ALL BACK TO MY PLACE

THE STARS REVEAL THE SONIC DELIGHTS GUARANTEED TO GET THEM GOING...

Vieux Farka Touré BAMAKO BLUES SCION

What music are you currently grooving to?

I love the traditional hunter’s music from Mali. It relaxes me when I am on tour far from home. I also like to listen to Arabic music, also when we are in the car, I like to just turn on the radio and listen to whatever comes on. Music is always interesting to me, even if it is not a style that I really love.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album?

A very tough question. I would choose The River, by my father Ali Farka Touré.

What was the first record you ever bought, and where did you buy it? I think it was Phil Collins’ …But Seriously. I loved Phil Collins when I was growing up and, of course,

I still do.

Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be?

I have never wanted to be anyone other than myself. I have always felt blessed to be born who I was, into my family, to have my mother and my father. I suppose I can say Ali, my father, is the musician I wanted to be, but I never wanted to be him. I have always wanted to be like him – to be such a master and such a wise and generous person. I want to help people and make my people proud the way that my father did.

What do you sing in the shower?

I actually don’t, I listen to instrumental music. In particular Toumani

Diabaté, and relaxing music like his in the shower.

What is your favourite Saturday night record?

I would pick Alpha Blondy, Masada. I have loved that album since I was a young teenager and I still do.

And your Sunday morning record? A blues album, like B.B. King’s Take It Home. Les Racines is out now on World Circuit.

Colin Newman ALL WIRE’D UP

What music are you currently grooving to?

If you want to know, listen to Malka [Spigel, Colin’s partner] and I’s radio show Swimming In Sound, which goes out every week. We did our 100th episode yesterday [selections included Kevin Ayers, Acid Arab, Minimal Compact and more]. We have an extremely wide taste in music, curated by aesthetic, not genre.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Steve Reich’s Music For 18 Musicians, the original edition, although there have been other versions over the past few years – Erik Hall recorded the whole thing with four instruments. Every single track is brilliant. What was the first record you ever bought, and where did you buy it? I’m Crying by The Animals, which I bought in a record shop in Newbury in Berkshire, where I grew up. The first LP I got was Sgt. Pepper’s, which I got as a Christmas present. I find the new 2017 remix satisfying – I can’t really listen to the originals. Old music often sounds less good when heard on modern equipment because it was designed to be played on Dansettes or transistor radios. Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? No-one. I think that is the weirdest question.

What do you sing in the shower? This Old Heart Of Mine… by The Isley Brothers. I’ve always liked soul music. I don’t think I’d make a very good soul singer, but I can do it in the shower.

What is your favourite Saturday night record?

Fort Street by a Detroit collective called Scan 7. The poppest Detroit techno you could possibly get, and it just makes me happy.

And your Sunday morning record? Komorebi by Frank Birtwistle. Solo acoustic guitar work, very beautiful.

“I can sing soul music in the shower.” COLIN NEWMAN