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Thread: Scott Walker - "The Drift"

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    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    Scott Walker - "The Drift"

    Hi everyone! Finally got around to hearing Scott Walker's The Drift after hearing a lot about it. Curious to see what the usual suspects (you know who you are!) make of this work. I'm not sure if I 'liked' it, so much as I appreciated the atmosphere and the tension in the piece - particularly when Walker was only using one or two elements. It's a pretty minimalist work if you break it down, but it certainly says a lot with very little - sometimes one drum, strings, and of course, his voice. Dark to the point of almost being comical, even - or maybe I just have a warped sense of humor?

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    Member Kcrimso's Avatar
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    Great album. Cossacks Are is my favourite song on this one.

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    Traversing The Dream 100423's Avatar
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    Much like you I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but I appreciated the art of it. After listening to it a few times and then over the course of a couple of years I grew to crave atmosphere from time to time. I think it is a masterful statement but definitely not for everyone (or for every situation).

    Oh, and it's a great party clearer too.

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    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    Yeah, I'm hesitant to join in with the 'masterpiece of the 21st Century' crowd, but I can certainly appreciate it for being truly unique.

  5. #5
    I have both Tilt and The Drift, but yeah...like others, I appreciate the art considerably even if it isn't something I reach for often

    I do enjoy the Scott Walker / Sunn 0))) collab quite a bit though.
    If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
    https://battema.bandcamp.com/

    Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com

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    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 100423 View Post

    Oh, and it's a great party clearer too.
    I'll have to remember that next time I find myself an unwitting party attendant.

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    Member Kcrimso's Avatar
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    I think that Tilt is the real masterpiece of Scott Walker. I really LOVE that album.

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    Traversing The Dream 100423's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    I do enjoy the Scott Walker / Sunn 0))) collab quite a bit though.
    I need to give that one another go. I don't think I was in the right mood for it when I listened a couple of times.

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    I like Tilt quite a bit...and REALLY love Bish Bosch, especially the long track. But I've yet to get hold of a copy of the Drift...or the SunnO))) album for that matter. I have to be psychologically prepared

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    I've heard various tracks from Scott Walker - not sure if any of them were from "The Drift", but some probably were. Like others, I appreciate the artistry more than I enjoy the listening.

    I know Steven Wilson is a big fan of Scott Walker's later period, and some of his more "inaccessible" compositions such as Raider II show the influence, but I think Steven "tidies up the sound", for want of a better phrase.

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    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    I believe Scott Walker's influence on SWilson can be heard more on Insurgentes and Storm Corrosion.

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    Weird for the sake of weird doesn't strike me as anything interesting per se.

    Now, very few things in music are as majestic or beautiful as Scott 1, Scott 2, Scott 3, Scott 4, Scott Sings Brel, etc. That's not weird. That's just breathtakingly beautiful.

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    Quote Originally Posted by N_Singh View Post
    Weird for the sake of weird doesn't strike me as anything interesting per se.

    Now, very few things in music are as majestic or beautiful as Scott 1, Scott 2, Scott 3, Scott 4, Scott Sings Brel, etc. That's not weird. That's just breathtakingly beautiful.
    +1
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    Quote Originally Posted by N_Singh View Post
    Weird for the sake of weird doesn't strike me as anything interesting per se.
    But: if you listen to his output in sequence, you can hear him proceeding from straight pop, to not-so-straight pop, to Bowie-esque singer-songwriter, to beyond and into his own musical universe. None of it is "Weird for the sake of weird", so much as a fairly clear stylistic progression: Tracks like "Night Flights" or "The Electrician" lead to Tilt - wherein the songs are out there, but there's still a conventional "band" most of the time - to The Drift, where he almost completely ditches any sense of a "band" in favor of instruments used as a palette of cinematic sound effects.

    Sometimes it almost sounds as if he actually recorded those later albums with a studio band, overdubbed the strings, sound effects, and auxiliary instruments like trumpet, tubax, and big wooden box, then wound up mixing the band out because it didn't add to the picture he was trying to paint. Or maybe even detracted from it. Because on some tracks, there are credits for instruments I'd swear weren't there.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Baribrotzer View Post
    But: if you listen to his output in sequence, you can hear him proceeding from straight pop, to not-so-straight pop, to Bowie-esque singer-songwriter, to beyond and into his own musical universe. None of it is "Weird for the sake of weird", so much as a fairly clear stylistic progression: Tracks like "Night Flights" or "The Electrician" lead to Tilt - wherein the songs are out there, but there's still a conventional "band" most of the time - to The Drift, where he almost completely ditches any sense of a "band" in favor of instruments used as a palette of cinematic sound effects.

    Sometimes it almost sounds as if he actually recorded those later albums with a studio band, overdubbed the strings, sound effects, and auxiliary instruments like trumpet, tubax, and big wooden box, then wound up mixing the band out because it didn't add to the picture he was trying to paint. Or maybe even detracted from it. Because on some tracks, there are credits for instruments I'd swear weren't there.

    Fair enough. I believe his music has gotten progressively disturbing, dissociative and disintegrating, both in Form and content. I suppose that one can conceive of this as progressive with a small "p", if the progression -regression sonically resonates with you.

    Conversely, I would not call his 60s records "straight Pop "-- they are stunningly tonal, beautifully lush, wonderfully orchestrated , exquisite tone poems.

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    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by N_Singh View Post
    Weird for the sake of weird doesn't strike me as anything interesting per se.
    Where did he state that The Drift was his attempt to make a weird album for the sake of being a weird album? In an interview? Link?

  18. #18
    Bish Bosch is my favorite. IXIVIXIXI

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    Quote Originally Posted by zombywoof View Post
    Where did he state that The Drift was his attempt to make a weird album for the sake of being a weird album? In an interview? Link?
    That statement was not based on any interviews or any understanding of the artist intent. But rather the impression the music leaves me after I listen to it.
    No point in trying to guess the intent of the musician, we can only gauge the end product and how it affects us.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Baribrotzer View Post
    But: if you listen to his output in sequence, you can hear him proceeding from straight pop, to not-so-straight pop, to Bowie-esque singer-songwriter, to beyond and into his own musical universe. None of it is "Weird for the sake of weird", so much as a fairly clear stylistic progression: Tracks like "Night Flights" or "The Electrician" lead to Tilt - wherein the songs are out there, but there's still a conventional "band" most of the time - to The Drift, where he almost completely ditches any sense of a "band" in favor of instruments used as a palette of cinematic sound effects.

    Sometimes it almost sounds as if he actually recorded those later albums with a studio band, overdubbed the strings, sound effects, and auxiliary instruments like trumpet, tubax, and big wooden box, then wound up mixing the band out because it didn't add to the picture he was trying to paint. Or maybe even detracted from it. Because on some tracks, there are credits for instruments I'd swear weren't there.
    +1
    "Always ready with the ray of sunshine"

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    Member Oreb's Avatar
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    Tilt was brilliant and a fine development of Climate of Hunter, but what's come after are self-conscious attempts to recapture that feel IMO.

    Climate, Tilt and Ute Lemper's versions of 'Scoop J' and 'Lullaby' are what matters.

    Does it matter that this waste of time is what makes a life for you?

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