Scott Walker "Bish Bosch"

and, to link this observation with the melody critique to Scott, it is somewhat true his melodies are frequently much the same, both on The Drift and Bish Bosch. this is why I tend to drift (pardon the pun) on the second half of BB.

but then, Bjork's melodies are often much the same, too.

dave's vibrato on the nine horses album has a little bit of bryan ferry in it but sounds an awful lot like scott's

I've managed three tracks so far. The opening track is pretty strong, in a bludgeony way, Corps De Blah has several beautiful 30sec chunks which don't add up to much and Phrasing has stuck in my head as the best of the three. I don't know when I'll get around to the 21min track.

You can position it in a different way - I would think you put more of yourself to when you get to play the record.

With Walker's later records its not so much about how many times you get to play them but the gap of time between each play.

I understand the 21-min track can sound overwhelming as a prospect, but really it is so diverse than it's also the most entertaining.

with this record I like how, on first spins, you don't know exactly which is the beginning and which the ending of the various tracks.

it is somewhat true his melodies are frequently much the same, both on The Drift and Bish Bosch

"Tilt" is esp. guilty of recycling melodies from "Climate of Hunter" imo, not so much recycling them as he can't seem to work out what melodies will fit the music. Have I told you all I don't like "Tilt" all that much, or as much as I once did?

I haven't listened to it for some time now, but I still think it remains my favourite. I'm a sucker for classic arrangements, I find they haven't quite exhausted their emotional punch. it's always a breath of fresh vista I get when that know Walkerish string cloud comes to hover under his voice (or is his voice hovering over that harmonic cloud). The Drift was too sameish for me, especially for a long album. I like variety, that's why I like Bish Bosch better. but yes, I guess Tilt remains the best of both worlds for me.

you're quite right about the same melodies employed on Tilt and, say, 'Sleepwalker's Woman'. but I almost don't notice that because I so like that harmonic context and his change of tone when singing over it. when the same trick unexpectedly comes up for a brief while in one of the 'cosmic void' sections of 'Zercon', I'm a happy boy.

I'm on the verge of coming round to to the opinion that "Climate of Hunter" is his best post-60s album - just a pity about the fretless bass

I love the fretless! it suits him quite well on that record : )
in general, I don't understand people rewriting history so to speak (and the fretless being a pet peeve: God, talk about invalidating whole careers - Mick Karn comes to mind). is it an '80s album? well, accept it for an '80s album it is. a work of art doesn't grow apart from its context. we will get to hear charges about 'over-drily recorded vocals' from the 2000s soon enough. 'tis all good, and it's everything for grabs (and enjoyment).

I love the fretless too!

The only "production error" I hear on CoH onward-- obv this is the most personal observation ever-- is that I find the drums and "static, noisy elements" on Tilt to be dated and ineffective. Pola X soundtrack seemed like an exercise in How To Make Noise, like he worked out those details

Me I love that "Farmer in the city" is a late-period Romantic one-off, absolutely my favourite latter day track (with "Clara" close behind) and made all the more powerful by its singularity.

I love the fretless on CoH too. What bothers me is the electric guitar solos.

That's a nice observation abt 'Farmer'. Totally OTM.

On a personal note, there is always a part of me that loves "Farmer" so much that I just want to go "full Phantom" on a new song but then I think of Neil Hannon and think better of it

awww Casanova is still a great record.

I don't find 'Farmer' a particularly one-off moment on that album, which is littered I think with many equally romantic crooning moments throughout (think 'Patriot (a single)'). which is really why it stays my favourite album of his, as I've stated upthread.
the one-off moment for me is 'Rosary', though. I remember I wanted to hear a whole album full of such 'rosaries'.

Oh yeah, for sure! "As in the wind!" etc. is the most scene-chewing moment on the entire record, but it's more "Romanticism deployed as a device" rather than the backbone of the sonic world.

And as for "Rosary", I thought "A lover loves" was a suitable rejoinder

quite right so, I meaned that just in the context of that album. I like his guitar playing a lot.

Hey, thanks to all for the kind comments re: the interview. It's cut down from the overall transcript, BTW, so I might put up the other answers later.

Oh ned please do!

I revisited Pola X and And Who Will Go to the Ball? both twice this week. They're good but neither has anything like that feeling of startling inner necessity of the song albums. They feel like workshop pieces. The two songs for Ute Lemper, on the other hand, are every bit as good as anything he's ever done. I don't know why no one ever asks him about them. (Did you, perhaps, Ned?)

No, I just concentrated on the current album.

I'll be very glad if you do that, Ned, thanks in advance.
it's not just about Scott, it's your template was so good to begin with. so, I'd like to have more of a good thing.

Has anyone read The Impossible Dream: The Story of Scott Walker and the Walker Brothers? Worthwhile at all?

(back in the Tilt era I read the Deep Shade of Blue bio...)

There is a pretty good interview with SW and Peter Walsh, his longtime producer in this month's Sound on Sound magazine.

Oh, "Dimple" is terrific. That's my take-away classic from this so far, a la "Jesse" and "Farmer in the City". (I haven't got to the last two tracks yet).

vinyl sounds amazing! they did an amazing job. you could definitely use it as some demented reference record for fancy speakers. the tones are all over the place so it would work well. just a great transfer however they did it. very little surface noise. which obviously means a lot if you have fancy speakers. my ancient - not so fancy but nice - speakers like this record a lot.

I listened to SDSS1416+13B (Zercon, A Flagpole Sitter) the other day while reading the lyrics. I couldn't sleep afterwards. This album, it is unlike other things.

Having attempted to listen to this in a darkened room in full on vinyl last night, I've come to the conclusion that it's pretty much impossible to listen to this album all the way through, even if you love Walker's steez. By the end of the third side my mate and I had both agreed that we'd started tuning out and that it just sounded like a TV had been switched on in the room. This isn't really a bad thing. I think the value of these tracks work best when heard apart; maybe on headphones rather than in a room with other people.

I've found that, in general, it is a bad idea to listen to Scott Walker in a room with other people.

even if everyone's a fan, it doesn't work. you just end up feeling weird and laughing nervously to yourselves/each other.

I approach almost any album that fills an entire CD as Side A and Side B. Or if there are dud tracks I delete them forever (that doesn't work for Bish Bosch, though).

Here's a suggestion:

Bisch Bosch playlist one: everything except 'Zercon'
BB playlist two: 'Zercon' by itself

This album is definitely something you listen to alone. Preferably somewhere dark and cold.

I really like this record, but really, do you really need much more from it other than Epizootics! and Zercon? The rest just feels like sponge cake to those tracks' jam and icing so far (note I've only had this since Christmas).

ah xposts to Jon Lewis - this could be the best strategy. Luckily Zercon takes up a whole side. It's the one I seem to go back to the most, admittedly.

epizootics! and zercon are the ones that make the most immediate impact, but there are a lot of other tracks that are worth paying close attention to. Dimple has been a favorite lately.

The closing track is definitely a highlight, blew me away right off the bat.

I've been meaning to compile "The Drift" and "Bish Bosch" to add to my digital Scott box. For one thing, I can do without the sphincter symphony...

this album freaked out my dog. i thought she was gonna bite my speaker.

Guys what is this sphincter symphony i keep hearing about? It sounds amazing! Is it a fart sound collage or something?

'Corps de Blah'. You'll know it when you hear it.

FWIW I think it's awesome.

oh shit this is wonderful

it took me three listens to recognize the farts in corps de blah

As in... ID them?

I need some comfort in my commute, so I keep going back to Dimple.

yes

Finally gave this a full listen. It's as good as The Drift and Tilt. Different than either, etc.

What I didn't expect was, despite the singing, lyrics, and arrangements how LIGHT this was in comparison. It felt like half an hour total listening to it. Also, despite the long songs, Bish Bosch sounds all like one multi-part piece, except probably the final track, which sounds like a coda.

Bish Bosch should be the first Scott Walker experience for fucked up teenagers, then working backward from there.

I don't know, I don't dislike this album or "The Drift" or "Tilt" but I don't get very much out of them... so, I suppose, I'm not a Scott Walker fan anymore?

i first listened to this record in a room full of people, albeit it was a hotel lobby done up to seem haunted

what a fantastic album. Would enthusiastically await a cd full of tracks like Conducator.

Sun City Girls : Horse Cock Phepner :: Scott Walker : Bish Bosch

The only SCG album I don't have :(

The only rare one I DO have.

lest anyone think my apt is worth breaking into, a lot of them i only 'have' as mp3. But Horse Cock never turned up on P2P like the others.