Dead Bees on a Cake

Dead Bees on a Cake
Dead Bees on a Cake
Studio album by David Sylvian
Released	29 March 1999 – 9 April 1999 (Japan)
Recorded	Right Track Studios, New York – Real World Studios, Box, Wiltshire – Sound House Studio, Seattle – Atma Sound, Minneapolis – Seedy Underbelly, Minneapolis – Synergy Studio, Napa
Genre	Art rock, jazz fusion, world music
Length	69:46 (CD); 83:42 (vinyl)
Label	Virgin
Producer	David Sylvian
David Sylvian chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B+^[3]
NME	8/10^[4]
Pitchfork	7.3/10^[5]

Dead Bees on a Cake is a solo album by British singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released in March 1999. It was his first solo album since 1987's Secrets of the Beehive.

The album peaked at no. 31 in the UK Albums Chart at release and contained his last UK Top 40 single to date in "I Surrender" (no. 40).^[6]

In 2018, the album was released on double vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day. This pressing included four songs originally intended for the album (and previously released as part of Everything and Nothing), and a restructured track order.^[7]

Background[]

Sylvian said about the album 2012:^[8]

"I just came up with so many problems with producing it. So many avenues just ended in a kind of a dead end. Using a great deal of new technology this time, a lot of files were lost along the way, but that wasn't the only problem. Certainly working with different musicians, a couple of producers, I just put a halt to the project numerous times. And at the same time I'd moved to the United States, I'd got married, I had my first child and I was very much involved in that life. I was just so involved in the bringing up of my first daughter and following a far more intensely spiritual path and a spiritual discipline, and that was kind of leading me away from a concentrated focus on music. And every time I returned to the work I liked what I heard, but again every time I got re-immersed in it I would come up against an obstacle of some kind. I just thought it did not want to be completed and thought that maybe this was it. I was happy with the work. It was poorly received, but it did bring my relationship with Virgin Records to an end. I didn't realise how much that would mean to me, but it really did liberate me, and I only recognised that fact once I was in the studio recording Blemish and realising that I really didn't have to go round to sell this idea to anyone. It really opened things up for me, moving away from a major label like that.”

Track listing[]

CD pressing

All tracks are written by David Sylvian, except as noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I Surrender"	9:24
2.	"Dobro #1" (Sylvian, Bill Frisell)	1:30
3.	"Midnight Sun" (Sylvian, Johnny Moore, Charles Brown, Eddie Williams)	4:00
4.	"Thalheim"	6:07
5.	"God Man"	4:02
6.	"Alphabet Angel"	2:06
7.	"Krishna Blue"	8:08
8.	"The Shining of Things"	3:09
9.	"Café Europa"	6:58
10.	"Pollen Path"	3:25
11.	"All of My Mother's Names (Summers with Amma)"	6:11
12.	"Wanderlust"	6:43
13.	"Praise (Pratah Smarami)" (Shree Maa, Sylvian)	4:02
14.	"Darkest Dreaming" (Sylvian, Djivan Gasparyan)	4:01
Total length:		69:46

2018 vinyl pressing

All tracks are written by David Sylvian, except as noted.

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"I Surrender"	9:24
2.	"The Scent of Magnolia"	5:36
3.	"Dobro #1" (Sylvian, Bill Frisell)	1:30
4.	"Midnight Sun" (Sylvian, Johnny Moore, Charles Brown, Eddie Williams)	4:00
Total length:		20:30

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Cover Me with Flowers"	6:33
2.	"Krishna Blue"	8:08
3.	"Albuquerque (Dobro #6)" (Sylvian, Bill Frisell)	1:21
Total length:		15:32

Side C
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Thalheim"	6:07
2.	"Alphabet Angel"	2:06
3.	"God Man"	4:02
4.	"Café Europa"	6:58
5.	"Aparna and Nimisha (Dobro # 5)" (Sylvian, Bill Frisell)	0:56
6.	"Pollen Path"	3:25
Total length:		23:34

Side D
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Shining of Things"	3:09
2.	"Wanderlust"	6:43
3.	"All of My Mother's Names (Summers with Amma)"	6:11
4.	"Praise (Pratah Smarami)" (Shree Maa, Sylvian)	4:02
5.	"Darkest Dreaming" (Sylvian, Djivan Gasparyan)	4:01
Total length:		24:06

Personnel[]

David Sylvian – vocals, guitars (all tracks except 2, 6, 8), keyboards (exc. 8, 13), bass (5), drum programming (4, 5, 7, 9), samples (1, 3, 10, 14), string arrangements (1, 8)
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Fender Rhodes (1, 6, 11), orchestrations and string arrangements (1, 8), brass arrangements (3), sampled guitar and bansuri (7), insects (10)
Tommy Barbarella – Fender Rhodes (4, 12)
Marc Ribot – electric guitar (1, 3, 11), acoustic guitar (5, 10), slide guitar (10)
Bill Frisell – dobro (2, 7), acoustic guitar (7)
Kenny Wheeler – flugelhorn (1, 4)
Lawrence Feldman – flute (1)
Deepak Ram – bansuri (7)
John Giblin �� bass (4, 12)
Chris Minh Doky – double bass (11)
Steve Jansen – percussion (1, 7, 9), loops (4, 5), cymbals (4)
Ged Lynch – original drum track (4), drums (10, 12)
Skoota Warner – original drum track (5), drums (11)
Talvin Singh – tabla and percussion (7, 11)
Steve Tibbetts – gong (7)
Ingrid Chavez – vocals (7, 9)
Shree Maa – vocals (13)

Production[]

David Sylvian – producer, additional engineer, sound mixing
Dave Kent – sound engineer and mixing, studio maintenance
Jacquie Turner – assistant engineer
Matt Curry – assistant engineer
Scott Crane – assistant engineer
Bob Ludwig – audio mastering

Art work[]

David Sylvian – art director
Yuka Fujii – art director, artwork co-ordinator
Shinya Fujiwara – drawings
Anton Corbijn – photography
Ingrid Chavez – inlay portrait
Russell Mills – design (shed)
Michael Webster – design assistance (storm)

References[]

^ Dead Bees on a Cake at AllMusic
^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
^ "Dead Bees on a Cake". Ew.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
^ "NME.COM - David Sylvian - Dead Bees On A Cake - 30 March 1999". 17 August 2000. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
^ "David Sylvian: Dead Bees on a Cake". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
^ "DAVID SYLVIAN | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
^ Snapes, Laura (6 March 2018). "David Bowie, Prince and Courtney Barnett among Record Store Day exclusive releases". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
^ "david-sylvian-interview". 1 April 2021.

[1] Dead Bees on a Cake at AllMusic

[2] Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.

[3] "Dead Bees on a Cake". Ew.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.

[4] "NME.COM - David Sylvian - Dead Bees On A Cake - 30 March 1999". 17 August 2000. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 12 February 2019.

[5] "David Sylvian: Dead Bees on a Cake". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.

[6] "DAVID SYLVIAN | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 13 June 2018.

[7] Snapes, Laura (6 March 2018). "David Bowie, Prince and Courtney Barnett among Record Store Day exclusive releases". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.

[8] "david-sylvian-interview". 1 April 2021.

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