Laughing Stock
by Talk Talk
- Type: Album
- Released: 16 September 1991
- Label: Verve
- Country: United Kingdom
- Length: 43:25
- Community rating: 4.36/5 from 85 ratings
Artists on this release: Mark Hollis, Lee Harris
Album Notes & Community Reviews
Talk Talk's final studio album, 'Laughing Stock', refines the improvisational, minimalist approach of its predecessor, 'Spirit of Eden', with core members Mark Hollis and Lee Harris directing a large ensemble of musicians. Constructed from lengthy, atmospheric studio sessions, the album's sound is a sparse and dynamic fusion of jazz, classical, and ambient textures, emphasizing silence and space through techniques like distant microphone placement. The resulting work's abstract structures and radical sonic austerity made it a landmark release, profoundly influencing the development of the post-rock genre.
Genres
Descriptors: atmospheric, minimalist, improvisational, quiet, bleak
Tracklist
- Myrrhman (5:32)
- Ascension Day (5:59)
- After The Flood (9:38)
- Taphead (7:39)
- New Grass (9:40)
- Runeii (4:57)
Credits
- Mark Hollis - vocals, guitar, piano, organ, melodica, variophon, composed by
- Lee Harris - drums, percussion
- Tim Friese-Greene - producer, piano, organ, harmonium, composed by
- Ernest Mothle - acoustic bass, contrabass
- Simon Edwards - acoustic bass, contrabass
- Paul Kegg - cello
- Roger Smith - cello
- David White - contrabass, clarinet, contrabass clarinet
- Mark Feltham - harmonica
- Martin Ditcham - percussion
- Henry Lowther - trumpet, flugelhorn
- Levine Andrade - viola
- Stephen Tees - viola
- George Robertson - viola
- Gavyn Wright - viola
- Jack Glickman - viola
- Garfield Jackson - viola
- Wilf Gibson - viola
- Phill Brown - engineer
- James Marsh - illustration
- Keith Aspden - management
- Russell Uttley - sleeve