ALL BACK TO MY PLACE
THE STARS REVEAL THE SONIC DELIGHTS GUARANTEED TO GET THEM GOING...
Billy Nomates NO WAVE, NO MESSING
What music are you currently grooving to?
Robert Glasper. He’s putting out some really interesting, soulful,
I’d say R&B-esque, music, except it’s jazzier than that. Also a lot of Absolute 80s radio – Simple Minds, Depeche Mode, Kate Bush, Siouxsie & The Banshees, the early stuff. You got these epic, devastating love songs in the ’80s where they were bleeding their hearts out, I really like those.
What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album?
I grew up on The Stranglers, who were my introduction to punk and what a band of musicians can do. They also had these beautiful melodies. Going from Golden Brown to Five Minutes blew my mind, so it’d be their Greatest Hits album.
What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? The first Spice Girls album, with my pocket money, from Woolworths in Melton Mowbray. As a seven-yearold I thought, Yeah, best thing ever, and I still think what they were doing was really cool.
Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be?
I always really liked Laurie Anderson’s work, and I really identified with Aimee Mann’s songs.
What do you sing in the shower? I’m a bit of a parrot so it’ll be something I’ve just heard on the radio. Lately it was “hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque” [from The King Of Rock’N’Roll by Prefab Sprout].
I can’t sing it in public, but I can in the shower.
What is your favourite Saturday night record?
Electronic music with a pulse, that you can lose yourself in – maybe
Jon Hopkins. Or if I’m in a different mood, a raucous rock’n’roll band. I saw Big Joanie last year, they were brilliant. But I’m a total hermit.
And your Sunday morning record? Bowie’s Black Star. In fact, anything by Bowie. I’ll catch up on sleep, get a coffee, sit with a guitar.
Billy Nomates’ CACTI LP is out now on Invada.
Stuart Murdoch BELLE & SEBASTIAN BELIEVER
What music are you currently grooving to?
Syreeta’s I Love Every Little Thing About You. I love her collaborations with Stevie Wonder. He’s all over this one, he probably played most instruments, and is whispering responses to her singing, like they accidently left the mike on in the control room. Also Forget Me Not by Say She She, which was my favourite track of last year. Also Frank Mills’ Music Box Dancer, which used to be the theme of a golf show presented by Peter Alliss.
What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Joni Mitchell’s The Hissing Of Summer Lawns. Pulled out of a bargain bin in 1986. My wife can’t stand the ’70s-ness of this record, she’s more a Blue person, but I’m very happy with Summer Lawns Joni.
What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? Pinky & Perky’s Hit Parade No. 2, bought at the scout jumble sale, Alloway Church Hall, circa 1976.
Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? Carole King. I know she didn’t have it easy, but just the idea of being the spark that lit up the Brill Building. And I would have liked climbing up on the roof at lunch time in New York City, 1962.
What do you sing in the shower? Not showers, but when our kids were little we always used to sing [Civil Rights standard] This Little Light Of Mine to them. They won’t let us now.
What is your favourite Saturday night record?
I don’t know why, but Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll & The Trinity’s Let The Sunshine In always drove me crazy on the dancefloor. At least if it’s a left-field choice, I’m going to have plenty of room on the dancefloor.
And your Sunday morning record? I sing in the church choir, so whatever’s going down there. Hymns.
Belle And Sebastian’s Late Developers LP is out now on Matador. The band tour the UK in July.
“My first ever record? Pinky & Perky.” STUART MURDOCH