Scott Walker- Bish Bosch ALBUM REVIEW 

There's a Sunn O))) album on that record shelf... Did Anthony subtly predict the future with this review...?

He ended up ranking this really highly on his year-end list; it grew on him considerably. When you listen to as much music as we do, the only thing that can provide a surprisingly meaningful and purposeful release from "the rest of music" is a Scott Walker album. It's cathartic, really. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE SCOTT WALKER.

Bish Bosch is the avant garde interpretation of "get off my lawn".

Scott's the David Lynch of Music.

He died today. Bish Bosh apart, people like Scott Walker or Kate Bush do not pop up every day in pop and u are left facing the enormity of their work when they are gone... in a snap what was alive and exciting and still full of possibilities it's a dead language for archeologists of rock music. For me, after Prince, this is the loss that traumatised me the most in pop music. For now... Genesis is apparently very sick...

i'm actually scott walker.

SCOTT WALKER SHALL LIVE FOREVER...pretty sure he's immortal....

How ironic that he has the Sunn O))) record on the shelf and about two years later Scott and Sunn O))) would be working together.

This album is from the same man whose first solo song was "Mathilde". Talk about progression.

I feel like this influenced David Bowie on Blackstar

"Lou Reed is a more coherent lyricist on Lulu" "After hearing this LP I actually wanted to kind of sit back, relax, and have a nice chilled out listen to Trout Mask Replica." Fucking lol'd

8:28 actually an amazing impression

glad you dug it, man. i find it funny that you can't get into metal, but you are that into something this impenetrable!

Drift is such a great album.

He woulda given this one a 9 or a 10 if it came out today.

Wait, how exactly does one thrive unsuccessfully?

Seven years on, this is probably my most listened to album. I love it. I cried when I heard that Scott Walker had died. The thought that I would never hear anything new by him again was horrible. But I guess we all have to go some time. I will enjoy Scott's weird music until I die. I think I'll arrange to have one of his songs played at my funeral. But which one? I'll have to think about that.

I think The Haxan Cloak should get in on the production of his future work

Great review. The only way I can explain how I view the more non-eventful tracks on this album, and maybe the vibe over all, is that it's how I feel going to a museum. There are some paintings of fox hunting, maybe a Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and then maybe a whole wall is some giant canvas with one or two colors on it. I feel that music like this is to remind us that there is so much unexplored space in music. Scott, please continue to make us fevered and cramped feeling.

Black One on the shelf in the background... How did Fantano call SCOTT-O))) 2 years in the future?! Some kind of wizard?!

Scott Walker should collaborate with David Lynch

“I’m a modern Scott Walker”

I really liked the way you covered Walker's whole musical history at the beginning. It'd be cool to see you do more of that with other artists with lots of material.

Ok, so I had the same response to this album when it first came out, but then it dawned on me recently: Bish Bosch is a playing on Pish Posh (a silly phrase in English) and Hieronymus Bosch. So this album is meant to be a combination of the silly and the horrific and a linguistic/pun-filled ode to those paintings and what they say about how "dark" reality is. It's Metal Noir and it's great. (Also, have you noticed how relevant The Old Man's Back Again is to today? And Also alsoalso, I agree that he needs to calm down in this record and that Captain Beefheart record is a better execution of the same ideas!!!!) {pps: want to make out sometime (?), you're totally sexy.}

Hi Anthony, I've listened to your pod-casts on and off for several years, and your electic open-mindedness to music has introduced me to genres and artists I previously would not have even considered. For example, you alerted me to The Cults (who I have since seen live), Washed Out, and Wild Beasts, amongst others. However, I struggled with your pod-cast due to how I perceived your vocal delivery. You always struck me as an eloquent and articulate guy, but I felt sometimes your articulation was actually more noticeable than your personality; I felt you were difficult to connect with emotionally, such was your dry delivery style. However, with the addition of these video reviews (which I stumbled across while looking for Scott Walker videos), I see you are able to communicate more fully (with body language and facial expressions). You also seemed to have loosened up, and this feels much more like a train of thought - with relaxed humour - rather than 'clever essay-like sentences'. In short, I see and admire the growth you have made as a broadcaster, and will be back discovering new music from your recommendations! Many thanks for your work. Lewis Boadle

Solid 9/10 overall. Zercon is probably the best track this year.

you think so? i thought scott was really in his own world on this album.

Damn Scott, thank you for all your work.

Anthony's Scott Walker vocal impersonation has mine beat. Well done.

I'd love to see you review "The Drift" by Scott Walker, which you touched upon briefly in this review. I think it is a much darker and much more unsettling album than "Bish Bosch". The first time I heard it, I had a hard time falling asleep! Now it is one of those essential albums in my collection.

alive and well, apparently!

This album will make you go from heart racing anxiety to genuine laughter at how absurd some songs are. Going from a song with fart noises in the background to a song with knives being sharpened and crooning about maggots and decay just makes this album an unforgettable listen. As someone who is a fan of his early work on Scott1-4 his trajectory into avant-garde music is definitely interesting but worth checking out if you’re into that kind of music.

Lol this album actually makes Trout mask replica sound like Justin Beiber.

I think it is a pretty good reflection on Bish Bosch. If you want to go in there do so. If you want to stay with easy music, by all means do so. My 15 year old kid hates this, being a fan of Fall Out Boy and the likes (which I don't mind), but Bish Bosch is a hard candy. It is sweet and lasts. It is like a Kaleidoscope, put it to the light of your mind and it will show you something new.

Masterpiece 9/10 or 10/10

Listened to some of this album while I was going to the kitchen at night, everything pitch black. God damn, that was eerie. And fascinating.

i'm probably just gonna do awayland when it drops.

so heres tea: this is better than the drift. his voice and lyrics are more expressive and interesting when he's singing about more absurd and humorous things, and the variety and creativity of instrumentation on this album outshines the drift

The album can be the work of a mad genius or pretentious bullshit. Either way, i never heard anything like that in my whole life. And thats a plus.

I tire of his declamatory, histrionic vocal style quickly but admire the adventurous orchestration, the shocking contrasts, the unsettling atmospheres. Not for everyone, certainly... but in my opinion, a masterpiece.

awwwwww

This album broke my mind! It was truly an experience. Can't wait to hear it again.

8:28 was an insane impression lmao

Scott's voice can portray heaven or hell.- so glad we have a backlog of his wonderful recordings which were pure heaven. As an artist it is indeed his perogative to present us with the music/redcording today that I would personally describe as sheer hell - but it can be so disappointing to the majority of his older fans. I guess he has moved on and we oldies are still stuck hankering after the good old days when his recordings used to knock our socks off!

qualify it?

"After listening to this LP, I actually wanted to sit back, relax and have a nice chilled out listen to Trout Mask Replica." LOL! Nice attempt at describing this album...a heroic effort indeed. After listening to this, I just told a friend "This isn't something you want to experience twice, but everybody should definitely experience it once!" Powerful stuff, and one of a kind.

it's difficulty to understand is actually what makes it pretty boss.

A very punctual Bishtony Boschtano on this one...

8:29 Holy fuck you sound just like him

I hate to be "that guy", but I am pretty new to the album. But some of the songs do have a deeper meaning. At least on the track "corps de blah", there seems to be a strong theme of a man discovering his psychopathic tendencies and becoming a serial killer, even picking up an apprentice at the end of the track, which is where you here the seeming explanatory lyrics at the end and the sharpening of the knives. Though it is pretty tough to really look at the lyrics because Scott does shift from narrator to main character, and it can be pretty difficult to tell when it happens.

Happy 10th anniversary to this masterpiece

i'd agree. great comment! thank you!

Scott Walker is so amazing, and one day I will get into him, when I am in the proper head space.

Never seen/listened to your reviews before. This was amusing and still quite informative and clever. Thanks.

Never heard of this guy, thanks for introducing to me, really intriguing, the scattered tracks I've just breezed through.. Kind of apt right now as I'm trying to work sampled strings and baroque instrumentation into a few of my songs live. Is there one potent album of his you'd recommend to devour?

yep.

no, i'll check it out in there. i typically go through my inbox messages once a week.

Cheers, good to hear a review that is circumspect on the artist, but animates the current release for me. Well done

So glad you reviewed this. Got it today and looking forward to listening.

Really looking forward to picking this album up this week.

thank you for reviewing this, Anthony. Scott is one of my favorite musicians...ever.

7:33 = the best moment in needledrop history.

I'd give the album an 8. I'd give the fact that Scott Walker exists a 10.

10/10, one of the best albums ever

i hope you enjoy it!!!

This album is just insane in all of the best possible ways. Was floored a track and a half in.

where did you heard the full album anthony ?

I recently got turned onto Scott Walker and have quickly become a fan. Bish Bosch is one of the most brilliantly demented works of art I have ever experienced. I frigging love it. It's the Eraserhead of music. Wonderful review, very well thought out.

glad you dug it! :-)

This album will haunt you in your nightmares if you listen to it. (Only if you are a toddler or a young child)

thank you!

yes, just to relax.

what did i miss?

not sure how i'd approach that list.

mmaybe i need more time with it.

Bish Bosch is a lot like a James Joyce novel, in that it's very dense and takes a lot of effort to navigate through. I would suggest that listeners seek out Scott's recent interviews where he talks about the songs/music. Once you understand what's going on (like Zercon), the lyrics and music make a lot of sense. If anything, Scott is a story teller, as he's always been. Not for everyone, but the adventurous will find much to chew on.

indeed he is!

I'm still awaiting the release of a Scott Walker album that ends up making everyone realize Walker was a serial killer. It would basically tell us the 666 women and men he murdered, as well as where the bodied are located.

@Recolation To add to that, I'd highly recommend that you listen to the album again whilst reading the lyric sheet, and look up words and phrases that you're not familiar with. I think youll find a greater enjoyment here than you initially thought.

yay!

is he?

For shadowing, SUNN’s Black One on the shelf

fair enough hah you're the man, I subscribed after stumbled on your fleet foxes review and you seriously put my thoughts into words. I'm thinking this might be a good one

could you review the new Helio Sequence album? I'd really like to know your take on it.

I don't think it's vital to enjoying the album, but I think it explains where some of his crazy sounds are coming from. The use of silence, the "shredding" violins, the weird and sometimes tribal-esque drums are all reminiscent, for me at least. The electronics especially reek of Karlheinz and his crew. The thing I really like about this album though, is it's fusions with the other genres. Other than that infinity girl record, this is probably my favorite release this year.

the irish group?

I didn't know that Wisconsin's governor was a baroque pop artists too. Damn, man can do anything. Entertaining review Antony. Not normally my thing, but I'm intrigued to listen to it. Cheers! -Mon

great review anthony! any chance of reviewing Enslaved's new album?

hmmmmmm

'Epizootics' is EPIC my friend. Great review. Thanks

I'm glad for this thoughtful reaction to _Bish Bosch_'s admittedly visceral effects. However, I do think the only fair way to evaluate Walker's music is to try to dig into its meaning. This is difficult, but there are resources out there which can't be dismissed, regarding his songwriting approaches. And imho, the more you listen, the more humor you hear where you hadn't noticed it before. Walker creates sometimes-painful sounds, but they're always too smart & calculated to be for shock value.

Gonna have to find a youtube link, the one on your webpage had an error message.

I’ve heard this album is based on the experience of having dementia and being around people with dementia, not sure where I heard this and it might even just be me thinking it and imagining someone told me it. Either way it explains the weirdness and enhanced my listening experience quite a bit. This album terrified me.

great overview of scott's career, prior to the review and honestly, great impression "here's to a lousy life"

I love your scott impression, anthony

I'd certainly recommend it. I had a good week of listening before it came out due to a leak, so most of my thoughts were pretty well developed before my CD came in the mail. This is the type of album that needs some analyzing, the surface level is appealing but the depth of this album is what makes it particularly astounding. Oh, and if you haven't seen "30th Century Man" (documentary on Scott) I'd highly recommend it. It's on vimeo.

If he reviewed it again it would get like a strong 8 to a light 9. Wasn't it in his top 50 of the decade or something ?

Hey dude! I requested an album for you to review via inbox message. is that a bad place to do it?

Thankyou for the review. I have many scott walker records, but this one , i thought would not be for me. Your review was very helpful. Thankyou.

I agree. I love it. Strange that so many think it is so out there. I think its a more accessible album than The Drift. But I completely understand that it is not an easy listen for most people and many won't dig it. It honestly took me 2 years of listening to The Drift before I finally realized that I wasn't supposed to "understand" it - just listen to it. Its not music as much as aural art.