Not sure if Walker's stuff is "weirder" than certain Swans albums but it's definitely compatible I take it you are familiar with early Throbbing Gristle?
Walker Brothers were a teen band, girl fans ..etc. He has a lot more black humor in his lyrics now, perhaps bish bosch to some.
Ok, I went for Tilt. I like it, not too inaccessible at all really. Only two or three plays in but it's clearly got some mileage and loads to discover. Just downloaded The Drift and listening now. "Cossacks Are" sounds very similar (bass and drums) to something on Bowie's Outside but I can't quite place it. "Clara" is just damn menacing
I'm sort of purposely commenting at a moment before I really begin listening to Scott Walker stuff. One of those weird things where I've been aware of his name since the 60s, was aware of the Walker Brothers too, but never listened/heard any of their stuff. To me back in the 60s, Walker Brothers crossed my mind like the Rooney Brothers (anyone remember those guys?.... I never heard their stuff either). On an initial quick listen to snips of random stuff on Scott Walker 1, 2, 3, his voice and material reminds me of sort of a combination of Andy Williams/Jack Jones/Engelbert H. The songs aren't grabbing me so far. One of them had an interesting psychedelic noise wash on one side while the main song reminded me a bit of "It Was A Very Good Year". That 1968/69 stuff I've heard so far is certainly well recorded in a muzak way. I also listened to a few snips of some Walker Bros stuff. I've had an impression in my head all these centuries that their stuff would sound something like Shadows of Knight doing "Oh Yeah" or something. What I've heard so far is more like Troggs meet The Fortunes... or ..... I dunno. I've got to listen more to see if any of this is gonna grab me. It may be like a Kate Bush thing where either you're on board or you're not.
Straight baritone ( Key f) with The Walkers ..then range went higher as albums progressed. Do I hear 21.
We used to describe Scott 1-3 as "Sinatra on Acid". The music style was very "Popular Vocal" (i.e. fairly conservative Adult Pop), but the lyrics would get quite bizarre. I'd play "Montague Terrace (in Blue)" for people, and watch their reactions as he sang: The little clock's stopped ticking now We're swallowed in the stomached rue The only sound to tear the night Comes from the man upstairs His bloated belching figure stomps He may crash through the ceiling soon The window sees trees cry from cold And claw the moon
I would hope there would be plenty of interest ! Friday night kicking back listening to “The Childhood Of A Leader”.
ok. never heard of him before this thread. listened to 'soused' first - about halfway through. holy ****. didn't see that coming. i've ordered the cd yesterday from amazon. also on order is scott 1-4. Was able to track down the '92 reissues for each...all from one seller on discogs. confirmed with him that these are not the hdcd versions as most here seem to recommend the earlier cd releases. need to check out tilt...
You should start one while his 1960s fans are still above ground. Would you include the Walker Bros LPs? It would be an interesting thread because there would be a few people DRIFTing in and out over the span of genres. I would have to skip the country music years for my own sanity.
I wouldn't call myself an expert on Scott Walker. It would have to be done by someone who knows a bit more about him than me.
Album by Album thread would be great. Though include The Walker Brothers ( Nick Cave fave) some great Scott Engel songs amongst the deep shade of blue.
Finally managed to score Scott 4 and am waiting for it to arrive from Russia (gulp!). I was bidding each week on a uk original copy and each week the prices were jumping up. The last one I tried went for £82! So I went for a Japanese 1st which was more in my price range. Can’t wait for it to arrive, it’s been 5 days now and it’s just made it to Moscow so I’m hoping it doesn’t take too long to get through customs! What started out as a best of recommendation from the good folks here is slowly turning in to an obsession
Ja Japanese Scott 4 is IMO the best vinyl pressing. If yours is in good condition you will be impressed.
You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that as I couldn’t find any info in the quality of the pressing compared to the uk. It was the only one that I could afford and I figured if I didn’t like the sound I could easily get my money back on eBay. But it sounds like it’s going to be a keeper. The seller seems great, it was listed as near mint but he played it through the morning before shipping and came back to say there was a small mark on the last track which wasn’t audible but stil wanted to check that I wanted it. It’s been quite a long hunt so I’m really excited to get it
