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.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 August 2017 13:52 (six years ago) link
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.
― starving street dogs of punk rock (Odysseus), Monday, 28 August 2017 13:54 (six years ago) link
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/
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 8 August 2019 23:37 (four years ago) link
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.
― willem, Wednesday, 23 October 2019 13:07 (four years ago) link
no real interest in lanegan's stuff normally but what an odd and excellent record 'downwelling' is
― Wee Bloabby (NickB), Tuesday, 26 November 2019 16:13 (four years ago) link
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/
― panburger partner (unregistered), Friday, 24 July 2020 00:36 (three years ago) link
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.
― beamish13, Friday, 24 July 2020 01:25 (three years ago) link
dude is on a mission to do as many guest vocals as possible it seems like? The Armed and Moby this week alone
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Friday, 16 April 2021 14:07 (three years ago) link
tbf Moby could actually be a member of The Armed
lol
― imago, Friday, 16 April 2021 14:16 (three years ago) link
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
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 19:52 (two years ago) link
Fuck.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:04 (two years ago) link
Oh no.
― Mule, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:06 (two years ago) link
Jeez. RIP
― StanM, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:06 (two years ago) link
Holy fuck! No, this is awful RIP.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:08 (two years ago) link
Awful.
― mardheamac (gyac), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:15 (two years ago) link
Mods, probably worth making this the canonical thread if you get a chance? Thx
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:20 (two years ago) link
aw jeez, the older I get the more I liked his work... RIP
― Jaime Pressly and America (f. hazel), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:21 (two years ago) link
Wonderful vocalist and writer... really sad to hear this, I saw him a few times years ago
― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:24 (two years ago) link
ugh this sucks, 57 is very young
― Spottie, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:30 (two years ago) link
what the fuck! ugh, he was really great and i was only recently starting to dive into his massive discography
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:47 (two years ago) link
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.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 20:47 (two years ago) link
Literally and angrily said "FUCK!" out loud when I learned this news.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 21:03 (two years ago) link
:(
― | (Latham Green), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 21:09 (two years ago) link
And to you who never needFuck yourselvesI need some more room to breathe
RIP
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 21:11 (two years ago) link
fuck fuck fuck :(
― Toshirō Nofune (The Seventh ILXorai), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 21:15 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjme8WrPRA0
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 21:19 (two years ago) link
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.
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 21:22 (two years ago) link
really sad, he had a tough go of things.
great singer and songwriter, incredible presence on stage
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 21:27 (two years ago) link
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
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 22:17 (two years ago) link
MESSAGE FROM IGGY:Mark Lanegan, RIP, deepest respect for you. Your fan, Iggy Pop— Iggy Pop (@IggyPop) February 22, 2022
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 22:45 (two years ago) link
guttedloved him since i was a teen, def one of my own personal mt rushmore artists. fuckin tragic loss
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 22:54 (two years ago) link
fuck. just finished his book. seemed invincible after surviving such a hellish covid experience, but sadly not.
― stirmonster, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 23:05 (two years ago) link
Ah hell. Screaming Trees' Sub Pop singles club entry - Change Has Come - was a huge record for me when I was a kid.
― peace, man, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 23:08 (two years ago) link
A lot of sad endings among singers of that era/region/scene, it's really quite remarkable and ... unprecedented?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 23:18 (two years ago) link
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.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 23:20 (two years ago) link
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.
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 23:46 (two years ago) link
“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.”
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Tuesday, 22 February 2022 23:55 (two years ago) link
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
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 23 February 2022 00:10 (two years ago) link
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
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 01:50 (two years ago) link
yeah god i love his version
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 23 February 2022 02:14 (two years ago) link
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.
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 02:23 (two years ago) link
big co-sign on the "man in the long black coat" love, that song feels like it was written for him
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 23 February 2022 02:27 (two years ago) link
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 notebeautiful range
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 23 February 2022 02:37 (two years ago) link
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.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 02:51 (two years ago) link
Good, honest tribute:
https://jaybabcock.substack.com/p/landline-in-the-fade
I liked Mark, I liked his music. And I liked him because he loved music so much. It wasn’t just psychedelic rock or garage-punk stuff, it was every category. Blues, soul, jazz, classic rock, reggae, underground rock, art rock, contemporary electronic music. He was omnivorous, wide-ranging. He was a huge Kinks fan! He’d done a record with Beat Happening! He had a collaboration in progress with Greg Dulli, another one with Isobel Campbell from Belle & Sebastian! And in those early ‘00s years, he was in what at that time was the best rock ‘n’ roll band in the world, a band he didn’t have to lead.Which was important, because Lanegan was so unusual: he was a natural singer who was not a natural frontman. He seemed far from at ease onstage, usually just squinting and standing stockstill, holding onto the mic for dear life. He was not a showman. Didn't matter. His voice was so rich, and the material clearly meant so much to him, that it worked.
Which was important, because Lanegan was so unusual: he was a natural singer who was not a natural frontman. He seemed far from at ease onstage, usually just squinting and standing stockstill, holding onto the mic for dear life. He was not a showman. Didn't matter. His voice was so rich, and the material clearly meant so much to him, that it worked.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 02:59 (two years ago) link
his covers are so so good, such a vast array of genresthis one sends mehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbMbeG1jIQU
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 23 February 2022 03:05 (two years ago) link
― Ira Einhorn (dandydonweiner), Wednesday, 23 February 2022 03:30 (two years ago) link
Missed this at the time -- Barrett Martin's response to the news (there are various further posts)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CaTD40dvh4g/
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 12 April 2022 17:44 (two years ago) link
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-laneganThe 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.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 24 April 2022 16:28 (one year ago) link
excellent!
― StanM, Sunday, 24 April 2022 18:48 (one year ago) link
Thanks!
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 25 April 2022 01:13 (one year ago) link
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.
― Psychocandy Apple Grey (Pyschocandles), Monday, 25 April 2022 06:49 (one year ago) link
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.
― Stevolende, Monday, 25 April 2022 07:06 (one year ago) link
Great stuff Ned!
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Monday, 25 April 2022 07:43 (one year ago) link
Thanks very kindly.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 25 April 2022 14:43 (one year ago) link
A new piece talking with many who knew/worked with him
https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/mark-lanegan-tribute-remembrance-screaming-trees.html
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 3 May 2022 16:44 (one year ago) link
beautiful
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 3 May 2022 17:37 (one year ago) link
Among other things, I hadn't realized the mid-90s MTV taxi guy in those spots was Donal Logue!
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 3 May 2022 17:38 (one year ago) link
Interesting. This appears to be something of a general memoir?
https://moochinaboutltd.bandcamp.com/merch/confessions-of-the-night-porter-mark-lanegan-moochin666
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 11 May 2022 14:40 (one year ago) link
Or rather some kind of interpretive work of his lyrics and words but with his participation? Whatever it is, potentially of interest.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 11 May 2022 14:42 (one year ago) link
One year. Miss him.
― Mule, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 12:52 (one year ago) link