It's been a year since the last CCLASSIC ALBUM feature! I admit that I sort of forgot about it but #1 is here if you're interested. I decided to bring it back as I've got some more time now but also because my girl wanted to get into Patrick Wolf, so this is really for her.
Patrick Wolf is one of the artists that can do no wrong in my eyes. But even to a devoted fan, his second album was stunning. The debut was 'folktronica' - all theremins and breakbeats, but for this album he died his hair black and embraced nature. The main instruments used were violins, ukeleles and mandolins, giving a warm sound completely different from his previous efforts, but just as exciting. The recurring theme is freedom; the freedom to go wherever you want to go, be whoever you want to be, and it's really powerful. I got into this as a 14 year old school boy on hearing first cut 'The Libertine' and I was blown away. I couldn't ignore the sense of flowing electricity and unhindered energy. It was like a call to arms, and it almost became a personal anthem. The chorus "I've got to go, so here I go, I'm gonna run/the risk/of being free" stuck with me forever.
The whole album is alive with earthly strings, bird song and Wolf's flawless delivery. It was an epiphany in a time of Libertines falling apart, and the aftermath of strictly guitar-led lad-rock. 'Ghost Song' calls to "bring beauty back in season" while on 'The Railway House' he sings of "Growing out of the drugs, growing up through the night, growing up growing older, with treasure to be told" In a way I did grow up with 'Wind In The Wires', it came to me at a time of change and influenced a lot of my behaviour. Towards the end of the record comes 3 songs in succession that take a more powerful stance. 'This Weather' employs heavy beats backing darkly sung "I'm not going to set myself free here, I'm following some dark fortune, some circle in me" before a gasp and the song's climax. The short and sweet 'Jacob's Ladder' follows, which reminds me of walking over them everyday on my way home alone, soundtracked by a wolf-like howl that leads the song into crushing static. This gives way to 'Tristan', probably the best known single from WITW. It's a throwback to 'Lycanthropy' and shows an inherently more devilish side, most memorably in "You speak of love, but I've never heard of her. I am fucked, and I am fucking too, My name is Tristan and I am alive"
The album made a big impression on me. After this he went on to sign to a major for 'The Magic Position', died his hair red and got some well-deserved exposure. But it didn't suit him as an outsider, and retreated to his own label Bloody Chamber Music and released this year's 'The Bachelor' through Bandstocks. His output has been flawlessly innovative and always an experience. But in my opinion 'Wind In The Wires' was his peak. Perhaps it's not cool to admit this now as Wolf embraces his flamboyant side more and more, but he was a true music idol for me, and still is is many ways, and this is one of those records I owe a lot to.
xx For Amy
MP3: Patrick Wolf - Eulogy (ysi)
(Buy the album here)
Patrick Wolf's 'The Bachelor' is nominated for 2STEPS' Apollo Music Prize! Read about it here and vote on the right of this page.
The whole album is alive with earthly strings, bird song and Wolf's flawless delivery. It was an epiphany in a time of Libertines falling apart, and the aftermath of strictly guitar-led lad-rock. 'Ghost Song' calls to "bring beauty back in season" while on 'The Railway House' he sings of "Growing out of the drugs, growing up through the night, growing up growing older, with treasure to be told" In a way I did grow up with 'Wind In The Wires', it came to me at a time of change and influenced a lot of my behaviour. Towards the end of the record comes 3 songs in succession that take a more powerful stance. 'This Weather' employs heavy beats backing darkly sung "I'm not going to set myself free here, I'm following some dark fortune, some circle in me" before a gasp and the song's climax. The short and sweet 'Jacob's Ladder' follows, which reminds me of walking over them everyday on my way home alone, soundtracked by a wolf-like howl that leads the song into crushing static. This gives way to 'Tristan', probably the best known single from WITW. It's a throwback to 'Lycanthropy' and shows an inherently more devilish side, most memorably in "You speak of love, but I've never heard of her. I am fucked, and I am fucking too, My name is Tristan and I am alive"
The album made a big impression on me. After this he went on to sign to a major for 'The Magic Position', died his hair red and got some well-deserved exposure. But it didn't suit him as an outsider, and retreated to his own label Bloody Chamber Music and released this year's 'The Bachelor' through Bandstocks. His output has been flawlessly innovative and always an experience. But in my opinion 'Wind In The Wires' was his peak. Perhaps it's not cool to admit this now as Wolf embraces his flamboyant side more and more, but he was a true music idol for me, and still is is many ways, and this is one of those records I owe a lot to.
xx For Amy
(Buy the album here)
Patrick Wolf's 'The Bachelor' is nominated for 2STEPS' Apollo Music Prize! Read about it here and vote on the right of this page.
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