Hi there! How are you? I’ve decided to start this blog up again. I’ve spent some time in the wilderness but now I’m back to the hustle and bustle of city life. Rather than trying to say why the reasons for stopping the blog are no longer affecting me, just accept that I am fickle! I feel like a rapper who’s staged a ‘retirement’, just to make a lucrative come-back. If I stop wanting to do this in the future then I think I’ll be a little less dramatic about it!

So what’s been happening? Well, to be honest, I’ve been through the fucking mill. It’s been a time of intense joy and intense pain, of love and loss, a time that has aged me and shown me who I truly am. Through all of this I have had amazing support from all those around me, but nothing has helped me more than music. In times of intense emotion we connect with music in a way that cannot be explained. It has been my best friend, my lover, my son and my mother. I have developed a deeper level of understanding with music which I have always loved, and felt a much more personal connection with artists that have been through things I couldn’t previously sympathise with.

So it seems fitting to make this first post about the man who has dominated my listening over the last few months, Scott Walker. It’s been my biggest musical obsession since first discovering Joanna Newsom, and his music has played such a massive role in my emotional healing that it now means more to me than I ever imagined music could. So much amazing music comes out of heartbreak, but none other has captured my feelings so perfectly and wholly.

He has had the most fascinating career, starting out as a teen idol in the sixties, and then traveling further and further down his own path, writing more and more of his own material, composing and orchestrating more, straying further away from the mainstream with every step he took. To get a more complete picture of his musical journey I strongly suggest you watch the fantastic documentary ‘30 Century Man’.

For now I’m just going to show you five tracks that have meant a lot to me and which will give you a small idea of how his music developed with time.

This one’s from the early days, with The Walker Brothers.

This is the first track from his first solo album, one of many Jacques Brel covers that he recorded.

This is from my favourite album of his, Scott 3. The critics prefer Scott 4, but if you’re the sentimental type then this is probably the one for you.

Scott 4 was the first album of completely original material. It pushes boundaries, confirms his genius, and didn’t even touch the charts! Every track is blinding, so I couldn’t possibly pick a favourite, but here is the wonderful ‘Get Behind Me’.

After the lack of commercial success for Scott 4, Walker lost his way a bit and disappeared from the scene. From that point on his output was minimal, releasing about one album per decade. Here is the opening track from ‘Tilt’, released in 1996, which should give you a rough idea of the direction he went in over those years. This is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard.

So there you have it. I hope somebody will read this and be inspired to investigate his music further. You will not be disappointed!

Thanks for reading. I’ll see you soon. Floorboard George. x