For the sake of accuracy and for the benefit of your Weekender readers, I am writing this review of Sean Leary’s review, “New Age Sounds Apart from Crowd,” which appeared in the Thursday, April 19 paper.

Selecting Kitaro for this introduction to some new age sounds was probably a smart choice; however, the mention of David Sylvian placed the author on shaky ground.

Indeed, Sylvian’s music CAN sometimes be found in the New Age section of a music store. His music can be found in other sections as well: rock, new wave, alternative music, etc. This evidences Sylvian’s uniqueness. Perhaps a good category name for him would be: New Sage.

Though Mr. Leary did spell Sylvian’s name correctly and cited the title of one of his albums, I can’t find anything else accurate in the description of Sylvian’s music.

First, Sylvian has a wonderful voice with a low register that is full of resonance. Second, the album Secrets of the Beehive is anything but “a darkly narcotic album breathing sinister life” as Mr. Leary described it.

With titles such as “Let the Happiness In” and lyrics such as: “The birds swooped down upon the crossings of old grey churches. They say that we’re in love, or secretly wishing for rain: sipping coke and playing games…” (from September).

That’s coke as in coca-cola, Mr. Leary, not the narcotic drug. Perhaps you listened to a Joy Division record by mistake, because one couldn’t listen to Sylvian and think the word “sinister.”

Finally, if you’re going to call Secrets Sylvian’s most daring work to date, you might want to use the word relatively, since he comes out of a progressive pop background (his previous group was Japan). Listen to his Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities or Plight and Premonition (with Holger Czukay) sometimes for something more daring.

I appreciate your attempt to introduce the topic of New Age music, though I think classifying it as “make-out” music is pretty shallow. But regardless of your definitions, making Sylvian out to be a great find for Joy Division fans is a “grave” mistake.

Jeff Mishur

Graduate Assistant/Art History