Morning: Arc of Scott.

Thursday February 7th





Morning

It breaks.
Grey of yesterday's debris;
now forgotten. 
Merge into blue
A new daily horizon.
Hopes rise.
At the edge,  pink appears.
A passion for life;
not extinguished, but
probing creativity's light;
needing a daily rush.


Enter brightly into each day.
Surrender to the forward march
of time.
Make:
 plans.
Create:
 opportunities.
Expect:
solutions.
Leave:
doubts.
Be:
lifted.
This Morning


Ck 07/02/'13

MmmmmmmmmmmmM






The above picture is entitled  " The Garden of Earthly Delights. " It was painted by Hieronymous Bosch 1490 -1510.

It is a triptych. That is a painting in three parts, hinged at either side of the main frame.

It has within it a vast amount of detail; which repays many viewings.
This painting references Scott Walker's latest record " Bish Bosch. "

This title, a play on words for a slang term, ' Bish Bosh,' meaning job done.

By changing 'Bosh ' to ' Bosch, ' W alker is implying that there is a lot of subject matter within the recording and therefore the need to listen carefully.

I shall return to BB later.

Scott Walker first came to my attention in 1965, as a member of the pop group " The Walker Brothers " and their subsequent chart hits " Make It Easy On Yourself ; " " My Ship Is Coming In; "  and in 1966, " The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore."
Naturally in those naive days of long ago, I took everything written in the musical press as gospel and it never occur ed to me that they were not brothers. Their real names being;  Noel Scott Engel; John Maus and drummer Gary Leeds.

Furthermore, it later transpired  that Scott didn't even like the pop scene. He hated the adulation and the concerts.

In !967 he left to pursue a solo career and whilst the rest of the world turned to America for their music, Scott embraced the french scene and commenced upon the big ballads and in particular the works of Jacques Brel.
It was a signal that Scott would make his own choices and  refuse to compromise his subsequent musical odyssey.

He embarked upon a series of solo albums; imaginatively titled Scott1- 4. The last  one (4) , a favourite of mine was the first entirely self-penned record and demonstrated a flair for composition and lyric awareness.

Between 1975- 1978 Scott was reunited with the ' Brothers ' and produced three albums.
There was little critical praise and Scott left again.

In 1984 he released a album " Climate of Hunter ."  This was a watershed, in that the songs lacked definable melodies; with four of the eight tracks having no name, only numbers. 
They were fragmented and had only his soaring voice to link with his previous work.

Eleven years later  in 1995 he released "Tilt "  with a new bleak and barren landscape.
It  contained startling percussive effects and was highly experimental in nature

The lyrics included the trials of Adolf Eichmann and a man talking to the corpse of Che Quevara; hardly the usual musical fare.

2006 brought the next instalment " The Drift ". This extended the bleakness and the lyrics mentioned torture, Mussolini; 9/11 and a nightmare vision involving Elvis Presley's dead twin brother Jesse.
 Even his remarkable voice became lost in the mix. He seemed to want to strip away the melody and  dissemble the  music to an atonal soundscape.

So in 2011 we come to " BIsh Bosch . "


The following video  of the making of BB gives a good indication of the project and the intensity in getting things right.

Bish Bosch


 This music is impossible to define and also to separate, from its entirety.
 I am compelled to admire Scott's perseverance in seeing this project through.
I found it a very tough listen, more violent and bleak in the extreme.

 I hope this has exorcised Walker's demon allowing him, to feel able to move  to  melodic and lighter offerings in future times. Let's hope that ' Bish Bosh,' the job is done indeed.



MmmmmmmMmmm


 Celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Black Snake ( small Dragon )and make a fresh start. Love the one you love on  Thursday and wrap up warm, keeping nose to the wind and eye to the horizon;  watchful and safe.

Cheerio,
Ck.

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