Thom Yorke is what John Lennon and Lou Reed used to be. The only voice reaching me nowadays. Not sure if he has anything to say, probably nothing but it doesn't matter. Yes, it is a fucked up world. A whiny voice for a weepy age. It fits, you see.

I feel like a ghost today. People don't notice me. If nobody sees you, you don't exist. This morning I heard Syd Barrett died a couple of days ago. Maybe I have taken his place. A nice story about a Barrett song used as a lullaby in the ILM in memoriam thread:

And of course I am very much looking forward to listening to Piper at the Gates of Dawn tonight. A phantastic album. A trip to a place from where I wouldn't want to come back neither.

Muss ich immer dran denken, wenn ich den späten John Coltrane höre. Gerade das letzte Konzert von ihm, das aufgenommen wurde, das Olatunji Concert. Und zwar Ogunde, die Melodie so zart und zerbrechlich und abgeklärt traurig am Anfang und dann anschließend die Ekstase, das völlige Sich-Gehen-Lassen im Freistil-Jazz. Das Innere nach Außen kehren. Die Katharsis. Nicht mal drei Monate später war er tot. 40 Jahre alt. Leberkrebs.

when yo la tengo do covers on the spot they don't do karaoke, they know the lyrics or one of the band members does. on the night chicago died ira suddenly doesn't know the rest of the song and james steps in to continue.

that reminds me of one night at the chinese tower in munich when i was in between a group of americans, one of them had a guitar. he played american folk and rock songs and everybody sang along. dylan, the eagles, simon & garfunkel and so on. his version of rock'n me by the steve miller band totally killed me that night. i could never imagine a group of young germans singing together german songs. except scouts or other outsider groups maybe.

March 1984: Climate of Hunter May 1995: Tilt May 2006: The Drift

The eleven year cycle of Scott Walker. Which leads to a new album released in spring. The most unlikely time to listen to his music. Maybe it is too dark, too hermetic, too horrifying to be taken in in e.g. November. As it would then double the suicide rate in between his fans. And he wouldn't earn enough money to make another album eleven years later? Or is it just natural for him as he records in winter and releases in the forthcoming blossom?

In March 1984 I was about to finish my involuntary military service and was starting to plan my second try to cycle to India which ended in Cappadocia. Scott Walker only existed in my aural world as member of The Walker Brothers of which I only knew The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore.

In 1995 I heard bits of Tilt in the CD Buttek in Luxembourg near the Grand Duke's Palace. I couldn't take Walker's mannered voice.

Yesterday I listened to The Drift for the first time. Not sure if I can take it this time though I feel that it is huge. About our times but not from our time. The soundtrack to the horror movie we live in. A different kind of rock opera.

Further reading:

• Unedited transcript of Rob Young's interview with Scott Walker for The Wire
• Marcello's lengthy wide screen piece
• 600+ posts ILM thread

Muhammad Ali (drums)

A dancer and a puncher but he should have drummed more.

somehow i got stuck on arthur russell tonight. i had the jukebox on shuffle and saw a revived ilm thread on him. hunted for new mp3s on the net to no avail. listened to the ones i already got. and ordered world of echo which an amazon us customer described sounding as nick drake if he had played the cello. i already have the world of arthur russell which is fine but didn't make me run to the record store for another album. here is platform ocean from the jukebox. it's not as funky as some other stuff by him (though it is a beast of rhythm) but it surely has a soul. i am really falling in love with his voice btw. there is a haunting, innocent feel to it.

Die Zärtlichkeit in Keith Jarrett's Anschlag. Das auf ganz leisen, sachten Sohlen über die schwarzen und weißen Tasten Huschen. Das habe ich glaube ich immer am meisten an ihm geliebt. Vorhin in Bella Martha nach längerem mal wieder das Tokyo-Encore gehört.

NMFarner are a German band from Berlin I just came across through the only paper I read regularly. There haven't been so many German bands which have impressed me in the last 15 years, there was Blumfeld in the beginning (early/mid 90s) and Tocotronic in 1997 and there was Trend in 2003. NMFarner have the aggressive funky post-punk sound of Gang of Four. Simple, acute, direct lyrics in German and youthful power. Breathless measured staccato. Download 10. Stocks, the third track from their latest album Das Gesicht. It is online on their site.