I really don’t think I’ve made any secret of how much I love Patrick Wolf. There’s something about that sound, that childfolk meets twee-tronic with a heavy, heavy dose of catharsis as an undercurrent, always with kid-fears nipping at the heels, that just…it floors me. It does. Granted, The Magic Position won’t be album of the year anytime soon, not with Wolfy leaving behind the night-terrors for spangles and glitter (thought Maryanne Faithful as his maternal muse certainly pushes the whole deal back into terror territory), but that doesn’t make it any less…well, magical.
This weekend in NY is three consecutive nights of Patrick Wolf-where we at Resonator will be turning out, in force nonetheless, at Trixie’s favorite place in the whole freakin’ world, Studio B, tomorrow night.
(not to mention Saturday night’s insane ADULT./Erase Errata Studio B show-from glitter to anxiety)
On the flight into New York, which was massively delayed and involved about an hour hovering in a holding pattern due to weather, I had the opportunity to close my eyes and experience Wolfy’s debut record, the highly autobiographical masterpiece Lycanthropy, several times as a whole.
Song 3 on Lycanthropy, and one that’s immediately accessible and infinitely hook-laden. There’s a darker sense to the electronics than anything those just familiar with candyglitter Wolfy 2007 would recognize, but there’s still that soaring, gleaming sense of hope.
Patrick Wolf: The Childcatcher
This…this is the stuff, the sound, the content, the depth, on which Patrick Wolf’s made his reputation. A plaintive, simple, slow deconstruction of innocence taken, broken, destroyed. Wielding a punishing glitch and that voice, that childlike voice, evocative of so much, “The Childcatcher” is a fucking exorcism, particularly during the song’s second half:
I’ve got no time for victims and i don’t think it was all that bad
and if you can’t run to save yourself well then you deserve to be had
this is the age of constipation, this is the age of martyrdom
I think you even enjoyed it, I think I even saw you come..
I implore all who’ve come to know the sparkles-and-light Wolfy to take a second and immerse yourself in the full range of what he can do-this isn’t some half-assed boy in Goldfrapp tights with a ukulele. We’re witnessing a beautiful, brilliant mind at growth here-and Resonator Mag will be bringing you an exclusive interview with Patrick Wolf early next week. Cuz we love Wolfy.
And, in case you need a post-”Childcatcher” candysparkly:
The “Magic Position” video. As Hacks put it, “it’s like Tiga fucked a drag-queen and Of Montreal and they all did this gay high-school theatre show together”.
Hence my new phrase: “get put in the major key”.
Buy Patrick Wolf @ Criminal Records
Come play with Resonator mag at Studio B
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