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Bish Bosch

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Bish Bosch
Studio album by
Scott Walker
Released3 December 2012
GenreExperimental[1]
Length73:00
Label4AD
ProducerScott Walker, Peter Walsh
Scott Walker chronology
And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball?
(2007) 		Bish Bosch
(2012) 		Soused
(2014)

Bish Bosch is the fifteenth and final solo studio album by American singer Scott Walker. It was released on 3 December 2012 on 4AD.[2] Walker described it as the final installment in "kind of a trilogy" that also includes Tilt (1995) and The Drift (2006).[3][4] At seventy-three minutes, Bish Bosch is Walker's longest studio album, and contains his longest song, the twenty-one minute, forty-one second "SDSS1416+13B (Zercon, A Flagpole Sitter)".

Background and recording

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Unlike Tilt and The Drift, which both took several years to compose, Bish Bosch was written in just over a year. Walker had set aside a year to focus exclusively on writing, to speed up his process, and described it as "lightning speed". Even so, he still "had to wait and wait and wait almost every single day for the words to come".[5] The music was recorded over a period of two years, with lengthy gaps between sessions due to various problems: trouble booking studios, the death of producer Peter Walsh's father, and the limited availability of musicians (including Walker himself, who scored a dance for the Royal Opera).[6]

Walker got the idea for "SDSS14+13B (Zercon, A Flagpole Sitter)" while browsing a friend's library and learning of Zerco (or Zercon), the court jester of Attila; he considered Zercon a "fantastic character" and was surprised no one had used him. The song describes Zercon performing for Attila, trying to escape and reach a "spiritual sovereignty", failing, and ultimately becoming a brown dwarf and burning out.[7]

The lyrics of "Epizootics!" merge early jazz slang with an "idea about waking up from a Hawaiian nightmare". "The Day the 'Conducator' Died (An Xmas Song)" was inspired by the trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu, which took place on Christmas Day in 1989.[8]

Walker explained the title thus:[5]

I knew I'd be playing with language more than I had on any of the previous albums. I wanted the title to introduce you to this kind of idea and reflect the feeling of the album, which was [claps hands briskly] bish bosh. And we know what bish bosh means here in this country – it means job done or sorted. In urban slang bish also [phonetically] means bitch, like "Dis is ma bitch". And then I wrote Bosch like the artist [Hieronymus Bosch]. I was then thinking in the terms of this giant universal female artist. And this idea continued to play through the record in certain spots.

Release campaign

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The first music to appear from the album was heard in a promotional video released on October 11, 2012, which featured extracts from the songs "'See You Don't Bump His Head'", "Tar", "Dimple", "Corps De Blah", "Phrasing" and "Epizootics!" set to video clips of Walker and his team working on both the music and artwork.[9] This was followed on November 7 by the release of two full tracks, "Epizootics!" and "'See You Don't Bump His Head'",[10] which were made available on Spotify as a two track "Spotify Exclusive Preview" streaming single.[11] A video for "Epizootics!", directed by Olivier Groulx, followed a day later.[12] Clash Music called the song "a lengthy, often surreal rumination"[13] while NPR said that it was "weirdly funky" and recalled the Nite Flights track "Fat Mama Kick".[14]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[15]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [16]
Beats Per Minute(89%) [17]
Consequence of Sound [18]
The Guardian [19]
The Independent [20]
NME3/10[21]
Pitchfork(8.0/10) [22]
Slant Magazine [23]
Sputnikmusic(3.5/5)[24]
Tiny Mix Tapes[25]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, based on 33 professional reviews.[15] The recording was selected as 'Album of the Week' in The Independent, The Guardian and The Sunday Times, 'Album of the Month' in Mojo magazine,[26] and 'Album of the Year' by Tiny Mix Tapes.[27] The album placed 11th in The Wire's annual critics' poll.[28]

Track listing

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All tracks composed by Scott Walker.[29]

No.TitleLength
1."'See You Don’t Bump His Head'"4:06
2."Corps De Blah"10:11
3."Phrasing"4:45
4."SDSS1416+13B (Zercon, A Flagpole Sitter)"21:41
5."Epizootics!"9:40
6."Dimple"6:47
7."Tar"5:39
8."Pilgrim"2:26
9."The Day The 'Conducator' Died (An Xmas Song)"7:45

Personnel

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Musicians

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  • Scott Walker – vocals, electric guitar (9), keyboards (8, 9), percussion (9)
  • Hugh Burns – acoustic guitar (2, 4, 6), electric guitar (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7), electric baritone guitar (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7), EBow guitar (1, 4, 7), Dobro (4), ukulele (5), pedal steel guitar (5)
  • James Stevenson – electric guitar (2, 4), electric baritone guitar (1, 2, 4), Mando-Guitar (4)
  • Alasdair Malloy – percussion (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), tuned gongs (6), machetes (7)
  • Mark Warman – keyboards (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), drum programming (1), tuned gongs (6), handclaps (5), machetes (7)
  • Peter Walsh – keyboards (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), drum programming (1), finger snaps (5)
  • Ian Thomas – drums (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
  • John Giblin – bass guitar (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), double bass (8)
  • Paul Willey – violin (2)
  • Michael Laird – kudu horn, shofar (4)
  • Pete Long – baritone saxophone (4, 5), tubax (4, 5, 7)
  • BJ Cole – pedal steel guitar (5)
  • Guy Barker – trumpet (5)
  • Tom Rees – trumpet (5)
  • Andrew McDonnell – "Lo Rumbles & White Noise" (5)

Orchestra

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  • Conductor and orchestrator – Mark Warman (2, 4, 6)
  • First violins – Paul Willey, Boguslaw Kostecki, Jonathan Rees, Laura Melhuish, Dave Ogden, Julian Trafford, Abigail Young, Ruth Ehrlich, Ann Morfee, Dave Smith
  • Second violins – Steve Morris, Tom Piggott-Smith, Charlie Brown, Elizabet Wexler, Sebastian Rudnicki, Nikki Gleed, Steve Bentley-Klein, Brian Wright, Clive Dobbins, Paddy Roberts
  • Celli – Frank Schaefer, Justin Pearson, Chris Fish, Joely Koos, Nerys Richards, Dom Pecheur, Tamsy Kayner, Vicky Metthews
  • Double Basses – Enno Senft, Chris West, Clare Tyack, Steve Rossell, Stacey Watton, Alice Kent, Stephen Warner, Lucy Hare

References

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  1. ^ Dennis, Jon (5 March 2014). "10 of the best: Scott Walker". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2018. Tilt (1995), the first of his trilogy of experimental albums
  2. ^ Young, Rob (24 September 2012). "Scott Walker – Bish Bosch". 4AD. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  3. ^ Simon Hattenstone (23 November 2012). "Scott Walker: Brother beyond". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Scott Walker Radio Interview for World Cafe 2013". YouTube.
  5. ^ a b Doran, John (25 March 2019). "Cracking Up: Scott Walker Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  6. ^ Raggett, Ned (13 December 2012). "'MP3s are a Disaster': Scott Walker on the Nightmares That Plagued 'Bish Bosch'". Spin. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Scott Walker On World Cafe". NPR. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  8. ^ Quietus, The (25 March 2019). "Cracking Up: Scott Walker Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  9. ^ ""Scott Walker: Watch A Trailer Showcasing The Making of Scott Walker's New Album", 11th October 2012". 4ad.com. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  10. ^ Young, Alex (7 November 2012). ""New Music: Scott Walker – "Epizootics! and See You Don't Bump His Head", Nov 7 2012". consequence.net. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  11. ^ Walker, Scott. ""Single: Bisch Bosh (Spotify Exclusive Preview)", Nov 7 2012". Spotify.com. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  12. ^ ""Scott Walker: Watch the Video for 'Epizootics!' by Scott Walker", Nov 8 2012". 4ad.com. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  13. ^ Murray, Robin (8 November 2012). ""Scott Walker - Epizootics!", November 8 2012". clashmusic.com. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  14. ^ Gotrich, Lars. ""A Monochrome Dance: Scott Walker Gets Weirdly Funky In 'Epizootics!'", November 8 2012". npr.com. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Bish Bosch Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  16. ^ "AllMusic review". AllMusic.
  17. ^ "Beats Per Minute review". 3 December 2012.
  18. ^ "Album Review: Scott Walker – Bish Bosch". Consequence of Sound. 30 November 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  19. ^ "Scott Walker: Bish Bosch – review". The Guardian. 29 November 2012. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022.
  20. ^ Simon Price (2 December 2012). "IoS album review: Scott Walker, Bish Bosch (4AD) – Reviews – Music". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  21. ^ Fullerton, Jamie (8 January 2013). "Bish Bosch – Scott Walker". NME.
  22. ^ Powell, Mike (3 December 2012). "Bish Bosch- Scott Walker". Pitchfork.
  23. ^ "Slant review". Slant Magazine. 3 December 2012.
  24. ^ Butler, Nick (31 December 2013). "Album Review – Scott Walker: Bish Bosch". SputnikMusic. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  25. ^ Comentale, Ed. "Scott Walker – Bish Bosch". Tiny Mix Tapes.
  26. ^ "Scott Walker's New Album, Bish Bosch, Released This Week". 4AD. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  27. ^ "2012: Favorite 50 Albums of 2012; Page 5". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  28. ^ "2012 Rewind: Releases of the Year 1–50". The Wire. No. 347. London. January 2013. p. 34 – via Exact Editions.
  29. ^ Pelly, Jen (24 September 2012). "Pitchfork – Full Scott Walker Album Details Revealed". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
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