Blue Of Noon

Release date:

September 1, 1987

Copyright:

Virgin Records Ltd.

Length:

5:39

Status:

Official

Publisher:

Opium (Arts) Ltd.

Blue Of Noon is without doubt, one of the best Sylvian tracks ever! It is an outtake from the Brilliant Trees sessions.
Not available on CD!

Ryuichi Sakamoto: piano, synths
W. Braithwaite: double bass
Steve Jansen: drums
Produced by David Sylvian and Steve Nye.
Mixed by N. Walker.

David answered a question about Blue Of Noon in the davidsylvian.net exclusive interview QA02:

What did you made decide, not to include Blue Of Noon on the Camphor album? (question by Gerrit Hillebrand)

Blue of Noon was never a finished piece as far as I was concerned (it was originally a song in fact). I felt it needed work to help it stand on its own feet. However, budget constraints for ‘Camphor didn’t allow for too much recording work to be undertaken.

On Steve Jansen’s sleepyard.tumblr.com page, he answers a question related to this track:

wewalkbackwards asked: Hi Steve, I’d like to ask about the Sylvian track ‘Blue Of Noon’ which is, in my opinion, a bit of a hidden gem and features, perhaps, your ‘jazziest’ performance. Was it recorded during the Berlin sessions and was it a live ensemble take or was it tracked? Any other reminiscences about the recording would be lovely to hear, thanks.

Was I even aware that track had been released? Yes it was recorded in Berlin during Brilliant Trees. It was a live recording, we played the track a number of times and this was the best take. Wayne (bass) may have dropped in for a line here or there once the drums and piano were recorded. I have this track on a cassette tape along with another, possibly jazzier track that had the working title ‘saints and sheep’ which again was a live performance with myself, John Taylor (the pianist from Gone To Earth .. it was from those sessions, he plays on Laughter & Forgetting, a brilliant player), and Ian Maidman on bass. I was really pleased with the interplay between us but I guess it didn’t suit the album. I’m not sure if it’s ever been released under another name … I don’t think so.