Hallock Hill

David Sylvian, “Small Metal Gods,” Manafon (Samadhi Sound)

I’ve been struggling to say something erudite about this record, and cannot. Let’s let it speak for itself. Manafon was on numerous best of lists from last year (The Wire and Mapsadaisical to name a few), and deservedly so. The former Japan singer David Sylvian created a fantastically rich world, based around his voice and grounded by the superb improvisational artists playing with him (including Christian Fennesz and John Tillbury).

music: dafeldecker/fennesz/moser/stangl/sylvian
lyrics: sylvian
guitar: burkard stangl
acoustic bass: werner dafeldecker
cello: michael moser
laptop, guitar: christian fennesz
no-input mixer: toshimaru nakamura
turntables: otomo yoshihide
vocals: david sylvian

Manafon’s official website