*** David Sylvian, “Dead Bees on a Cake,” Virgin.

The 1999 version of the Englishman’s avant-garde pop is darker in nature than 1987’s gorgeous “Secrets of the Beehive.” It’s as if the singer were watching the world and its painful contradictions in slow-motion. There’s the occasional hummable bit (the sinuous “God Man” and the Asian-flavored “Krishna Blue”), but the bulk of this highly introspective album is made up of abstract ballads that rely heavily on texture and gentle sonic distortion.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.