30 Century Man and Crowd Pleaser

I had meant to post something last week after I watched the new Scott Walker documentary, "30 Century Man." I really enjoyed the DVD, overall, but it was particularly interesting to have some visual insight (after reading a lot of things) into the recording process of "The Drift." That album, along with "Tilt" and the "Pola X" soundtrack have been in ongoing rotation for me, as well as in my "thought" rotation, so it was nice to know more about those three works, let alone his more "lost" era, his four well-known solo albums, and even The Walker Brothers era. Unlike so many "quick-Buck" music documentaries out there, it was essential that the filmmakers had Scott Walker's involvement, and his candid discussions really sealed the deal for me --- yet really none of the oh-so-important mystery about him was dispelled.

I just received the new Consumer Electronics "Crowd Pleaser" LP in the mail and even after the first few spins, I can objectively say that I am blown away by it. It is such a vital distillation of the type of rapid-fire, venomous vocal work of Philip's that I enjoy, combined with a raw and disorienting electronic sound that is maybe less-obviously-digital, compared to what I might have expected, particularly after playing the two live shows with him last summer [maybe "seeing" a laptop made me a "hear" a laptop?]. I also appreciate that the intensity of the performance, along with the succinctness of the album, never allows for even a slight lapse of attention. The production values are really excellent, and they are only enhanced by the audiphile-quality vinyl pressing. Highly recommended!