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Baker's Dozen

Not Pastel Colours: Boris Blank Of Yello's Favourite Albums
Rob Heath , October 21st, 2014 12:31

With a new box set of his soundtrack work just released, the composer and Yello man takes Rob Heath from Sun Ra to The xx in his all-time top LPs

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Miles Davis - On The Corner
There are of course A Kind Of Blue and all the more very popular well-known Miles Davis albums, and I of course do like Tutu and Bitches Brew, which is my next favourite. But On The Corner is somehow… the music is a conglomerate of different styles, like electro, some tribal, some afro, it is like a kaleidoscope which he gave to his musicians, with the freedom to show their authenticity. I think that the mixture on this album, still groovy, still not too complex or stylish academically - it has a good flow in it, and a real life. The bass is really going on, it's a real good flowing groove.

At the time I was fascinated with Miles Davis. I was fascinated on the one hand with Pink Floyd and all this psychedelic stuff, King Crimson and Jimi Hendrix. But on the other hand I listened to the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Archie Shepp, John Coltrane, all this big band stuff. In a way I do like these differences in music, I like hot and cold and nothing in between. I like black and white and not pastel colours... I love to build my own kind of fantasy.