Snow Borne Sorrow - Nine Horses

Who are and what are Nine Horses?
You may ask, this band name or more correctly musical collective is the tile for a one off musical collaboration between David Sylvian (ex 80's pop group Japan) and his brother and long time musical partner Steve Jensen (ex-Japan drummer) and re-mixer, electronic composer Burnt Friedman.

The 9 tracks that make up the album "Snow Borne sorrow" (catalogue number SS006) started off life ...
...song writing partnership from many years past.

With the end of the 20-year association with the Virgin label David built his own studio called Samadhisound and also gave his own label the same name.

At first the brothers where writing as a means of getting used to the newer technology in the studio.
The pace of the work was painfully slow as both of them where new to the different tools at their disposal.
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Who are and what are Nine Horses?
You may ask, this band name or more correctly musical collective is the tile for a one off musical collaboration between David Sylvian (ex 80's pop group Japan) and his brother and long time musical partner Steve Jensen (ex-Japan drummer) and re-mixer, electronic composer Burnt Friedman.

The 9 tracks that make up the album "Snow Borne sorrow" (catalogue number SS006) started off life as compositions in 2001, with Sylvian and Jensen renewing a song writing partnership from many years past.

With the end of the 20-year association with the Virgin label David built his own studio called Samadhisound and also gave his own label the same name.

At first the brothers where writing as a means of getting used to the newer technology in the studio.
The pace of the work was painfully slow as both of them where new to the different tools at their disposal.

One of the earliest players to add their skill to the tracks was Keith Lowe who plays both acoustic and electric bass.

During this period David asked his brother if he could take a time out from the recording sessions for about 6 weeks.
He felt compelled to begin work on a project of his own called "Blemish"; this would turn out to be the first release for his newly formed label.

With this time out Steve returned to the studio to work on ideas of his own.

David Sylvain's mission statement for his label reads as follows: -

Samadhisound came into being as one possible blueprint for the future, intuition taking precedence over business sense and game plan.
I don't make long-term plans as I surrender that part of my life to guru.
But if I allow myself to dream I dream of a label that gives freedom to artists and musicians, creating a "safe house" for the nurturing ideas.
It will be home too much of my own work and the work of my brother Steve Jensen. We will also sit at the helm, as producers to a small group of artists who we hope will find a home at Samadhisound.
We'll encourage projects that break new ground, and support those that bring a unique slant to an existing field of enquiry.
Aesthetically that field is wide open as is the nature and diversity of the projects.

The album "Blemish" (catalogue number SS001) was an album with Sylvian working primarily alone using improvisational methods of recording which captured a raw, minimal work with acclaimed guitarist Derek Bailey adding his unique playing to 3 of the 8 tracks on the album.
The material for this album took a bit of a different musical tangent from the work he had already recorded with his brother. (Think, "Talk, Talk album "The Spirit of Eden" and you are there)

In May 2003 David travelled to Stockholm, Sweden to record Stina Nordenstam vocal contribution to the Nine Horses banner.

With the success of the "Blemish" album a tour was being discussed this took the pair further away from the tracks.
His brother continued working on a solo project and Sylvian began working with his long time friend and collaborator Ryuichi Sakamoto on a 5 track E.P. called "World Citizen" (catalogue number SS002) after these sessions he began to prepare for the Blemish tour.

It was during the European leg (October 2003) of the tour that David met Brunt for the first time at a concert in Koln, Germany.

David was aware of his work and liked it a great deal; he had felt that when the artistic sparks where not flying between himself and his brother in the studio that a third party would be beneficial to the creative process and felt that Brunt might fit the bill.

Later in the evening of their meeting they spoke of working together at a later date, to test the compatibility of all parties involved 2 tracks of the "Blemish" album where given to Burnt to remix, these would later appear on a remixed version of the album called "The good son Vs the only daughter" (catalogue number SS005).

On the second leg of the tour (April 2004) David preformed concerts in Russia and Japan on his return trip to America he did so viva London and Koln.

He met up with Brunt again this time he gave David an 8 track CD-R that contained demos in various stages of recording.

These tracks had contributions from musicians from all over the world, the idea was that David would add vocals to them as time permitted and would be his addition to an album instigated by Brunt and the drummer Jaki Liebezeit.

The night before the pair met up, David had sat in the Koln continental hotel and completed the lyrics to the fourth track on the demo; this was the first piece he had attempted.

This was the signal that made him think that this could work and he had found another creative partner.
Over the next few months David delivered 5 completed vocal tracks to Brunt, a couple of months later he heard what he had done to them.

To Sylvain's Horror he had stripped back the group sound and the mixes had his voice with little or no accompaniment.

This David felt was at odds with the group ethos he had envisioned; he asked Brunt if he could rework the material.
As luck would have it the drummer Liebezeit was not impressed with what David had added to their album so Burnt agreed to let Sylvain to work on the tracks himself.

In the coming months he added guitar, keyboards and vocal additions such as male and female backing choruses to some of the tracks.

He then asked Steve to replace the drum patterns of Liebezeit and add extra percussion where there had been very little or none.
This he did sometimes changing the time signatures of the originals.

Sylvain then took the opportunity to add the elements that he and his brother had recorded a year earlier.

While David was working alone in the States he came across a track that Steve had been composing on his own while he had been preparing for his Blemish tour, he was immediately struck by its beauty.
The piece was divided into 3 distinct parts which once completed became the tile track of the album.

As both Steve and Brunt where involved in other projects at the time David passed the time by labouring over the details such as editing and mixing.

Once he had taken the tracks as far as he could on his own Steve joined him in the States.
This is when he took the time to rework some of the drum programming by adding dynamics and sonic subtly to the final tracks.

The pair of them took the mixes a stage further; at this point Steve had to return to London.
Sylvain continued the process and E-mailed the results to London for his brother's comments and consideration this wasn't that easy especially the tracks that had been written with Brunt.

3 years after the initial recording the "Nine Horses" project was completed a comment from David Sylvain stated, "They never discussed the future of the Nine Horses as a band".
But with a different approach they may try another project.

To begin with I had my doubts about what the resulting tracks would be like after all work that had been done on them.
Would the entire "feel" be produced out of the songs, would the processes used sound any good?
But after reading an excellent review in the December 2005 edition of "Uncut" magazine that gave the album 5/5 and then a review in "The Observer" which gave the album the same score my curiosity about the album became very intense. (Both reviews can be read on Samadhisound official website)

I have been an admirer of Sylvain's work for over 20-years and while looking on Amazon's website I found a supplier in the "market place" selling a copy for £8.25 plus £1.24 postage and packing from America.
This was only slightly cheaper than Amazon's price of £8.99 plus the same costs for p&p.
I had used the merchant from the States before and they provide an excellent service.
The album arrived about a week later, well packed and still factory sealed you couldn't ask for any more from a supplier.

The entire labels catalogue is available directly from the official website priced per item.

The album begins with "Wonderful World" (6.02) the song starts with a single key on a keyboard being pressed down, that is followed by high hats and snare drum. Then the deep warm sound of double bass (Keith Lowe) is heard, his notes are so low that they make the floor vibrate.
These notes are played all the way through giving all the other elements a pulse like structure to cling too.

After the second volley of satisfying bass notes the vocal of Stina Nordenstam begins with a repeated Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh phrase, which is sung 3 times in between the heavily plucked strings of the bass.

Sylvain then delivers his opening crooned lyric of "It's a wonderful world, and you take and you give, and the sun fills the sky, in the space that you live, it's a day full of dreams, it's a dream of a day, and the joy that it brings, nearly sweeps her away, it's a wonderful world, as the buildings fall down, and you quicken your step, till your feet the leave the ground, and your soaring above, all this sorrow below, and you're falling in love, with those you don't know, after the word "know" sweeping strings are heard with added percussion.

The lines of lyrics continue with "and your heart feels so wide, and your heart feels so strong, it was never a place, that you felt you belonged, it's a wonderful world, full of wonderful things, and the people fall down, and abandon their dreams", a "Duh" is sung this is used to introduce the answer vocal of Stina.

I have been trying to think of who else her voice sounds like the only comparison I can think of is Bjork, don't let this colour your opinion of her singing, there are only just hints.

Her lines begin with "I hear him" Duh phrase sung along with extra bass notes giving the vocal added drama, "He's talking out loud" then the bass notes and Duh device is used again, followed by "Sometimes he" repeat of dramatic device " whistles while walking" bass repeat "how could he" repeat of bass "know me better" bass " I wait for him" bass with added keys "I wait for him now" on the word "now another keyboard is played punching out the word, then back to the Duh-Duh-Duh with even more strings.

The strings now have a weeping quality to them adding an air of melancholy to an already sombre sounding piece.
The Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh intro is used again to open the second verse and create the middle 8 section.
Sylvain's singing starts again with " It's a wonderful world, it's a real crying shame, cause she's hurting herself, in a violent way, and there's people she knows, that won't even try, and their trapped in their lives, feeling terrified".

On the "d" letter of terrified he elongates it and then slides into the words "and sometimes like these, that you promise to call, but the scale of our love, feels diminished and small, it's a wonderful world, and she doesn't know why, and she wakes up each day, and continues to cry".

The Duh backing chorus is again used to announce the singing of Stina, "He's slee-ping, he's tracked home so late, he's finding, to hard too bear, I wait for him, every step of the way, I wait for him, I wait for him".
A big rumble of bass and Sylvain's vocals repeats the first line of the song up to the word "live" after that an oriental sounding keyboard and percussion are added to the "Duh-Duh-Duh" backing chorus; this is repeated until the track slowly fades out. This sounds like a forlorn love song to me, which is understandable considering Sylvain's recent break - up of a 13-year marriage to Ingrid Chavez.

"Darkest Birds" (5.03) has a refrain played in the minor at the beginning on the keyboards along with a slow stately percussive section.
Sylvain then delivers his signature deadpan vibrato vocal, which begins with the words "Here come the darkest birds, to burst the bubble"; the simple keyboard fill is played against the sound of the double bass.
The sound of the bass again dominates the track, this time the womb-like effect of the bass is coloured by the use of trumpet.
The effect of Arve Henriksen (from Norway) playing is too subtlety break-up the wall of bass with a gentle phrase played in a minor key.

This is used until the build - up to the change of rhythm and vocal delivery of the chorus, the sound of the trumpet is also used to emphasise words in the lyrics, such as "to make things better".
The chorus of "this is the road I walked on, I shot you down, all roads of forgiveness useless, won't help me now, and I should have been there for you, when you called my name, I promise to tread more lightly, but what's gone is gone, such a sha-ame" is given more aggression and anger from the now loudly played drums on the word shame, the delivery is stretched to bring it to your attention and to signal the return of the slow paced intro.
The song continues with the lines "Here come the darkest birds, they've got their reasons, all the pretty colours are gold, washed out of season, the trumpet sound returns this time louder and more positive sounding and is now heard at the end of sung lines, until the grumble from the bass announces of the return of the hostile drums.
The drums thrash the cymbals crash and the lines of the chorus are repeated on the "shame" this time Henriksen plays a solo which floats gently in the wash of rim shots, keyboards and bass.
At the end of the solo another onslaught of percussion is heard along with the lines of the chorus and a more trumpet, the track ends with the word "shame" and a 4 note run on the trumpet.

"The banality of Evil" (8.00) after the sombre melancholy of the first couple of songs this more up-beat track is a welcome change of atmosphere and pace.

This time the drums with softly played hi-hat along with the electric bass (Neal Sutherland) these are offset against a phased electric guitar (Riff Pike the third) that is stroked at the end of the drumbeat and can be heard all the way through the piece.

An acoustic guitar's strings are pulled is used to introduce the warbling of Sylvain.
He sings the opening line of "I've got me a badge, a bight shiny badge" strum strum on the acoustic "I'm painting a crest in yellow and blue, I've got me a club, an exclusive club" more strum strum "Doesn't include a place for you" a keyboard begins as he sings "Hey, hello neighbour" the first of the 2 saxophone's (Theo Travis) starts, it is played with a discordant air which is at odds with the rhythm track along with the first sax a clarinet (Thomas Hass) sounds, this is heard at the back of lines sung.
The sound of the clarinet gives the delivered vocals a sense of sadness that is contrary to the drums and bass.
The sadness is added to by the use of vibraphone tracks (Morten Grønvad, Carsten Skøv and Hayden Chisholm) the juxtaposition of these elements contributes to this to make this one of the cornerstones of the collection in my opinion.
The first sax solo in the bridge for me has an echo of John Coltrane about it. (Think of the sound of his "Blue train" album and you are there)

The second sax solo (Marina Arnold) has more of a discord about it; this makes it the perfect counterpoint.

Atom and Cell (7.06) this piece begins with a simple run on the keyboards along with cowbells and other percussive elements that give this intro a real spacey feel.
The vocals start with "Her skin was darker than ashes, and she had something to say".
On the second line Sylvain's voice is joined by a chorus of voices (Tommy Blaize, Derek Green, Beverie Brown, and Andrea Grant) the use of the chorus on the second part of the lines of the song along with the cross panned percussion gives the listener a feeling of descending.
The theme of falling is further added to by the sound of a piano. (Ryuichi Sakamoto)
The piano cascades along with trumpet both of these instruments are heard at the back of the main vocal as the music lumbers along until the bridge.

This is where the main vocal is heard all alone apart from a single echoing key this sound repeats as it moves between the speakers.
This is heard until the trumpet plays a simple motif in the minor. "And where are the stars, didn't you promise her stars, Nothing will ever be as it was, the price has been paid with a thousand new views, and pictures are pasted on shop windows and walls".

This song seems to me to be about a relationship that has gone wrong because of his drinking and physical abuse. Along with not recognizing his faults and not letting his partner be herself as well as not respecting her, an all too familiar story.

"A history of Holes" (8.02) this track starts with a positive air about it that is conveyed by a jolly sounding vibraphone, which along with wah-wah guitar parts (Tim Motzer and Tim Eisenberg) playing all the way through.

Just before the beginning of the main vocal a flute (Theo Davis) comes into earshot this is introduced by the sound of a panned toy piano. (Brunt Friedman)
"I'm having my day, my place n the sun, I'll grow to resemble the man I've become, and they'll be time for reflection, when I reach that plateau" after the word "reflection" additional percussion can be heard this builds to the chorus of "I feel it isn't in Love" this line is repeated twice as a saxophone (Theo Davis) begins on the second repeat it grows to a jazzy sounding solo.
"I'm making a fortune" the wah-wah guitars get louder.
"A sweltering joy, these things I promised myself, When I was a boy" these lines have extra reverb used to bring to them to your attention.
The following solos on the sax on this composition are a real highlight on this album and continue until the fade out.
This song sounds autobiographical in nature as Sylvain's lyrics reflect past regrets of youth and contemplates his own mortality, something everybody of a certain age might do.

"Snow borne sorrow" (6.23) with the use of heavily treated electronic percussion and keyboards the title track begins.
With the use of these effects the intro's atmosphere has a pulsating machine-like quality about it.
The opening lines commence with "Strength for branches, unsheathe the hatches, the threads of friendship, All, are coming off, teams of lawyers, man the trenches, bands of betrothal, All, are coming off" as that line finishes the tempo changes to waltz time.
The sound of a sweetly blown trumpet along with treated piano and finger chimes changes the air to warm instead of the previous cold.
The track has now lost it's chilly sound, "If we're good, if we're kind, the blues influenced trumpet plods along as it does so it picks up percussion tracks until a piano section tumbles right until the fade out.
The narrative of this track seems to me to be about the legal struggle between himself and his ex about access to his 2 daughters.

"The day Earth stole Heaven" (3.19) an acoustic guitar (Joseph Suchy) strums together with sax in a happy like manner, "Let me tell you 'bout a friend, she conjures she will always love me, it's this ability to lie and deceive, that has lost me completely" at end of this line a trumpet begins along with a LA-LA-LA chorus.
The chorus is joined by the acoustic and trumpet that go along in a slow skipping like groove.
The words continue with "I could remind her of the facts, make her countdown and relax, but why bother? During that section the drums and bass start to play "It's the shallowest defence, to my utter astonishment it is over" followed with acoustic fill then "That little girl she wants too love me, more acoustic fill with more percussion the track ends with the words "It's over".
This could be the moment when the singer realized his partner still loved him but couldn't live with him.

"Serotonin" (5.53) this the penultimate track is all jerky rhythm patterns and wouldn't sound out of place on a The Talking Heads album around about the "Remain in Light" period, the drums, bass, keyboard and some guitar parts are all dub effects that gurgle and swoop from channel to channel with some of them on the off beat, the off beat effect is also augmented to by the sax
A 4-note motif on the keyboard and a funky sounding bass runs all the way through the music to give the surrounding chaos structure along with a military sounding snare drum.
The lines of lyrics sound like this to me "The kids forsake, until they rise like mountain ranges at my face" stranger sounding effects and noises follow that line of lyric.
"I'm in the dark, God only knows the torment, the logic on my heart, what wouldn't I, what wouldn't I give, what wouldn't I, what wouldn't I give, comes to this, I'm only sure of things, I know that don't exist".
Followed by keyboard dub effects "there's no decision, I'm inside outside in my subdivision, all of this fills my aching head, I hate this waste, the luxury hotel of this will turn that, Oh dear, Oh me oh my, got to concentrate, just to keep from trying, don't lose it, things more rapidly, don't lose it, try to maintain composure, don't lose it, the dead are haunting me, out with it, I'm willing, lets get it over" at the close of the line a sinister sounding clarinet solo can be heard, this creates the bridge.
The singing returns with the repeating line "What wouldn't I give" this is sung a few times more and the sound of the clarinet can be heard until the fade.

This sounds like it's about how the artist would change what has past if he could.

"The Librarian" (9.01) to close out the album Sylvain has chosen to use similar themes both musically and lyrically as the previous track, this time he has used the sound of a joyful vibraphone and temple bells to give a feeling of optimism to off set the ominous sounding clarinet with it's 5-note descending scale.
The vocals start with "Keep your head down, keep your head down, while their firing love, your too young child, to know the difference, oh my pretty, oh my sweet girl, it's a marvellous place, they put weights down in your coattails, to burn you out, lest you fly, lest you take off, and show them who never was smart, it's one outrageous lie after another, turn their lights out" while that last part is being sung a funky sounding guitar chops out a different rhythm and plays at the end of the singing.
"Change the channel, before we lose the heart, to fight against belief, and what there're saying, there's a hotel with a darkroom at the end of a corridor, I will meet you to the strains of Allah" "The way you lie back, on a pillow, of the whitest snow" the usual funky guitar sounds as the last note is heard of the guitar run, the drums then crash into life, the drums pound out a funeral paced rhythm and the other parts of the track come together making a gorgeous soundscape of percussion and keyboards until the end.

My biggest criticism of this album is the sleeve; it comes in a 3-part fold diga-pack and has very little in design as the artwork is made up of three cream coloured panels with small designs on them.
The back of the sleeve has a track listing and the front has a design and the band name and album title.
There is no booklet so there are no lyrics; so sorry if I've got any of the words wrong it was a case of stopping and starting the album over and over again.
There is a small pocket on the inside of the sleeve that does have an A5 sheet folded into 4 with a list of studios and musician credits.

For me this is one of the best albums I have heard in 2005 with it's syncopated rhythms and complex motif's that interlock beautifully giving the listener something new to hear every time the album is played.
There is so much going on; I will be weeks working it all out.

Parts of this album where recorded in America, Germany, Australia, Denmark, Sweden and London without the use of a computer and the internet this album wouldn't have been possible.
The standard of musicianship is excellent and the tracks have been beautifully crafted together.
I hope that they can take a band on the road and then record a whole new set of songs.
All the background info for this has come from both Sylvain's official website along with his labels.
The upset of all the emotional pain of the artist has contributed greatly to the album's impact, putting the soul back in the machine.

This album may take a little work on the listener's part but the rewards are great with music for the head as well as the heart.

This album is now avaiable as a complete download from the Samadhisound website.

Earlier this year(16th Jan 2007) a mini-album called "Money for all" the tracks are mix of re-mixs and outtakes from the album sessions the track are as follows:-

1. Money for All
2. Get the Hell Out
3. Banality of Evil [Burnt Friedman Remix]
4. Wonderful World [Burnt Friedman Remix]
5. Birds Sing for Their Lives
6. Serotonin [Burnt Friedman Remix]
7. Money for All [Version]
8. Get the Hell Out [Burnt Friedman Remix]

I don't have this yet so I can't comment on any of the tracks.

 

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