The May Edition of Uncut pays tribute to Mark Hollis, his story is so much shorter than Neil Young‘s wild journeys with Crazy Horse (also featured), but no less glorious. Where others end with a bang, or a never-ending tour, Mark Hollis‘ artistic career ended with a whisper. He became a family man, with no reason to return to music. He had done it all, and pushed the limits. I wish I‘d once been at White Hart Lane, watching a football game there when I was a teen, I might have met him long before everything started. Just daydreaming. Being a listener all my life (without needing heroes when finally grown up), and not a player, I‘m so happy that his last three albums never stopped to share company. From the same breed as all that soulfood of my life, from the Kinks to The Beatles, from Scott Walker to Talk Talk, from Robert Wyatt to Brian Eno. Yesterday I wrote to Brian that after the cancelling of my travels to the North Western Highlands in January („Laughing Stock“ would have been part of my final Land Rover CD collection) I’d hope to come at least to London soon, for this and that, and a cup of decaffeinated green tea in his studio. „Please let me know when you’re here. I’ll have the kettle on!“, was part of the answer. He‘s curious, by the way, to listen to that album by Will and Hannah, and he will definitely have another special experience when getting lost in „24 Frames“ on BluRay. Today the colour of spring seems to return, and I‘m still sitting in a coffeehouse where they play that awful parade of classical music evergreens. I‘m not the guy to shoot loudspeakers. Gentle does it.
