What do you think?
Rate this book
No Regrets: Writings on Scott Walker
A colourful collection of pieces on the enigmatic genius of Scott Walker from THE WIRE.
Scott Walker has travelled from teen idol to the outer limits of music. From 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More' reaching No.1, through to recordings of meat being punched on his last album, THE DRIFT, he somehow seems to have reached a passionate and committed fan base. Throughout his career, his impeccable critical reputation as a serious and uncompromising musician has never been questioned.
The recent film, 30TH CENTURY MAN, had a litany of stars queuing up to praise the likes of David Bowie, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Radiohead, Johnny Marr and Sting. But despite this, in 40 years of music, there has yet to be a serious book on Scott Walker.
This collection, put together by Rob Young of THE WIRE magazine, features a handful of previously published articles and newly commissioned pieces, largely drawn from the orbit of THE WIRE's writers including Ian Penman, Chris Bohn and Rob Young.
Scott Walker has travelled from teen idol to the outer limits of music. From 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More' reaching No.1, through to recordings of meat being punched on his last album, THE DRIFT, he somehow seems to have reached a passionate and committed fan base. Throughout his career, his impeccable critical reputation as a serious and uncompromising musician has never been questioned.
The recent film, 30TH CENTURY MAN, had a litany of stars queuing up to praise the likes of David Bowie, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Radiohead, Johnny Marr and Sting. But despite this, in 40 years of music, there has yet to be a serious book on Scott Walker.
This collection, put together by Rob Young of THE WIRE magazine, features a handful of previously published articles and newly commissioned pieces, largely drawn from the orbit of THE WIRE's writers including Ian Penman, Chris Bohn and Rob Young.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
8 people are currently reading
199 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 22, 2012
Personally, my life would be kind of empty without the sounds of Sparks and Scott Walker. Both are on this world, yet they seemed kind of removed from the world as well. And both have huge cultural baggage of sorts, but cannot be put in a box or simply explained. They have to be experienced - and "No Regrets: Writings on Scott Walker" is a super enjoyable read (i.e. experience) that goes through out the career of Scott.
The book is put together by Rob Young via the great British music magazine 'The Wire.' And this is the perfect publication to do an anthology all on the subject of Scott Walker's music. Included are late interviews with the composer/songwriter/singer, but more interesting to me are the essays on certain aspects of Scott Walker's albums.
To give one who isn't exposed to the world of Scott Waler, it is best that I give him and his music a brief introduction. Scott Walker was a member of the Walker Brothers (none were actual brothers), from America but went to London during the British invasion. Unlike the Beat groups of that time, The Walker Brothers specialize in Phil Spector style big production ballads - with Scott as lead vocalist. An incredible voice who knew how to relay a lyric like it was a simple act of putting butter on a hot piece of toast. Over a short period of time they became teen idols of sorts, and for Scott this was a sign of total despair. A man of humor, but a sort of humor that laughs with Ingmar Bergman films than say the Carry on films.
In the mid-60's to late 60's he made a series of solo albums that are now considered to be classics. And they were very odd albums compared to the swinging 60's of London. Huge orchestrations, beautiful voice singing Jacques Brel songs as well as his own material - which at the time were very much influenced by Brel and the whole French style of singing about personal and earthy narratives. While everyone in the world of pop was tuning in- or dropping out - Scott was sort of a hipper version of Jack Jones (a singer he admired at the time) or a throw back to the pop crooner. So that alone made him stand out with respect to the Pop explosion of the 1960's.
In the 70's he lost the pilot of sorts (and reading this book now I have second thoughts on this period) and sort of sang for his supper - till the late 1980's where he made a series of albums every 10 to 12 years that are totally unique, odd, beautiful, disturbing, and well, fantastic art. This book covers all different aspects of Scott Walkers very long but fascinating career.
The longest piece is by Ian Penman, focusing on the albums that no no really cares about - including Scott! But here you can see how this 'dead' period gave fuel for him to make his future masterpieces - and therefore cannot be denied! The beauty of Walker's life in music is that they are all pieces of a puzzle - and you have to spend the time going over those pieces or putting them together to see the whole picture, which of course is a masterpiece. And this book helps the listener put the pieces together. Pennman with great wit, writes about the down years of Scott that to me are not wasted, but career wise must have been a downer for him.
And there is not really a downer of an essay in this book. Young did a remarkable job in giving an intriguing picture of Scott Walker. I am so happy that this book exists.
The book is put together by Rob Young via the great British music magazine 'The Wire.' And this is the perfect publication to do an anthology all on the subject of Scott Walker's music. Included are late interviews with the composer/songwriter/singer, but more interesting to me are the essays on certain aspects of Scott Walker's albums.
To give one who isn't exposed to the world of Scott Waler, it is best that I give him and his music a brief introduction. Scott Walker was a member of the Walker Brothers (none were actual brothers), from America but went to London during the British invasion. Unlike the Beat groups of that time, The Walker Brothers specialize in Phil Spector style big production ballads - with Scott as lead vocalist. An incredible voice who knew how to relay a lyric like it was a simple act of putting butter on a hot piece of toast. Over a short period of time they became teen idols of sorts, and for Scott this was a sign of total despair. A man of humor, but a sort of humor that laughs with Ingmar Bergman films than say the Carry on films.
In the mid-60's to late 60's he made a series of solo albums that are now considered to be classics. And they were very odd albums compared to the swinging 60's of London. Huge orchestrations, beautiful voice singing Jacques Brel songs as well as his own material - which at the time were very much influenced by Brel and the whole French style of singing about personal and earthy narratives. While everyone in the world of pop was tuning in- or dropping out - Scott was sort of a hipper version of Jack Jones (a singer he admired at the time) or a throw back to the pop crooner. So that alone made him stand out with respect to the Pop explosion of the 1960's.
In the 70's he lost the pilot of sorts (and reading this book now I have second thoughts on this period) and sort of sang for his supper - till the late 1980's where he made a series of albums every 10 to 12 years that are totally unique, odd, beautiful, disturbing, and well, fantastic art. This book covers all different aspects of Scott Walkers very long but fascinating career.
The longest piece is by Ian Penman, focusing on the albums that no no really cares about - including Scott! But here you can see how this 'dead' period gave fuel for him to make his future masterpieces - and therefore cannot be denied! The beauty of Walker's life in music is that they are all pieces of a puzzle - and you have to spend the time going over those pieces or putting them together to see the whole picture, which of course is a masterpiece. And this book helps the listener put the pieces together. Pennman with great wit, writes about the down years of Scott that to me are not wasted, but career wise must have been a downer for him.
And there is not really a downer of an essay in this book. Young did a remarkable job in giving an intriguing picture of Scott Walker. I am so happy that this book exists.
March 7, 2013
Over the past few years, I've slid down the Scott Walker wormhole - the four lush solo albums from the 60s, the Walker Brothers tracks from the 70s that influenced Bowie and Eno, the run of increasingly stark and strange and malevolently gorgeous solo albums from Climate of Hunter through the recent Bish Bosch. This thoughtful anthology of essays and rare interviews covers every phase of Walker's unlikely career, from his start as a teen idol to his resurgence as an uncompromising avant garde artist. There are no duds here and some of the strongest pieces illuminate exactly the periods that you'd think would be of least interest - his wilderness years in the early 70s, doing TV show music and countrypolitan tunes. For fans, it's a must read.
March 22, 2019
I always thought I was a Scott Walker fan but in comparrison, I know nothing.
I always thought I looked deeply into songs but in comparrison, I am superficial.
The book for all its intellect and desire to find meaning or "out-mean" the next contributor, brought me not one inch closer to understanding Scott Walker or why I love his voice.
Nor am I really sure what my expectation was but I had to labour to finish this, and perhaps I learned that at time I don't need to understand or have deeper meaning, to love something.
Recommended for hardcore fans or those that wish to use James Joyce, as an allegory to life!
I always thought I looked deeply into songs but in comparrison, I am superficial.
The book for all its intellect and desire to find meaning or "out-mean" the next contributor, brought me not one inch closer to understanding Scott Walker or why I love his voice.
Nor am I really sure what my expectation was but I had to labour to finish this, and perhaps I learned that at time I don't need to understand or have deeper meaning, to love something.
Recommended for hardcore fans or those that wish to use James Joyce, as an allegory to life!
December 24, 2013
“He who sleeps in continual noise is wakened by silence . . .”
“There is such a thing as internal exile. You take the unloved part of yourself and force it down into a Siberia of the soul: a crypt full of abandoned voices or tones of voice. Whispered secrets, overheard sighs. Orpheus wearing one mask underground, something else entirely when out in the needlepoint light . . .This is how the pros play the game; this is how you disappear, while appearing to remain in the spotlight” .
This is a book on Scott Walker.
On Scott Walker the musician; not the man.
And how could it be on the man anyway? How did Scott’s longtime fan David Bowie say it? “Why, I don't know anything. Who knows anything about Scott Walker?”.
Exactly right. Nobody knows anything about Scott Walker the man, but to the extent that we are aware of it, his longlasting journey into music is one of the most fascinating tales in pop and rock history.
Scott Walker is the man who went
from reluctant pop idol of the early 60s (“reluctant” being quite an understatement actually. “TERRIFIED of the crowds”, or “constantly running away from screaming girls” would be a lot more appropriate – unluckily for him, he was also absolutely gorgeous back then, on top of everything else)
to baroque / chamber pop perfection in the late 60s (if you haven't listened to his Scott , Scott 2 , Scott 3 and most importantly, Scott 4 albums, do it TODAY)
to obscurity and self-imposed exile in the late 70s
to abstract avant-garde music icon, progressively from the early 80s onwards.
“Walker’s looks and existentialist charisma suited him perfectly to the mid-sixties hit parade; his artistic temperament and avant garde tastes were incompatible” .
“Only when the public totally lost interest would he seem to find the wherewithal finally to be true to himself, and by then the 1970s were almost over” .
Gifted with an unconventional, radical, post-modern approach to both music and lyrics composition, as well as his iconic, astonishing baritone voice, Scott Walker inevitably turned his back to the mainstream career that everybody expected him to endorse, and dug deep into his soul because he had to.
“Whatever audiences and critics may make of Scott Walker’s recent output, it is clear that this is music made out of necessity, not out of any other commercial imperative” .
No Regrets: Writings on Scott Walker is a fantastic collection of essays and thoughts written by composers, authors, poets, sound curators and academics who celebrate the avant-garde genius of the question mark that Walker has turned to over the last five decades. The whole thing is edited by Rob Young, author and former editor of The Wire , who also contributes his own lovely parts in the book.
The writing is wonderful. Each piece reads like a subtle attempt to untangle a small, very small indeed, bit of the enigma, the man who is “so withdrawn into a hinterland of edgeless, glassy introspection and landscaped musical anonymity he almost doesn't seem sexually human. Almost, at times, an angel” .
At the same time, the authors know better to keep their expectations down to a minimum; Scott Walker rarely breaks the silence, rarely gives interviews and hasn't performed live in over 35 years. Apparently, his consent to the excellent documentary “30 Century Man” produced in 2006, and his most recent discography - well, that’s just 4 albums since 1983, all of them masterpieces by the way, but that’s Scott Walker – have not been strong enough reasons for him to break this rule.
‘All that guitar-based rock stuff – I just feel like I've heard it before so many times. It goes on and on and never seems to end. It’s just the same narrow ground being worked over. It would drive me mad to have to work within those parameters.’ says the man who never listens to his records, once he has made them. Never.
I know Bish Bosch came out only last year Scott, but I'm already looking forward to your future music. And this book refreshed my enthusiasm for anything you do very successfully.
You are the 30 century man.
The Walker Brothers, 1965
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eAxCV...
Scott Walker, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfrVuh...
“There is such a thing as internal exile. You take the unloved part of yourself and force it down into a Siberia of the soul: a crypt full of abandoned voices or tones of voice. Whispered secrets, overheard sighs. Orpheus wearing one mask underground, something else entirely when out in the needlepoint light . . .This is how the pros play the game; this is how you disappear, while appearing to remain in the spotlight” .
This is a book on Scott Walker.
On Scott Walker the musician; not the man.
And how could it be on the man anyway? How did Scott’s longtime fan David Bowie say it? “Why, I don't know anything. Who knows anything about Scott Walker?”.
Exactly right. Nobody knows anything about Scott Walker the man, but to the extent that we are aware of it, his longlasting journey into music is one of the most fascinating tales in pop and rock history.
Scott Walker is the man who went
from reluctant pop idol of the early 60s (“reluctant” being quite an understatement actually. “TERRIFIED of the crowds”, or “constantly running away from screaming girls” would be a lot more appropriate – unluckily for him, he was also absolutely gorgeous back then, on top of everything else)
to baroque / chamber pop perfection in the late 60s (if you haven't listened to his Scott , Scott 2 , Scott 3 and most importantly, Scott 4 albums, do it TODAY)
to obscurity and self-imposed exile in the late 70s
to abstract avant-garde music icon, progressively from the early 80s onwards.
“Walker’s looks and existentialist charisma suited him perfectly to the mid-sixties hit parade; his artistic temperament and avant garde tastes were incompatible” .
“Only when the public totally lost interest would he seem to find the wherewithal finally to be true to himself, and by then the 1970s were almost over” .
Gifted with an unconventional, radical, post-modern approach to both music and lyrics composition, as well as his iconic, astonishing baritone voice, Scott Walker inevitably turned his back to the mainstream career that everybody expected him to endorse, and dug deep into his soul because he had to.
“Whatever audiences and critics may make of Scott Walker’s recent output, it is clear that this is music made out of necessity, not out of any other commercial imperative” .
No Regrets: Writings on Scott Walker is a fantastic collection of essays and thoughts written by composers, authors, poets, sound curators and academics who celebrate the avant-garde genius of the question mark that Walker has turned to over the last five decades. The whole thing is edited by Rob Young, author and former editor of The Wire , who also contributes his own lovely parts in the book.
The writing is wonderful. Each piece reads like a subtle attempt to untangle a small, very small indeed, bit of the enigma, the man who is “so withdrawn into a hinterland of edgeless, glassy introspection and landscaped musical anonymity he almost doesn't seem sexually human. Almost, at times, an angel” .
At the same time, the authors know better to keep their expectations down to a minimum; Scott Walker rarely breaks the silence, rarely gives interviews and hasn't performed live in over 35 years. Apparently, his consent to the excellent documentary “30 Century Man” produced in 2006, and his most recent discography - well, that’s just 4 albums since 1983, all of them masterpieces by the way, but that’s Scott Walker – have not been strong enough reasons for him to break this rule.
‘All that guitar-based rock stuff – I just feel like I've heard it before so many times. It goes on and on and never seems to end. It’s just the same narrow ground being worked over. It would drive me mad to have to work within those parameters.’ says the man who never listens to his records, once he has made them. Never.
I know Bish Bosch came out only last year Scott, but I'm already looking forward to your future music. And this book refreshed my enthusiasm for anything you do very successfully.
You are the 30 century man.
The Walker Brothers, 1965
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eAxCV...
Scott Walker, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfrVuh...
August 2, 2024
This book has some very interesting information on Scott, mostly found in the interviews and Walker Brother chapters. There are a few sections I struggled with. An overlong essay on on his maligned middle period in the 1970s. There must be no interviews to draw from as the chapter is about 70 pages trying to analyse what doesn't really need much analysis. This becomes a pattern throughout the following chapters. Scott is very reclusive, the lyrics and music of his later work defy interpretation. So much of the book is like listening to someone describe an abstract painting.
November 19, 2017
[Review taken from my review on Amazon in 2012]
'No Regrets... we'll only cry, again'
Enjoying the book so far although I haven't yet read every section (I'll update this review when I get round to that!).
On the whole it has a fairly casual journalistic tone which is easy to read and usually informative and insightful without getting too bogged down in needless critical theory spiel. As to be expected each of the writers tend to be gushing over Scott Walker and their love and passion for the music comes through.
I enjoyed reading The Walker Brothers section written by Anthony Reynolds which helped me to put those early records into a context and make sense of them in the greater scheme of things. I really love having the full transcription of the Wire interview from 2006 which finds Scott in a surprisingly open and enthusiastic interview with Rob Young around the release of The Drift, an album that is definitely worth being happy about! Stephen Kijak, director of 30th Century Man, has a section devoted to recounting the making of the film which is, again, a great read which adds light to the film.
I didn't care much for Nina Power's relatively short section on Scott 1 and 2, she makes some fairly interesting points throughout but they oddly come across a little hollow and unnecessary academic and at the end of the day I don't feel she really does the albums justice and it comes across less illuminating than the other pieces in the book that I've read so far... sadly. Derek Walmsley's piece on Scott 3 and 4 by contrast was a nice read although he seemed totally infatuated with It's Raining Today, a beautiful song for sure and also a very important one for Scott to write, but it stops him from writing much about the rest of the tracks on these fantastic albums.
Overall I'm enjoying this book, maybe for some readers this wont really bring anything new to the table but it's a nice collection of writings on Scott Walker and I can't wait to read the rest of the sections.
UPDATE:I've now finished the book and I have to say it is definitely a mixed bag and is by no means the definitive guide to Scott Walker. There are sections of this book with real insight yet there are also dull moments and misguided whole sections (I'm looking at you Ian Penman!)
Here's a quick breakdown of what I thought...
1-Introduction by Rob Young. Gets the job done, nothing flashy but functional.
2-The Walker Brothers by Anthony Reynolds. A great little read that is fascinating and gives you insight into The Walker Brothers of the 60s. Reynolds has also written a book on The Walker Brothers... will have to pick that one up!
3-Scott 1&2 by Nina Power. To me this was way too short and didn't do the albums justice which is a shame.
4-Scott 3&4 by Derek Walmsley. I enjoyed this more than Nina's piece, it feel more fleshed out to me, although I think he gets a little too caught up in It's Raining Today to pay much attention to anything else! Haha
5-TV Series, Til The Band Comes In, The Moviegoer by Ian Penman. This is, for me, the worst part of the whole book, Ian desperately needs an editor, he rambles on for almost 70 pages of a 300 page book. His section could easily have been cut down to 20 pages, easily. But it wasn't and as a result you have what reads like the ramblings of a madman going in circles...
6-Any Day Now, Stretch, We Had It All by Amanda Petrusich - Amanda sums up Ian's deligated albums in one page, and does a better job than he did across 70 pages, and then goes on to give a short but sweet take on the three 'lost' Scott albums.
7-The Walker Brothers reunion by Biba Kopf. Good solid writing, no complaints here.
8-Climate of Hunter by Damon Krukowski. Another nice little piece, breathes more life into this album than I thought was there.
9-Tilt by Brian Morton. Again, a nice piece here, really enjoyed the writing style.
10-Tilt-era interview by Richard Cook. Essential bit of reading.
11-Soundtracks etc by David Stubbs. Kind of like a functional guide, nothing outstanding, but, yeah, functional!
12-Making The Drift by Chris Sharp. Another nice piece (I'm starting to think I only dislike the first half of the book!)
13-The Drift by David Toop. Toop is a bit of a marmite writer, you'll either love it or hate it, he writes very evocatively and from the senses and memories which is pretty unusual. His section is pretty fluid and doesn't have much of a structure as such but I did really enjoy it and wish more writers took as many risks as he did here.
14-The Drift-era interview by Rob Young. Again, 100% essential!
15-Documentary by Stephen Kijak. A nice little diary-esq write up on his time working on the documentary, really enjoyable read.
'No Regrets... we'll only cry, again'
Enjoying the book so far although I haven't yet read every section (I'll update this review when I get round to that!).
On the whole it has a fairly casual journalistic tone which is easy to read and usually informative and insightful without getting too bogged down in needless critical theory spiel. As to be expected each of the writers tend to be gushing over Scott Walker and their love and passion for the music comes through.
I enjoyed reading The Walker Brothers section written by Anthony Reynolds which helped me to put those early records into a context and make sense of them in the greater scheme of things. I really love having the full transcription of the Wire interview from 2006 which finds Scott in a surprisingly open and enthusiastic interview with Rob Young around the release of The Drift, an album that is definitely worth being happy about! Stephen Kijak, director of 30th Century Man, has a section devoted to recounting the making of the film which is, again, a great read which adds light to the film.
I didn't care much for Nina Power's relatively short section on Scott 1 and 2, she makes some fairly interesting points throughout but they oddly come across a little hollow and unnecessary academic and at the end of the day I don't feel she really does the albums justice and it comes across less illuminating than the other pieces in the book that I've read so far... sadly. Derek Walmsley's piece on Scott 3 and 4 by contrast was a nice read although he seemed totally infatuated with It's Raining Today, a beautiful song for sure and also a very important one for Scott to write, but it stops him from writing much about the rest of the tracks on these fantastic albums.
Overall I'm enjoying this book, maybe for some readers this wont really bring anything new to the table but it's a nice collection of writings on Scott Walker and I can't wait to read the rest of the sections.
UPDATE:I've now finished the book and I have to say it is definitely a mixed bag and is by no means the definitive guide to Scott Walker. There are sections of this book with real insight yet there are also dull moments and misguided whole sections (I'm looking at you Ian Penman!)
Here's a quick breakdown of what I thought...
1-Introduction by Rob Young. Gets the job done, nothing flashy but functional.
2-The Walker Brothers by Anthony Reynolds. A great little read that is fascinating and gives you insight into The Walker Brothers of the 60s. Reynolds has also written a book on The Walker Brothers... will have to pick that one up!
3-Scott 1&2 by Nina Power. To me this was way too short and didn't do the albums justice which is a shame.
4-Scott 3&4 by Derek Walmsley. I enjoyed this more than Nina's piece, it feel more fleshed out to me, although I think he gets a little too caught up in It's Raining Today to pay much attention to anything else! Haha
5-TV Series, Til The Band Comes In, The Moviegoer by Ian Penman. This is, for me, the worst part of the whole book, Ian desperately needs an editor, he rambles on for almost 70 pages of a 300 page book. His section could easily have been cut down to 20 pages, easily. But it wasn't and as a result you have what reads like the ramblings of a madman going in circles...
6-Any Day Now, Stretch, We Had It All by Amanda Petrusich - Amanda sums up Ian's deligated albums in one page, and does a better job than he did across 70 pages, and then goes on to give a short but sweet take on the three 'lost' Scott albums.
7-The Walker Brothers reunion by Biba Kopf. Good solid writing, no complaints here.
8-Climate of Hunter by Damon Krukowski. Another nice little piece, breathes more life into this album than I thought was there.
9-Tilt by Brian Morton. Again, a nice piece here, really enjoyed the writing style.
10-Tilt-era interview by Richard Cook. Essential bit of reading.
11-Soundtracks etc by David Stubbs. Kind of like a functional guide, nothing outstanding, but, yeah, functional!
12-Making The Drift by Chris Sharp. Another nice piece (I'm starting to think I only dislike the first half of the book!)
13-The Drift by David Toop. Toop is a bit of a marmite writer, you'll either love it or hate it, he writes very evocatively and from the senses and memories which is pretty unusual. His section is pretty fluid and doesn't have much of a structure as such but I did really enjoy it and wish more writers took as many risks as he did here.
14-The Drift-era interview by Rob Young. Again, 100% essential!
15-Documentary by Stephen Kijak. A nice little diary-esq write up on his time working on the documentary, really enjoyable read.
June 5, 2012
No revelations here for the serious fan but a great overview and intelligent insight into Scott Walker's ever-fascinating poetic creations and beautifully daunting soundscapes of later years.
April 5, 2020
Much more than you thought you wanted to know about the great man. The book is full of suggestions but does not unravel my secret curiosity about the music of Mr. Walker from 90s onwards: was the dramatization aimed at reaching even heights of over the top drama for grotesque or ironic effects? Most of the contributions are generous and informative - Krukowski, Stubbs, Toop, Power, Young come to mind - I'm quite intrigued by Morton's ill-concealed skepticism. When Walker speaks he sounds mild and jovial. Although not particularly inclined to reveal too many "mysteries." Recommended.
January 7, 2024
Reading a book about Scott Walker is evidently not a replacement for listening to music by Scott Walker, even as the various authors of the book make clear, much of our listening to music by Scott Walker is influenced by what is written about Scott Walker. If I could just go back to the day I heard Tilt for the first time when it just came out. Nothing to prepare me for what was to come. It's been a long road, I am happy to have learned that it was welcome for him to know that we have liked the albums.
April 23, 2025
While it is "just" a collection of articles and interviews about Walker, this might be the best book about the subject. There's no biography here, but the authors do speculate about Walker's intentions, approaches, meanings, and reactions. Most of the articles focus on different periods in his career (and boy are the differences vast), but nonetheless there's a 'thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird' vibe here. And maybe that's the most appropriate way of looking at the work of a reclusive pop star turned avant garde explorer: through various glasses, darkly.
July 31, 2024
I see this as a must read for Walker nerds everywhere featuring incredibly well curated and insightful analyses into the periods we’d expect, and those deleted albums which only true Walker obsessives know the details of; it’s The Wire after all, what else do we expect!
“A Dandy in Aspic”s postulation that the Scott of the deleted albums is in fact Scott at his most Avant Garde is certainly one that will stick, as well as talk of Significs in ‘The Significant Other’
“A Dandy in Aspic”s postulation that the Scott of the deleted albums is in fact Scott at his most Avant Garde is certainly one that will stick, as well as talk of Significs in ‘The Significant Other’
September 19, 2021
As I’m always happy to read, learn and dive into Scott Walker work, this sum of article is not enough homogeneous and structured.
Despite thematic and chronological subject, those essays are more multiple point of view than a thorough examination of Scott music and work.
Also missing update version with articles on Bish Bosch and Soused 😞
Despite thematic and chronological subject, those essays are more multiple point of view than a thorough examination of Scott music and work.
Also missing update version with articles on Bish Bosch and Soused 😞
June 5, 2024
Mixed bag of essays on the sublime Scott. Ian Penman is a great writer but why would I to read 30 pages on 2 albums that even Walker hated? Whereas Scotts 3 and 4 are skimmed. And biba kopfs laboured wordplay on extraordinary renditions spoils the section on Nite Flights. But some very good latter day interviews and generally astute stuff throughout makes up for its curates egg nature..
November 6, 2022
A few new and enlightening tidbits here, some self-serving, pretentious writing typical of The Wire there. I’m still no closer to fully understanding the opaque mind of Walker, but this helped a little.
November 2, 2023
A pretty high standard throughout. The Penman piece is the longest and most impressive (although it needed a firmer edit, there's some repetition) and generally I guess my enjoyment of each essay depended on my familiarity with the era in question. Well worth a read.
April 19, 2013
No Regrets: Writings on Scott Walker is a collection of 14 papers on various aspects of the singer's career, edited with an introduction by Rob Young of The Wire, a magazine which has done more to champion Walker's later career than any other. No Regrets covers Walker's ouput from his mid-1960s music with the Walker Brothers to his 2006 album The Drift. Walker's early career as a teen idol is mentioned in passing in Young's introduction, but not explored in detail. The collection was published in early 2012 and just missed the opportunity to discuss his most recent album Bish Bosch.
For the most part, each paper covers a different set of albums. Anthony Reynolds writes on the Walker Brothers era. Nina Power talks about the Scott and Scott 2 albums, while Derek Walmsley treats Scott 3 and Scott 4. Ian Penman surveys the TV series album, ’Til the Band Comes In and The Moviegoer. Walker's mid-1970s forays in country music are recognized as a creative black hole in his career, but Amanda Perusich finds value in the albums Any Day Now, Stretch and We Had it All.
Biba Kopf covers in a single chapter the entire Walker Brothers reunion, which produced the albums No Regrets, Lines and Nite Flights, only the last of which is of lasting value due to Scott Walker's four contributions that announced a new avant-garde sensibility. Damon Krukowski tries to decipher the surrealistic lyrics of Climate of Hunter. It was in the 1990s that late-period Scott Walker started to get more press coverage, and so the album Tilt is discussed in two contributions. One is Brian Morton's paper "The Significant Other", while the other is Richard Cook's 1995 interview with Scott Walker, originally published in The Wire.
David Stubbs looks at the various film and stage collaborations that followed, and for The Drift there are a full four papers: Chris Sharp, the head of the 4AD label, reminisces on the hectic schedule of making that album. David Toop, generally known as a writer on contemporary classical music, lists his reactions to the various songs of this exceedingly bleak work. There follows Rob Young's 2006 interview with Walker, again originally published in The Wire. Finally, Stephen Kijak talks a little about how he managed to make his "Scott Walker: 30 Century Man" documentary at the same time that Walker was recording The Drift.
I consider myself a Scott Walker superfan, but I was rather disappointed with No Regrets. The problem is not entirely the fault of the authors, but Scott Walker has guarded his privacy carefully and rarely speaks about his lyrics, which means that there isn't a whole lot of analysis to be done without going off into utter speculation or deconstructionist wankery. Most of the assertions about the late career either cite Kijak's "Scott Walker: 30 Century Man" documentary, which passionate fans are likely to have already seen, or even the Wikipedia article on Scott Walker. Toop's article is especially tiresome; while it does talk about The Drift, Toop generally just pulls all manner of other 20th century artists into the mix through free association while listening to Walker's work.
However, I did glean a few facts from this release that help me appreciate Scott Walker's work a bit better (e.g. that Climate of Hunter has a symmetrical structrure, and the song "Hand Me Ups" is about a TV presenter and his children). After reading Perusich's article, my opinion that Walker's mid-1970s output is drunken rubbish hasn't changed, but I found her observation on the changing demographics of the country music audience (and its arrival in the UK) interesting.
For the most part, each paper covers a different set of albums. Anthony Reynolds writes on the Walker Brothers era. Nina Power talks about the Scott and Scott 2 albums, while Derek Walmsley treats Scott 3 and Scott 4. Ian Penman surveys the TV series album, ’Til the Band Comes In and The Moviegoer. Walker's mid-1970s forays in country music are recognized as a creative black hole in his career, but Amanda Perusich finds value in the albums Any Day Now, Stretch and We Had it All.
Biba Kopf covers in a single chapter the entire Walker Brothers reunion, which produced the albums No Regrets, Lines and Nite Flights, only the last of which is of lasting value due to Scott Walker's four contributions that announced a new avant-garde sensibility. Damon Krukowski tries to decipher the surrealistic lyrics of Climate of Hunter. It was in the 1990s that late-period Scott Walker started to get more press coverage, and so the album Tilt is discussed in two contributions. One is Brian Morton's paper "The Significant Other", while the other is Richard Cook's 1995 interview with Scott Walker, originally published in The Wire.
David Stubbs looks at the various film and stage collaborations that followed, and for The Drift there are a full four papers: Chris Sharp, the head of the 4AD label, reminisces on the hectic schedule of making that album. David Toop, generally known as a writer on contemporary classical music, lists his reactions to the various songs of this exceedingly bleak work. There follows Rob Young's 2006 interview with Walker, again originally published in The Wire. Finally, Stephen Kijak talks a little about how he managed to make his "Scott Walker: 30 Century Man" documentary at the same time that Walker was recording The Drift.
I consider myself a Scott Walker superfan, but I was rather disappointed with No Regrets. The problem is not entirely the fault of the authors, but Scott Walker has guarded his privacy carefully and rarely speaks about his lyrics, which means that there isn't a whole lot of analysis to be done without going off into utter speculation or deconstructionist wankery. Most of the assertions about the late career either cite Kijak's "Scott Walker: 30 Century Man" documentary, which passionate fans are likely to have already seen, or even the Wikipedia article on Scott Walker. Toop's article is especially tiresome; while it does talk about The Drift, Toop generally just pulls all manner of other 20th century artists into the mix through free association while listening to Walker's work.
However, I did glean a few facts from this release that help me appreciate Scott Walker's work a bit better (e.g. that Climate of Hunter has a symmetrical structrure, and the song "Hand Me Ups" is about a TV presenter and his children). After reading Perusich's article, my opinion that Walker's mid-1970s output is drunken rubbish hasn't changed, but I found her observation on the changing demographics of the country music audience (and its arrival in the UK) interesting.
October 23, 2015
This was a very disappointing read, the kind that gives music writing a bad name, for the most part, and on a subject that should lend itself to some pretty deep and original thinking. Unfortunately, too many of the contributors seemed to be struggling to find and reveal great import in their subject, rather than let the subject breathe in a less overwrought way. Ian Penman's piece was kind of a long-winded disgrace to the genre, but he's never been one to shy away from self-indulgence. One of the rare highlights was the contribution from Damon Krukowski (Galaxie 500, Damon and Naomi), which was concise, matter-of-fact, insightful, and very smart. Perhaps he should have written the whole book.
June 28, 2013
I listened to each album in turn as I read this, and it definitely helped my understanding of Walker's later, more difficult music.
It also brought me to a more sympathetic admiration of the man and his dedication in the face of a business that tried for decades to channel him into a narrow, populist, more financially rewarding but less honest and satisfying musical career.
Annoyingly I now have a list of other artists name checked in this book to go and investigate, which will probably cost me a fortune!
It also brought me to a more sympathetic admiration of the man and his dedication in the face of a business that tried for decades to channel him into a narrow, populist, more financially rewarding but less honest and satisfying musical career.
Annoyingly I now have a list of other artists name checked in this book to go and investigate, which will probably cost me a fortune!
October 27, 2013
Probably the best of the (too many) books about Scott Walker out there. It focuses on the music rather than the musicians' biography (which in itself doesn't seem particularly fascinating), covering pretty much every period of his long career.
There are several interviews in it including with Scott Walker himself. Because it's a collection of essays it is pretty uneven (hence the only 4 stars) but if you ever are interested in reading about Scott Walker, this is the only one to buy.
There are several interviews in it including with Scott Walker himself. Because it's a collection of essays it is pretty uneven (hence the only 4 stars) but if you ever are interested in reading about Scott Walker, this is the only one to buy.
Read
February 28, 2013a good overview of his whole career. However as the music becomes more challenging the writing sometimes disappears down a pretentious black hole.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews