Patrick Wolf

The 25-year old multi-instrumentalist Patrick Wolf is well known for playing 16 instruments, having worked with music all his life, and these include clavinet, harp, harpsichord, guitar, piano, autoharp, organ, mountain, dulcimer, clavichord, harmonium, accordion, theremin, ukulele, spoons (!), harmonica, mandolin, viola and violin. He combines contemporary classical music with electronic music and other fantastic quirky sounds making his albums sound very distinct. 

Patrick Wolf is also known for being rather eccentric in his performances, and became involved in an online feud with celebrity-blogger Perez Hilton over something rather petty. His latest moment of indecision includes rumouring to quit music for good after being fed up by the lifestyle and the psychological drain of being in the spotlight:

"dear all...
I should never have read this.. I really shouldn't. I dont think when I was 16 and dreamt of releasing records there would ever be so much crazy speculation about the person I am and that you want me to be. I have become so tired of this behaviour, sometimes I wake up and have to do six hours of interviews before doing a show, then go straight to bed to sleep a couple of hours to fly to a new country to be cross examined in the same way.. I dont know what is left of me sometimes, some mornings i dont know how i get on the flight or even open my mouth to sing that night. If I choose after working since the early hours of a day and then pouring my heart out for an hour and a half that I really have nothing left to give.. that I cannot be a fake politician and sign autographs for an hour.. does this make an asshole?
because my drummer was causing arguments within my road family, taking sedative drugs before an important show in a city i really love, so much so he could not play the music I wrote, the songs that I have survived on in the last six years... because I had to slap him to see if he was even CONSCIOUS on stage.... the fact that the only thing that got any reaction out his corpse happened to be made of metal.. because all of this.. does this make me seem like I was on cocaine, or on some power trip? I was pissed off because this was just one more musician or businessman taking my good nature and generosity for a ride... trust me, that moment onstage was the end of a long line of bad behaviour that it would unfair to go into in public. Yes I was drunk, but It was one oclock in the morning after seven hours of interviews.. i had been running on about four hours of sleep a night for about two weeks... such is the joy of promoting a record. Anyway, I was having FUN until that moment. So was the rest of my band until we realised my drummer was taking the piss out of all of us and our hard work. I dont work with liars and I dont work with thieves.

I dont want to have to share this information with you but so many seem so interested...

I have made a decision, my final concert will be this november, a retrospective with an orchestra in London. I am not sure wether there will be anymore public communications after that, Infact I am pretty sure there will be none. Of course, this has nothing to do with my drummer.. but a creative clock is ticking and I have many many projects to be creating with my time left on this earth. I hope to share my last shows with you this year.
still love x patrick."

Today I am considering the 2007 album the Magic Position. 

Highlights: The song of this album is in my opinion Magpie. It includes a guest performance by Marianne Faithful. The song is a flurry and somewhat melancholic example of the strangeness of his work:

Magpie, was it you who stole the wedding ring?
Or what other thieving bird would steal such hope away?
Magpie, I am lost among the hinterland,
caught among the bracken and the fern,
and the boys who have no name.

It is truly an interesting song aided by the husky vocals of Marianne.