Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
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Free Music Notes for Laughing Stock
Free Music Review: Breathtaking Ambient beauty........(Truly a Must-Buy!!!)
Hit: 5 Stars
Formed in the U.K. in 1981.....Talk Talk have seeked out their own increasingly individualistic path of music. With a sound and structure that would encompass 'New Wave', 'Post-Rock', 'Jazz', 'Classical'...(and later on) 'Ambient'. Theirs is a sound that centres around the fractured vocal dynamics of vocalist "Mark Hollis", and with each album becoming more increasingly harder to catergorise & define. Which centered around largely uncategorizable sound informed, by pieces of various downtempo genres reworked and composed to fit within their increasingly selective musical sensibilities, and seemingly committed to making huge musical (and artistic) strides with each successive album.
Although probably best known for their U.K. hit single "Life's What you Make it", which was a gloriously uplifting piece of sophisticated reflective experimental/Post-Rock. The album "Laughing stock" instead takes off from where the equally breath-taking "Spirit of Eden" finished, with elegant, organic and engaging electronics, fleshed out tunes of simply beautiful understated grace and mood. Here things are taken a step further...comprising of Six distinct parts, each is arguably a stand-out in their own right. "Myrrhman" is a song with the barest sketches of ambient instruments, and compositions of equal parts minimalist guitar & piano. With Mark Hollis adding fractures of vocals over the top, in the subtlest way possible....its cerebral without seeming pretentious, moving without feeling forced, and a statement of artistic endeavour over commercial appeal.
"Ascension Day", is considerably more uptempo...with more layers of percussion and lingering guitar riff, punctuated by strings and horns, and after listening to it's fusion of guitar feedback & detached vocals matched with a haunting hypnotic sound, belie a level of of complexity and immense beauty, and it becomes quickly clear that the band are stretching for something far beyond conventional pop/rock themes and entering into a more spiritual realm, even if that means sacrificing mainstream appeal, in favour of something more substantial.
"New Grass", like the rest of the tracks on this album, is mostly a feature long improvised section, with delicately balanced ambient flourshies with each part of the track delicately unfolding subtly and fitting perfectly into the dreamlike mood of the rest of the album, and feel like evolving soundscapes, constantly pushing the boundaries of atmospheric music, & instrumentation, to a level only previously felt on "Spirit of Eden", and thus managing to make all the elements combine, to produce something of a truly breath-taking introspective elegance.
For an album that was generally ignored by the record-buying public, it's probably not too hard to see why this was passed over. It landed at a time, when British music was firmly enthralled with both Pop & Rock music in the more conventional sense, and so the lilting, delicate and softly-focused performances of this quietly elegant album, must have been seen as hugely out of step with what was currently being produced. But just because it was ignored then, doesn't mean that you should ignore it now. If you are reading this review, then you are almost certainly strongly recommended to pick this album up. It shows an air of grace, bittersweet and passionate subtlety rarely seen in the music, around the time this was released (or indeed since), and one that unfortunately relegated the band to the margins of being a cult act, that was no longer a viable commercial prospect. Its a album that if far too subtle for mass market appeal, but those that are prepared to take the leap, will be rewarded with a creatively and artistically stunning album. Extremely recommended.
Free Music Review: After the flood....
Hit: 5 Stars
`Myrrhman' is gently hypnotic, apparently devoid of structure and impossibly delicate, the barely audible vocals only heightening the soothing, spacious nature of the music. `Ascension Day' is far more accessible, although that word barely functions in the context of this album. It draws the listener in slowly with its deceptively simple, chorus like turn at some points, yet descends into a carefully orchestrated inferno of intense noise, each instrument combining confidently to achieve a cacophonous overall effect. `After the Flood' the albums massive epic, incorporates touches of organ and a lengthy section of guitar feedback which is somehow more eloquent than a thousand solos.
After the masterpiece 'Spirit of Eden' one had to wonder where Talk Talk could go. These songs illustrate the grand plan of Mark Hollis then, namely, his desire to fuse progressive touches with a pop-aesthetic with touches of jazz and free form experimentation to create something entirely without peer in the world of `rock', for want of a better word, music. `Laughing Stock' sees the band move further away from traditional song structures, musical ideas or conventional use of instruments. Hollise's genius is not his talent for taking a musical hook which can worm its way into your brain and never leave, and painting a jaw dropping aural tapestry around two or three such ideas out of which emerges a beast that, I suppose, I'd have to call a song. More, it is his ability to utilize the sound of a number of instruments, slotting them together in ways I'd never have thought possible, to produce an overall effect that is never short of stunning. One only has to listen to the driving percussion on `Ascension day' or `New Grass', then wonder at how the swathes of organ and harmonium, then the crescendos of harmonica, then the spiteful, dissonant points of guitar are fused on to a musical movement which seems to evolve like it is alive, rather than simply a band playing together.
Despite all this, it is the fact that the music is as accessible as it undoubtedly is that assures this albums legendary status. There are no solos, no particularly long interludes, and certainly not a wasted second on the disc. Rather, the experimentation is in form, structure, voice, and the manner in which instrument combine, as I've mentioned. The song `Runeii' is of particular note, as it may be the only song I've heard to use space (yeah, silence) to drive its point home: somehow, despite the pleading, at times remarkably powerful vocals of Hollis, it is the tantalizing, carefully placed gaps in the flow which punctuate the song that lends it its sense of urgency, the sliding guitar lines only adding to this feeling. This, I believe, is the central focus of the album, and the apex of the bands vision: to use experimentation as a means of putting across a message in a new, original way, and hence heightening its power.
This is a very important record. It has emotional depth and power rarely matched, and it progresses in the most profound way: no pretension, no wasted notes, no indulgence. Along with `Spirit of Eden' which is probably the place to start with this incarnation of the band, it reveals layers barely imagined, over time, and quickly becomes indispensable. I would urge anyone who reads this and feels they may like this sort of thing to please, please check this album out. Don't just take my word for it, repeat listens will unveil a masterpiece.
Free Music Review: No other album like it
Hit: 5 Stars
When I bought this album in 1992 I wasn't ready. I was a huge fan of Talk Talk, right up until the album that came before (Spirit of Eden, which is brilliant by the way...). I loved the departure from pop for them. In fact, it was the quiet, dark, atonal moments in the previous albums that, for me, made Talk Talk stand out. But Laughing Stock was thick where I wanted thin, liquid where I wanted solid. I sold it a year later feeling sure it was brilliant and that I was missing out on something wonderful, but unable to appreciate it.Laughing Stock was an album you couldn't be prepared for because there was nothing like it. Even it's predecessor Spirit of Eden couldn't prepare the listener for the murky, uneasy, passionate journey that Laughing Stock is. Other reviewers have said it was ahead of it's time. If that was true in 1992, it's even more true now. Mainstream music is, with the exception of the last 3 Radiohead albums, still ignorant of this album. Laughing Stock is like pure grief in that the only way to make sense of it is to let go, let it wash over you and not try to make sense of it at all. It is painfully brilliant, hugely musical and very peace-inducing if you can surrender to it. It's not an album to dance to, or to try to decipher in one evening and I don't think there's one hook on the whole thing. It's the kind of album you put on over and over again until suddenly you notice that everything else starts to sound kind of hollow and trite in comparison.
I once read an article with the engineer who explained that every instrument was recorded from a distance (most instruments in pop music are recorded with the microphones only inches away) and almost always in mono. The drums, for example, were recorded with one microphone from about 10 feet away instead of the traditional rock setup with a mic about 2 inches away from every drum, mixed in stereo and compressed to be full, loud and immediate. Nothing in Laughing Stock is immediate, especially the vocals, which (again, breaking tradition with 99.999% of all pop recordings) have no special priority over any other instrument and, as a result, are often buried in the mix. Silence and space play an important roll in this album as does the complex and often adversarial relationship between harmony and disonance.
Years later, after hearing 'Tago Mago' by Can, 'Kind of Blue' and 'Bitches Brew' by Miles Davis, I stumbled upon an old tape copy I'd made of 'Laughing Stock' and was overwhelmed by it's brilliance. What had before seemed aloof and impenetrable felt intimate and almost painfully, passionately naked. I ran to my nearest record store (back when we had record stores) and bought my second copy feeling a lot like a man who has realized his error only a moment before it was too late. I put the CD in my CD player and played it constantly for about a year.
By the time 'Kid A' came out by Radiohead I felt unsurprised. 'Kid A' was great. I'm a big fan. But for me, it wasn't revolutionary, it wasn't groundbreaking. I had already been to the source.
Laughing Stock is deep stuff, and there there is no other album quite like it. If you like modern Radiohead, if you like Tom Waits, if you love Can, Holger Czukay, or David Sylvian, you will probably love this album. But you won't love it right away. Give it time.
Free Music Review: Reflective in Returning Love He Sings
Hit: 5 Stars
The last reviewer commented on the similarity of Laughing Stock to Spirit of Eden, and I can definitely see it--but I view it as a positive...I would have gladly accepted the two albums as a single 2-disc work. Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden very much complement each other both musically and lyrically. Even the similar cover art highlights the commonality...together like sunrise and sunset. Sadly, this album marked the sunset for Talk Talk, a band that grew from mundane pop origins into mesmerising, minimalist, and deeply spiritual pondering that proved a nightmare for the creativity-stifling music industry. Perhaps--and this is simply my interpretation--the title of the album reflects a resigned understanding on the part of the band of what was likely to be...and at the same time, maybe even a sense of eagerness to meet their fate, not in suicidal terms , but in an eagerness to embrace their eccentricity. Perhaps there is even *pride* in being the "laughing stock" of the insipid popular critics.They do indeed have much to be proud of. Like its companion, Spirit of Eden, this album could very easily have been produced just yesterday instead of over a decade ago. Though the comparison may seem strange at first, I am reminded of a more minimalist version of Sigur Ros (perhaps Talk Talk influenced them?). Pieces like the rather atonal, meandering "Myrrhman", and "Runeii's" game of silences are perhaps the most experimental of the lot, although even the more "normal"-seeming "Ascension Day" shows signs of it as well. On Laughing Stock, I nominate "Ascension Day" (despite its abrupt cutoff--glitch or intentional?) and "New Grass" as the two best tracks.
Laughing Stock is perhaps a bit more upbeat than Spirit of Eden, which seems to have portrayed a man so downtrodden that he yearns to make a new start. Laughing Stock lyrically seems like the beginnings of that new morning, although that desperation is still there (New Grass in particular helps create this impression). In order to decipher the lyrics, it's necessary to both read Mark Hollis' nearly illegible handwriting and his equally cryptic, faint and melodic singing--but once done, a very interesting picture emerges. Mr. Hollis' lyrics are replete with a deep, instinctive spirituality...not the dogmatic, pop kind of "Christianity", but something very natural and flowing--he seems to write these things not to proselytize, but simply because it is an integral part of his being. As such, it's a delight to listen to. Yes, he can discern some of the problems, but rather than launch on a bitter diatribe, he instead expresses a gentle longing for things to be put right. "Heaven waits--someday Christendom may come Westward"...perhaps a suggestion that what *did* come westward from the Holy Land very often did not truly reflect what Jesus stood for. But, even with this he does not *condemn*--he hopes, and this is what makes his more spiritual ruminations so listenable and so touching.
Overall, this is an album NOT to be missed...I am deeply glad that Polydor saved this gem from fading away to a distant memory. As it is, it's too little known. Tell your friends about the gorgeous final triad of albums by Talk Talk: Colour of Spring, Spirit of Eden, and this album, Laughing Stock! 5 stars, all!
Free Music Review: The most quietly angry album ever made.
Hit: 5 Stars
Starting with the sound of shimmering, chorused guitar, deep bass, and formless, barely audible percussive notes on the drum kit, this album completely reverses the trends that their previous masterwork _Spirit Of Eden_ established. Its rock-jazz deconstructed to its basest elements, formless and pulsing with an indescribable anger, balanced sidelong with an almost tragic sense of hope. You can hear the anger in songs like "Ascension Day" which works its way through some nice Hammond riffs, thoughtful harmonica touches from the amazing Mark Feltham, steady, workmanlike backbeat from Lee Harris, and plaintive, emotional vocal delivery from Mark Hollis to a stunning, cathartic climax where every member of the group literally seems to be beating on their instruments - skewn and torn, jagged chords fly over rumbling bass thwaps and crashing drums, which suddenly and abruptly comes to a crashing halt to the gorgeous piano and echoing strands of backwards guitar that marks the entrance of the epic "After The Flood". Just when you think things are safe you are literally skewered with pitiful outcries of emotional anguish, and a dissonant, formless feedback solo, an ugly contrast to the beautiful, hypnotic backbeat of organ, sitars, bubbling bongs, crashing waves, delicate rimshots and gently strummed, echoing guitar. Words can try to describe but not capture the stunning beauty of this song, and when I listen to this album I am usually unable to make it past this piece simply because its so damn affecting.
It seems meaningless to say this about such a daring album, but side 2 is far more self-consciously experimental. The formless and affecting "Taphead" strikes me as impressionistic jazz, and affirms not only the band's significant departure from most major rock idioms but probably is compositionally their best work ever. Hollis is barely audible here, as the orchestra gradually builds behind him and his simple guitar work, lashing out with long, angular, atonal swatches of sound, almost reminiscent of Debussy. Then there's the (comparatively) upbeat "New Grass" which is a joyous, minimalistic, yet also subdued piece that brings tears to my eyes. It contrasts beautiful piano lines with a simple three-note woodwind melody and Hollis' voice, rich and exuberant yet sad at the same time. "Ruineii" never leaves much of an impression on me; its along the same lines as "Taphead" as Hollis' voice gently wafts over desolate keyboard lines to whisper a quiet conclusion.
The twofer "Ascension Day" and "After the Flood", for a brief moment, bring together the perfection of vision, the beauty and mystery that this band ultimately disintigrated trying to achieve. You have to wonder, even with all the trouble this and _Spirit of Eden_ purportedly caused EMI and Polydor during their construction, how could the record companies ultimately be so cold to try to deny the world art of this magnitude? If you think _Kid A_ was a statement in 2001, you really have to find out for yourselg about what kind of a timeless and far more realized statement this album made in 1991. Simply one of the most amazing pieces of music I own.