The Drift | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 8 May 2006 | |||
Recorded | June 2004 – November 2005 | |||
Studio | Metropolis Studios, Chiswick, London, and AIR Studios, Hampstead, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 68:48 | |||
Label | 4AD | |||
Producer | Scott Walker, Peter Walsh | |||
Scott Walker chronology | ||||
|
The Drift is the thirteenth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Scott Walker, released on 8 May 2006 on 4AD. Apart from composing the soundtrack to the film Pola X , the album was Walker's first studio album in eleven years and only his third studio album since the final disbanding of The Walker Brothers in 1978. Walker composed the songs for the album slowly over the decade after the release of 1995's Tilt , [4] beginning with "Cue" (the longest song to complete), up until the album's recording. An early version of "Psoriatic" was premiered at the Meltdown festival on 17 June 2000 under the title "Thimble Rigging".
The album was recorded over a period of 17 months at Metropolis Studios in Chiswick, London, with orchestra recorded in one day at George Martin's AIR Studios in Hampstead, London. Receiving positive reviews from critics before its release, the album was released as an LP and CD in May 2006. The artwork for the album was designed by Vaughan Oliver at v23 with assistance from Chris Bigg and photography by Marc Atkins.
Walker's first album composed entirely of new material since 1995's Tilt , The Drift forms the second installment of what Walker later called "kind of a trilogy" that concluded with 2012's Bish Bosch. [5] [6] In the years between Tilt and The Drift, Walker's released output comprised a few instrumental tracks on the soundtrack to the film Pola X , a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Threw It All Away" on the To Have and to Hold soundtrack, and "Only Myself to Blame" from The World Is Not Enough soundtrack, as well as a few compilations of previously released material, including the retrospective box set 5 Easy Pieces .
The Drift has been cited by many critics and fans alike as a disturbing and complex album that departs from Scott Walker's previous albums while still remaining true to his experimental roots. French singer Vanessa Contenay-Quinones appears as the voice of Clara Petacci on "Clara".
The sound and subject matter for the album is unrelentingly dark and unsettling, often juxtaposing quiet sections with sudden loud noise to induce discomfort in the listener. Subjects include torture, disease, 9/11, Elvis Presley and his stillborn twin brother Jesse Garon Presley, the death and subsequent public hanging of Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci, and the Srebrenica massacre. [7] [8]
In a bonus interview for the documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man Walker states the album has commonalities with conceptual art as well as poetry. [9]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 85/100 [10] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [11] |
Alternative Press | 5/5 [12] |
The Guardian | [13] |
The Independent | [14] |
Mojo | [15] |
musicOMH | [16] |
The Observer | [17] |
Pitchfork Media | 9.0/10 [18] |
PlayLouder | [19] |
The Times | [20] |
All tracks are written by Scott Walker, except "Psoriatic" (Scott Walker/Bob Carleton)
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Cossacks Are" | 4:32 |
2. | "Clara" | 12:43 |
3. | "Jesse" | 6:28 |
4. | "Jolson and Jones" | 7:45 |
5. | "Cue" | 10:27 |
6. | "Hand Me Ups" | 5:49 |
7. | "Buzzers" | 6:39 |
8. | "Psoriatic" | 5:51 |
9. | "The Escape" | 5:18 |
10. | "A Lover Loves" | 3:11 |
Session 1 | Violin I | Violin II | Cello | Bass |
---|---|---|---|---|
Janice Graham Paul Willey | Steve Morris Simon Smith | Alistair Blayden Nick Roberts | Neil Tarlton Chris West | |
Julian Tear Ofer Falk | Deborah Widdup Alison Kelly | Jane Fenton Andrew Fuller | Matthew Corman Clare Tyack | |
Sophie Barber Ben Buckton | Clive Dobbins Amanda Smith | John Tunnell Tamsy Kaner | Roger Linley Diane Clark | |
Clare Hoffman Elizabeth Wexler | Ulrike Kipp Jo Godden | Judith Herbert Jackie Phillips | ||
Karen Leishman Matthew Scrivener | Ruth Funnell Sue Briscoe | Robert Max Roberto Sorrentino |
Session 2 | Violin I | Violin II | Cello | Bass |
---|---|---|---|---|
Michael Davis Paul Willey | Steve Morris Simon Smith | Alistair Blayden Nick Roberts | Neil Tarlton Chris West | |
Julian Tear Ofer Falk | Deborah Widdup Alison Kelly | Jane Fenton Andrew Fuller | Matthew Corman Clare Tyack | |
Sophie Barber Ben Buckton | Clive Dobbins Amanda Smith | John Tunnell Tamsy Kaner | Roger Linley Diane Clark | |
Clare Hoffman Elizabeth Wexler | Ulrike Kipp Jo Godden | Judith Herbert Jackie Phillips | ||
Ralph De Souza Robert Salter | Charles Sewart Celia Sheen | Jonathan Williams Joely Koos |
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 8 May 2006 | 4AD | 2×LP | CAD 2603 |
CD | CAD 2603 CD | |||
United States | 6 June 2006 | 4AD | CD | |
Japan | 24 June 2006 | Hostess | CD | HSE-20015 |
Chart | Position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums Chart [21] | 49 |
German Albums Chart [22] | 97 |
Irish Albums Chart | 80 |
UK Albums Chart [23] | 51 |
Noel Scott Engel, better known by his stage name Scott Walker, was an American-British singer-songwriter and record producer who resided in England. Walker was known for his emotive voice and his unorthodox stylistic path which took him from being a teen pop icon in the 1960s to an avant-garde musician from the 1980s to his death. Walker's success was largely in the United Kingdom, where he achieved fame as a member of pop trio the Walker Brothers, who scored several hit singles, including two number ones, during the mid-1960s, while his first four solo albums reached the top ten during the later part of the decade, with the second, Scott 2, reaching number one in 1968. He lived in the UK from 1965 onward and became a UK citizen in 1970.
Songs for a Dying Planet is the tenth solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. It was released in mid 1992, on the label Epic. Keen to re-establish himself after his ill-received 1991 album, Ordinary Average Guy, Walsh enlisted his former producer Bill Szymczyk. At the end of the track "Certain Situations," one can hear a Morse code message that says "Register and vote for me."
Camera Obscura are a Scottish indie pop band from Glasgow. The group formed in 1996, and have released five studio albums to date – the most recent of which, Desire Lines, was released in 2013. A sixth, titled Look to the East, Look to the West, is set for release in May 2024. The current members of the band are lead vocalist Tracyanne Campbell, guitarist/vocalist Kenny McKeeve, bassist Gavin Dunbar, and drummer Lee Thomson. Following the death of long-serving keyboardist Carey Lander, the band went on hiatus from 2015 to 2018.
Tilt is the twelfth solo studio album by the American/English singer-songwriter Scott Walker. It was released on 8 May 1995. It was Walker's first studio album in eleven years.
Climate of Hunter is the eleventh solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Scott Walker. It was released in March 1984 and reached number 60 on the UK Albums Chart. It was his only album of the 1980s.
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man is a 2006 documentary film about Scott Walker. The film gets its title from the Scott 3 song "30 Century Man". It is directed and co-produced by Stephen Kijak, with Grant Gee serving as director of photography. It charts Walker's career in music, with a focus on his songwriting, and features exclusive footage of recording sessions for his most recent album, The Drift including a memorable sequence in which Walker oversees the recording of the punching of a joint of pork, for the percussion on the song Clara. Rock legend David Bowie, who often professed to having been inspired by Walker, acted as executive producer of the film. Actor Gale Harold is one of the associate producers.
Get Lonely is the tenth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on August 22, 2006 on 4AD. It peaked at #193 on the Billboard top 200 album chart.
IV is the fourth full-length studio album by alternative rock band Veruca Salt. It was released on September 12, 2006 in the United States and on September 25, 2006 in Australia. This is the last album to feature Stephen Fitzpatrick on guitars and the only album to feature Kellii Scott on drums and Nicole Fiorentino on bass.
Heretic Pride is the eleventh studio album by the Mountain Goats, released in the UK on February 18, 2008, and in the US on February 19 by 4AD, their sixth album on the label. It is the first to feature the band's lineup of John Darnielle, Peter Hughes, and Jon Wurster. The album was produced by Scott Solter and John Vanderslice.
No Lookin' Back is the second solo studio album by American musician Michael McDonald. It was released on July 30, 1985 by Warner Bros. Records, three years after his debut studio album, If That's What It Takes (1982); this was his last album to be released by Warner Bros. For the first time, he co-produced and wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks. It features contributions from guitarists Joe Walsh, Robben Ford and David Pack from Ambrosia, Jeff Porcaro on drums, plus the former Doobie Brothers member Willie Weeks on bass, and Cornelius Bumpus providing horns.
And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball? is an EP by singer and composer Scott Walker, and his second release for 4AD. The EP was originally commissioned as a contemporary dance piece for disabled and non-disabled dance company CandoCo, choreographed by Rafael Bonachela.
High Violet is the fifth studio album by The National, which was released on May 10, 2010, in Europe and on May 11, 2010, in North America via 4AD. The band produced the album themselves, assisted by Peter Katis with whom they worked on their previous albums Alligator and Boxer at their own studio in Brooklyn, New York, and at Katis' Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The sculpture on the album cover was created by artist Mark Fox, and is called The Binding Force.
Peter Walsh is a British record producer and engineer.
Bish Bosch is the fifteenth and final solo studio album by American singer Scott Walker. It was released on 3 December 2012 on 4AD. Walker described it as the final installment in "kind of a trilogy" that also includes Tilt (1995) and The Drift (2006). At seventy-three minutes, Bish Bosch is Walker's longest studio album, and contains his longest song, the twenty-one minute, forty-one second "SDSS1416+13B ".
A Future to This Life: Robocop – The Series Soundtrack is a 1995 television soundtrack album by Joe Walsh with various artists, which was released on January 24, 1995, on both CD and cassette by Pyramid. It was the soundtrack for the 1994 TV series RoboCop, based on the RoboCop film series.
Soused is a collaborative album by singer Scott Walker and American drone metal band Sunn O))). Announced in early 2014 by 4AD, the album was produced by Walker and Peter Walsh with the help of Mark Warman and released on October 21, 2014. It is the last album Walker released during his lifetime, barring soundtrack work. 4AD released a music video for the song "Brando", directed by French filmmaker Gisèle Vienne.
Sweetness and Light is the second extended play by the English alternative rock band Lush. It was released on 15 October 1990 on 4AD. Featuring a less abrasive sound than the band's earlier releases, the title track was also released as Lush's first single and included the B-side "Breeze".
Sleeps with the Fishes is the lone collaborative album from Clan of Xymox founding member Pieter Nooten and Canadian guitarist/producer Michael Brook, released by 4AD on 12 October 1987. Intended as Nooten's debut solo album after a brief split from Clan of Xymox, the record turned into a collaboration with Brook after a suggestion from 4AD label founder and boss Ivo Watts-Russell. Though not a huge commercial success, Sleeps with the Fishes was described by AllMusic as "essential listening for fans of 4AD, ambient music, minimalism, experimental electronic music, and morose themes alike... an overlooked masterpiece."
Fading Frontier is the seventh studio album by the American indie rock band Deerhunter, released on October 16, 2015 on 4AD. Produced by Ben H. Allen, who had previously worked with the band on Halcyon Digest (2010), and the band itself, the album was preceded by the singles "Snakeskin", "Breaker" and "Living My Life".
Mark Warman is a British conductor, musical director, composer, orchestrator, and educator. He has worked in London's West End on musical productions, orchestrated and conducted albums, and TV and film scores.
As for fans of the intense avant-garde exercises of Tilt and The Drift...
Tilt (1995), the first of his trilogy of experimental albums