Scott Walker: 30 Century Man

2006 documentary

Rating: 15/20

Plot: Documents the career of reclusive "poet and composer of the unconscious" Scott Walker, from his boy band days to his current music that most everybody would find unlistenable. There are a whole lot of scenes of musicians listening to his music. There's also some studio video of recording sessions for The Drift, his last album.

First off, happy birthday to one of my four and a half readers, Mr. Larst! Hope you had a good one, big guy!

What I enjoyed or learned from this Scott Walker documentary:

1) Some pretty cool television appearance video. His voice (assuming it's not Milli Vanilli'd) is always strong, but he never looks completely comfortable on a stage. Of course, the documentary made a point about him not being able to perform live although he did say at the end that his next album will be one that he can reproduce live and has plans to tour.

2) Yes, the recluse is in this. And I'm almost a little disappointed with how normal and grounded he appears. He's just a guy, and when you listen to his music (especially the last two albums, released ten years apart), it doesn't sound like music that can be made by a normal human being.

3) If you're a male Scott Walker memorabilia collector, you're more than likely creepy.

4) My favorite interviewee was "Cally" Callomon. I had no idea who this guy was, but when he first appeared, they had him labeled as "Cally Callomon, no fixed profession" which I thought was funny.

5) Scott Walker signed a 12-album deal with Virgin in 1979. One of the interviewees said that at the pace he was making albums, he would finish his 12th album when he's over 200 years old.

6) There's footage of Jacques Brel in this. Man, did that guy have a sweating issue. He was drenched in his own perspiration.

7) Rumor Jarvis Cocker heard about Scott Walker before he met him: that he just likes to sit around and watch people play darts.

8) Melody is "banal," and musicians recording with Walker were often frustrated because albums would be made where the melody of particular songs was a "closely guarded secret."

9) There's some great footage of a guy slapping meat during a recording session. That's not the best part though. The best part is when Scott Walker has to instruct him on the best way to slap the meat. Apparently, the guy was slapping too rhythmically.

10) When a label guy was listening to Tilt with Walker and others for the first time, Walker insisted that it be played very loudly through giant speakers. The label guy eventually couldn't take it any more (it's an aggressive, harsh album) and asked if they could hear it through smaller speakers. Walker said (paraphrase), "I'd rather hear it through the big speakers because this is the only time I'm going to listen to this."

11) Another paraphrase of my favorite quote: "Scott Walker knows what sounds he wants in the studio and will often describe it in traditional ways. Other times, he'll say, 'I'd like a donkey.'" This was followed by a snippet of a song that uses the sound of a braying donkey.

12) Did anybody but Anonymous get this far?