ALL BACK TO MY PLACE
THE STARS REVEAL THE SONIC DELIGHTS GUARANTEED TO GET THEM GOING...
Nana Mouskouri, Low and Pete Shelley get up, get down and get over. But who’s Ween-crazy?
Low SLOW IT GOES
What music are you currently grooving to? Mimi Parker: I mostly skip around on the radio in the car. Anything from classic rock to ’70s country to new/ indie radio. Alan Sparhawk: Alice Coltrane’s Turiya Sings and Huntington Ashram Monastery, EMA, Richard Youngs, Colleen, Magrudergrind, Peter Tosh.
What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Mimi: So hard to choose, but I guess I’d pick Linda Ronstadt’s Heart Like A Wheel. Alan: T.Rex’s Electric Warrior is just so perfect. The Slider is right there with it. Wait! No! Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock. We both love Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? Mimi: Chicago’s Baby What A Big Surprise single at Dave’s Stereo Shop, Bagley, Minnesota. Alan: The first Cars record. Columbia record club mail order. It came with a Supertramp record I never liked and AC/DC’s Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap which is handsdown the greatest rock record ever.
Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? Mimi: Not even sure I want to be me but I would say David Bowie – the hair, the clothes, the androgyny – love it all. Alan: Is it weird to want to be Santigold? She always looks three notches above it when she performs. P.J. Harvey and Erykah Badu, too. Mick Ronson if I have to be a dude.
What do you sing in the shower? Mimi: I make up songs in the shower, or sometimes Harry Nilsson. Alan: Roy Orbison, Human League – and Roberta Flack if I’m taking my time.
What is your favourite Saturday night record? Mimi: Ween, Quebec. Alan: Ween, La Cucaracha.
And your Sunday morning record? Mimi: Big Star’s Third. But there would have be a hymn or two, too. Alan: Staple Singers’ Uncloudy Day. There are a few early Staples records that are great, but this has all my faves. Maybe some Charlie Parr instrumentals too.
Low’s Double Negative is released by Sub Pop on September 14. They tour Europe in October.
Pete Shelley BUZZCOCKS’ HOMOSAPIEN
What music are you currently grooving to? The American minimalist composers. I first started listening in the late ’70s. I love how simple ideas spawn such complex pieces. I prefer listening to instrumental music while reading as my mind gets too distracted by lyrics. My current playlists include Terry Riley’s In C, Philip Glass’s Music In Twelve Parts – Parts 1 & 2 and Steve Reich’s Music For 18 Musicians.
What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Commercial Album by The Residents. Forty tracks all one minute long. Each one packed with their special brand of strangeness but at the same time each one different.
What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? Hey Jude by The Beatles, months before my brother and I got a record player for Christmas to play it on. I think I purchased it from the record department in the basement of Leigh Co-op.
Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? I suppose all The Beatles except for Ringo. Even Yoko! Also, Bolan and Bowie were great influences. But I’m happier being me.
What do you sing in the shower? I grew up taking baths and so never got into singing in the shower. I like to listen to Chinese traditional guqin music while I soak – Thinking Of An Old Friend is a favourite of mine.
What is your favourite Saturday night record? It would have to be Lust For Life, Iggy Pop. Such an infectious beat.
And your Sunday morning record?
One Sunday in 2005 I went to visit the Centre Pompidou in Paris and was entranced by Altai Khairkhan, a Mongolian overtone singing ensemble performing outside. They were selling their CD, Whistle In The Wind, and I bought a copy. Perfect for any Sunday morning. Pete Shelley’s Collected Lyrics book is available from store.eyewearpublishing.com.
“I wanted to be all The Beatles except for Ringo. Even Yoko!” PETE SHELLEY