Walker, Scott “The Drift” [4AD] (33 RPM)

The Drift ushers in a tremendous double LP release from the legendary Scott Walker (a.k.a. Noel Scott Engel). Originally fronting 60′s pop sensation The Walker Brothers, he eventually went solo, retaining popularity for his first three outings before dropping into darker musical obscurity. These are his latest original creations and most recent solo recorded material since 1995′s Tilt. Walker’s trembling disturbed vocal mannerisms assume Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Roy Orbison, and Nick Cave characteristics as he divulges morbidly dark & deranged lyrics. Unsettling complementary tension building rhythms and harrowing melody structures slip through the experimental and improvised post-music circuits. Its pounding reverberations and twisted transformations are like some tortured interpretive cinematic Cirque du Soleil performance for the eternally damned. I can’t help but listen aghast & awestruck. A subtle sense of panic starts swelling in my gut as I imagine what suspenseful drifting currents lay floating behind Walker’s blood stained velvet curtain prior his nerve wracking shock tactics. I think he even pulls off a demonic Donald Duck impersonation straight from the Day of Doom. These are the sort of surreal theatric sounds you might experience in a David Lynch film and his disturbed macabre musings are still nesting & picking like pitch black crimson eyed vultures in my unstable psyche. LANGUAGE: Side C – 6