Tilt

by Scott Walker

Overview

Tilt was Scott Walker's first album following over a decade of silence, and whatever else he may have done during his exile, brightening his musical horizon was not on the agenda. Indescribably barren and unutterably bleak, Tilt is the wind that buffets the gothic cathedrals of everyone's favorite nightmares. The opening "Farmer in the City" sets the pace, a cinematic sweep that somehow maintains a melody beneath the unrelenting melodrama of Walker's most grotesque vocal ever. Seemingly undecided whether he's recording an opera or simply haunting one, Walker doesn't so much perform as project his lyrics, hurling them into the alternating maelstroms and moods that careen behind him. The effect is unsettling, to put it mildly. At the time of its release, reviews were undecided whether to praise or pillory Walker for making an album so utterly divorced from even the outer limits of rock reality, an indecision only compounded by its occasional (and bloody-mindedly deceptive) lurches towards modern sensibilities. "The Cockfighter" is underpinned by an intensity that is almost industrial in its range and raucousness, while "Bouncer See Bouncer" would have quite a catchy chorus if anybody else had gotten their hands on it. Here, however, it is highlighted by an Eno-esque esotericism and the chatter of tiny locusts. The crowning irony, however, is "The Patriot (A Single)," seven minutes of unrelenting funeral dirge over which Walker infuses even the most innocuous lyric ("I brought nylons from New York") with indescribable pain and suffering. Tilt is not an easy album to love; it's not even that easy to listen to. First impressions place it on a plateau somewhere between Nico's Marble Index and Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music -- before long, familiarity and the elitist chattering of so many well-heeled admirers rendered both albums mere forerunners to some future shift in mainstream taste. And maybe that is the fate awaiting Tilt, although one does wonder precisely what monsters could rise from soil so belligerently barren. Even Metal Machine Music could be whistled, after all. ~ Dave Thompson

Product Details

Release Date:	11/18/2008
Label:	Drag City
UPC:	0781484013419
Rank:	33788

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Scott Walker   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Whistle (Human),Whistle (Instrument)
Alasdair Malloy   Percussion
Andrew Cronshaw   Bawu,Horn,Flute,Reeds,Concertina
Greg Knowles   Cimbalom
Luis Jardim   Percussion
Brian Gascoigne   Organ,Celeste,Woodwind,Conductor,Keyboards
John Giblin   Bass
David Rhodes   Guitar
Hugh Burns   Guitar
John Barclay   Trumpet
Andy Findon   Flute (Bass)
Jonathan Snowden   Flute,Piccolo
Roy Jowitt   Clarinet
Jim Gregory   Flute (Bass)
Collin Pulbrook   Organ (Hammond)
Elizabeth Kenny   Chitarrone
Peter Walsh   Drums (Bass),Whistle (Human),Whistle (Instrument)
Roy Carter   Oboe
Ian Thomas   Drums,Cymbals,Drums (Bass)

Technical Credits

Andrew Taylor   Engineer
Brian Gascoigne   Arranger,Orchestration,String Arrangements,Woodwind Arrangement
Scott Walker   Mixing,Artwork,Concept,Composer,Producer
Lorraine Francis   Assistant Engineer
Henry Binns   Assistant Engineer
Richard Evans   Engineer
Pete Lewis   Assistant Engineer
Ian Cooper   Mastering
David Scheinmann   Photography
Kevin Jacobs   Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
James Loughrey   Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Phil Knott   Photography
Peter Walsh   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Drum Programming