Search - David Sylvian & Holger Czukay :: Plight & Premonition

Yin

spiral_mind | Pennsylvania | 09/10/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"An exercise in pure atmospherics, Plight & Premonition is one of those albums that's more ambience than music. There are almost no melodies and no prominent instruments, apart from some hazy synths played in a way that suggests a minimum of human involvement. I sometimes get the impression that David and Holger could have just set up some equipment in a quiet haunted place and left for a few hours to see what it recorded. In the same way that instrumental songs create impressions without words, this album paints its pictures in sound without music. The background haze is a constantly shifting cloud; murky, dark and chilly. Random odd noises come and go: faint radio waves, icy chimes, shimmering tones that suggest barely-visible ghosts floating around the room. A quick flute or a few piano notes dart in and out from time to time, but fade as quickly as they come. The overall impression I get is that it's like part of a horror movie soundtrack, where someone's suddenly dropped into a scary place and you know something very bad is going to happen.. eventually.. but in the meantime the film is content to extend the suspense and thoroughly creep you out. Hitchcock probably would have been more than happy to use this album as a score.If this seems like a staggeringly dull 34 minutes of sound to listen to all on its own, well.. it probably is. It's meant to create a subdued background, not to grab all of your attention. I use it to create an atmosphere for sitting down with the right kind of book, a time-out from normal music or a quiet nest of sound for when I go to sleep. If chilly winter ambience isn't your first preference, you'd be better served to look into Sylvian & Czukay's followup, Flux & Mutability."

4 1/2 stars-- two engaging soundscapes.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 08/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The first (and in my assessment, superior) collaboration between David Sylvian and Holger Czukay, "Plight and Premonition" is two extended ambient works, both around 15 minutes or so, titled "Plight" and "Premonition". The two pieces are, as the best ambient work is, gentle and yet insistent, highly engaging and intriguing. Both twist and turn in subtle ways and prove to be highly engaging.



Having said that, they both are extended ambient compositions-- expecting otherwise would be a mistake. Nonetheless, the album is a highly enjoyable listen and among the better of Sylvian's forays into ambient music. Recommended."

Holger Czukay & David Sylvian - 'Plight And Premonition' (Vi

Mike Reed | USA | 09/05/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A quite interesting late '80's collaboration between Can bassist Holger Czukay and Japan vocalist, guitarist and frontman David Sylvian. Only description I could think of for 'Plight And Premonition' is maybe part art-rock and part experimental. Just two, yet lengthy tracks here. "Plight(The Spiraling Of Water Ghosts)" {18:31} and "Premonition(Giant Empty Iron Vessel)" {16:21}. Both cuts are well written and thought out pieces of sonic sound landscapes. This CD should appeal to all Can fans (old and new, alike) as well as experimental fantatics. You know? The fan{s} that the more farther-out the music is, the better. Great thing about 'Plight...' is that it doesn't out step it's limit. A good pick."