The Walrus is a Philadelphia-based music blog written by Michael. You may send me stuff through the send a tip page or email me. All mp3s should be sent as links. NO ATTACHMENTS, PLEASE. If I like your music, chances are I will write about it.
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Over the weekend I watched 30 Century Man, an amazing documentary about the elusive American musician Scott Walker (real name Scott Engel), who before his run of challenging solo work was a part of the ’60s band The Walker Brothers. The group, none of whom were brothers nor named Walker, were based in California and had a sound reminiscent of the Everly Brothers — due to Scott’s deep, crooning voice. Relatively unknown in the States, the band was HUGE in Britain, nearly reaching the heights of the Stones or even The Beatles. Strangely, despite all their success, they went on a 10 year hiatus after 1967.
The Walker Brothers music in the ’60s was gloomy, beautiful and somewhat digestible. However, their official 1978 comeback album Nite Flights turned out to be a horse of a different color. The first four tracks, penned by Scott (the rest by the other members and not as memorable) were definitely more weird and way ahead of their time, akin to The Talking Heads and Eno-era Bowie. Have a listen to the awesome lead-off track “Shutout”:
In the late ’70s and especially in the early ’80s with The Talking Heads, Brian Eno created some far out sounds his own loose and unique mixture of James Brown grooves and African rhythms (see his own Before and After Science and The Talking Heads’ Remain in Light, which he produced).
Now DJ Food has put together what he calls “an hour long trip through the funked-up side of Brian Eno’s output since the 70’s. Expect David Bryne, nonsense verse, Talking Heads, The Grid and a whole lot of slap bass.” And guess what? It’s so weird and funky that it will surely stink up your browser and cause you to have spasms.
Broken Bells is the new project from Danger Mouse and James Mercer, an extended collaborative relationship sparked by last year’s release Dark Night Of The Soul, which featured Danger Mouse working with an all-star indie cast including Mercer, Julian Casablancas and The Flaming Lips.
The first single, taken from their upcoming album, is a stripped down, melancholic tune with stellar production. Stream it below and download it from their website.
Stream: Broken Bells – “The High Road”
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Soul singer Gloria Jones was dubbed by the Brits as “The Northern Queen of Soul” and recorded the original version of what would arguably become the most famous cover song in history, “Tainted Love” in 1964. The cover, as you probably know, was recorded by Soft Cell in the ’80s and became a huge hit around the world (Marilyn Manson also covered it in 2001–yikes!). If you aren’t already familiar with it, have a listen to this Northern soul version, a true classic!
I haven’t been able to stop listening to this track since Saturday. Kid Cudi may have been snubbed at the VMAs this year for Best New Artist (not that that has any dictation on quality, whatsoever…in fact it’s known to be the kiss of death) but me thinks he has a hit on his hands with this one…
Bonus: Live version from the David Letterman show:
“Pursuit of Happiness” is from Kid Cudi’s new album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, out tomorrow, 9/15.
Animal Collective’s “My Girls” is easily one of the best songs of the year and Taken By Trees laid-back, island-flavored version “My Boys” is easily one of the best covers in years. Listen:
Taken By Trees – “My Boys”
The song will be available on Taken By Trees’ upcoming album East of Eden, due out 9/8.
Over the weekend I watched 30 Century Man, an amazing documentary about the elusive American musician Scott Walker (real name Scott Engel), who before his run of challenging solo work was a part of the ’60s band The Walker Brothers. The group, none of whom were brothers nor named Walker, were based in California and had a sound reminiscent of the Everly Brothers — due to Scott’s deep, crooning voice. Relatively unknown in the States, the band was HUGE in Britain, nearly reaching the heights of the Stones or even The Beatles. Strangely, despite all their success, they went on a 10 year hiatus after 1967.
