The old man's back again - Best Scott Walker solo

I think I prefer 2. It has a few more covers and maybe more spotty but the key originals are probably my favorite songs of his. Amourous Humphreys Plugg, Girls From the Street and Plastic Palace Prople are all in my top 5 or so.

me too for sure. his "jackie" might be the peak monument of the rock & roll era -- a cute cute in a stupid ass way!! "next" is almost as good -- i swear on the wet head of my first case of gonorrhea!! "best of both worlds" is AMAZING, and i don't want to hear anything anyone listens to who can't get down with "plastic palace people" tbqh

probably 4 or Tilt with all usual poll-related caveats

snap!

old Scott = 4
nu Scott = Tilt (tho I think Soused is p underrated)

old Scott = 3
nu Scott = Tilt

Voted 3.

Was tempted to go "Til the band", but I went for 4 in the end.

Tilt

I wasn't into Soused but I dug it out again the other day and really got into it. It's got a good Thomas Ligotti vibe on that one

Don't know them all, but you can't go wrong with 4.

Voted for the Drift, that album got into my head in a way few records ever have. Scott 4 would be my pick of the older ones, not even close.

4 is the first to be made up entirely of originals and therefore the leanest and most consistent, whereas 3 is the fever dream at the heart of the first four solos showcasing the best of his croon, curation and cause. It has the best cover, too.

I did make a "Scott 0" collection of all the Scott penned tracks that were done by the Walker Brothers, and "The Plague" added as a bonus. Some of it is worthy of Scott 3 or 4, some of it is.. silly.

But, hey.

1. Doin' The Jerk
2. Experience
3. Saturdays Child
4. Orpheus
5. Genevieve
6. You're All Around Me
7. Deadlier Than The Male
8. Archangel
9. Mrs Murphy
10. Turn Out The Moon
11. Baby Make It The Last Time
12. Youngman Cried
13. The Plague

Tie between Scott 3 and Tilt.

Voting Tilt because there are other things in the world that can touch the mood of Scott 3 even though Scott 3 is the best of them all, whereas there is nothing anywhere that touches the mood of Tilt.

Tilt, followed by Climate

Scott 4 my favourite but haven't listened to enough of these

Probably Tilt for the reasons Jon mentioned. Never got into his subsequent material, unfortunately.

Tilt is too commerial for me. It's like gooey pap.

I will vote for Til The Band Comes in because it has my alltime favorite SW song, Cowbells Shakin'. Which contains the immortal lyric "Your head waiter brother won't give me a job"

climate of hunter!

old: Scott 4

new: Bish Bosch

i've listened the most to 2, 3, and 4. i put on 3 after 2 a while ago and it finally made sense how people thought it was slow. it's very drunk sounding, lol, but extremely gorgeous

i have a deep burning spiritual love for 4 which is probably a top 3 album for me, so yeah.

i played 2 in the bookstore where i work a few weeks ago and uhhh forgot how explicit the brel songs are!!! lmao

i should eat a pot brownie and queue up some nu scott, it's been a while.

I wonder if anyone even on ILM is going to be challopy enough to vote and make a case for anything between Scott 4 and Tilt.

Tilt.

Bish Bosch might be the runner up.

I think there's a mistake in talking about old and new Scott that's most shown up by those 2. They're not 2 disconnected modes. Xp

Yeah, and also, the new nu (Bish Bosch, Soused) is pretty wildly different from Climate of Hunter. It increasingly looks like a gradual evolution as opposed to an early-late divide.

The drift

If we want to get nitpicky soused isn’t a solo album

True, if soused is going to be here side A of Nite Flights ought to be, especially as it’s the trial run for nu Scott

I think I started off loving Scott 4 the most, then Drift clicked for me in a big way and soon after that I fell in love with Bish Bosch which I saw as his apex for a very long time, but more recently Tilt has been the one I keep going back to, particularly the second side. It's the most varied of his latter day albums and also the most consistent whereas the others are about big highs with the odd unremarkable moment

I wonder if anyone even on ILM is going to be challopy enough to vote and make a case for anything between Scott 4 and Tilt.

"Climate of Hunter" is great and "'Til The Band Comes In" is almost great.

I’d consider *Soused* a solo album: Scott Walker wrote the music, he had Sunn O))) come in to record it, and after Sunn O))) left, he stayed behind in the studio to work on it some more. With that recording process, it is hard to see Sunn O))) as any different than the session musicians on earlier efforts.

Myself, I listen to Soused, Climate of Hunter, and Tilt the most. His late 1960s work much less. I adore The Drift, but its vast silences followed by booming string threnodies means that one can really only appreciate that record in a good home-listening environment without neighbours to disturb, and not many times in my life I have been so fortunate. Bish Bosch I consider a letdown musically, though some of the lyrics are very clever and creative.

The Electrician is the perfect midpoint between old and new.

Tilt.

The perfect sweet spot among all of it.

I concur, it's Tilt for me too though I can see repping for the 4 tracks from the last Walker Brothers album.

I managed to track down the four-track ep recently.

I love the bit in the "30th Century Man" documentary where Eno is listening to "The Electrician" and says something like "...and we still haven't bettered this".

Drift for me. I couldn't get into Bisch Bosch. Maybe I should give it another go.

it's quite a fun album, self consciously so compared to the Drift. Epizootics and the really long track with the crazy name are the highlights

Tilt

I see what you did there.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Sure hope that Croonin' prevails over Loonin'...

I find Scott 3 a little one note really. the first half is especially slow and sleepy

I wonder if anyone even on ILM is going to be challopy enough to vote and make a case for anything between Scott 4 and Tilt.

― Matt DC, Friday, November 9, 2018 11:40 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Scroll up!

Climate of Hunter is a great album, I don’t think that’s even a challop

Yeah c'mon you've gotta draw the line of "Scott's awake again" at Climate if you're not counting Nite Flights

Tempted to throw a vote to Bisch Bosch for inspiring this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49Fdd35hZWc

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Til the Band Comes In. The first 10 tracks are possibly peak baroque Scott. Absolutely devastating.

every time i hear this guy's music i think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4d67riim5g

0 votes for the album that gave us his version of "Amsterdam" surprises me, even as a nu-Scott partisan who understands why the comparative paucity of originals and non-Brel covers might bring Scott down relative to the other crooner-era records

Would've voted for Climate of Hunter , shocked at the lack of love

(xp) Don't know about that, Scott 2 has one more original composition than Scott, otherwise it's almost a carbon copy, with three Brel covers, one Tim Hardin, swap a Mann/Weill for a Bacharach/David etc. It could be down to the comparative quality of the originals on Scott - except they're all good!

The key problem with Scotts 1 + 2 is the non-Brel covers. They really add nothing, they're just mid-60s schmaltz. That's why I think 3 is best, with its mix of Brel and originals. 4, brilliant though it is, is just a touch too earnest for me, it lacks a bit of Brel cynicism and fatalism.

Otm, 3 is the early masterpiece and really just a sliver away from getting my vote.

Gonna say it again, overall 3 is probably the best and most consistent but 2 has my favorite songs so I had to vote for it.

I voted for tilt partly because it was the biggest epiphany but really tilt, 3, climate, nite, the lemper pair, and drift are absolutely neck and neck for me

I put on "3" the other day, it was not floating so I put on 2 and that was much better.

My introduction to solo Scott was the Boychild comp that Fontana released in 1990 - that's all self- or co-written, no Brel, no standards, no would-be Jack Jones. So when the individual albums were re-released later in the '90s, all that Legrandish smoothness was a bit of a shock (and this was *after* hearing Tilt and Climate, and picking up the Scott-sings-Brel CD). But still, no votes for the home of Such A Small Love and Montague Terrace!

I went for Climate. The world was ready for Tilt, but poor old Scott got nowhere with Climate. Sticking up for the Worst Selling Album On Virgin (apocryphally).

Sorry, I refuse to believe "Climate of Hunter" sold less than "B The Magpie" by Pekka Pohjola.

> the lemper pair

God, these are amazing pieces of music. I crave them from time to time, they're the only thing that will scratch that aural itch. My kingdom for a full collaboration album.

I believe "Climate of Hunter" has sold consistently over the thirty-odd years it's been in existence.

xpost they're a long couple of tracks! Not massively shorter than climate in total duration rly

My introduction to solo Scott was the Boychild comp that Fontana released in 1990

Me too and it's still one of the great compilation discs of anyone anywhere (especially the slightly revised later tracklist which loses the rope and the colt and adds angel of ashes)

Haha I think part of my veneration of 3 is that it 'has the most unmissable non-Boychild tracks'

I like Climate almost as much as Tilt. Tilt just has more ideas.

Yeah, I'm not really sure where the line about Climate being Virgin's worst seller comes from; it's clearly completely myth, even the one week it spent at #60 in the charts back in March '84 is probably enough to lift it clear of dozens of more obscure releases. Unless you subtract the number of Walker Bros fans who took it *back*.

The Walker Bros. companion to the "Boychild" comp., "After the Lights Go Out", was also awesome.

xp back in the early 90s when i got into scott i remember reading several variations on this myth, with one mentioning a specific number of copies sold (1500 iirc). but yeah it got released in multiple countries, reached number 60 in the uk, was number 5 in the nme's albums of the year list, and got reissued not long after its initial release.

Yes, I think the same was said about Van Dyke Parks' "Song Cycle" and the first Randy Newman album - I think there's a "This album was so great but way over the heads of the hoi polloi" thing going on.

The Walker Bros. companion to the "Boychild" comp., "After the Lights Go Out", was also awesome.

― Monica Kindle (Tom D.), Monday, December 10, 2018 12:58 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Jesus yes. Indispensable.

I'm struggling to remember if I heard early or late Scott first. I know it was either The Drift or Scott 4 but I wonder which came first.

I'd love an updated or expanded edition of 30th Century Man film. I love that doc so much

Always thought Climate of Hunter, like most things, could have used a little more Billy Ocean...

I'd love an updated or expanded edition of 30th Century Man film. I love that doc so much

Yeah what new things has he gotten percussionists to punch on the intervening two albums
(But fr I agree with you because my only problem with that doc is that I wish to inhabit his head entirely rather than just get a good sense of his career's scope)

a lot of the film was dumb talking head celeb blurbs but seeing Scott talking about his work on camera was fkin emotional and I cried

Did anyone get the Sundog book? Seems to be available discounted now.

yeah I got it. It's a nice thing to have as an artefact but not essential. Contains a few unreleased songs towards the end

a lot of the film was dumb talking head celeb blurbs but seeing Scott talking about his work on camera was fkin emotional and I cried

― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, December 11, 2018 4:55 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah I didn't mind the celeb gushing - it was probably necessary to ram home the relevance of the topic. But watching the recording process, hearing him talk about the making of Drift etc was wonderful. I'd love to see an update with footage of Bish Bosch and Soused being recorded.

I have always had a soft spot for artists/athletes/creators getting props from their peers - you can tell when it's genuine. It has a humanizing effect on all involved.

Pretty sure Til The Band Comes In is my favourite of his pre-Nite Flights work, which is saying something. I find it hard to properly enjoy Scott 4 any more, not sure why.
The other Scotts have fantastic songs, but it's often Brel songs that are the highlights and I prefer the originals. They also have a tendency to drag (Scott 3 is especially inert).
I only just realised the orchestral string intro on TDBCM is based on the melody from Mr James

The Day.. naw.

Climate of Hunter was robbed here

Was just thinking today, about one of my minidisc that has the Jarvis/Scott interview, followed by the RAH proms concert tribute. Life is good.

I do wish they would broadcast (or repeat, whatever) the ICA? performance of his latter stuff, which had more active Scott involvement

Climate is fantastic but the production is very much of its time. I enjoy it as a transitional album and also as an extremely odd bit of eighties weirdo pop

I think it totally holds up...weird, for records of that era with "that sound" this one never seems shoehorned into it...I'm not a big fan of fretless bass e.g. but it dovetails so perfectly w/ the lyrical disequalibrium, the whole fever dream feel. Hasn't dated at all to my ears.

The early Scott albums may drag because the sequencing is pretty eccentric, although it's tough to come up with an energizing running order when you've got 10 ballads out of 13 tracks or so.

Scott 4 is the very rare album that seems too short to me - like it needed one or two more songs to really make the statement it is reaching for.

3, 4 and TTBCI all have the same number of Scott compositions, I think? 10 per album.

I could happily listen to 13 ballads out of 13 tbh.

I think those early albums are best served by the themed discs in the "In Five Easy Pieces" box set.

Foot, knee, shaggy belly, face
Famous hindlegs,
As one of their own
You graze with them.
Cro-magnon herders
Will stand in the wind,
Sweeping tails shining,
And scaled to begin
Shutting down here

Surprised there's no dedicated thread for Climate of Hunter. Not my favourite, but sometimes it is?

Soused has also gone up a bit in my estimation while Bish Bosch has gone down slightly.

(xp) One of my favourite opening lines to a song.... album, in fact?

Two reasons why it's undervalued:

- the songs on side two are weaker copies of those on side one, with an acoustic cover in place of an orchestral ballad
- it's seen as a transition between Nite Flights and "where he meant to go" on Tilt

Bish Bosch was such a laborious listening experience that I never got round to Soused, but I mean to. I was "Scott Walkered-out".

Xp yeah I was just listening to side two and thinking exactly that: it's just a less memorable copy of side one. And yeah a transitional album hammocking seventeen years between Nite Flights and Tilt.

Forget how many big guest players are on Climate - Mark Knopfler, Evan Parker, Billy Ocean

I love BB but mostly for key tracks like Epizootics! and the crazy long one about Pole Sitting

Soused was a bit underwhelming coming off the back of the fuller orchestrations on BB. I had extremely high hopes for it. It's got some great Ligottian dread mysticism going on. But Sunn O)))'s boneshaking frequencies are reduced to a vespine buzzing and repeated lyrics like "bump the beaky" get irritating after a while.

I feel really really sad knowing that he had more songs in the works with lyrics written that we'll never get to hear

flashbacks to the Soused listening event in a church in London, an intoxicated (?) lady wanting everyone to dance and being escorted out by security. this music is not danceable.

I don't see nothing wrong with a little bump n beak