Personal Mixtapes#9

by WILD BEASTS. Interview from Drownedinsound.

Portishead 'The Rip'
Perhaps, collectively, our favourite album of the year. Single-handedly turned us onto analogue synthesis, almost. Their sense of timing is something else, and Beth Gibbons' beautiful voice is employed solely to sound very, very ugly. Wonderful. (YouTube)

Kate Bush 'The Fog'
Another band favourite. Apart from the decadent sonic heaven this song gives you, it also drags you into her sex/childhood heart of darkness. You can even forgive her the seagull samples for the depth of this stuff.

The Tower Recordings 'Harvester'
Arguably, the most 'folk' of the free-folk boom. Barely a nod to song structure, but an absolute joy for jam musicians everywhere. A benchmark recording, wethinks.

Kraftwerk 'Europe Endless'
Oh, those octave synths at the beginning! No one, but no one makes electronic music of this minimal bravery today. Having spent 15,000 miles on the M1, this aesthetic rings true. (YouTube)

Brian Eno '1/1 (Music For Airports)'
Though we know he'd baulk at this, this has a beauty and intimacy that so called ambient music rarely achieves. A warm place.

Leonard Cohen 'Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye'
His understatement, as we hardly need say, is his greatest asset. Lyrically, we'd do well to confess that we're all children. (YouTube)

Marvin Gaye 'Inner City Blues'
Can you imagine Timberlake releasing something of this weight, pace and fury today? No? Listen to those harmonies then, or the bass, or the spacious string arrangements. This is alive ya. (YouTube)

Foals 'Electric Bloom'
Math does not do this cinq-headed powerhouse justice, having a space that is to be envied. However, these are tight as, a wonderful collective that transcends the borders of a guitar band, especially on record. (YouTube)

Junior Boys 'Count Souvenir'
There are hardly words for the status of these gentlemen in our practice room. Deeply, deeply erotic stuff, laptop classicism with a murky undertow. Gorgeous. And in 6/8. And techno.

Animal Collective & Vashti Bunyan 'It's You'
Not withstanding the high repute of m'lady, the animals are best on the limited form of the EP, and this one is breathtaking - totally insubstantial, giving us a load more than it has any business doing. Suggests so much more than it can say.