The story I've heard is that it was a breath controller for a synth which malfunctioned when they cued it up for a solo, but they left it recording and decided it was just what the track needed.
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 12 November 2021 20:47 (two years ago) link
(from another forum) Mojo, March 2006 interview with Tim Friese-Greene: Four minutes into the song After The Flood, a 75-second gap awaited a solo. Hollis reached for the Variophon, a German, breath-controlled synthesizer which made Talk Talk's distinctive brass-banshee/distressed-elephant sounds. "They were the most unreliable machines ever made," notes Tim. "Originally, Mark had a part for the solo which spanned the whole section and was just two notes. He played it through a very large amplifier and the Variophon was clearly malfunctioning, jumping between octaves randomly and producing all sorts of internal feedback. We listened back to it and thought, This is too much, and stripped it down to one note. That was the only possible solo that could go there. I was out in the studio tweaking the amplifier and I heard this one note roaring back through the amp and I remember thinking, This is the end. This is as far as we can go. After one note there's no notes. This will be the last album we make."
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 12 November 2021 20:49 (two years ago) link
Interesting that none of the records feature a credit for the Variophon, they might have wanted to keep it a secret as their own special sonic tool.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 12 November 2021 21:06 (two years ago) link
aahhh thank you, mattt!! seems i might have mixed it up with something else.
― the beginning of the end of discourse. (Austin), Friday, 12 November 2021 21:14 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFgwQDtSmns
― Maresn3st, Saturday, 4 December 2021 23:41 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpUaDOtknzs
― Maresn3st, Saturday, 11 December 2021 14:54 (two years ago) link
New Held By Trees album Solace is excellent and includes quite a few musicians from latter Talk Talk/Mark Hollis sessions
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2022/03/held-by-trees-interview-david-joseph-new-album-solace.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeRWoLyizjc
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 07:43 (one year ago) link
Might check it out, but Talk Talk is maybe the worst band ever for new acts being compared to them falling pitifully short of the level
― imago, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 07:46 (one year ago) link
Happiness really isn't easy
solid album
― nxd, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 08:19 (one year ago) link
agreed, this is great. thanks for posting, gp!
― Let's disco dance, Hammurabi! (Austin), Wednesday, 18 May 2022 14:41 (one year ago) link
it's a pretty good album. last track gets a bit wanky in the guitar department and is def. more Dire Straits-y than Talk Talk but I still like it.
― akm, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 14:46 (one year ago) link
yeah definitely prefer the more sparse moments, but hey . . .
Happiness really isn't easy― imago, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 12:46 AM
― imago, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 12:46 AM
― Let's disco dance, Hammurabi! (Austin), Wednesday, 18 May 2022 14:50 (one year ago) link
About 3/4 of the way into this Mark Hollis biog. Kinda interesting as he comes across poorly a lot of the time, some people say he was an earnest, funny geezer and sometimes a bit moody other reports render him a bully, sullen, a mean drunk.
― Maresn3st, Saturday, 4 June 2022 12:49 (one year ago) link
Can quite easily imagine all those things being true.
― Zelda Zonk, Saturday, 4 June 2022 13:05 (one year ago) link
He'd get especially sullen when he'd read this thread and see his records referred to as crinkle-cut chips.
― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 4 June 2022 13:54 (one year ago) link
Surprisingly this does not seem to be available to buy as an ebook. Physical edition is too $$$ for me ok afraid
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 4 June 2022 15:28 (one year ago) link
To be honest you're not missing much (so far, at least imho) there's not much of a tale to tell it would seem and what is there is told in a boilerplate fashion.
― Maresn3st, Saturday, 4 June 2022 15:34 (one year ago) link
That’s the other thing… if the stir around it was more positive the cost wouldn’t be such an issue. So glad we got phill brown’s book.
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 4 June 2022 16:30 (one year ago) link
Yeah that and Spirit of Talk Talk seem to be all you need.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 4 June 2022 16:41 (one year ago) link
There's a lot about Ed Hollis in the earlier part of the book (naturally), he seemed like a really interesting cat and I didn't know that he had such a big hand in Mark's early stages.
― Maresn3st, Saturday, 4 June 2022 16:54 (one year ago) link
What's the Phill Brown book?
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 4 June 2022 18:34 (one year ago) link
https://www.amazon.com/Are-We-Still-Rolling-Recording/dp/0977990311
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 4 June 2022 18:37 (one year ago) link
It's a great overview of Brown's work -- the Robert Palmer stories alone are really revelatory, further underscores just how underrated Palmer was, frankly -- and by the time the Talk Talk/Hollis records start happening you get a sense of someone who has really become a master of his craft working for a band that knows they want to next level further.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 4 June 2022 18:38 (one year ago) link
Oh, that looks terrific. Thank you!
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 4 June 2022 23:49 (one year ago) link
It will also make you want to pull out John Martyn and Stomu Yamashta
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 5 June 2022 03:34 (one year ago) link
One World and Go specifically
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 5 June 2022 03:35 (one year ago) link
Finding 'A Perfect Silence' pretty enjoyable so far. It's written in a simple, straightforward way but competently--certainly not trying to be poetical or of a piece with the feeling of Talk Talk as an artwork in its own right, but that might be tiresome past essay-length. I supposed I tend to be moderately ignorant of the "histories" of most artists I like, tending to focus on just the music itself, but this is still engaging stuff. I'm just pre-major-commercial-breakthrough now, looking forward to chapters on the last two albums and 'Mark Hollis'.
The introduction raises the question of whether an author should pry into the life of someone who was very private... and just kind of leaves the ethical implications out there (while obviously having determined internally it was kosher to move forward). But thus far, the book mostly covers professional relationships and musical processes, without overly speculating on personal/private/inner life. Maybe it goes into that more, later (for better or worse)?
― Soundslike, Sunday, 5 June 2022 20:47 (one year ago) link
I just got Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden, remastered, on CD. Previously listened on Spotify on headphones. Now I'm listening on my stereo and my goodness - what a difference! This record needs to fill a room. And it needs to be LOUD. Like, as loud as you can handle.
What a fantastic album.
― The Ghost Club, Tuesday, 20 September 2022 05:27 (one year ago) link
Yup, one of the first things I played on my new speakers. My downstairs neighbor even texted me saying how stoked he was to hear me playing it... did not expect that.
― octobeard, Tuesday, 20 September 2022 06:52 (one year ago) link
I love that. What a cool neighbour!
― The Ghost Club, Tuesday, 20 September 2022 08:32 (one year ago) link
I reckon I got into this hard as a kid because my dad would absolutely blast it in the car. Not only filling a room, but a particularly small one
― imago, Tuesday, 20 September 2022 09:06 (one year ago) link
I have been known to play Laughing Stock at nuclear volumes, the recording comes to life when the instruments are as loud as they were in the studio.
― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 20 September 2022 12:50 (one year ago) link
While we're on the subject, a podcast called Hold Onto The Colours has episodes from this year that feature (separately) Phill Brown, Tim Friese-Greene and Ben Wardle.
― Supposed Former ILM Lurker (WeWantMiles), Tuesday, 20 September 2022 14:09 (one year ago) link
Thanks for the Phill Brown interview recommendation. Brilliant interview. I really must read the book.
― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Sunday, 25 September 2022 11:38 (one year ago) link
i bought this today purely because of the Tim Friese-Greene production credit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9YiYDG71xw
favourite comment:
sixthtimelucky - 7 years agoDreadful then... dreadful now haha :)Derek Ritchie - 5 years agoI agree, and I was the drummer!
Derek Ritchie - 5 years agoI agree, and I was the drummer!
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Sunday, 25 September 2022 14:53 (one year ago) link
30p and i still feel like i was robbed
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Sunday, 25 September 2022 14:55 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYQzJ6ezdLs
― MaresNest, Monday, 4 September 2023 19:33 (six months ago) link
I mean, it's very much the season anyway, but having seen the 'What's in my bag?' with Meshell Ndegeocello on another thread, where she selects the Hollis solo album today was the day. Shit is sacred music.
― I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Wednesday, 11 October 2023 19:27 (five months ago) link