This was Sylvian's first solo album for 12 years, which followed some abortive collaborations with Ryuchi Sakamoto. I have it in my head that I bought this in a second hand CD shop in Belgium, although that may be an entirely fabricated memory. The album opens with the lovely, languid, but possibly overlong I Surrender (the last thing of Sylvian's to trouble the Top 40 singles chart), followed by the brief Dobro #1, a short song with just Sylvian and Bill Frisell on dobro, de

I might have seen Prefab Sprout five years before this album was released, when as a duo they supported The Rezillos in Durham, but I don't remember them and it's much more likely I stayed in the bar until Fay Fife graced the stage. So my first real earful of the Sprouts came when I bought this album for my brother for Christmas, and taped it first. It's been a firm favourite ever since, although in recent years, I've been more drawn to listening to Paddy McAloon's acoustic v