Louis Tillett - Soliloquy 2006

4ZZZ · 12-28-2009, 11:14 PM

Louis Tillett - Soliloquy 2006

Louis Tillett first came to my attention as a piano player on the excellent Laughing Clowns album Ghosts of An Ideal Wife from 1985. The odd song or two from his solo career was heard without me taking much interest. More fool me. Last year I purchased an album by Tillett called The Hanged Man from 2005 for the grand sum of $4.95 in a bargain bin. Money well spent. I was captivated by deep plaintive baritone voice and songs that pleaded for redemption. With the aid of blogs I discovered a multi instrumentalist with a long career and a very esoteric sound. I also found the story of a man who has suffered Alcoholism and severe depression.

While browsing through a record shop one day I discovered Soliloquy. I have been addicted to this album since. This is a "best of" and they are usually dismissed by music fans but in my opinion this is doing this album a disservice. Tillett has taken various songs from his career and sung them with just his voice and a piano and the odd unobtrusive effect such as slight voice echo. Each song is sung with a lyrical content that demands to be listened to.

The opener, An Ancient Song, Tillett sings "In the morning if you are gone I'll press the bringer of oblivion".

The 2nd song Bitter Pill Listen.

Dead End Street In The Lucky Country. "He slowly drains the bottle dry and has he does his heart begins to fly and he wishes that he wasn't there." This is 7.15 minutes of something very personal that some may find hard to bear. Brilliant.

These are the first three tracks of 10. The voice, the piano and constant cry for help. If you are not keen on being depressed steer clear. If you can relate to the Artiste as a frail human being bereft of hope this is as sublime as it gets.

The Tempest is the final track. This was originally of an album called Letters To A Dream from 1992. It stood out as just a good song but 14 years later Tillett has turned it into a stunning end. Melodic softly played piano and then contrasting chunking, banging crashing chord-less sounds with the tune and the lyric leading to the piano softly disappearing into the back ground. A thought provoking end to a desperately pleading album. I am off to slit my wrists for the umteenth time.

Bulldog · 12-29-2009, 04:26 AM

I remember you sending me a link to the Hanged Man way back when. I also remember loving it too. Stands to reason that he played on Ghosts Of An Ideal Wife too, the wonderful album that it is. I do listen to the Hanged Man fairly regularly, but the idea of hunting down more of Tillet's stuff's kinda passed me by. I'll have a nose about some blogs and see what I can find when I can.

And, yeah, more people definitely need to know who this guy is as well.

12-28-2009, 11:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
4ZZZ Forever young Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Brisbane Posts: 608	Louis Tillett - Soliloquy 2006 Louis Tillett - Soliloquy 2006 Louis Tillett first came to my attention as a piano player on the excellent Laughing Clowns album Ghosts of An Ideal Wife from 1985. The odd song or two from his solo career was heard without me taking much interest. More fool me. Last year I purchased an album by Tillett called The Hanged Man from 2005 for the grand sum of $4.95 in a bargain bin. Money well spent. I was captivated by deep plaintive baritone voice and songs that pleaded for redemption. With the aid of blogs I discovered a multi instrumentalist with a long career and a very esoteric sound. I also found the story of a man who has suffered Alcoholism and severe depression. While browsing through a record shop one day I discovered Soliloquy. I have been addicted to this album since. This is a "best of" and they are usually dismissed by music fans but in my opinion this is doing this album a disservice. Tillett has taken various songs from his career and sung them with just his voice and a piano and the odd unobtrusive effect such as slight voice echo. Each song is sung with a lyrical content that demands to be listened to. The opener, An Ancient Song, Tillett sings "In the morning if you are gone I'll press the bringer of oblivion". The 2nd song Bitter Pill Listen. Dead End Street In The Lucky Country. "He slowly drains the bottle dry and has he does his heart begins to fly and he wishes that he wasn't there." This is 7.15 minutes of something very personal that some may find hard to bear. Brilliant. These are the first three tracks of 10. The voice, the piano and constant cry for help. If you are not keen on being depressed steer clear. If you can relate to the Artiste as a frail human being bereft of hope this is as sublime as it gets. The Tempest is the final track. This was originally of an album called Letters To A Dream from 1992. It stood out as just a good song but 14 years later Tillett has turned it into a stunning end. Melodic softly played piano and then contrasting chunking, banging crashing chord-less sounds with the tune and the lyric leading to the piano softly disappearing into the back ground. A thought provoking end to a desperately pleading album. I am off to slit my wrists for the umteenth time. __________________ Terra Music Est Non A Vitium.

12-29-2009, 04:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	I remember you sending me a link to the Hanged Man way back when. I also remember loving it too. Stands to reason that he played on Ghosts Of An Ideal Wife too, the wonderful album that it is. I do listen to the Hanged Man fairly regularly, but the idea of hunting down more of Tillet's stuff's kinda passed me by. I'll have a nose about some blogs and see what I can find when I can. And, yeah, more people definitely need to know who this guy is as well.