Scott Walker turns 68

Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943, to German parents in Hamilton, Ohio, 43 years before it became Hamilton! with an exclamation point.


In 1968 Walker threw himself into intense study of contemporary and classical music, which included a sojourn in Quarr Abbey, a monastery on the Isle of Wight, to study Gregorian chant.^[3] His own songs gradually coursed into Lieder and classical musical modes.


he lyrics insert for the album clearly feature the technique, albeit with a black text on a white background.


harking back to earlier pop. Their failure to reach


numbers had a driving beat

Between Syd Barrett and Elvis Presley

Yesterday was Syd Barrett's birthday (also Epiphany, which comes right after the Twelfth Day of Christmas), tomorrow is Elvis Presley's.  In an alternate universe, Elvis dropped out of music and devoted himself to upholstery, and Syd Barrett starred in a series of wacky exploitation movies...my favorite is "Flaming (Star)."

Tonguing salutes Beefheart

RIP, Don Van Vliet.