The sun ain’t gonna shine anymore: musician Scott Walker passes
March 25, 2019 6:44 AM Subscribe
Scott Walker, one of the most innovative and enduring songwriters of the 20th century, has died aged 76. The news was announced by his label, 4AD. “For half a century, the genius of the man born Noel Scott Engel has enriched the lives of thousands,” a statement read. The cause of death has not been announced.
If I could be, for just one little hour
a-cute cute - in a stupid-ass waaaaaaay.
sigh. another one down.
posted by aspersioncast at 6:49 AM on March 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
a-cute cute - in a stupid-ass waaaaaaay.
sigh. another one down.
posted by aspersioncast at 6:49 AM on March 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
Wow. I was literally holding Scott 4 in my hand 5 seconds before loading MF.
Walker was such a unique talent.
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posted by dobbs at 6:49 AM on March 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Walker was such a unique talent.
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posted by dobbs at 6:49 AM on March 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Glass traps open and close on night flights
Broken necks feather weights press the walls
Be my love, we will be gods on night flights
With only one promise, only one way to call
On night flights
Only one way to fall
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posted by porn in the woods at 6:51 AM on March 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
Broken necks feather weights press the walls
Be my love, we will be gods on night flights
With only one promise, only one way to call
On night flights
Only one way to fall
.
posted by porn in the woods at 6:51 AM on March 25, 2019 [7 favorites]
There's a realy good movie about his life and works for anyone interested: 30 Century Man.
Porn in the woods ... that's the passage I thought of too!
Also that moment in The Electrician where everything goes from creepy to ecstatic, then back again.
Such an amazing talent.
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posted by Rube R. Nekker at 7:02 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Porn in the woods ... that's the passage I thought of too!
Also that moment in The Electrician where everything goes from creepy to ecstatic, then back again.
Such an amazing talent.
.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 7:02 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Hearing “It’s Raining Today” for the first time in between sets at Souhpaw in Brooklyn around 2004 was a pivotal music moment for me. RIP.
posted by griphus at 7:05 AM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 7:05 AM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by non canadian guy at 7:06 AM on March 25, 2019
posted by non canadian guy at 7:06 AM on March 25, 2019
And just for fun here’s his sardonic English-language cover of Jacques Brel - Funeral Tango
posted by griphus at 7:09 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by griphus at 7:09 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
"He was so strong / he was so bold / When they made him / they broke the mold"
"My death waits / Among the falling leaves / In magicians, mysterious sleeves / Rabbits, dogs / And the passing times"
"Anybody seen a knight pass this way / I saw him playing chess with Death yesterday / His crusade was a search for God and they say / It's been a long way to carry on"
"When I crossed the river / With a heavy blanket roll / I took nobody with me / Not a soul"
posted by octobersurprise at 7:24 AM on March 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
"My death waits / Among the falling leaves / In magicians, mysterious sleeves / Rabbits, dogs / And the passing times"
"Anybody seen a knight pass this way / I saw him playing chess with Death yesterday / His crusade was a search for God and they say / It's been a long way to carry on"
"When I crossed the river / With a heavy blanket roll / I took nobody with me / Not a soul"
posted by octobersurprise at 7:24 AM on March 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
Oh man. Gutted. Tilt changed my life.
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posted by potrzebie at 7:56 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
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posted by potrzebie at 7:56 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
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posted by Silverstone at 8:06 AM on March 25, 2019
posted by Silverstone at 8:06 AM on March 25, 2019
god damnit
posted by hototogisu at 8:23 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by hototogisu at 8:23 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
The good news, is there is no news
The bad news, you cannot refuse
posted by porn in the woods at 8:25 AM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
The bad news, you cannot refuse
posted by porn in the woods at 8:25 AM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Guardian: 'Brave and uncompromising': readers' tributes to Scott Walker
Pop’s great adventurer: how Scott Walker reached the heart of darkness.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:42 AM on March 25, 2019
Pop’s great adventurer: how Scott Walker reached the heart of darkness.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:42 AM on March 25, 2019
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Shoot. Listened to Scott 2 in the car this morning and it's breathtaking how it careens from Brel to crooner to folk rock to psychedelic-in-his-own-way kitchen sink originals...there will never be another like him. RIP.
posted by plasticpalacealice at 8:46 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Shoot. Listened to Scott 2 in the car this morning and it's breathtaking how it careens from Brel to crooner to folk rock to psychedelic-in-his-own-way kitchen sink originals...there will never be another like him. RIP.
posted by plasticpalacealice at 8:46 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by faceplantingcheetah at 8:53 AM on March 25, 2019
posted by faceplantingcheetah at 8:53 AM on March 25, 2019
I just recently watched 30 Century Man. I’ve had his CDs and loved them. He had a remarkably unique trajectory through music. Seeing the documentary cemented the feeling that he was unique. Our loss, but he did leave behind a body of work that will continue to grow thanks to its depth.
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posted by njohnson23 at 8:54 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by njohnson23 at 8:54 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by SystematicAbuse at 9:11 AM on March 25, 2019
posted by SystematicAbuse at 9:11 AM on March 25, 2019
I'll never forget the moment I first heard his music, on the barely working radio in the old pickup I was driving at the time, tuned to the college radio station. It was The Seventh Seal. I was like, "this sounds kind of like MOR/easy listening, but... there's something else there. Wait, this is genius. Who is this guy??" I could never get into his music from Tilt onwards but Scotts 1-4 are among my favorite albums of all time.
RIP.
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posted by zsazsa at 9:19 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
RIP.
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posted by zsazsa at 9:19 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
I had never even heard of Scott Walker until just now, which seems incredible. He's got a lovely voice. RIP.
posted by chavenet at 9:37 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by chavenet at 9:37 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 9:41 AM on March 25, 2019
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 9:41 AM on March 25, 2019
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posted by the sobsister at 9:41 AM on March 25, 2019
posted by the sobsister at 9:41 AM on March 25, 2019
I wish to god that I had managed to hear of this Scott Walker before hearing of the dumbass former governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker, just so that the constant little flush of cognitive dissonance every time I hear the name could be going the other way.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 9:48 AM on March 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by the phlegmatic king at 9:48 AM on March 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
Nice to see lyrics getting posted. I had Angels of Ashes mislabeled as Boy Child for years before I figured it out. It was searching for the lyric sheet that finally sorted things ...
You can say that he laughed
And he walked like St. Francis
With love
posted by philip-random at 9:49 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
You can say that he laughed
And he walked like St. Francis
With love
posted by philip-random at 9:49 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Here are interviews with him:
BBC Late Show - 1995 (This one's a doozy!)
BBC Culture Show 2006
BBC 6Music: Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service - 2017
I'd actually first heard of Walker from a friend of mine who turned me on to Bish Bosch a few years ago. Once I did the YouTube thing, I was shocked to learn that he was as old as he was, and remembered that when I was a tiny girl, my aunt had loved the song "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore". I marveled that this was the same man. Staying true to his self was definitely the best course for him, personally and artistically.
Lately, knowing how old he was, I was hoping he'd be able to make one more album.
∞
posted by droplet at 9:55 AM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
BBC Late Show - 1995 (This one's a doozy!)
BBC Culture Show 2006
BBC 6Music: Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service - 2017
I'd actually first heard of Walker from a friend of mine who turned me on to Bish Bosch a few years ago. Once I did the YouTube thing, I was shocked to learn that he was as old as he was, and remembered that when I was a tiny girl, my aunt had loved the song "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore". I marveled that this was the same man. Staying true to his self was definitely the best course for him, personally and artistically.
Lately, knowing how old he was, I was hoping he'd be able to make one more album.
∞
posted by droplet at 9:55 AM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Lately, knowing how old he was, I was hoping he'd be able to make one more album.
Scott put out a book of selected lyrics last year - Sundog - and the title track has not been released yet, so maybe we’ll see more music.
He kept working well up to his passing, soundtracking the movie Vox Lux.
posted by porn in the woods at 10:13 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Scott put out a book of selected lyrics last year - Sundog - and the title track has not been released yet, so maybe we’ll see more music.
He kept working well up to his passing, soundtracking the movie Vox Lux.
posted by porn in the woods at 10:13 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
He had a remarkably unique trajectory through music.
He was the heartthrob in my mother's record collection who decided that he didn't want to be a heartthrob. And though he (somewhat reluctantly) allowed others to celebrate his career, including the Prom in 2017, he didn't look back, instead choosing to reincorporate the many (often divergent) ways his work influenced younger musicians. That's pretty rare.
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posted by holgate at 10:52 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
He was the heartthrob in my mother's record collection who decided that he didn't want to be a heartthrob. And though he (somewhat reluctantly) allowed others to celebrate his career, including the Prom in 2017, he didn't look back, instead choosing to reincorporate the many (often divergent) ways his work influenced younger musicians. That's pretty rare.
.
posted by holgate at 10:52 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by pianoblack at 11:00 AM on March 25, 2019
posted by pianoblack at 11:00 AM on March 25, 2019
"Unique" is a seriously overused term, but Walker earned it a thousand times over. RIP. What a talent.
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:33 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:33 AM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Oh this is very sad. I freely admit that I didn't understand most of the music he recorded after somewhere in the early 1970s, but when you've got a voice like that, I say you should do whatever the hell you want with it, and goddamn he did.
posted by JanetLand at 11:36 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 11:36 AM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
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Some musicians you listen to them and they show you a different way of thinking about music, about songs. Had Schubert’s lieder on this morning (these are great songs from the early 19th century) and then switched over - Walker was ranging far and wide.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:33 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Some musicians you listen to them and they show you a different way of thinking about music, about songs. Had Schubert’s lieder on this morning (these are great songs from the early 19th century) and then switched over - Walker was ranging far and wide.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:33 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
I heard Archangel (a '66 Walker Brothers B-side) for the first time last week & just loved it: he was looking way ahead even then.
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posted by misteraitch at 2:54 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by misteraitch at 2:54 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Is there anyone else who started as a giant pop star and went so, so, far into conceptual art music? Truly amazing. I'll never forget randomly hearing "Next" on WFMU and freaking out so hard, I had to call them and ask what the hell that was.
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posted by lumpenprole at 3:01 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by lumpenprole at 3:01 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
This has hit me so hard. Scott Walker is one of the few musicians in my life whose music didn’t inspire my own creative work only, or necessarily, in terms of how it sounded (although of course I find so much about how his music sounds inspirational) but even more in its shape, if that makes sense. Especially his post-Nite Flights work has been instrumental in making me feel that my own hyper-personal, very polystylistic set of musical desires and leanings are worth integrating into my work, are worth sharing, are capable of reaching people. I will love him forever for that.
posted by invitapriore at 3:13 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by invitapriore at 3:13 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
It's raining today
But once there was summer and you
And dark little rooms
And sleep in late afternoons
Those moments descend on my windowpane
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posted by brilliantmistake at 3:30 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
But once there was summer and you
And dark little rooms
And sleep in late afternoons
Those moments descend on my windowpane
.
posted by brilliantmistake at 3:30 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
I probably would never have found Scott Walker if a former-crush hadn't said Lee Hazlewood sounded like him. His style struck me more as stentorian showtunes at first, but I got a copy of the "Raining..." compilation and just...found something in it, and not just the wow-man collector's favorites like "Plastic Palace People." By necessity of the sheer volume of music out there, music nerds have a tendency to reduce obscure artists to an essential few tracks, but somehow I heard a fuller statement in SW's repertoire.
He turned into a hero of mine as I learned more of what he'd been doing since the Scott # era, his transformation out of the spotlight, that he was King Introvert, and that he had been successful at it to boot. 30 Century Man cemented this, seeming to be the embodiment of everything I never had validated by family, friends, music teachers, and music nerds in general. With success, which I feel is a significant gift to the world, to show that you can change, you can find your inner expressions, and you can take success and do more with it than milk it for the rest of your life.
This raises a bad-faith schism I've illustrated in my head, a stereotype, where well-adjusted people around me have seemed to be interested in unusual music as a kind of vacation scenery, "wow, so creative, isn't it just so interesting?" where I like to think that people like me, poorly-adjusted, see hope in its availability and the example that our thoughts and preferences don't have to be wastes of effort, like shouts into a void.
And as it turns out, after a glorious weekend of sun here, it is raining today.
Is there anyone else who started as a giant pop star and went so, so, far into conceptual art music?
The recently also-deceased Mark Hollis was one. Additionally, Japan was never as popular as Talk Talk, but David Sylvian has been much more prolific in his ensuing career, both working with interesting people and on his own.
posted by rhizome at 4:31 PM on March 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
He turned into a hero of mine as I learned more of what he'd been doing since the Scott # era, his transformation out of the spotlight, that he was King Introvert, and that he had been successful at it to boot. 30 Century Man cemented this, seeming to be the embodiment of everything I never had validated by family, friends, music teachers, and music nerds in general. With success, which I feel is a significant gift to the world, to show that you can change, you can find your inner expressions, and you can take success and do more with it than milk it for the rest of your life.
This raises a bad-faith schism I've illustrated in my head, a stereotype, where well-adjusted people around me have seemed to be interested in unusual music as a kind of vacation scenery, "wow, so creative, isn't it just so interesting?" where I like to think that people like me, poorly-adjusted, see hope in its availability and the example that our thoughts and preferences don't have to be wastes of effort, like shouts into a void.
And as it turns out, after a glorious weekend of sun here, it is raining today.
Is there anyone else who started as a giant pop star and went so, so, far into conceptual art music?
The recently also-deceased Mark Hollis was one. Additionally, Japan was never as popular as Talk Talk, but David Sylvian has been much more prolific in his ensuing career, both working with interesting people and on his own.
posted by rhizome at 4:31 PM on March 25, 2019 [8 favorites]
"Brando" from Walker's collaboration with Sunn O))) is such an exquisite example of two completely unlike things fitting together perfectly. After you get over the initial shock, the music can gut you.
posted by ardgedee at 4:49 PM on March 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 4:49 PM on March 25, 2019 [5 favorites]
My favorite pop culture trivia blog today showed the cover to a 1965 Walker Brothers record and a clipping showing Scott almost leaving us many years earlier.
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:21 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:21 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Dammit. I had a random urge to listen to Brando earlier today before I heard. Very sad news.
It's hard to overstate Walker's gifts - what a tremendous, singular musical talent. I've cherry-picked what I've heard from him and there's large chunks of his catalog that I've never explored, but several of his songs are among my favorites. I've been meaning to give the Scott albums a proper, full listen; I hate that this was the impetus for it, but that's what I'll be doing tonight.
With a discography like his it's hard (and probably useless) to recommend an entry point, and others in this thread could probably do a better job. But if you come to him through Bowie like I did, Shutout is as good as any. Never fails to make my heart race.
posted by kryptondog at 6:19 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's hard to overstate Walker's gifts - what a tremendous, singular musical talent. I've cherry-picked what I've heard from him and there's large chunks of his catalog that I've never explored, but several of his songs are among my favorites. I've been meaning to give the Scott albums a proper, full listen; I hate that this was the impetus for it, but that's what I'll be doing tonight.
With a discography like his it's hard (and probably useless) to recommend an entry point, and others in this thread could probably do a better job. But if you come to him through Bowie like I did, Shutout is as good as any. Never fails to make my heart race.
posted by kryptondog at 6:19 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
'30 Century Man' is a good introduction, but I think they sketched over his classic middle career a bit too quickly, when he was doing some of his most interesting work.
His music made a deep impression on me, especially the album 'Scott 3', with those strange string arrangements.
(Please forgive me if I mention in passing one of his influences, the mellow crooner Andy Williams).
posted by ovvl at 6:26 PM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
His music made a deep impression on me, especially the album 'Scott 3', with those strange string arrangements.
(Please forgive me if I mention in passing one of his influences, the mellow crooner Andy Williams).
posted by ovvl at 6:26 PM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
I've had various people tell me about Scott Walker for probably 20 years, and I know I probably briefly checked something out, but I don't remember anything until I listened today after I heard the news. Now I'm fascinated. I just wasn't ready to appreciate it before. Honestly it's just not at all the kind of thing I've ever been into.
I've always been a pop fan, and for much of my life dismissive of things labeled avant-garde. But in a confluence of events I found myself the other day, stuck on some my music, and suddenly realizing that I needed to drop the pop structure to bring in the other elements I wanted. And I was thinking of Blackstar. Listening today I was thinking of the people who told me how much Blackstar sounded like Scott Walker and I had no idea how right they were.
This music is exactly what I needed to hear right now. It didn't take his death to make me appreciate it, that was just time and Bowie, but it did make me give it another shot.
Those interviews are really interesting and I'll have to find the documentary.
posted by bongo_x at 6:34 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
I've always been a pop fan, and for much of my life dismissive of things labeled avant-garde. But in a confluence of events I found myself the other day, stuck on some my music, and suddenly realizing that I needed to drop the pop structure to bring in the other elements I wanted. And I was thinking of Blackstar. Listening today I was thinking of the people who told me how much Blackstar sounded like Scott Walker and I had no idea how right they were.
This music is exactly what I needed to hear right now. It didn't take his death to make me appreciate it, that was just time and Bowie, but it did make me give it another shot.
Those interviews are really interesting and I'll have to find the documentary.
posted by bongo_x at 6:34 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'd rather this hadn't happened now.
posted by unliteral at 8:08 PM on March 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by unliteral at 8:08 PM on March 25, 2019 [4 favorites]
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posted by Cpt. The Mango at 9:05 PM on March 25, 2019
posted by Cpt. The Mango at 9:05 PM on March 25, 2019
Junior Vasquez did a remix of Cher's cover of The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore that was ~9m of sheer over-the-top Total Drama Queen Bullshit in the best of ways. It came near the end of a 2-cd set he released in 1998 that was edited down from a 5-6 hour show he did at Sound Factory, and it comes on the heels of a truly splendid total journey of self discovery that is a complete opera in and unto itself. The craft of the man, high as fuck and pulling himself up with meth and down with maybe K? and being able to ride the crowd and actually express an emotional plot across the dance floor for everyone to participate in?
Anyway, the full second disk of the set is a pretty amazing journey [1h17m, Mixcloud]. I recommend it.
posted by hippybear at 9:14 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Anyway, the full second disk of the set is a pretty amazing journey [1h17m, Mixcloud]. I recommend it.
posted by hippybear at 9:14 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Oh, and this guy really didn't brush much up against my life with his music, but it seems like the Universe is saying to me I should pay him some attention because I heard a thing on public radio today that had a lot of examples of his work and he sounds like he was super interesting.
I'm sorry he's gone before I've met him but perhaps it is in death that he comes to life for me.
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posted by hippybear at 9:18 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm sorry he's gone before I've met him but perhaps it is in death that he comes to life for me.
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posted by hippybear at 9:18 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Death puts a stop to a career, and inevitably imposes a shape on a career, even one so all over the place as Scott Walker's.
Walker's 'Jackie' is fantastic. It's not up there with Brel's 'le chanson de Jacky' because nothing is as good as Brel singing his own songs, where the lyrics are forcibly banging off the walls .
e.g.
"And if one day i should become / A singer, with a Spanish bum / who sings for women of great virtue" vs
"Même si un jour à Knocke-le-Zoute / Je deviens comme je le redoute / Chanteur pour femmes finissantes"
(the plosive ts and ks in Brel don't carry over / that's okay but it is different)
But: it is an import that unlocked Brel and that kind of glorious chanson for Marc Almond and so many others. I think there's something poignant in how Walker's late voice, stripped of its rich foundation, inclines towards Jeff Buckley and ANONHI, both of whom drew from Walker.
posted by holgate at 11:44 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
Walker's 'Jackie' is fantastic. It's not up there with Brel's 'le chanson de Jacky' because nothing is as good as Brel singing his own songs, where the lyrics are forcibly banging off the walls .
e.g.
"And if one day i should become / A singer, with a Spanish bum / who sings for women of great virtue" vs
"Même si un jour à Knocke-le-Zoute / Je deviens comme je le redoute / Chanteur pour femmes finissantes"
(the plosive ts and ks in Brel don't carry over / that's okay but it is different)
But: it is an import that unlocked Brel and that kind of glorious chanson for Marc Almond and so many others. I think there's something poignant in how Walker's late voice, stripped of its rich foundation, inclines towards Jeff Buckley and ANONHI, both of whom drew from Walker.
posted by holgate at 11:44 PM on March 25, 2019 [2 favorites]
I was saying to someone earlier, that when British pop musicians cover Brel, it's usually Scott Walker's version that they're covering. Astoundingly influential - my wife was playing The Drift last night, and I noticed how much you could hear of left-field British music in his voice. Indeed, Scott is there, deep in the roots of so much music of the last forty years.
What was surprisingly nice about the Prom - and I switched on expecting to snark, as I thought it would be like the Bowie one the previous year, which was dreadful - was that it was quickly very clear what a love letter it was, both to Walker's songs and the glorious arrangements (by the likes of Angela Morley or Peter Knight) that were lovingly recreated. Following it on Twitter, there was a wonderful outpouring and sharing of enthusiasm among those of us who had been fans for such a long time in the shadows. "Look - we love this thing. Look at how amazing it is!"
There was also a similar concert at the Barbican over ten years ago - after The Drift but before Bisch Bosh - which wasn't on the television, but which featured music from Tilt and The Drift. Terrifying, beautiful, operatic music. Tilt is one of the greatest records ever made, that sadly few people have ever heard. It was always the acme of difficult music, until The Drift came out, and I was surprised at how smooth it suddenly sounded.
Much is made of the disparity between the late 60s music and that which he produced over the last twenty years, but if you listen to the opening strings on It's Raining Today or the way Boy Child sounds, there's something that could have been on any of those later records - there was always an essential Scott Walker-ness that he was stripping back and back to reveal.
He was, and is, the real thing.
posted by Grangousier at 7:42 AM on March 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
What was surprisingly nice about the Prom - and I switched on expecting to snark, as I thought it would be like the Bowie one the previous year, which was dreadful - was that it was quickly very clear what a love letter it was, both to Walker's songs and the glorious arrangements (by the likes of Angela Morley or Peter Knight) that were lovingly recreated. Following it on Twitter, there was a wonderful outpouring and sharing of enthusiasm among those of us who had been fans for such a long time in the shadows. "Look - we love this thing. Look at how amazing it is!"
There was also a similar concert at the Barbican over ten years ago - after The Drift but before Bisch Bosh - which wasn't on the television, but which featured music from Tilt and The Drift. Terrifying, beautiful, operatic music. Tilt is one of the greatest records ever made, that sadly few people have ever heard. It was always the acme of difficult music, until The Drift came out, and I was surprised at how smooth it suddenly sounded.
Much is made of the disparity between the late 60s music and that which he produced over the last twenty years, but if you listen to the opening strings on It's Raining Today or the way Boy Child sounds, there's something that could have been on any of those later records - there was always an essential Scott Walker-ness that he was stripping back and back to reveal.
He was, and is, the real thing.
posted by Grangousier at 7:42 AM on March 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
What was surprisingly nice about the Prom - and I switched on expecting to snark, as I thought it would be like the Bowie one the previous year, which was dreadful - was that it was quickly very clear what a love letter it was, both to Walker's songs and the glorious arrangements (by the likes of Angela Morley or Peter Knight) that were lovingly recreated.
Scott’s BBC Prom is completely dynamite, rewatched it last night. Love “Get Behind Me.”
Bits are on YouTube.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:02 AM on March 26, 2019
Scott’s BBC Prom is completely dynamite, rewatched it last night. Love “Get Behind Me.”
Bits are on YouTube.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:02 AM on March 26, 2019
I noticed how much you could hear of left-field British music in his voice.
This is very true. Mark Almond and Neil Hannon are two whose careers have hewed closest to Walker's stage presence, but David Sylvian, Julian Cope, even Morrissey owe a debt to various facets of Walker's work and life. There's something about Walker's gloriously operatic affect and his relentless pursuit of the new that seems foundational to a certain kind of British pop. Where would 4AD be without Walker?
posted by octobersurprise at 9:05 AM on March 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is very true. Mark Almond and Neil Hannon are two whose careers have hewed closest to Walker's stage presence, but David Sylvian, Julian Cope, even Morrissey owe a debt to various facets of Walker's work and life. There's something about Walker's gloriously operatic affect and his relentless pursuit of the new that seems foundational to a certain kind of British pop. Where would 4AD be without Walker?
posted by octobersurprise at 9:05 AM on March 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
Is there anyone else who started as a giant pop star and went so, so, far into conceptual art music?
As it's been noted, for some value of "giant," there's Mark Hollis and David Sylvian whose careers followed similar trajectories of pop star to enigmatic wizard. Sylvian's career may most parallel Walker's in this respect, beginning as Japan's almost extravagantly beautiful pop star with a haunting voice, then spending the next 40 years using that voice to produce increasingly recondite records to mostly critical acclaim. (Sylvian's Manafon, produced with Christian Fennesz, Otomo Yoshihide, Keith Rowe, and Sachiko M., among others, is one of my favorite recordings full stop.)
Another, similar, musician is Cinders, aka Gordon Sharp, who briefly performed with The Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil—and who was invited to join Duran Duran after meeting Nick Rhodes at a Japan concert—before turning to performance and electroacoustic work as Cindytalk. If Almond and Hannon have devoted their careers to working through Walker's cabaret; then Hollis, Sylvian, and Sharp have definitely worked in the shadow of Walker the conceptualist. (Remarkably, none of them have really combined both in the same way Walker did.)
the glorious arrangements (by the likes of Angela Morley or Peter Knight) that were lovingly recreated.
Speaking of which, just last month Grace Lavery wrote a piece called "Angela Morley: an aesthetics of lushness."
posted by octobersurprise at 10:53 AM on March 26, 2019 [7 favorites]
As it's been noted, for some value of "giant," there's Mark Hollis and David Sylvian whose careers followed similar trajectories of pop star to enigmatic wizard. Sylvian's career may most parallel Walker's in this respect, beginning as Japan's almost extravagantly beautiful pop star with a haunting voice, then spending the next 40 years using that voice to produce increasingly recondite records to mostly critical acclaim. (Sylvian's Manafon, produced with Christian Fennesz, Otomo Yoshihide, Keith Rowe, and Sachiko M., among others, is one of my favorite recordings full stop.)
Another, similar, musician is Cinders, aka Gordon Sharp, who briefly performed with The Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil—and who was invited to join Duran Duran after meeting Nick Rhodes at a Japan concert—before turning to performance and electroacoustic work as Cindytalk. If Almond and Hannon have devoted their careers to working through Walker's cabaret; then Hollis, Sylvian, and Sharp have definitely worked in the shadow of Walker the conceptualist. (Remarkably, none of them have really combined both in the same way Walker did.)
the glorious arrangements (by the likes of Angela Morley or Peter Knight) that were lovingly recreated.
Speaking of which, just last month Grace Lavery wrote a piece called "Angela Morley: an aesthetics of lushness."
posted by octobersurprise at 10:53 AM on March 26, 2019 [7 favorites]
I'm totally with unliteral on this being painfully timed, although probably for different particular reasons. I was just at the Big Ears festival in Knoxville, which I discovered is a perfect confluence of so many of the strands of music nerdery that I go for, and it struck me that Scott would be a perfect fit and I hoped, with a sense of real possibility, that maybe someone in his camp would realize that and that he might eventually book a show there in coming years. To get this news just a few days later is pretty rough.
posted by invitapriore at 5:50 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by invitapriore at 5:50 PM on March 27, 2019
Also, of anything that appears on Scott 4 or previous, I've always felt that that orchestral roar that "Big Louise" opens with is one of the flourishes that most prefigures his later musical pursuits.
posted by invitapriore at 5:53 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by invitapriore at 5:53 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was listening to that just tonight and one of the most interesting parts of it is how out of tune it is. It's the first song on the "It's Raining Today..." compilation and that detail absolutely sold me from the get-go. It just hits my ears and I know something special is happening, and I've heard a lot of out of tune music that isn't that special.
posted by rhizome at 3:27 AM on March 28, 2019
posted by rhizome at 3:27 AM on March 28, 2019
He kept working well up to his passing, soundtracking the movie Vox Lux.
His score for Childhood of a Leader (2016) is fucking terrifying. Shades of Penderecki, Herrmann and Cronenberg-era Shore.
posted by Iridic at 12:00 PM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
His score for Childhood of a Leader (2016) is fucking terrifying. Shades of Penderecki, Herrmann and Cronenberg-era Shore.
posted by Iridic at 12:00 PM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
Has anybody watched Pola X all the way through? I couldn't get into it enough to enjoy his score.
posted by rhizome at 12:21 PM on March 28, 2019
posted by rhizome at 12:21 PM on March 28, 2019
Has anybody watched Pola X all the way through?
Yes. it's fabulous, with the usual "if you like this sort of thing" caveat. Walker's score really comes into play in some of the later scenes.
This one made me furious and depressed.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:23 PM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yes. it's fabulous, with the usual "if you like this sort of thing" caveat. Walker's score really comes into play in some of the later scenes.
This one made me furious and depressed.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:23 PM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
I just remembered his version of Impossible Dream. Anybody that can take that on straight-faced, and pull it off ... well, there just aren't that many.
posted by philip-random at 1:35 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by philip-random at 1:35 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by parki at 6:47 AM on March 25, 2019