravels this complexity, and sets out for the reader countless areas of interest and surprising insight. So whether your interest is in the detail of the musical process or lyric meaning and hidden messages in a particular composition, or you are more interested in a detailed analysis of the composer’s personal and spiritual journey over the last thirty years, this book will open your eyes. Written by Chris Young, On the Periphery is a thoughtful and extensive work, and it has been thoroughly researched, the author travelling to the United States, Japan, Europe, and the U.K. to gather intelligence, and talking to numerous Sylvian collaborators to seek out the pieces necessary to put the jigsaw together. In addition, through analysis of hundreds of TV, print, and radio interviews, Young manages to use Sylvian’s words to effectively tell his own story. A highly creditable and insightful addition to the pantheon of music biographies, and a must for anyone with an interest in one of the world’s most respected singer songwriters.
617 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 21, 2018
I am a big fan of Sylvian and was looking forward to this but I gave up after 30 or so pages. The fact that he never interviewed Sylvian and that DS had nothing to do with this book was a bit of a warning at the start... it then goes into full on sycophantic obsession, going in and out of various tangeants that only slightly relate to the topic. The in depth analysis of the lyrics had me groaning in pain and I couldn't take it anymore.... just listen to the records instead and revel in his obscurity, it is much less agonising than reading this book.
May 21, 2022
David Sylvian has probably been my favorite artist over the past few years. Certainly he’s the one I listen to most commonly. This 600 page book is as definitive a history as can be done without actually interviewing the subject. It covers about 30 years starting in 1982 when Sylvians solo career started. It’s pretty dense and intense even for a fan to traverse. Lyrics are discussed in significant detail and sidemen all get their own page or so of history, and Sylvian worked with a lot of musicians.
After success with the pop group Japan, Sylvian went solo in the early eighties. Per Mr Young this wasnt a totally amicable split as his brother Steve Jansen and bassist Mick Karn were not pleased. Sylvian had a relationship with Karns ex wife. Sylvian is a pretty dark enigmatic character who seems to relish the next musical challenge and enjoys the solitude it gives him. He doesn’t appear to seek publicity or encourage interviews. He has toured sparsely over the years and not for the past decade.
The book details his trip from a standard solo artist producing melodic moody songs evolving to improvisational work far from any commercial concern.
I love his work in the 80s and 90’s. It’s elegant, thoughtful, melodic, mostly dark slow to mid tempo songs led by his baritone voice. A wide range of players and instrumentation provides the base.
Even for a fan this book can be a bit much. Kudos to Mr Young for all the work but if you aren’t a big fan it will wear you out and even if you are it will test you.
After success with the pop group Japan, Sylvian went solo in the early eighties. Per Mr Young this wasnt a totally amicable split as his brother Steve Jansen and bassist Mick Karn were not pleased. Sylvian had a relationship with Karns ex wife. Sylvian is a pretty dark enigmatic character who seems to relish the next musical challenge and enjoys the solitude it gives him. He doesn’t appear to seek publicity or encourage interviews. He has toured sparsely over the years and not for the past decade.
The book details his trip from a standard solo artist producing melodic moody songs evolving to improvisational work far from any commercial concern.
I love his work in the 80s and 90’s. It’s elegant, thoughtful, melodic, mostly dark slow to mid tempo songs led by his baritone voice. A wide range of players and instrumentation provides the base.
Even for a fan this book can be a bit much. Kudos to Mr Young for all the work but if you aren’t a big fan it will wear you out and even if you are it will test you.
November 27, 2017
To have any interest in a book like this one needs to be very familiar with the work of David Sylvian, of course. To be a fan, nothing less. As it is, the book follows his post-Japan carreer in all detail, giving the personal and artistic background of each major and minor release, the complete list of tracks produced and musicians involved, and little known facts culled mostly from interviews.
The book also follows Sylvian's spiritual path, which seems to be inextricably linked and informing with the work he produced over the years. One can surmise as much from the lyrics themselves, but here all is exposed in all detail.
The lyrical and musical analysis are most often spot-on and the only fault I can find is that the author is too bent on worshipping Sylvian, often overlooking his shortcomings and authoritarism and justifying his actions in every possible way. And while the author did his best to keep away from gossip, I think the book would have benefited from exploring the rumours and criticism a bit more.
I could not wait to finish the latter part of the book where it can and does get a bit boring at times with the endless naming of collaborators and their biographies, especially in the post-Blemish phase which plods along interminably on the subject of free improv etc. I felt the structure of the book had gotten old by that time, but admittedly this phase does not hold as much interest for me as earlier solo albums. Maybe that's just me.
The book also follows Sylvian's spiritual path, which seems to be inextricably linked and informing with the work he produced over the years. One can surmise as much from the lyrics themselves, but here all is exposed in all detail.
The lyrical and musical analysis are most often spot-on and the only fault I can find is that the author is too bent on worshipping Sylvian, often overlooking his shortcomings and authoritarism and justifying his actions in every possible way. And while the author did his best to keep away from gossip, I think the book would have benefited from exploring the rumours and criticism a bit more.
I could not wait to finish the latter part of the book where it can and does get a bit boring at times with the endless naming of collaborators and their biographies, especially in the post-Blemish phase which plods along interminably on the subject of free improv etc. I felt the structure of the book had gotten old by that time, but admittedly this phase does not hold as much interest for me as earlier solo albums. Maybe that's just me.
February 1, 2015
David Sylvian, once the most "handsome man in pop" & ex frontman of Japan gets a book focusing on his solo years. Insightful read into the mind of a man with one of the most soulful voice singing songs that are meaningful, arty & moving.
August 29, 2021
Varios meses tardé en terminar la lectura de este tedioso libro al que le traía muchas ganas desde que supe de su existencia. Sin embargo, tiene una cosa remarcable: la investigación al respecto de la producción de cada álbum de Sylvian, así como las tribulaciones de vida en general. El problema con Young es el siguiente: da mucho rodeo sobre las personas que trabajan/trabajaron con David y, además, da lecturas muy simplistas de cada letra que escribió, lo que alarga innecesariamente cada capítulo. Debido a estos inconvenientes es que la lectura de esta biografía no oficial es pesada. Agradezco los nuevos datos sobre Sylvian (que me permitió reescucharlo con mucha mayor atención), pero pudo haber sido menos desmotivante leer de corrido el libro.
June 27, 2018
practically a very long (granted, exhaustive) wiki article // spiritual speculation a tad superfluous // in earnest need of editing // reverent to inaccuracy
December 19, 2020
Hagiography, containing much lenthy, speculative interpretation.
Read
December 13, 2024DNF
June 23, 2022
After reading through some reviews of this book, I feel inclined to write my own.
I do agree with other reviewers that this book is exhaustively (sometimes exhaustingly) encyclopedic and somewhat hagiographical. The author tracks Sylvian's musical progression from beginning to what seems to be (for now) the end. He lays out Sylvian's personal life in as much detail as you can ask for, given his reclusivity.
The authors lyrical interpretations, despite the bewildering claims of some reviewers, aren't overly speculative, and are mostly backed up with quotations, very often on the same page. The parts that are speculative aren't giant leaps of logic by any means. His analysis of the lyrics themselves largely consists of giving a cursory overview of the symbolic systems that Sylvian is working with and relating that imagery back to Sylvian's personal life. Prior to reading this book I had already listened to / read a substantial amount of interviews with Sylvian. I also already had a familiarity with various philosophical / religious / esoteric aspects of his lyrics (mainly: Existentialism, Christianity, Kaballah, Gnosticism, Fourth Way, Buddhism, Hinduism). He presents these in a clear and relatively entertaining manner.
I recommend it highly if you are a fan. If you are looking for a quick biography of his life, this isn't it, and I'm very glad it isn't.
I do agree with other reviewers that this book is exhaustively (sometimes exhaustingly) encyclopedic and somewhat hagiographical. The author tracks Sylvian's musical progression from beginning to what seems to be (for now) the end. He lays out Sylvian's personal life in as much detail as you can ask for, given his reclusivity.
The authors lyrical interpretations, despite the bewildering claims of some reviewers, aren't overly speculative, and are mostly backed up with quotations, very often on the same page. The parts that are speculative aren't giant leaps of logic by any means. His analysis of the lyrics themselves largely consists of giving a cursory overview of the symbolic systems that Sylvian is working with and relating that imagery back to Sylvian's personal life. Prior to reading this book I had already listened to / read a substantial amount of interviews with Sylvian. I also already had a familiarity with various philosophical / religious / esoteric aspects of his lyrics (mainly: Existentialism, Christianity, Kaballah, Gnosticism, Fourth Way, Buddhism, Hinduism). He presents these in a clear and relatively entertaining manner.
I recommend it highly if you are a fan. If you are looking for a quick biography of his life, this isn't it, and I'm very glad it isn't.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews