Crackle and Pop 3

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - NME Drastic Plastic ep 1985

The NME gave away lots of vinyl goodies in the form of the above ep during the eighties, as well as the better documented cassettes (C86 etc).
This particular ep featured Prefab Sprout, Style Council, Robert Cray and the Lloyd Cole and the Commotions track Forest Fire, a live version of the rattlesnakes song that has stayed a favourite of mine and has not to my knowledge been issued again. It was a surprising omission from the otherwise excellent recent rattlesnakes anniversary re-issue.

Forest Fire (mp3, vinyl rip)

It's raining today - Scott Walker's melancholic genius

(Scott Walker 1967)

Coming into the public eye via The Walker Brothers 60's pop epics (The Sun aint gonna shine, My ship is coming in etc.) Scott Walker left the two other "Brothers" in 1967 for a career that has had many ups and downs as he passed from pop stardom into cult obscurity.
He has though, produced over the years a body of work distinctive enough to make him a major influence on people like Julian Cope, Brian Eno, David Sylvian and Jarvis Cocker. He produced the last Pulp album and has recently signed for the 4AD label and a new record is promised...

He hasn't got a huge web presence but Montague Terrace has some good articles and images and a mailing list can be subscribed to at Yahoo Groups.

Decent biogs can be found at Artists Direct and The Rough Guide to Music.
You can even watch a performance (thanks to Bedazzled blog for the link to this) of Scotts from a 1967 Dusty Springfield show.

The best starting point for newcomers to Scott is probably the "Boy Child" compilation available at amazon.uk and amazon.com.

Plastic Palace People (mp3, from "Scott 2")

It's Raining Today (mp3, from "Scott 3")

Dealer (mp3, from "Climate of Hunter")