After the disbandment of The Go-Betweens, Forster relocated to Germany in 1990 and recorded his debut solo album, 'Danger in the Past', in Berlin. It was produced by Mick Harvey and issued on Beggars Banquet Records. Allmusic's Ned Raggett found the album showed "literate, understated rock & roll" with his "gently cracked, high vocals" and "setting and maintaining a variety of moods from sudden energy to soft rumination". In November he issued a single, "Baby Stones", from the album. Also that year he provided guitar for German pop group Baby You Know's debut album, 'To Live Is to Fly'. Karin Bäumler featured on violin and vocals on 'To Live Is to Fly'. Bäumler also provided vocals for Forster's 'Danger in the Past'. Forster and Bäumler married in the early 1990s.
By 1993 Forster had returned to Brisbane to record his second solo album, 'Calling from a Country Phone', at Sunshine Studios with members of local pop group, Custard. It was produced by Forster and issued on Shock Records and Beggars Banquet in June. A single, "Drop", had appeared a month ahead of the album. For touring he formed Robert Forster's Silver Backwash with David McCormack on guitar, Robert Moore on bass guitar and Glenn Thompson on drums. Although described as a "bustling country-pop" album by Ian McFarlane, according to Allmusic's Greg Adams its "folk-rock sound ... recalls Felt's 'Me and a Monkey on the Moon' more than ... Nashville". Forster also produced his third solo album, 'I Had a New York Girlfriend', which is a collection of cover versions recorded in Melbourne in 1994. Raggett felt it was "an interesting and at times defiantly anti-hip visit through a surprising, entertaining selection of songs".
By 1995 Forster had formed a three-piece group, Warm Nights, with Thompson and Adele Pickvance on bass guitar. Late that year Forster and McLennan performed together in Brisbane and the duo were accompanied by Pickvance and Thompson. Forster denied it was a tribute show: "anyone that did the Australian Go-Betweens Show would be tighter ... people that start those tribute bands generally play a lot tighter than the bands that they're honouring or copying or whatever". In May the following year the same line-up performed at Les Inrockuptibles's 10th anniversary celebration in Paris.
Forster's next solo album, 'Warm Nights', was recorded in London in 1996 and produced by Edwyn Collins (The Proclaimers, Vic Godard, A House) – Collins also provided guitar alongside a five-member brass section. The rhythm section were Pickvance and Thompson. It appeared in September that year and McFarlane described it as "a laid-back collection of summery pop". Raggett found it is "a touch less obviously country-pitched in comparison – more of the deft, understated rock/pop". The album's lead single, "Cryin' Love", included a music video which McFarlane states is "one of the most entertaining film clips for the year". In mid-1997 Forster and McLennan briefly reformed The Go-Betweens for a series of gigs in the UK and Ireland.
In 2000, after both Forster and McLennan had each recorded four solo albums, The Go-Betweens reformed with Pickvance, to create a new studio album, 'The Friends of Rachel Worth', they were assisted by Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Quasi) on drums and backing vocals and Sam Coomes (Quasi) on keyboards. It was issued in September with Bäumler credited for string arrangements, and production duties shared by Coomes, Forster, McLennan and Weiss. Allmusic's Hal Horowitz praised their "poetic, languid, spoken/sung vocals similar to Lou Reed weave between lovely melodies whose appeal unfolds with repeated listens"; however it "sounds more like a combination of two solo albums rather than one from a cohesive unit". The Village Voice's critic, Robert Christgau, described them as "rather than lyric poets, as I once thought, Forster and McLennan are better conceived as short-story writers, with the concreteness and forward motion of voices and music compensating for imagistic technique and low word count". He declared that Forster's tracks "are the catchiest and most fetching tracks on the album, taking up surfing dreams, a fond and funny envoi to Patti Smith, and a life-swapping fable that when you think about it may be a love song after all".
The Go-Betweens line-up of Forster, McLennan, Pickvance and Thompson (he had rejoined in 2001) issued two more studio albums, 'Bright Yellow Bright Orange' (2003) and 'Oceans Apart' (2005), Allmusic's Stewart Mason described Forster as having "a knack for crafty pop songs along with the brooding ballads he contributed to the Go-Betweens' albums, and his solo career has shown a healthy mix of the two styles". Grant McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack, aged 48.
In July 2007, Forster resumed his solo music career with live performances over four nights at the Queensland Music Festival. He picked three songs co-written with McLennan, including "Demon Days", which is the last track the pair wrote together, and recorded them alongside his own material for his first solo album in 11 years, 'The Evangelist', which was released on 26 April 2008 through Yep Roc Records. It had been recorded with Pickvance and Thompson at Good Luck Studios, London, from September to November 2007 (except a track, "A Place to Hide Away"). Allmusic's Thom Jurek noted that Forster "has never been this direct before, so unadorned and honest, and yes, vulnerable without the mask of his gift to weave a story, even in first person, and make himself seem a narrator".
ALBUMS
By 1993 Forster had returned to Brisbane to record his second solo album, 'Calling from a Country Phone', at Sunshine Studios with members of local pop group, Custard. It was produced by Forster and issued on Shock Records and Beggars Banquet in June. A single, "Drop", had appeared a month ahead of the album. For touring he formed Robert Forster's Silver Backwash with David McCormack on guitar, Robert Moore on bass guitar and Glenn Thompson on drums. Although described as a "bustling country-pop" album by Ian McFarlane, according to Allmusic's Greg Adams its "folk-rock sound ... recalls Felt's 'Me and a Monkey on the Moon' more than ... Nashville". Forster also produced his third solo album, 'I Had a New York Girlfriend', which is a collection of cover versions recorded in Melbourne in 1994. Raggett felt it was "an interesting and at times defiantly anti-hip visit through a surprising, entertaining selection of songs".
By 1995 Forster had formed a three-piece group, Warm Nights, with Thompson and Adele Pickvance on bass guitar. Late that year Forster and McLennan performed together in Brisbane and the duo were accompanied by Pickvance and Thompson. Forster denied it was a tribute show: "anyone that did the Australian Go-Betweens Show would be tighter ... people that start those tribute bands generally play a lot tighter than the bands that they're honouring or copying or whatever". In May the following year the same line-up performed at Les Inrockuptibles's 10th anniversary celebration in Paris.
Forster's next solo album, 'Warm Nights', was recorded in London in 1996 and produced by Edwyn Collins (The Proclaimers, Vic Godard, A House) – Collins also provided guitar alongside a five-member brass section. The rhythm section were Pickvance and Thompson. It appeared in September that year and McFarlane described it as "a laid-back collection of summery pop". Raggett found it is "a touch less obviously country-pitched in comparison – more of the deft, understated rock/pop". The album's lead single, "Cryin' Love", included a music video which McFarlane states is "one of the most entertaining film clips for the year". In mid-1997 Forster and McLennan briefly reformed The Go-Betweens for a series of gigs in the UK and Ireland.
In 2000, after both Forster and McLennan had each recorded four solo albums, The Go-Betweens reformed with Pickvance, to create a new studio album, 'The Friends of Rachel Worth', they were assisted by Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Quasi) on drums and backing vocals and Sam Coomes (Quasi) on keyboards. It was issued in September with Bäumler credited for string arrangements, and production duties shared by Coomes, Forster, McLennan and Weiss. Allmusic's Hal Horowitz praised their "poetic, languid, spoken/sung vocals similar to Lou Reed weave between lovely melodies whose appeal unfolds with repeated listens"; however it "sounds more like a combination of two solo albums rather than one from a cohesive unit". The Village Voice's critic, Robert Christgau, described them as "rather than lyric poets, as I once thought, Forster and McLennan are better conceived as short-story writers, with the concreteness and forward motion of voices and music compensating for imagistic technique and low word count". He declared that Forster's tracks "are the catchiest and most fetching tracks on the album, taking up surfing dreams, a fond and funny envoi to Patti Smith, and a life-swapping fable that when you think about it may be a love song after all".
The Go-Betweens line-up of Forster, McLennan, Pickvance and Thompson (he had rejoined in 2001) issued two more studio albums, 'Bright Yellow Bright Orange' (2003) and 'Oceans Apart' (2005), Allmusic's Stewart Mason described Forster as having "a knack for crafty pop songs along with the brooding ballads he contributed to the Go-Betweens' albums, and his solo career has shown a healthy mix of the two styles". Grant McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack, aged 48.
In July 2007, Forster resumed his solo music career with live performances over four nights at the Queensland Music Festival. He picked three songs co-written with McLennan, including "Demon Days", which is the last track the pair wrote together, and recorded them alongside his own material for his first solo album in 11 years, 'The Evangelist', which was released on 26 April 2008 through Yep Roc Records. It had been recorded with Pickvance and Thompson at Good Luck Studios, London, from September to November 2007 (except a track, "A Place to Hide Away"). Allmusic's Thom Jurek noted that Forster "has never been this direct before, so unadorned and honest, and yes, vulnerable without the mask of his gift to weave a story, even in first person, and make himself seem a narrator".
SINGLES
''Drop'' 1993 Lagoona
'Danger in the Past' 1990 Beggars Banquet
'Calling from a Country Phone' 1993 Lagoona
'I Had a New York Girlfriend' 1994 Concubine
'Warm Nights' 1996 Beggars Banquet
'The Evangelist' 2008 Capitol
'Songs to Play' 2015 Universal
'Inferno' 2019 Tapete
'The Candle and the Flame' 2023 Universal
'Calling from a Country Phone' 1993 Lagoona
'I Had a New York Girlfriend' 1994 Concubine
'Warm Nights' 1996 Beggars Banquet
'The Evangelist' 2008 Capitol
'Songs to Play' 2015 Universal
'Inferno' 2019 Tapete
'The Candle and the Flame' 2023 Universal
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Forster_%28musician%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Forster_%28musician%29
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