Talk Talk "Laughing Stock" 1991****

For years my opinion of Talk Talk was informed by their early synth pop hits which I had heard as a teenager. Like early Depeche Mode, I found them tolerable to my rock sensitivities but that was about it. I hadn't really followed their evolution until I was prompted to do so by the reviews on music magazines and reference books. Apparently, band leader Mark Hollis decided that early taste of success was enough for him and embarked on a musical journey that saw him gradually break free from pop conventions to produce ever more ambitious but uncommercial sonic landscapes. "Laughing Stock" is the end result of this transformation, an atmospheric experimental work closer to prog and jazz than it is to pop and rock. By that time only Hollis and drummer Harris remained of the old band, augmented here by a multitude of guest musicians (no less than 18 can be heard on the final result, though many more joined the sessions). Guests were encouraged to improvise on a simple rhythmic backdrop and their contributions incorporated in an intricate game of cut and paste. The album is comprised by 6 long songs, though it can also be viewed as one long atmospheric piece. There are intense and loud moments, but mostly it's subdued and hypnotic. Contrary to other, musically clattered, "prog" albums, it's spacious with long silent pauses. It reminds me of Eno's ambient solo albums, Can and even Tangerine Dream - though synths here take a back seat to organic strings and horns. It would make the perfect soundtrack for an atmospheric thriller, deceptively soothing but with a dark streak. Opener "Myrrhman" is introduced by a long silence and remains a very sparse and moody affair with hushed vocals. "Ascension Day" is a meatier song, with melodic vocals and some loud outbreaks. This one reminded me of Peter Gabriel circa late 70's. "After The Flood" has a slow rhythmic backbeat and improvised jazzy sections, though still retaining the traditional song structure. Hollis sings quietly but with urgency. "Taphead" is another sparse tune with murmured vocals, temporarily coming alive in the middle with a great trumpet part. It's followed by the gorgeous "New Grass". More than elsewhere in this album musicians play with instead of against each other, and the vocal is fragile but beautiful. At slightly less than 5 minutes, "Runeii" is the album's last, shortest and less remarkable song. Predictably the record was a commercial failure and the band disbanded soon after, though I think it wasn't a question of "Nobody's listening to us" but of "We've said all that was to be said". Hollis effectively retired from music altogether, while the fame of his last album continued to grow. It's now considered a masterpiece and the mother of all post rock, venerated by bands like Elbow and Bon Iver while its influence can also been seen in the neo-prog of Porcupine Tree and Radiohead.

***** for Ascension Day, After The Flood, New Grass

**** for Taphead

*** for Myrrhman, Runeii