The compositions on David Sylvian's "Approaching Silence" were originally parts of different multimedia exhibits. As musical accompaniment to a visual exhibit, these pieces might succeed, but they fall short when they stand on their own.

Sylvian has built a career on ambient, moody noise that sometimes crosses over into art rock territory. At times, the results have been compelling pieces of music, like the stuff he put out with the band Japan, or some of the material on which he collaborated with Robert Fripp. Other efforts were less successful, resulting in meandering, and essentially boring noise.

At times, the pieces on "Approaching Silence" straddle that borderline before falling short. If you're in the mood for very ambient, very moody, slightly dark noise, "The Beekeeper's Apprentice," might keep you entranced throughout its 30 plus minutes. Listeners in a different frame of mind might tend to dismiss it as the background music for a New Age religious meeting, or the soundtrack for a very, very slowly moving art film (think "2001: A Space Odyssey" in slower motion). If I wanted to be cruel, I could even compare it to one of those endless car trips where the bratty kids keep asking, "Are we there yet?" from the back-seat every five seconds.

The second track, "Epiphany," qualifies as the baby of the set, clocking in at a mere 2:24. Disjointed, sporadic spoken word segments play over tribal vocalizations, and then a vaguely Middle Eastern/Indian melody. It might have qualified as interesting except for the too short length, and the fact that the first 40 seconds and last 30 seconds are inaudible at normal volumes.

Really, the only saving grace for this disc is the Fripp (King Crimson)-assisted, 38-minute title composition. Compared to "The Beekeeper's Apprentice," there is a relative abundance of things occurring in the background, from spoken word samples (barely audible), to a hint of mood altering dissonance. Overall, the tone of the track is far more hopeful, much brighter than that of the first track, but you get the impression of dark clouds appearing on the horizon on an otherwise bright day. Even with all of that going on, there is still a temptation to slap the "boring" tag on that piece as well.

I can imagine these pieces working well when set as background to some outside stimulation, setting the mood for listeners about to enter some mystical territory. Unfortunately, the compositions on "Approaching Silence" totally fail to translate to an interesting experience when presented stripped of that visual adornment.