'The Sound Of The Machine'

If you are interested in music and, more specifically, what bands get up to in the recording studio, then I highly recommend Phill Brown's 'Are We Still Rolling?'. Two of my favourite chapters in that book concern the recording of the last two Talk Talk albums: 'Spirit Of Eden' and 'Laughing Stock'.

To describe the sessions as intense would be an understatement. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, after the recording of 'Spirit Of Eden', Brown's wife threatened to leave him if he ever worked with Talk Talk again. He did, of course, but I can't remember if she made good on her threat.

There was also a beautifully made book called 'Spirit Of Talk Talk', which was full of artwork, interviews, and a history of the band. And I was fine with all of this.

But then, earlier this year, Ben Wallace's biography of Mark Hollis was published. I bought a copy, of course, but then couldn't bring myself to read it. Mark Hollis, who was Talk Talk's front man and main songwriter, was a very private character, who passed away in 2019. Somehow, reading this biography, seemed very intrusive and it remains unopened.

I wondered if I'd made a similar mistake in buying Karl Bartos's autobiography. Not out of concerns for his privacy, of course - he wrote it! - but because I felt that it might be an invasion of Kraftwerk's privacy: they are a notoriously coy outfit.

But then I reached the conclusion that, actually, Bartos was a key player in Kraftwerk. He joined to play on their 'Autobahn' tour and played on all of the albums of their imperial phase, contributing to the songwriting of three of them, and even singing on one song. Ultimately, I feel he has every right to talk about the experience.

That said, I am still a little nervous that some of the mystery and romanticism around the band might be diminished by a look behind the scenes but I'm going to start the book, anyway!

(Incidentally, I did read Wolfgang Flur's autobiography. He was the percussionist in Kraftwerk but from what I have read, he is something of an unreliable witness, and the book actually wasn't that illuminating.)