Scott Walker. (RIP March 2019)

lol i figured that out after a second

A wonderful artist, a wonderful life. Listening to Funeral Tango and smiling.

No news yet on cause of death?

rip scott, so sad to hear. it's funny, i've long been a fan of 1-4 and the '70s walker bros albums, but i've never dove into drift or tilt.

Oof well you should. The Drift in particular is such a crazy achievement, no other record like it

I came to Scott quite late, about 10 years ago after a good friend gently kept pushing him on me. One of those artists whose work just crept up on me and burrowed into my subconscious. And all phases of it are amazing, from "Mrs. Murphy" to "Nite Flights" to the latest stuff. An artist who truly forged his own path, though undoubtedly enabled by his early success. I hope in this easy-access-to-everything era that his presence will continue to be felt.

yes voodoo chili - this is urgent

and do not overlook the two long tracks scott wrote and arranged for Ute Lemper on her Punishing Kiss album - they are the way station between tilt and drift.

yeah it's sort of the definition of a "record you should hear before you die", like it or not it's one of the most nuts records ever

“Ride on, Hero”

I actually did listen (possibly for the first time, properly, thanks Spotify!) to "Tilt" about two weeks ago, it's really not as abrasive as you might have reason to expect - definitely a mid-point between Scott4 style orchestration and the heavy song styles of "The Drift".

yeah I don't really think his stuff is difficult to listen to, which makes it a lot more disturbing really

Those lemper tracks are essential

yeah, tilt and drift have been on my list for a while, i just need to dive in and not worry if i'm 'in the mood.'

Tilt starts off with one of the most gorgeous songs ever recorded so it’s definitely not like Walker is going out of his way to be offputting

speaking of the most gorgeous songs ever recorded--the fucking electrician is devastating on a normal day, but today...

do I hear…21…

I don't why anyone ever thought "Tilt" was abrasive or difficult.

I mean some parts are kinda? And the subject matter is often chilling. It’s kinda exactly what the titles tilt and drift suggest - the guy who made climate of Hunter and nite flights wandering further out

Yes, I can only assume a lot of the people who were surprised with it hadn't heard Nite Flights and Climate of Hunter.

Der Spiegel is reporting cancer, but does so at the end of an idiotic "golly gee, shame he went crazy after No Regrets and produced nothing anyone can listen to" article, so...

when tilt came out it was abrasive and difficult

the goal posts moved after that

it is absolutely a more harrowing sound world than nite flights or climate, come on now

Harrowing? I don't find it harrowing.

and do not overlook the two long tracks scott wrote and arranged for Ute Lemper on her Punishing Kiss album - they are the way station between tilt and drift.

― valet doberman (Jon not Jon)

I need to get on this!

you are in for a treat emil.y - they add up to the length of a decent size EP (tracks are "Scope J" and "Lullaby')

Where do the sewers go? They gotta go somewhere

i guess the farmer in the city could be harrowing?

Lol

Put on Scope J just now. This is so good. May very well be the best Scott Walker song.

Her lullaby is so much better than the version on soused as well

LOL (xxp) Ignore me, I don't find any music harrowing.

Apparently, when "Tilt" was coming out, Fontana records held a listening do and invited notable celeb Scott fans (e.g. Marc Almond) but when it came on, most of them fled!

Try Alfred Schnittke's 4th string quartet.

xp

On the freak zone at the weekend, before the news this morning, maconie went from mark hollis solo track into Cossacks Are

Oh god, I'm only a couple of minutes into 'Scope J'... how have I never listened to this before?

Same. Astonishing. Lullaby doesn't seem to be on Spotify

Don't forget in the midst of his latter period work he recorded a Bond song for 'The World is Not Enough'. Why they didn't get him in 67 at the peak of his commercial success is a mystery, would have killed doing the theme for 'You Only Live Twice'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCt4O4gJifQ

If you go away as I know you must
There'll be nothing left in this world to trust
Just an empty room full of empty space
Like the empty look I see on your face
And I'd have been the shadow of your shadow
If you might have kept me by your side

RIP
what a singular artist

I don't why anyone ever thought "Tilt" was abrasive or difficult.

:( rip

Speaking of Bond themes and '67, the Walker Brothers did record the theme song for "Deadlier Than The Male" kind of a 007 knock-off (Bulldog Drummond being the Bond-like hero):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6HSbanREbE

"It's kind of "jump scare," but the moment where the percussion comes in on "The Cockfighter" always sets me off even when I'm anticipating it. That atmosphere is so cold!"

One track on The Drift is very quiet, and then Donald Duck makes a guest appearance. It's the only time an album has made me jump. I can't remember which track because it's one of those albums I listen to in a single go. I'll look it up on the internet.

It's called The Escape, that's what it's called.

On a more serious note, The Guardian's obit repeats the old factoid about Climate of Hunter being the lowest-selling record on Virgin Records. Is that true? It sounds implausible. It got to number sixty and only spent two weeks on the chart, but even accounting for "the long tail" I can't imagine the likes of Chili Charles' 1973 folk-rock obscurity Busy Corner or Comus' second album - from Virgin's early prog period - selling more copies. It had a widespread international release. Also, I'm going to look at Discogs.com and see if people have started selling the LP version of The Drift for £700 yet.

that was brought up somewhere else here recently. the album got released in multiple countries and was reissued not long after the initial release so i doubt it was virgin's lowest-selling record.

Xposts

Lullaby was a bonus track only on the Japanese edition of the Lemper CD.

It and Scope J were also both included on the Five Easy Pieces box set

RIP

Five Easy Pieces does a surprisingly great job of summing up Scott before The Drift with its themed CDs, and it picks up a lot of stray tracks. I believe it makes the Pola X soundtrack redundant for Scott completists, too (ditto for the four Scott tracks from Nite Flights, though I listen to that album whole sometimes anyway).

It's the "This Is How You Disappear" disc of the FEP box I've decided to go for this evening.

I wish I still had that set ☹️