Sound recorder Chris Watson writes exclusively for PORT about the European composer that inspired his latest work, The Town Moor: A Portrait in Sound
Chris Watson at Lindisfarne
The work of French composer Pierre Schaeffer, and in particular his idea of musique concrète, is what really got me interested in working creatively with sound. It goes right back to when I was a teenager and it has really come to shape my work.
Schaeffer was working in French radio in the 1940s and famously made a piece called Etudes aux Chemins de Fer, which he recorded in a railway station in Paris. His concept of musique concrète is clearly visible in my Town Moor piece where we recorded everything that happened on this vast area of common land over a year.
At the moment, there’s a large fair being installed on the Moor and thousands of people will converge for the rides. Then there’s lot of public sporting activities and the Newcastle University Engineering Society flying experimental drones. It’s also full of wildlife: birds, foxes, bats and insects all live on the common and they’re always there – even when it’s quiet, in the middle of the night or in the middle of winter, you can still hear the wildlife.
Schaeffer’s Etude aux Chemin de Fer got me interested in the idea of using sound recording devices as creative tools, as recording instruments. In this project, I wanted to use the tape recorder as he did then, as a musical instrument, as a way of enabling you to shape recordings into musical compositions.
Interviewed Cécile Fischer
Opening 21 June 2016 at Tyneside Cinema, Chris Watson’s The Town Moor: A Portrait in Sound, is an acoustic picture of the Town Moor – a vast ancient common located in the centre of Newcastle – produced in collaboration with BBC Newcastle.
Drummer for Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, Jeremy Gara, picks The Cure’s Disintergration as his essential Soundtrack
Jeremy Gara – Photo by Jen Brown
I bought Disintegration on cassette after my cousin took me to my first concert for my 11th birthday. After the show I bought a parking-lot bootleg t-shirt emblazoned with ‘The Cure – The Prayer Tour – 1989’ with the money my parents had sent me out with.
Even at that age I chose to listen to it in doses, picking the right moments to experience it when I could really get lost in it. It changed me. I’m pretty sure I started to grow up because of it. It was mysterious and beautiful and I didn’t know where it came from – it wasn’t on the radio, I didn’t see it on the ‘top hits’ tv shows. That album whetted my appetite; it was the first record to make me actively explore other music.
The Cure, Disintegration – image courtesy of Elektra Records
Disintegration didn’t inspire me to play music, exactly. I heard it many years before I even considered playing at all. It’s not a record I jammed along with as a teenager, like Rush or Nirvana albums. But I’ve always known every note, every lyric, every sound and layer of it.
As happens with most musicians, it has become harder for me to enjoy a lot of music. My ears immediately tear songs apart to their elements and hear the construction, their patterns – but I still lose myself in Disintegration. It’s always emotional and it still sounds unique. I can’t think of many albums that are simultaneously warm and cold, massive and yet, at their core, simple. It sounds charged: it has depth.
I was driving recently with a friend who’d never heard it in its entirety. I still fell right into it, immersed – maybe as much as she was, hearing it for the first time. I’ve lived with Disintegration for the better part of my life and I honestly can’t imagine living without it.
Jeremy Gara’s first solo album, Limn, will be released on 11 March via NRCSS Industry
Gorillaz guitarist Jeff Wootton picks three albums that steered his own music, from a classic Manchester sound to an album that doubled as a work of art
Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures, courtesy of Factory Records
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
Peter Saville is my favourite cover designer, Martin Hannett is one of my favourite producers, and Factory is one of my favourite labels. This record has it all for me. The band didn’t release any singles from Unknown Pleasures and the album didn’t even chart, but it’s now perceived as a classic and pioneering record, which, to me, says a lot of about the music industry today.
I was born in Salford, Greater Manchester. Growing up in Manchester gives you a fantastic foundation to feed your head with records. Joy Division were one of the bands I got turned onto early, but there’s no desire to go back and be nostalgic here. This album was searching for sounds of the future and that was down to Martin Hannett’s pursuit of recording bottle smashes, guitar amps in lifts and delay units. It’s a ‘Northern Goth-Punk’ record and singer Ian Curtis’ lyrics make it romantic and raw. Sometimes rolling into Manchester on a train back from London and seeing all the factories and industrial buildings, I put this record on in my headphones. It really captures the sound of that industrial image of Manchester. To me, Martin Hannett created that sound.
Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced, courtesy of Track Record
Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced
To go off-topic for one second – I once read a quote from an interview with Rick Rubin about rappers who grew up wanting to create records from outer space, not about the projects or housing estates where they grew up.
“Kurtis Blow, who was from Harlem and really around gangsters – he didn’t want to be a gangster. He wanted to look above it and wear leather boots and be more like a rock star,” Blow said. “Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were really inner-city, hard life guys, and they wanted to be from outer space.”
That really resonated with me. I was searching for a record from outer space and I found it in this one. This is a very innovative record. Jimi is sometimes overlooked as songwriter in favour of his guitar playing, but to me being a great guitarist is part of that. His lyrics are abstract at times and I really found a sense of writing lyrics from listening to him.
I was lucky enough to sit down with Eddie Krame, the engineer, and listen to the multi-tracks from this record. It really was amazing. The production still stands up today. I think a lot of producers are stuck in the same ways record to record – this is a record I always go back to if I find myself stuck. Oh yeah, and it was also released on May 12 – my birthday. The greatest guitar album of all time; The world needs more records from outer space.
The Velvet Underground and Nico, courtesy of Verve Records
The Velvet Underground and Nico – The Velvet Underground
This raw, punk-noir, art masterpiece came to me from a teacher in school. Andy Warhol brought the art and femininity with Nico, and Lou Reed could write about drug addiction in the form of a pop song. John Cale taught me the art of drone, and guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker gave the above the foundation it needed to work.
Art is an important part of music to me, and Warhol & Co. taught me you could mix the two. This was something I tried with my album with artist Damien Hirst. That was another album recorded for cheap and one that didn’t sell at the time but was a masterpiece in my eyes.
Jeff Wootton’s first solo album The Way is Light is out February 26th
Musician and composer Nitin Sawhney reflects on Protection, the bold Massive Attack album that helped shaped his career and caused him to reconsider the power of sound
Nitin Sawhney
Protection by Massive Attack was sonic psychotherapy for me. It inspired me to look for a better voice.
My first reaction to the album was visceral, it was far more than just a fresh assault on my senses. It was as if somebody had crawled into my head and shown me a whole different part of my brain – the main part, the bit I’ve been focussing on since.
Don’t get me wrong about this: I’m proud of what I can do, musically. I’ve composed for the London Symphony Orchestra, dj’d at Fabric, scored 60 odd films, sold out the Royal Albert Hall as a solo artist and released many albums. But when I hear that Massive Attack album I feel like a beginner… like someone who has yet to learn about the raw power of sound.
Protection by Massive Attack – image courtesy of Virgin Records
To open an album with the title track is a bold statement. When that first beat drops you are immediately in a place beyond music. The hi-hats are like nothing you’ve heard before and the kick and snare fall like the ominous intent of a serial killer… but then Tracey Thorn’s voice softens everything and draws us into a beautiful, nostalgic melancholy that remains throughout the album.
‘Karmacoma’ follows and somehow, between one of the most recognisable beats in the history of electronica and a bansuri [an Indian flute] that rises above the dub-style sounds like the whistle of a steam train at night, we find ourselves drawn into Tricky’s dark stream of consciousness.
I could carry on waxing lyrical about the ensuing performances of Horace Andy, Craig Armstrong and Nicolette, or emphasise how every beginning of every track has become a milestone in musical history, but what I feel isn’t about a eulogy.
I had an epiphany listening to Protection; it was a masterpiece of mellifluous, dark and minimal eclecticism. Every track begins with instrumentation or soundscapes, using whatever digs deepest into the psychology of the music. And I have heard those track intros used over and over in countless trailers, films, adverts and dj sets ever since.
I have met the guys from Massive Attack a few times since hearing the album (even at my own gigs!) and I always find them gracious and friendly, which counts for a lot with me.
With each of my own albums, I try to take a step closer to what three artists captured in that one record… Pure sonic expression. Timeless.
Nitin Sawhney’s new album, Dystopian Dream, is out November 6 on Postiv-ID
Nicolas Godin, one half of downtempo French band Air, writes about the iconic Stevie Wonder album that influenced his career, exclusively for PORT
Image courtesy of Motown Records
Many albums are in my pantheon of legendary music. One of them is Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life
It sums up all the things I like about music because it sounds like the best of all worlds, combined. There are the melodies, solid songwriting, the groove that I love in soul records, his amazing voice, etc. But on the top of this is the production. Stevie Wonder uses electronic synthetisers in such a warm and experimental way, which really made me think that machines can sound both soulful and sentimental.
At the beginning of my career, before I decided to record using vocoders and Moogs, I instinctively associated machines with the robot world. I admired Kraftwerk so much at the time but, inside of me, I wanted to make a sensual record, so I gave up the industrial-shaped sounds… I started to buy new equipment by looking at the back of Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock record covers, because everything they used was listed on there.
I think that hip hop and R&B records are the most avant-garde forms of electronic music that you can find – they are much more adventurous than any so-called ‘electronic’ records that I hear these days. If I want to hear highly experimental music made with computers and samplers, I always turn to the production of R&B artists. And I think Stevie Wonder is the one who started this phenomenon.
Nicolas Godin’s new solo album, Contrepoint, is out now on Because Music
The Horrors synth player, Tom Furse, discusses some of the tracks he picked from the Southern Library of Recorded Music for his new project based on the exotica genre: Tom Furse Digs
This is the opening track of the compilation and features many of the hallmarks of exotica, without actually being exotica. The flutes, tune and Latin percussion are all totally reminiscent of Martin Denny, whom I believe coined the term in the first place. I guess I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the kitsch, I think it was being into The Cramps and B-52s when I was young and impressionable. They embraced the trashiest aesthetics and turned them into something weird and alien, just as John Waters did in his films. Some people use the term ‘elevator music’ when they hear this, but that’s bollocks – show me the elevator that plays this and I’ll immediately take up residency in that building… I hope that by listening to the compilation people might be able to move beyond such crass terms for music and maybe start to appreciate what beautiful sound worlds this kind of music invokes.
When I went to the Universal Publishing Production Music archive, where they keep all the vinyl library records, I was expecting to find a library full of fat drum breaks and proto-techno Moog nonsense. Instead, I was confronted with tracks like this, simmering hot beds of jungle jazz. That suited me just fine. I’d been into exotica and surf since The Horrors began and here was a chance to do something a bit different within the library compilation world. A lot of this music had never been publicly available before, so it was like being an explorer in an uncharted land. Like all my musical activities, putting this compilation together started to filter through into my own music-making. Library music is all about creating an atmosphere, about lending a scene the perfect soundtrack. When I was making my ‘Child Of A Shooting Star’ EP, that idea was very important. Each track had to have a scene, a story, even if was just imagined. Through that the music took on a meaning beyond musicality, for me anyway. The listener has to make their own scene up, but hopefully I’ve given them a push in the right direction.
Following the release of his latest album Covered, Bluenote pianist Robert Glasper shares three influences that inspired his choice of tracks on the record
Robert Glaspar Trio – image by John Rogers
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
I didn’t really get into Miles until I was in high school or college, but once I did I realised that he’s the ‘Dr. Dre of jazz’. He was a master and not only in terms of his music. Away from his instrument he was still Miles Davis. He was like an idea, there was an aura around him… he was not just a guy who played trumpet really well. He changed with the times and was a master at getting the right people around him. He was just an amazing guy. Every 10 years he changed his style and approach. No one has evolved as much in their career as Miles Davis has, especially not in the jazz world.
Kind of Blue is one of the greatest Miles Davis albums – if not the greatest album – of all time. I just love the way they recorded it and the honesty of it. My favourite track on the album is probably Blue in Green. It’s my favourite jazz ballad and probably the shortest too… It’s only eight or ten bars, but the chord changes are just so dope. I love minor, dark sounding songs. Especially the ballads.
Radiohead – In Rainbows
When I first put on In Rainbows I couldn’t take it off. It’s one of those albums that you can play all the way through. That’s rare these days because people don’t make albums anymore, it’s all about track-by-track. It’s not a complete box anymore. So, it was great that Radiohead came out with an album that you can actually put on and not turn off. It’s one of my favourite albums of all time. I just love the way it sounds, how it flows, the writing. Reckoner is such a dope tune. I love that the melody is so simple and meaningful.
Joni Mitchell – For The Roses
For the Roses is a great album. I think a friend of mine hit me with the record when I was at college. Barangrill was what pulled me in, he played me that song first and it’s definitely my favourite tune on the record. I love the song’s poetry and its changes… I love what she’s singing about.
Joni’s very blue with her lyrics. She’s talking about everyday shit and not trying to be particularly deep. She’s just like ‘Hey, I work for the gas station dude. I was pumping the gas and singing Nat King Cole.’ She just tells you what happens. I love that. I also love Joni Mitchell as an artist because she has changed so much over the years. Early Joni Mitchell has got that light, creamy voice but now you listen to her and she’s super dark, super melancholy and rough yet beautiful at the same time. In her music you can see her life and her transitions. I love artists who put that out there for you to see.
British musician and vocalist Ghostpoet discusses the lasting influence of Badly Drawn Boy’s debut album The Hour of Bewilderbeast
I was a mere seventeen-year-old when The Hour of Bewilderbeast was released and knew nothing about Damon Gough, who was also known as Badly Drawn Boy. I had never heard a note of his music, but one random visit to Woolworths on Tooting Broadway caused our worlds to collide and my life would never be the same again.
I purchased this record purely off the strength of the album artwork, designed by Andy Votel. It felt like there was a world full of mystery behind that cover waiting for little old me to discover…who was I to resist?
The Hour of Bewilderbeast album cover – courtesy of XL Recordings/Twisted Nerve Records
From the opening cello of The Shining ’til the birdsong outro of Epitaph I was mesmerised. Here was a record encompassing so many genres I had yet to discover and so many emotions I had yet to fully understand. It was as deep as the ocean; layered, intertwining, experimental, honest and thought provoking.
It sounds as fresh today as it did fifteen years ago and I love it now more than ever. It’s hard to comprehend my world without this album in it, to be honest. It’s a masterpiece that still shines bright in my eyes and, every so often, brings a tear to them.
Japanese designer Kazuki Kuraishi talks to David Hellqvist about hearing The Stone Roses’ eponymous album, and the impact Ian Brown has had on his life
The Stone Roses album, Silvertone records, 1989
JAPAN WEEK: If I could only choose one record, this would be definitely be the one. Perhaps both now and forever.
I first encountered the album when I was in high school. My favourite Japanese band was using some samples from a band called The Stone Roses and thought I’d check out the original version, so I listened to Elephant Stone. Afterwards, I bought The Stone Roses album and immediately fell in love. The more I listened the more I liked and go into it; I still play the album regularly to this day, which is rare.
From The Stone Roses, I started to get into Hacienda music and discovered many more UK bands. At that time, it was very difficult to get hold of UK indie bands in Japan. As I remember, it was even difficult to buy Oasis anywhere in Tokyo – it took me quite a few visits to shops in order to find them.
There was a TV programme called Beat UK where they showed British band’s music videos – I recorded and edited so many of them. I would also watch the music videos and wonder what the musicians were wearing. I wanted their t-shirts and would start searching for the clothes that they wore… Music and fashion are tied into one, and that’s how I become interested in fashion.
Time passed and I started working for A Bathing Ape where a miracle happened. When James Lavelle from Mo’ Wax visited Japan, for whatever reason, Ian Brown tagged along. One day, A Bathing Ape creator Nigo asked me to come to his office and there I met James and Ian. I was beyond shock, I remember I lost all my senses. Nigo knew that I loved The Stone Roses so he introduced me to James and there and then and I started to get to know Ian. I still have the letters that Ian and I exchanged; I used to send him what I’d made, and he’d send me CDs…
Some time later, when Ian came to Japan for the Fuji Rock Festival, he introduced me to Gary Aspden from adidas (read Gary Aspden’s Soundtrack for Port) and that’s how I started to work for adidas. Come to think of it, there is a pathway from the point where I began to like The Stone Roses, and got to know Ian Brown, which led me to where I am today.
When The Stone Roses reunited, Ian, John Squire, Mani, Reni and I all had dinner, which was one of the most epic moments of my life. Ian had come to Japan earlier than the others and we hung out with him for few days. When Mani arrived at the hotel, the atmosphere changed all of a sudden. It was mystic and everything surrounding them had a bright spirit. What I felt about the band was that, although Ian alone has a strong impact, when Ian, John, Mani and Reni are together the power multiplies and exhilarates. Their live performance felt as though there was magic in the air; I experienced something new, these things can still happen.
I think The Stone Roses is an album with a message about trying to change the world. Their sound changed me during this period of time. It affected my life positively, because when I discovered this album I felt I wanted to make changes – it led to where I am and what I do right now.
Kazuki Kuraishi’s new clothing label The Fourness launched in early 2015
London-born singer and Flying Lotus collaborator Andreya Triana explains how a Lauryn Hill album helped shaped her career
At the age of 14 I was uprooted. I was taken kicking and screaming from the comforts and discomforts of inner city London life. But nonetheless these discomforts were reassuring and familiar. Sat with my two little brothers in the back seat of a battered motor, my family drove for hours up the motorway waving goodbye to our West Indian family of countless cousins and endless aunties, leaving behind the noise, the high-rise flats and the crime.
We arrived at our new home in Worcester in the West Midlands and into an ever engulfing void of strangers with stranger accents. No noise. No high-rise flats. Definitely no crime. It hurt, a lot, and I felt alone. Very alone. I’d always been a curious kid with an appetite for music, which grew bigger as my bones did. It seemed that in this unknown place music filled the space which familiar faces used to.
On my 16th birthday I was given a gift. Wrapped up in all its worldly glory was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I listened to the album for the first time while laying on the floor of my messy teenage bedroom. From the moment I pressed play I cried. A lot. It felt like someone understood. The melodies wrapped me up in a warm blanket and the lyrics told me that everything was going to be alright. That album was to soundtrack the years that followed and became instrumental in encouraging me to become a singer and songwriter.
As fate would have it, I recently got to meet Lauryn Hill. Beforehand I tried to plan what to say, but how do you find the exact words to tell the person whose album has influenced your life? When it’s opened your mind and helped you to pursue dreams that ultimately came true…
With my heart beating loudly in my chest I reached out and shook her hand. ‘Thank You,’ I said. ‘Thank you for finding me.’
