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RIP Mark Hollis

Blogs > Jockmcplop
Post a Reply
Jockmcplop
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United Kingdom9614 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-27 18:07:25
February 27 2019 17:52 GMT
#1
This won't get much attention although it has been in the news recently.

Mark Hollis, the singer of Talk Talk, has died, so I'm making this post as an homage.

You probably haven't heard much about Talk Talk, but they started as an 80's synth pop band and went on to create the genre of post-rock, which became incredibly popular in the early 2000s.
Without Talk Talk, there would be no Radiohead.
Mark Hollis was a visionary and an underrated musical genius.

I'm going to start with the catchiest Talk Talk song - 'Living in Another World'. This is, for me, the pinnacle of early style Talk Talk.
At first listen it sounds like standard 80s synthy pop music, but the details and the arrangement are perfect. I've never heard a harmonica sound that blends in so effortlessly with the music. The song seems to change key at every chorus, but its just clever chord structuring. Those backing vocals are so simple but so perfect:

+ Show Spoiler +


Now it gets interesting. After making some great pop albums Hollis decided to try something new. The result was the amazing 1988 album 'The Spirit of Eden'.
This album isn't very well known outside of music nerd circles, but its incredibly influential. You can hear the influence in a wide range of music from Coldplay to Mogwai. It brings in a jazz influence and epic, fluid song structures.

+ Show Spoiler +


The next one is from my favourite Talk Talk album, their final effort 'Laughing Stock'.
Somehow even more sparse and ambient than Eden, this album is a revelation for people who think that post rock started in the 90s or with Slint.
There's a fragility and a beauty to these songs that has rarely been matched since. The arrangements, which were already brilliant in their early work, are so cleverly detailed and show such a massive range of influences. These song tend to focus heavily on small sounds and musical 'negative space'(ie the silence between notes that emphasizes the musicality).
+ Show Spoiler +



I hope you give these songs a listen and I hope someone new finds Talk Talk as a result of this post. Hollis deserves a lasting legacy for his talent.

My favourite Mark Hollis quote:

“Before you play two notes, learn how to play one note, y’know. And that, it’s as simple as that really. And don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it.”


<3

*****
RIP Meatloaf <3
fluidrone
Profile Blog Joined January 2015
France1478 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-28 11:01:18
February 28 2019 10:58 GMT
#2
<3 talk talk

"not enough rights"
AlgeriaT
Profile Joined April 2010
Sweden2197 Posts
February 28 2019 14:46 GMT
#3
This is so sad. Strange to come across this news here of all places, but I'm glad I did so thank you so much for posting!

For me, Mark Hollis is one of the finest musicians to ever have walked this planet. His work always stood out clearly from everything else. It just seems to have this infinite depth. I feel like no matter how much I listen, I can never quite figure it out, it just keeps surprising me, endlessly revealing new facets.

As a musician myself, his work has been incredibly inspirational for me. Especially his self entitled album, which is just such a true work of art. I don't like to sprinkle superlatives around me but I've honestly never heard a recording capture the presence of a moment that well. If I could have been a fly on the wall during any album recording process throughout history, that's the one I would have chosen to witness. So eerie, so alive, so close...how the fuck did he do it??

About a year ago I came back to listening to him and Talk Talk after a period of time, and since then I've been kind of fantasising about him coming back to the world and actually playing live or recording again. But I guess he really was done. Not much had been heard about him since he withdrew in the 90's, at least not anything I've been able to find. Now that he's gone, I find myself really hoping that he was content with whatever he was doing, and that his withdrawal really was intentional.

Man, this really grips at my heart. Funny that his own music is so perfect for reflecting upon someone's death.

<3
CORN GIRL + Flash + FanTaSy + CholeraSC + iNcontroL 4 eva <3
tanngard
Profile Joined April 2011
Norway1325 Posts
February 28 2019 18:20 GMT
#4
I first heard this news listening to the norwegian radio channel: NRK P2, the foremost channel for everything intellectual and cultural in my country, yet his importance in music was barely mentioned at all. I had expected more from what is perceived to be the radio channel for the cultural elite, but i guess they are more concerned with classsical music and jazz.

Other than the usual conversation about Talk Talks substantial popularity in the mainstream during the 80s and No Doubts cover of It's my Life, the two hosts only touched upon the last two albums for their stark departure from previous albums and their lack of success which had left some record company executive (legend has it) in tears upon first listening to their new direction in musical style, NOT because of its beauty, but rather over its complete lack of commercial potential.

I was quite dissaponted listening to how lightly they talked about the mans passing and how they failled to properly assess his most valuable contributions to music. However, i can through a google search as i am wtiting this, see euologies appearing in a couple of our most important newspapers. Warms my heart. And more should be written in the coming days. Which is to be expected when what was one of the most respected musicians out there leaves us.

The story and myth of Talk Talk and Mark Hollis is one of the most incredible in "popular music". They went from being a massive selling synth-pop act, into creating music that...really never had been heard before. Many have 1988s Spirit of Eden as the starting point of post-rock (or-pop?) .Despite what you might call it, the fact is that they threw out all of the rock and pop concepts known to us at that point. They saw many of these concepts as obstacles in creating a form of music that lay as close as possible to the true heart and spirit of human beings. Their search for beauty and atmposphere in music knew no boundaries.

Mark Hollis was extremely elusive and private. He completely left the public eye in the early 90s and to re-emerge only that one time in 1998 to release his only ever solo album (what AlgeriaT said above me on that album me is very well put). In interviews Hollis would refuse to talk about anything else than the music. And that part is what saddens me the most on day a like this. We will never get to hear from him reflecting on what it all meant...to him. But maybe thats what he wanted. Just leave us with the music as his final statement and let each individual resonate with it on their own terms.

I can only reiterate what Jockmcplop said about giving these songs a listen. This is truly one of a kind artist that have passed away. RIP Mark
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