Customer Reviews

Climate of Hunter

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Like so many in my country, I was late to catch on to Scott Walker, in my case when I first heard his first solo album in about 1976 by which time it was a cool period piece. But from that point forward I kept my eye out for Walker's scarce vinyl, picking it up whenever I crossed paths with one of his records.

I first heard Climate of Hunter in about 1986; it was already three years old. There were still those same incredible vocal pipes but wow the music had really moved! I was frankly unable to absorb this album at first though I gave it many tries. I suspected that the fault was entirely my own and not Scott Walker's. By the time this record reached about ten years of age I could understand it. The very best of other recording artists had begun to catch on to Walker's musical ideas presented here. And now Climate of Hunter just sounds like the most beautiful visionary piece of modern music imaginable. Think of a much more musically substantial "Avalon," and you will have some idea of what Climate of Hunter sounds like. But it is much less sweet, much more intriguing, with much more to offer on repeated listenings. When you have put away all of your old pop records as childish playthings Climate of Hunter will remain on your shelf (or in your hard drive) as a permanent fixture in the music that you take with you to the end of your life. I'm not kidding.

Being the middlebrow type that I am, I am still currently struggling with the musical challenges presented by Walker's newer (but now fairly old) album "Tilt."

Scott Walker has had a long and varied carrier in music.From the highest reaches of chart success in England with his brothers,(Walker Brothers), to his series of hit solo albums in the late sixties and early seventies. Along with the sudden lurches of success were extreme moments of doubt and much self reflection. Walker would be on the verge of launching his career and suddenly vanish into the mists from wens he came.Following his success's he found himself thrust from the mainstream

and into the adoration of a cult following. After the release of "We Had it All"in 1974, he simply vanished for two years only to resurface to reunite his brothers to record the strange and mystical "Nite Flights" in 1978, a bid to find some middle ground of recognition. Finding no solace from this recorded endeavor, or the reinvention of the brothers, he left England and disappeared for five years, thought dead or in self confined exile.Coaxed by those closest to him to return and record again, Walker resurfaced in 83 with "Climate of the Hunter", a tour de force of mesmerizing instrumentation and ambient styled vocalizations that severed any associations of his past recorded history. Hailed by music critics at the time as pure genius and released to a public that was unreceptive, "Climate of the Hunter" sank without a trace, only to resurface in the early 90's to a repeated hail of critical acclaim. Self produced, "Climate of the Hunter" imbues the darkness and vocal depth of one possessed in creating and capturing something that simply eludes capturing, in the sense of reaching out and grasping at a musical note in flight. To describe Walker's vocal inflections in this work is like attempting to describe to someone what the wind looks like as it blows through a meadow on a windy day and is best experienced first hand.Comprised of Peter Van Hooke(drums), Mark Isham(Trumpet), Brian Gascolgne(Keyboards),Mo Foster(bass) with masterful feathered orchestration written and conducted by Walker himself,"Climate" excels at constructing a musical ambiguity of immense proportions. From the opening sound of rambling cowbells with a resonating bass guitar in "Rawhide" you realize this is no light weight listening session you are about to embark upon. Scott Walkers lyrical content speaks in cut up bits and pieces of information and observational spaces that T S Eliot so excelled in and is best experienced as a whole with the musical compositions.Once you become lost in the rhythmic meters of flowing vocal ambiance mixed with the accompanied musical tapestry things really begin to make sense and all of the little nuances begin to shine brillantly."Track Three" which is my personal favorite, Ray Russell plays a lead guitar embellishment like a man possessed with Walker in his best form of vocal presentation. "Sleepwalkers Woman" possess the energy of pure beauty and insanity, complete with backing orchestral strokes that bring to mind a soundtrack from some long forgotten nostalgic film."Track Five" bursts open with a flowing keyboard backing sounding something like a bird taking flight on an illuminating and misty early morning. Scott Walker with "Climate of the Hunter" has embraced all the defining elements of progressive music in subscribing to the basic spirit of creating something unique and inspiring while turning his back on the pre formula, pre-packaged product that so many claimed he was destined to produce. For this courageous movement throughout his life's recorded achievements, we owe "Climate of the Hunter" a listen and the long past respect it's due.

This is a strange and eerie record. The compositions are moody and extremely complex. It can take many listens before one of these songs unlocks itself for you: they seem at first to be endlessly shifting, going nowhere, but they're not. Their logic, when it becomes evident, is devastating.

The arrangements are sparse and often strikingly dissonant. At times, the drums seem to be pounding in empty space, throbbing anomalously in a sea of long, uneasy keyboard washes.

And floating bleakly above it all is that VOICE. Walker's always been a highly mannered singer, but here he shapes his low baritone into the strangest tone; ghostly, elegiac. Weird as it seemed at first, it grew on me. Now I can't imagine any other way of conveying these darkly abstract songs.

The man is a genuine pathfinder. For those with adventurous ears, this is indispensable. If you're looking for a pop record, forget it.

If you only know Scott Walker via The Walker Brothers and "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore," you're in for a surprise (and a treat) here. Much more accessible, but not necessarily better, than "Tilt," his 1995 release. Unusual string arrangements, sorta like Brian Ferry-on-quaaludes vocals and, well, different, songs and arrangements make this CD well worth hearing.

Some suggest that the eighties wasn't the best decade for popmusic. And with hindsight they're probably right. Bombastic and overdubt productions make it hard even to appreciate such classics as ABC's The lexicon of love (still the best and most representative album of the decade). However if you dare to look a bit closer one can find precious jewels that should be polished again and deserve a new audience. Climate of hunter is such masterpiece. Not only because Scott Walker is an outstanding singer with a deep voice that you make you shiver, but mostly because the songs are timeless. As only great popmusic is.

Buy it!

Before TILT & THE DRIFT there was CLIMATE OF HUNTER. Just as strange, just as eerie, it's an essential chapter in a 30+ year career that could be called anything but prolific.

As others have cited CLIMATE has the production values of Roxy's Music's AVALON cut with the bleak, obtuse lyricism, that has become Walker's trademark. It's all capped off with a haunting coda of Tennessee Williams', "Blanket Roll Blues". The song Brando crooned in THE FUGITIVE KIND.

If that's not incentive enough, CLIMATE also features MTV One Hit Wonder Boy, Billy Ocean harmonizing on "Track 3". Other contributors include Mark's Knopfler & Isham.

Sprawling & cinematic,lines like,"The shadow of the son made the son a shadow", seem more concerned at creating atmosphere than establishing any narrative. Call it "deep", pretentious, or self-indulgent, Walker's influence is undeniable. Bowie, The Divine Comedy, Bjork & Portishead are just a few.