Mark Lanegan solo album recommendations... (RIP February 2022)

Heard that the other day -- the man's still got it.

v nice

this is basically American VI: YOLT, isn't it? I keep imagining that Mark recorded several albums' worth of cover songs with Martin Feveyear, with this album being the final installment of odds 'n' sods that didn't make it onto the earlier collections. I know Mark chose the material himself and has a sincere appreciation for the original artists, but there's a whiff of "give this guy any old schlock, and he'll put his own world-weary, whiskey-soaked stamp on it" to the project. with the exception of "Pretty Colors", the oldies material is weaker than the contemporary stuff.

part of what I liked about I'll Take Care of You is that he was unashamed to play tastemaster, covering cool, obscure singer-songwriters like Tim Hardin, Fred Neil, Dave Van Ronk who were obvious precursors for his own music. but on Imitations he isn't ashamed of his uncool, somewhat kitschy track picks, and ironically the performances are stiffer and more self-conscious because he's less suited to the material. the sweet string arrangements only heighten the disconnect between singer and song. it's not a bad album, but it's definitely his weakest solo effort. to my ears, this album, his collaborations with Isobel Campell, and some of his guest appearances are little more than showcases for his wonderful singing voice, but that isn't enough to interest me anymore. eh, Blues Funeral and the Gutter Twins album were great, so I'm not worried that he's completely run out of ideas.

I can't believe he shelved these songs for 13 years. some of his best work, imho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOaHD3ndmI

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

Huh, apparently no talk about Gargoyle, his newest, on here, or maybe I've just forgotten where it is. Came out a few months ago and while I picked out a couple of great songs from it from the start -- "Beehive" is my favorite, easy -- a relisten last night made it fully click front to back -- it's easy to say Yet Another Great Mark Lanegan album but it really is. A remix EP also came out that's really enjoyable.

But I also bring this up because after nearly 25 years of being actively interested in his work I finally saw him last night live for the first time. What a ridiculously good show. As my girlfriend said, it's remarkable just how easy his backing band made everything look, just one sharp performance after another in all manner of approaches and styles. Meantime the man himself similarly nailed it, that rich and ragged sound song for song, and all he had to do was just stand there, sing, maybe move a bit here and there and otherwise limit it to occasional thank-yous and a band introduction near the end.

What blew my mind into the next room was the final song, though -- a cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart," unintroduced. They just hit those opening riffs and I thought I might know it, then the full synth part kicked in and goddamn. And it couldn't have been a better match for both his voice and his aesthetic.

All that and it was just refreshing to see someone like that who had 'the big hit' with "Nearly Lost You" all that time back not feeling the need to play it all, and nobody missing it or caring. Some acts aren't so lucky.

The new album is one of my favourites of this year. I saw Lanegan with Masters Of Reality supporting him some years back. He was great. Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri were backing Chris Goss in MOR.

This is already going to be one of my reads of the year next year

https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/mark-lanegan/sing-backwards-and-weep/9780306922800/

I haven't really kept up with his output over the last couple of years, the man's been pretty prolific!
MLB have just released a new album, Somebody's Knocking, the AMG review of which makes me curious to hear it.
He's also released a collaborative album (as Dark Mark, lol) with Italian musician Not Waving (whose solo output I've been enjoying a lot): Downwelling. This is an album I've grown to love over the last few weeks. The music evokes an idiosyncratic atmosphere of melancholy bleakness that matches so well with his vocals. Highly recommended.

no real interest in lanegan's stuff normally but what an odd and excellent record 'downwelling' is

I haven't heard his last couple albums, but he seems to have some very, uh, interesting ideas these days

https://www.spin.com/2020/05/mark-lanegan-rails-against-technology-i-had-my-own-private-snowden-in-the-room-with-me/

His new memoir is pretty great (although it stops around 1998ish, so we need a sequel), but he's clearly gone off the deep end with the 5G nonsense.

dude is on a mission to do as many guest vocals as possible it seems like? The Armed and Moby this week alone

tbf Moby could actually be a member of The Armed

lol

if he lifts for 8 months maybe

RIP Mark

Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland.  A beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician he was 57 and is survived by his wife Shelley.  No other information is available at this time. We ask Please respect the family privacy

— mark lanegan (@marklanegan) February 22, 2022

Fuck.

Oh no.

Jeez. RIP

Holy fuck! No, this is awful RIP.

Awful.

Mods, probably worth making this the canonical thread if you get a chance? Thx

aw jeez, the older I get the more I liked his work... RIP

Wonderful vocalist and writer... really sad to hear this, I saw him a few times years ago

ugh this sucks, 57 is very young

what the fuck! ugh, he was really great and i was only recently starting to dive into his massive discography

From the RIP thread:

perhaps the greatest singer of his generation.

One of them for sure. Which is high praise, as more than 99% of all singers wouldn't even be in the running.

Literally and angrily said "FUCK!" out loud when I learned this news.

:(

And to you who never need
Fuck yourselves
I need some more room to breathe

RIP

fuck fuck fuck :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjme8WrPRA0

I ordered his memoir on interlibrary loan so hope it is still coming. I know there wasa 2nd one about him going through Covid in Killarney.
JUst hope he don't join the devil's army or however that song goes.

really sad, he had a tough go of things.

great singer and songwriter, incredible presence on stage

had no idea what he'd gone through in the last year - fucking hell, poor guy:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/feb/22/mark-lanegan-screaming-trees-singer-dies

MESSAGE FROM IGGY:
Mark Lanegan, RIP, deepest respect for you. Your fan,
Iggy Pop

— Iggy Pop (@IggyPop) February 22, 2022

gutted

loved him since i was a teen, def one of my own personal mt rushmore artists. fuckin tragic loss

fuck. just finished his book. seemed invincible after surviving such a hellish covid experience, but sadly not.

Ah hell. Screaming Trees' Sub Pop singles club entry - Change Has Come - was a huge record for me when I was a kid.

A lot of sad endings among singers of that era/region/scene, it's really quite remarkable and ... unprecedented?

Blunt to think about but true. There are certainly other lifers -- Kim Warnick, Mark Arm, Dylan Carlson to name just three, and if you want to count Mr. Vedder you can though of course he replaced arguably the first great loss, Andrew Wood -- but it's a hard overall toll.

https://laluzdejesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Peterson_Mark-Lanegan.jpg

In my high school photography class, I did an oral report on Charles Peterson, which was basically me sitting in front of class ad-libbing about different photos from the copy of Screaming Life I grabbed off my bookshelf that morning. The above pic was one of the best received ones.

“I Nearly Lost You” always bring me back to the first time I was allowed to take the family car out. Went to pick up my girlfriend, who’d I’d got back together with after some dumb high school fight. She hops in the car and this song comes on the radio and I was like “goddamn what a perfect song.”

His cover of The Cure’s “close to me” that he did w The Separate a few years back
destroys me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xJBnS06st8

His cover of "The Man in the Long Black Coat" is one of the highlights of the I'm Not There "soundtrack." (Only a few cuts from that double-CD are actually in the movie, but I think it was never meant to be the actual music in its entirety, just a side project in conjunction with the film.) Dylan's recording was arguably the highlight of Oh Mercy, but Lanegan's is even better IMHO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-wsKBd6_9I

yeah god i love his version

His version of Rev. Gary Davis's "Death Don't Have No Mercy" is pretty awesome too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZflanL4zTJY

I may be in the minority on this, but I feel like the blues and folk songs served his voice better than anything else, simply for the spooky, forboding atmosphere and giving his voice complete, open space.

big co-sign on the "man in the long black coat" love, that song feels like it was written for him

i love his ability to do the first line of a verse in a growl & suddenly the next line he’ll fly up to the heavens on a high note

beautiful range

The first time that I ever truly 'heard' him, back in 1993, guesting on this Walkabouts cover of Charlie Rich (and thus also consciously introducing me to his work):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGZeVkAE16k

Been sitting with me all day since the news hit. As well as this -- from The Winding Sheet in 1990, with Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, so no surprise where Nirvana got the idea to do this later:

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

Such a damn shame.

Just gonna put this here. Watch to the very end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9BPh6fBsEw

Thanks. Will watch later. Also meant to come back and say I ended up listening to The Gutter Twins over the weekend and finally paid a little attention

Another gorgeous cover/interpretation I'd missed. I saw him joke/not-joke in a 2019 interview that it had become his signature song and now I hear why.

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

xp That KXLU session is awesome

Missed this at the time -- Barrett Martin's response to the news (there are various further posts)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaTD40dvh4g/

It was a real treat to do something long overdue here: an introductory guide to Lanegan’s work across all the decades and in numerous contexts.

https://theshfl.com/guide/mark-lanegan

The focus is on albums for Shfl so it’s not the true range given all the EPs, singles and one-offs, but I really think this gives him his real due.

excellent!

Thanks!

Enjoyed this write-up! Working my way through a few things I hadn't heard. The gravel/grain of his voice well recorded is such a force.

There's some really great live stuff from the Bubblegum tour in 2004. I remember the Milan date and the video from Other Voices in Dingle, County Kerry both being brilliant. May have said that on here before but not managing to look back on thread cos on my phone and video and other images are messing up scrolling.

Great stuff Ned!

Thanks very kindly.

A new piece talking with many who knew/worked with him

https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/mark-lanegan-tribute-remembrance-screaming-trees.html

beautiful

Among other things, I hadn't realized the mid-90s MTV taxi guy in those spots was Donal Logue!

Interesting. This appears to be something of a general memoir?

https://moochinaboutltd.bandcamp.com/merch/confessions-of-the-night-porter-mark-lanegan-moochin666

Or rather some kind of interpretive work of his lyrics and words but with his participation? Whatever it is, potentially of interest.

One year. Miss him.