Talk Talk - Appreciation Thread

Probably deeply uncool now. 1980s band with new romantic pretensions. I loved them as a kid and still do.

 

Anyone remember this stunning (for the time) video? It looks tame now but back then, it literally entranced me. Just some nature footage but somehow it worked so well.

 

Ah, the 80s.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXQYyKzyDaE

 

Yeah, that was another absolutely killer song.

 

I also loved this one - again, Hollis seemed to have a thing about the natural world.

 

Edited January 7, 2015 by fumi

still ace..

 

Edited January 7, 2015 by iococoi

"I believe in you" was often a go-to song for me to end a mix tape with back in the day.

Hard to follow it with anything else.

Maybe something from Peter Gabriel's "Passion" soundtrack.

go into them via Modey. absolutely incredible band and by no means anything that should be considered deeply uncool. :)

Yup. One of my favourite bands ever. The sideprojects are great too (.O.Rang, Tim Friese-Greene's projects, Mark Hollis' sideproject)

Cleanses my soul. A lot of times while listening to Laughing Stock, I stop right after this track. Silence goes perfectly after it.

 

They're all great, but The Colour Of Spring is definitely what I'm hooked on right now

I adore them and Hollis' solo record, which I find to be one of the most intimate recordings I've ever listened to. Colour of Spring, Spirit of Eden, Laughing Stock and Hollis' solo are definitely the records I've been holding in high regard for many years.

My dad was a synthpophead in the 80s, so when I got to the point where I felt the need to rummage around in his record collection I found the first three records on vinyl and Spirit of Eden on CD and nothing after that. It was quite clear that he just backed off from there, it not being the Talk Talk he had come to love. I have since tried to convince him to give it a chance, but he doesn't find it interesting anymore. Depeche Mode are still regarded as the heroes.

 

Does anyone happen to know anything about Hollis' release of that short piece that was released with the Boss soundtrack? I remember reading that it might have been an excerpt from a film soundtrack that he and Brian Reitzell worked on before the film was scrapped.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Hasselbalch

  On 1/7/2015 at 11:00 PM, fumi said:

Yeah, that was another absolutely killer song.

 

I also loved this one - again, Hollis seemed to have a thing about the natural world.

 

I love this one and "Such a Shame" from their pop period. 80s hidden treasures... Also Laughing Stock is one of my favourite albums ever!

 

Mark Hollis released a great solo album too. Some of the other guys played in a band called Orang but I'm not too fond of this one. Sounded a bit random. I heard not long ago that most of what they did was improvised so that might explain...

Edited January 8, 2015 by Perezvon

Love them. One of the most important bands in the history of music.

yeah, the colour of spring, spirit of eden and laughing stock are all classics that have a timeless beauty to them.

  On 1/7/2015 at 10:09 PM, fumi said:

Probably deeply uncool now. 1980s band with new romantic pretensions. I loved them as a kid and still do.

 

Anyone remember this stunning (for the time) video? It looks tame now but back then, it literally entranced me. Just some nature footage but somehow it worked so well.

 

Ah, the 80s.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXQYyKzyDaE

Not uncool at all - I think they're widely regarded as one of the best, most original bands of the 80s. Very influential that's for sure.

 

Laughing Stock and Mark Hollis' solo album in particular are amazing.

  On 1/8/2015 at 12:31 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

wow we still haven't mentioned spirit of eden and laughing stock? phenomenal albums that i will never tire of. new grass is so damn beautiful it will bring you to tears

Yeh easily two of the best records of all time imo. Every song is so well pieced together, Spirit of Eden especially has such beautiful composition. One of those albums where the music just floats.

I love how the repeated build at 5:00 culminates in that haunting wail around 5:30. Gives me chills nearly every time.

Two notable quotes from Wikipedia.

 

Guy Garvey of the band Elbow has said: "Mark Hollis started from punk and by his own admission he had no musical ability. To go from only having the urge, to writing some of the most timeless, intricate and original music ever is as impressive as the moon landings for me."[24]

Hollis and Talk Talk continue to be praised as artists who did not cave to the pressures of commercial interest. Says Alan McGee, "I find the whole story of one man against the system in a bid to maintain creative control incredibly heartening."[12]

  On 1/8/2015 at 1:06 PM, danshoebridge said:

 

  On 1/7/2015 at 10:09 PM, fumi said:

Probably deeply uncool now. 1980s band with new romantic pretensions. I loved them as a kid and still do.

 

Anyone remember this stunning (for the time) video? It looks tame now but back then, it literally entranced me. Just some nature footage but somehow it worked so well.

 

Ah, the 80s.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXQYyKzyDaE

Not uncool at all - I think they're widely regarded as one of the best, most original bands of the 80s. Very influential that's for sure.

 

Laughing Stock and Mark Hollis' solo album in particular are amazing.

 

 

I always loved the way he winks at the camera near the end as if to say "Yeah, it's pretentious. We both know that."

Hollis really despised the whole music industry. So much communication with just that one silent gesture.

Really worth seeking out any Mark Hollis interviews you can on YouTube, or in print. Depending on who's interviewing, he's either profoundly intelligent (the 'one note' quote near the top of the thread - my favourite remark regarding music, ever) or, surprisingly, really funny. It's also entertaining to hear his thick London accent in contrast with his singing voice.

 

Funnily enough I actually listened to Talk Talk today for the first time in months - as with most of my favourite groups, I got burned out through overplaying their records years ago, so they only come out occasionally for special listens. I still think The Party's Over is an underrated piece, if far from perfect; It's My Life is pretty fantastic though, and from thereon they didn't let up. Laughing Stock is one of my favourite albums of all time... New Grass is utterly perfect, and Runeii ends their career on such a profound, peaceful note. That piano at the end is such a wonderful way of saying "that's it... all done now"

 

Hollis's solo record took me a while to get into... Inside Looking Out and Westward Bound immediately clawed at me, such starkly heartbreaking pieces, but the rest of it was a bit more difficult, particularly the woodwind sections, but over time it grew on me and now I love the album. I think it was Allmusic which called it the quietest, most intimate sounding album ever, and it's difficult to argue with that (certainly by 'rock music' standards).

 

Yeah, a big love of mine, Talk Talk.

yeah that Hollis record is very special. It took me a while to realise that it's entirely acoustic, ie. no electric guitar/keys. And the unintelligible female vocal in "A Life (1895 - 1915)" gets me every time.


I think this is the best song they ever recorded:

God, I really need to give Asides and Besides a proper listen - the only song I ever return to on that is John Cope, despite the fact that there are other great tracks on there.

 

Speaking of John Cope - my favourite track from the Spirit of Eden sessions (possibly because it sounds more like Laughing Stock...). I wonder why it was left off the album.

Yeah there are a lot of great songs on the B-sides compilation. I have this:

 

http://www.discogs.com/Talk-Talk-Living-In-Another-World/release/539708

 

which has For What It's Worth on it, another great track

Jesus, just discovered Talk Talk for the first time myself two days ago. Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock are phenomenal. So many amazing melodic and textural ideas. It's almost like an acoustic sound collage or musique concrete in the way different instruments just pass in and out of focus. A lot of bands I'm massively into at the moment all seem to have taken a lot of inspiration from these records in terms of space and texture, The Antlers' last album Familliars being a prime example. New Grass is gorgeous.

outstanding band & a cult following in Balearic/cosmic disco circles

 

their sound is unique/distinct & has hardly aged, crisp bright productions for what could be subdued melancholia

 

dip yer toes in from time to time, you dont wanna overkill records like these

 

 

Need to spend some down time and listen to this band. Over the years I've only heard the highest praise for them from very respected people, even now on watmm the same process is repeated.

 

There's obviously something special about them.

Ah yeah. It's been a while since I've listened to them, I really should pull out the records again at some point.