Scott Walker "Bish Bosch"

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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.

you, your max is on fire (flamboyant goon tie included), Saturday, 15 December 2012 15:06 (eleven years ago) link

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

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

the clown's reflection is incorrect (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 15 December 2012 15:12 (eleven years ago) link

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

you, your max is on fire (flamboyant goon tie included), Saturday, 15 December 2012 15:42 (eleven years ago) link

awww Casanova is still a great record.

the clown's reflection is incorrect (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 15 December 2012 16:04 (eleven years ago) link

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'.

Max Florian, Saturday, 15 December 2012 16:08 (eleven years ago) link

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

you, your max is on fire (flamboyant goon tie included), Saturday, 15 December 2012 16:17 (eleven years ago) link

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

Max Florian, Saturday, 15 December 2012 16:35 (eleven years ago) link

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.

Ned Raggett, Saturday, 15 December 2012 16:58 (eleven years ago) link

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?)

the clown's reflection is incorrect (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 15 December 2012 17:05 (eleven years ago) link

No, I just concentrated on the current album.

Ned Raggett, Saturday, 15 December 2012 17:31 (eleven years ago) link

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.

Max Florian, Saturday, 15 December 2012 19:43 (eleven years ago) link

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...)

the clown's reflection is incorrect (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 21:37 (eleven years ago) link

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

MaresNest, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 22:13 (eleven years ago) link

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).

Michael Jones, Thursday, 20 December 2012 09:22 (eleven years ago) link

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.

scott seward, Monday, 31 December 2012 01:39 (eleven years ago) link

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.

silverfish, Monday, 31 December 2012 09:34 (eleven years ago) link

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.

besides Sunny Real Estate (dog latin), Thursday, 3 January 2013 15:16 (eleven years ago) link

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

xanthanguar (cwkiii), Thursday, 3 January 2013 15:45 (eleven years ago) link

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

besides Sunny Real Estate (dog latin), Thursday, 3 January 2013 16:21 (eleven years ago) link

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

~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 January 2013 16:22 (eleven years ago) link

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

silverfish, Thursday, 3 January 2013 16:23 (eleven years ago) link

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).

besides Sunny Real Estate (dog latin), Thursday, 3 January 2013 16:33 (eleven years ago) link

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.

besides Sunny Real Estate (dog latin), Thursday, 3 January 2013 16:34 (eleven years ago) link

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.

silverfish, Thursday, 3 January 2013 16:43 (eleven years ago) link

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

~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 January 2013 16:44 (eleven years ago) link

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...

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 3 January 2013 19:12 (eleven years ago) link

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

scott seward, Thursday, 3 January 2013 19:29 (eleven years ago) link

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

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 3 January 2013 19:52 (eleven years ago) link

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

~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 January 2013 19:57 (eleven years ago) link

FWIW I think it's awesome.

~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 3 January 2013 19:57 (eleven years ago) link

oh shit this is wonderful

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 3 January 2013 20:04 (eleven years ago) link

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

sisilafami, Thursday, 3 January 2013 23:06 (eleven years ago) link

As in... ID them?

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

Michael Jones, Thursday, 3 January 2013 23:11 (eleven years ago) link

yes

sisilafami, Friday, 4 January 2013 00:48 (eleven years ago) link

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.

ma ck ro ma ck ro (mackro mackro), Saturday, 5 January 2013 07:55 (eleven years ago) link

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?

Tom D is secretly an important person (Tom D.), Saturday, 5 January 2013 13:05 (eleven years ago) link

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

emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 January 2013 21:31 (eleven years ago) link

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

Three Word Username, Sunday, 6 January 2013 17:54 (eleven years ago) link

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

ma ck ro ma ck ro (mackro mackro), Sunday, 6 January 2013 20:00 (eleven years ago) link

The only SCG album I don't have :(

~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Monday, 7 January 2013 17:32 (eleven years ago) link

The only rare one I DO have.

dan selzer, Monday, 7 January 2013 17:49 (eleven years ago) link

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.

~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Monday, 7 January 2013 17:51 (eleven years ago) link

I could hook a brother up

CGI fridays (Edward III), Monday, 7 January 2013 17:53 (eleven years ago) link

get at me

~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Monday, 7 January 2013 18:05 (eleven years ago) link

done

not their best album but def the most entertaining one

CGI fridays (Edward III), Monday, 7 January 2013 18:15 (eleven years ago) link

I expect it to remind me of Piano Bar in that respect

~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Monday, 7 January 2013 18:17 (eleven years ago) link

THANKING U

~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Monday, 7 January 2013 18:21 (eleven years ago) link

np

CGI fridays (Edward III), Monday, 7 January 2013 18:26 (eleven years ago) link

Scott Walker 70th birthday special

Designated Striver (Tom D.), Sunday, 13 January 2013 13:05 (eleven years ago) link

Scott Walker 70th birthday specialīˆ‘

besides Sunny Real Estate (dog latin), Sunday, 13 January 2013 19:19 (eleven years ago) link


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