Weekly Last FM Chart
Polydor 1726001 / 1725995 / 1726000: 9th April 2007
1. The Magic Position
“‘Cause out of all the people I’ve known, the places I’ve been, the songs I have sung, the wonders I’ve seen, now that the dreams are all coming true, who is the one that leads me on through… it’s you!”
2. The Marriage
“Falling further into marriage, this love that need not shout it’s name”
3. Augustin
“Oh, du lieber Augustin, Augustin, Augustin, oh, du lieber Augustin, alles ist hin”
4. Secret Garden (II)
“Picking the scab, over and over, feral in my fears, crying let me in the garden”
5. Luna / The Libertine (Live)
“All our heroes lack any conviction, they shout through the bars of cliché and addiction”
6. On Sussex Downs
“I carried on forever, my feet were idle lovers together”
How times have changed, I remember walking crest fallen out of my local record shop because the release date of Patrick Wolf’s debut album had been set back due to distribution problems. No such thing anymore, he’s signed to a major, every magazine is carrying adoring articles and he finally seems to be getting the attention he has so richly deserved for so long.
I’ve been playing ‘The Magic Position’ to death since I got my hands a promo of his new album in January. But as the days get warmer and the sun gets brighter, the track’s unbridled joy is more in tune with the season. To fully appreciate the infectious sprit of the single you’ve got to do the hand claps “Clap! Clap! Magic position”. ‘The Magic Position’ brings to mind Brian Wilson producing a cover of ‘Come On Eileen’ with Morrissey on vocals… so it’s everything that’s great about intelligent, poetic, celebratory Pop music.
‘The Marriage’ is a powerful song as glitchy and abrasive as it is sweet and soothing. ‘Augustin’ (Not to be confused with ‘Augustine’ from the new album) is a brief Lo-Fi recording of a 17th century Viennese folk song. ‘Secret Garden (II)’ is an alternate version of a track from Patrick’s latest album. Instead of ending in a cacophony of noise it now builds towards a beautiful summit with Patrick chanting “The sun, the sun”. ‘Luna / The Libertine (Live)’ is an intense and intimate version of his protest against clichéd Rock music (‘Luna’ is a short instrumental prelude). Last but not least, is a gorgeous cover of Larrikin Love‘s ‘On Sussex Downs’ (His second cover of the band, after ‘Happy As Annie’). Edward Larrikin and Patrick Wolf are regular collaborators and kindred spirits (Patrick played Viola on the original version of ‘On Sussex Downs’).
Click here to watch the spectacular video for ‘The Magic Position’ on YouTube.
I recorded Patrick’s appearance on the sporadically brilliant ‘Charlotte Church Show’ the other week. He performed a special cover of Prince‘s ‘When Doves Cry’ with Miss Church but it’s slightly spoilt by the stupid audience clapping all the way through (Click here for a YouTube clip). So here it is and also here’s Patti Smith‘s superior version:
Patrick Wolf & Charlotte Church – When Doves Cry (Live) mp3
Patti Smith – When Doves Cry mp3
Click here to download ‘On Sussex Downs’ exclusively from 7Digital for just 77p.
Click here to buy Patrick Wolf’s albums from HMV for as little as £7.99.
Patrick Wolf Website / Patrick Wolf MySpace / Spanish Fansite
Stop Me If You Think You\'ve Heard This One Before 